Monthly Archives: September 2014

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19.09.2014 European Commission: Rroma health status worse than the rest of the population – Is it really true?

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In early September, the European Commission (2014) has published a new study, which analysed the health of Rroma in the European Union. The study comes to the conclusion that members of the minority face more difficulties when trying to access health institutions, mainly due to the Rroma marginalisation. Women are particularly affected by poorer health care. Furthermore, life expectancy is said to be much lower than among other population groups, while at the same time the average age is significantly lower than in the European majority populations. With regard to infectious diseases, the survey found a lack of comprehensive, reliable research. However, some studies show an increased rate of infectious diseases among Rroma, which is thought to be connected to a lack of vaccination of the Rroma children. The proportion of chronic diseases (asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and high blood pressure) is significantly higher among the minority, the report states. Regarding a healthy lifestyle, the available information is said to be inadequate. The data available suggests that the Rroma lifestyle is less oriented towards an better health than compared to the majority population. Rroma are particularly affected by the economic crisis, which finds expression in an more difficult access to health care. The generally poorer health is thereby connected with a lower education rate, poorer infrastructure, and with greater unemployment among Rroma populations of the EU, it is claimed. The study repeatedly points to the lack of available data on the health status of Rroma in the European Union. Nevertheless, it comes to clear findings. From the Rroma Contact Point viewpoint, the authors of study questions far too little whether investigated Rroma were already marginalised and therefore relatively easy contactable persons for a research or whether they were integrated ones, who are generally ignored in such researches. Many Rroma are integrated, keep their identity a secret and are therefore difficult to contact for such a study. These integrated, invisible Rroma, which have generally good health, seem not to have been considered for this study, which cast doubts on the representativeness of the results. The authors themselves state a lot of uncertainties regarding the proportions of the Rroma population in Europe: “The debate over the size of the Roma population is a direct consequence of the lack of clarity regarding Roma identity, as it makes counting the Roma difficult or even impossible. […] As a consequence, it is impossible to make use of random sampling in research. A general lack of statistical data on the situation of Roma in all sectoral fields makes the planning, design, monitoring, and evaluation of policy and programmes difficult if not impossible. It is not possible to identify Roma ethnicity from national surveys, national demographic data or any kind of national health statistics” (European Commission 2014: 35). With this finding, the authors question the reliability and representativeness of their own study. While it is clearly important that health issues that are the result of exclusion and marginalisation are identified as such and fought against, this study also raises the question of the production of a negative image of the minority, which can be exacerbated by such research and then be exploited by politicians (compare EurActiv 2014, Meunier 2014).

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19.09.2014 Berlin: threatened child removal of Rroma evokes resentment

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Youth workers of the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg have threatened to take away the children of Rroma families if they continue to live outdoors. According to the journalist Long-Lendorff (2014), during the summer months Rroma migrant workers and their families have been living in and around the Görlitz Park and on a wasteland of the Kreuzbergian Cuvrystraße for many years. The concern about the children welfare is therefore exaggerated. However, this is seen differently by the youth welfare office: “Employees of the youth office presented the families earlier this week a letter in which they were asked to look for an accommodation at least for their children. These were in danger due to the outdoor life. “We’ll be back in a few days. If you still live overnight with your children here, we will take your children into care”, the letter says […].” Those responsible acknowledge that a child removal cannot be for the children’s good. However, there is too big a housing shortage in the district, so that one cannot simply provide housing for all families affected. The Rroma association Amaro Foro and the Senate commissioner for integration, Monika Lüke, criticised the planned action as totally inappropriate: if anything, one has to provide housing for the whole families and not unnecessarily destroy them. Moreover, child removal would also align to a very questionable historical continuity of earlier removals: Children were taken away from Rroma families in several countries of Europe during forced assimilation programs. Sterilisations and child removals often went hand in hand. The children trauma cannot in any way be compared to poor living conditions. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that most Rroma are committed to integration, but are hindered to do so by structural obstacles and mechanisms of exclusion (compare Berliner Zeitung 2014).

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17.09.2014 “This Is Life Among the Roma”: stereotypical documentary about the Rroma

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The 10-minute documentary “Roma” by British filmmaker Sam Davis (2014) attempts to show the life of Rroma in Albania. Unfortunately, the movie does not create a differentiated picture of the minority, but reproduces numerous stereotypes: the Rroma marry at the age of thirteen or fifteen, claims an American missionary, and live in unbearable hygienic conditions, almost like animals. A local politician makes the statement that one can only integrate Rroma successfully if one takes into account their travelling lifestyle and gives them space to act out their traditions. This is complemented with recordings from a Rroma ghetto in Tirana. All this leads to a highly one-sided, distorted notion of the Rroma lifestyle. In reality, many members of the minority are integrated and not in slums. Many marry only as adults, not earlier than members of other ethnic groups. In addition, most Rroma are precisely not travellers, as the Albanian politician falsely claims. Poverty is not a cultural characteristic of the Rroma. Unfortunately, the highly aesthetic images cannot make up for these massive shortcomings in content. The Rroma are still heavily discriminated against, this fact is emphatically shown by the documentation. However, the portrayed life circumstances match by no means those of all Rroma in Europe or even in Albania, as Jake Flanagin (2014) of the New York Times incorrectly interprets: “Despite a millennium of shared history with Europeans, Roma remain one of the Continent’s most marginalised and underserved groups. A 2012 report jointly compiled by the United Nations Development Program and the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency found that only 15 percent of Roma adults surveyed “have completed upper-secondary general education, versus more than 70 percent of the majority population living nearby.” Similarly, less than 30 percent of Roma surveyed were employed in an official capacity at the time of questioning, and roughly 45 percent “live in households lacking at least one of the following: an indoor kitchen, toilet, shower or bath, or electricity.” What Flanagin does not mention is that the cited study only surveyed Rroma who live in neighbourhoods with a over proportioned amount of Rroma, which were usually already marginalised. Rroma living really integrated were almost not considered for the study (compare European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2013). However, in reality, Rroma belong to all strata of society and not just the lower class.

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17.09.2014 The visible Rroma of Sweden

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Gyldén (2014) reports about begging Rroma in Sweden. The very detailed article reports explicitly about the life circumstances of immigrant Rroma in Sweden, who earn their revenue with begging, playing music or with collecting scrap. On the other hand, the journalist presents the Swedish political system and the local economic mode that, according to the journalist, is not designed and adapted to begging with its “protestant work ethic”. Glydén article attempts, as many before him, to portray the life of the Rroma, but he ends up addressing only the living conditions of a minority of the minority: “They live there, at the edge of a clearing under birch trees, fir trees and squirrels. One moment, they are reminiscent of trolls from myths. But the lives of Corneliu, Aurelian, Florina and others – forty people in total – have nothing of a children’s story. These Roma, who originally come from Bacau (250 km north of Bucharest), leave their camp near a terminus of the metro, in the suburbs, every morning to pursue their “jobs”: the sidewalks of Stockholm, its parks, its metros. Some play the accordion; others collect returnable bottles from the trashcans. Most of them beg.” In his argument, Gyldén depicts the scenario of Rroma as poverty migrants, who, since the advent of free movement of workers with Romania and Bulgaria now try their luck in Sweden. But he ignores an important part of reality: First of all, critical studies show that there is no mass immigration of Rroma to the north. In addition, there are also ethnic Romanians, Bulgarians and other ethnic groups from South Eastern Europe, which migrate to Western Europe. Furthermore, Gyldén negates the well and very well educated Rroma, which also form part of the migrants or have lived in Sweden for a longer period of time. According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, they constitute between 15,000 and 20,000 people. After all, Gyldén relativizes, with reference to a Swedish journalist, the stereotype of organized begging networks: those emerged, after detailed investigations, as a construct.

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17.09.2014 Survey of antiziganism: prejudices against Rroma in Germany remain

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Several German newspapers report on the latest study by the centre for anti-Semitism research in Berlin and the institute for prejudice and conflict research. For the study “Between apathy and rejection – Population attitudes towards Sinti and Roma” around 2,000 German citizens were interviewed. The study concludes that about a third of Germans feel Rroma as neighbours as being very or quite unpleasant. There is less sympathy towards Rroma than towards any other population group. Seventeen percent of the respondents consider them as very unappealing. This result is clearly linked to the opinion of the respondents that Rroma are responsible for the reservations towards their minority due to their own behaviour. This point is based on the false assumption that a visible minority of the minority can be equated with all Rroma. However, most Rroma are not delinquent and are integrated. This is ignored by the media and by the public. The following three results show how ingrained prejudices and resentments against the minority are: fifteen percent of the respondents consider Roma as criminals, fourteen percent as not assimilable, ten percent as lazy. Again, the prejudices are based on the public perception of a visible minority of the minority. The majority of the Rroma are integrated and are honest. The final result of the study is of particular concern: every second respondent thinks that a restriction of the entry requirements is an appropriate way to solve the problems with the minority. Again, there are misconceptions about a mass influx of poorly educated and delinquent Rroma. Rroma constitute only a part of all immigrants from South and Eastern Europe. Many of them are ethnic Romanians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, etc. There are also many well-educated Rroma, who are also hidden in the media. Romani Rose, president of the central council of German Sinti and Roma, raised severe concerns about the results of the study: “anti-Semitism is outlawed in Germany, antiziganism enjoys largely a free rein”, criticised Romani Rose […]. He warned against connecting poverty with ethic origin. “The Jews were too rich, the Roma are too poor.” This is an unacceptable generalisation” (Peters 2014). After all, Rose sees it as positive that around 80% of the respondents knew about the persecution of the Rroma during National Socialism. Nevertheless, knowledge about the minority needs to be deepened more through history lessons. This contrasts with the opinion of almost a third of the respondents who feel no historical responsibility of Germany towards the minority. One in five is for the removal of the Rroma from Germany: a very thought-provoking insight. In response to the poor results, an expert commission shall be set up to report to the Bundestag regularly on discrimination against the minority in the fields of education, employment or housing. The anti-discrimination commissioner of the state, Christine Lüders, also sees a special need for action in the fight against prejudice among police forces. Rroma in Germany are still more frequently suspected of criminal activities as members of other ethnic groups. She argues that “indifference, ignorance and rejection together form a fatal mix that [enable and foster] discrimination against Sinti and Roma” (compare Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes 2014, Die Zeit 2014, Fürstenau 2014, Gajevic 2014, Gensing 2014, Lambeck 2014, MiGAZIN 2014, Süddeutsche Zeitung 2014).  

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Dammann (2014/I) reports on a criminal “Rroman-gang” that is said to have defrauded trusting home sellers of large sums of money. The journalist goes in detail into the circumstances of the criminal fraud: the vendors were contacted and, after a valuation of the property, were invited to Rome to take a deposit for the house. There, they were tricked into accepting counterfeit money. The offence itself should not be trivialised. It is an illegal act that must be punished. However, what is surprising is how uncritically it is simply claimed that the perpetrators are Rroma. Where does this knowledge come from? By mentioning the ethnicity, Dammann suggests that crime and Rroma are directly related. This is not so. Rroma are not more criminal than any other ethnic groups. Rather, this impression arises through the continuous thematisation of the minority in connection with criminal offences as in this article: “Roma gangs rip off trusting home sellers with deceitful currency transactions. Alone in the canton of Zurich, victims lost over a million francs in so-called rip deals. Also Elisabeth Kummer* (72) and her partner Heinz (77) from the canton of Aargau can tell you a thing or two about the Roma crooks.” The stereotype of criminal, hierarchical Rroma gangs that commit crimes at the command of clan chief is widespread. This notion of ​​hierarchical families can be traced back to the projection of the medieval caste system onto Rroma and to the equation of Rroma families with criminal organisations. This is incorrect. While it is true that the family has an important role among the Rroma, its organisation is largely egalitarian. By continuously addressing a criminal minority of the Rroma, one discredits the majority of Rroma who live an integrated life. In addition, the identification of ethnicity has to be critically looked at, as it is anything but simple to determine. Not rarely, one simply assumes that the persons in question are Rroma (compare Dammann 2014/II).

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17.09.2014 Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina: safe countries of origin for Rroma?

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The daily news of the ARD (2014) reports on the ongoing discussions and protests because of the declaration of Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina as being “safe countries of origin”. Accordingly, the federal government will soon enact a law that puts these three countries on the list of countries safe of persecution. Thereafter, minorities like the Rroma will have very poor chances of obtaining asylum in Germany. This is being criticised especially by social democratic politicians and non-governmental organisations. Recently, the Central Council of German Sinti and Rroma has spoken out. Its chairman, Romani Rose, criticised in his statement that the three countries are anything but safe for Rroma: “In the three countries, the argument goes, there is no persecution, torture, violence or degrading treatment. […] Life for Rroma in Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina is anything but safe, Rose declared. “Large parts of the minority in these countries have no chance in the labour market, they are excluded from any participation in social life.” For Roma, which are merely tolerated in Germany, the implementation of the plans could mean deportation.” While it is true that the Rroma in the Balkans were exposed to little discrimination until 1989, and many of the common stereotypes about the minority originated in Western Europe, this does not mean that the exaggeration of ethnic differences and the marginalisation of the Rroma have not become a real issue since then that affect many members of the minority. The adoption of the new law is due to an increase of asylum applications from Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which are turned down in the majority of the cases as being unfounded. However, these decisions are also criticised, since individual fates of exclusion and persecution get too little attention and are not considered appropriately due to lack of evidence. The status of safe countries puts administrative estimates about the protection of the civilian population, especially minorities, over the individual experiences of those affected. Whether this is a smart procedure that meets the real-life experiences of victims of discrimination, should be critically assessed. What matters in the end is the individual fate and not the official status (compare Amtsberg 2014, Attenberger/Filon 2014, Die Welt 2014, Ulbig 2014).  

Eastern Europe correspondent Mappes-Niediek (2014) contradicts this opinion: He claims that the Rroma in South Eastern Europe are often affected by poverty, but are not persecuted. In Macedonia and Serbia, the Rroma rather build part of local communities and are found in all social classes and positions. Even the Rromanes is widely accepted in Macedonia: “Traditionally, in Macedonia and Serbia, it is far less disparagingly spoken about Roma than in the neighbouring countries of Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. The major, wearing his chain of office and shaking hands, attend Roma celebrations. In the newspapers one respectfully speaks of “citizens of Roma nationality”, and ethnic Macedonians also attend Roma pilgrimages. The European cliché that Roma steal is unknown in both countries. […] If Roma are exposed to persecution somewhere in the region, then it is the EU-country Hungary, where right-wing extremist groups inflame the atmosphere, literally hunt for Roma and the police looks the other way. However, from EU-countries no asylum applications are accepted in principle. Even discrimination based on ethnicity is likely to be far less in Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia than what Roma have to endure in Hungary, the Czech Republic or France.” Thereby Mappes-Niediek addresses an important point: the difficulty of assessing the discrimination or acceptance of a minority that is already perceived very one-sided in the public in its entirety and complexity. For Mappes-Niediek, the Rroma in South Eastern Europe are particularly affected by poverty. This is certainly true for a part of the minority. But he also hides a part of reality: in particular the integrated Rroma, which can be found in all the countries of Europe and are not perceived as Rroma by the public. Rroma should not be equated with an underclass. They build part of all strata of society. Regarding the aspect of discrimination, the individual fate should still favoured to a reductionist, generalising assessment: because mechanisms of exclusion in a society cannot be read on a measuring instrument. They are subtly distributed in all spheres of a nation and not necessarily occur in the open.    

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17.09.2014 Halle: militia against immigrated Rroma

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The Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR) (2014) reports on the planned establishment of a militia in the neighbourhood of Silberhöhe in Halle. The initiative for this self-organised monitoring in urban area is due to the influx of Rroma immigrants. However, the police did not detect any rise in criminal activities since the arrival of the Rroma. The concerns from alarmed residents are therefore primarily based on prejudices against the people unknown to them: “The language barrier is one of the basic problems. Not only that the Sinti and Roma bring another culture: communication, an approach to each other seems not possible. One local resident at least describes it like this. This lack of understanding often evolves into rejection and prejudice. Many local residents, young and old, feel threatened. Nevertheless, opinions are split among the local residents as whether a militia must really be started. While some advocate it outright, others demand that in case of offenses, the police should act. The police officers think poorly of a militia. This would not solve the problems in the district, but rather enhance them.” In this article, in spite of the will to be differentiated, a one-sided notion of the minority in Germany arises. Rroma in the country consist not only of recently immigrated people, but also from those who live in Germany since generations. An estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma live today in the German Federal Republic. Before the genocide through the Nazis, there were much more. Most of them speak perfectly German and have a job. These Rroma are totally ignored by the residents in their delusions, when they request a militia against the immigrants. Silberhöhe was also the place of an incident between a young Rromni with her baby and a group of children and adolescents who attacked and insulted the mother and the child. The police is investigating for assault and demagoguery. That the perpetrators were children and adolescents is particularly disconcerting (compare Mitteldeutsche Zeitung 2014 I/II).

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05.09.2014 Viktor Orbán: Rroma shall exercise the activities of unskilled immigrants

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Pester Lloyd (2014) reports on the latest speech of the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán in front of the Hungarian ambassadors in Budapest: In his speech, Orbán told that, in the last EU-meeting in Ypres, he pushed the idea that migration in Europe is fundamentally “wrong” and should be “abolished”: “The objective is to stop immigration completely”, because the “current liberal […] immigration policy, which is justified as morally and presented as inevitable, is hypocritical.” […] These policies, as well as Orbán’s statements, are based on an ethnically exclusionary, therefore ethnic-oriented “policy of nations”, as it is enshrined in the new constitution of the country, which the Fidesz introduced on its own. In it, ethnic Hungarians at home and abroad are classified as nation-building, the 13 recognized ethnic and national minorities however only as state-building; desired and tolerated people.” In this racist, ethno-nationalist policy of the Magyardom, Rroma take the role of unpleasant but tolerated workers that are supposed to carry out the jobs of unskilled immigrants: “Europe’s 10 million Roma could exercise the unskilled activities which today are mainly done by immigrants.” Orbán therefore ascribes the Rroma of Europe to be a bunch of uneducated day labourers, who must be kept busy by employment programs and shall undertake underpaid jobs such cleaning work. That he therewith denies a majority of integrated Rroma their existence, many of whom have good educational qualifications, and defames them, he seems to be indifferent to. The Rroma-network Romano Liloro consequently condemned Orbán’s statements strongly. What is needed are not employment programs that keep people in poverty, but educational opportunities that enable them a better future, the network states (compare Feher 2014, Gulyas 2014).

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05.09.2014 Sweden: Rroma lawyer receives Raoul Wallenberg Human Rights Award

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The Local (2014) reports on the award of the Raoul Wallenberg Human Rights Award to a Swedish Rroma lawyer. Emir Selimi migrated from Serbia to Sweden when he was eight years old. There, as an adult, he founded an organisation that fights for the rights of the Rroma and fosters the education and the language of the minority. Raoul Wallenberg, after whom the award is named, worked as a diplomat who, through his altruistic actions, saved thousands of Hungarian Jews’ lives. Emir Selimi, for his part, gave to understand that he did not think that one had to be a superhero in order to do good. Everyone can achieve that, he stated, if he or she champions it decidedly: “The jury were particularly impressed with how Selimi had attempted to combat Sweden’s sometimes negative image of the Roma population. As part of his work he has made strong contacts with the Jewish, Sami and Muslim communities and hosted lectures on intolerance in school. “When Emir was growing up in Serbia he said he experienced a lot of discrimination in school. He was kicked and spat at because of his Roma background which had a significant effect on him”, said Wästberg. Emir said when he came to Sweden that he didn’t suffer those problems at school. He said the problems started when he entered the labour market where he found his Roma background was a barrier to finding work. Now he is doing something about it by making a difference for the better.” Selimi is also a good example for a so-called “invisible Rrom” that does not conform to the negative stereotypes of the public perception of the minority. These invisible, integrated Rroma represent the actual majority of all Rroma.

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05.09.2014 Stereotypes: foreign travelling Rroma as asocial groups

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Wissmann (2014) reports on problems with foreign travelling Rroma in Biel. A group of foreign travellers – most of them are Rroma, the author claims – have repeatedly and illegally occupied private grounds and properties. André Glauser, head of the city department of security, speaks of 20 to 30 groups of foreign travellers that stop in Biel every year. Although has Glauser points out that not all groups create problems, the statement of a “problem case with foreign travellers” remains: “For nearly two weeks now, the travellers have been playing a cat-and-mouse game with the city and private landowners. Meanwhile, they have already illegally occupied the sixth terrain. Again and again, they were asked to leave the grounds. But instead of leaving Biel, they just occupied a different site – parking spaces, premises, construction sites or road edges. At one site, according to Glauser, they even stopped passing vehicles for begging, which led to complaints. However, the city security chief does not want to generalise. There are groups that don’t create any problems, he states. Others, however, made the telephone lines of the police run hot. Residents and traders complained about waste, faeces or about the behaviour of the travellers. The former Bieler councilman and present FDP-great councillor Hubert Klopfenstein also speaks of an “unfortunately detectable increase in petty crime.”” The focus of the press and informants presented here is on extreme problem cases. They are not representative of all Rroma. Rather, it is a minority of the minority that stands out negatively. The arguments between Yeniche and Rroma due to permanent and transit sites, which are also implied in this article, are a Swiss nationwide problem, due to the fact that by far,  there are not enough sites for all travellers. Due to the presence of foreign travellers this problem is exacerbated and the competition discharges in the over-emphasis of ethnic and national differences. Most Rroma are sedentary anyway and not travellers. The cited FDP-great councillor Hubert Klopfenstein is therefore to agree with when he demands that the federal government must take care of the lack of transit sites. But also the journalists and politicians are challenged: they shouldn’t hastily assimilate problem cases of minorities’ members to a matter of ethnicity.

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05.09.2014 Roma-village Fântânele: article confirms immigration fears

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Schwarz (2014) tries to portray Rroma from the Romanian village Fântânele in a more differentiated fashion. In spite of this, by creating a one-sided depiction, he manages to fuel fears of a mass immigration to Germany. The Rroma he portrays correspond to many stereotypes that people have about this minority: due to their membership to Pentecostal church, contraception is forbidden and the families of the village have an average of ten to twelve children. Of the seven thousand residents of the village, thousand live today in the Harzerstrasse in Berlin-Neukölln, he states. With this statements, Schwarz nullifies his own attempt towards a balanced reporting, as he presents a seemingly incontrovertible evidence that a mass migration to Germany indeed takes place. That Fântânele is not representative of all villages in Romania, is not stated. On the other hand, Schwarz presents a detail account of the relationship of local Rroma community to the Pentecostal church, to which almost all villagers belong: “Today, the church is the core of the community, it sets all rules. It forbids its members to drink and smoke. There is no pub in Fântânele, and no one smokes. Equally, it prohibits abortions and any kind of contraception. The new religion stabilised the families and promoted the cohesion of the community. The sobriety requirement preserves families in crisis from descending into the underclass. They also save themselves a lot of money that others spend on liquor and cigarettes. However, the limitation of the talents to sacred music ended an important source of income, and the prohibition of contraception boosted the birth rates. Families with ten, twelve children are the rule in Fântânele. […] The Roma who emigrate in order to work as a demolition labourers, as a flyer distributors, or as a construction workers, have no different motivation than the Romanian doctors who get headhunted from German hospitals: all of them hope for a better life and a better future for their children.” However, Schwarz does not mention distinctly enough that Rroma only represent a portion of the immigrants to Western Europe. Many ethnic Romanians, who account for the majority of the country, migrate to the north. In addition, not all Rroma belong to the Pentecostal church, which prohibits contraception. More than a few Rroma have qualifications and practice contraception. By focusing on this specific village and this group of Rroma, Schwarz reproduces the notion of a mass immigration to Germany, despite all his historical contextualization and differentiation of Rroma groups. This assertion is qualified by critical research (MiGAZIN 2013).

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05.09.2014 Poverty is not a Rroma-specific phenomenon

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Ulfat (2014) reports on the Hochfeld neighbourhood in Duisburg. In the public perception, the district qualifies as being in trouble. Crime is supposedly on the rise, the infrastructure is bad, according to outsiders. Ulfat juxtaposes this perspective with the neighbourhood’s residents statements. These relativise the horror scenarios. Although there are indeed parallel societies that almost never meet since the closure of large industrial plants, the social interaction of most local residents is respectful, the journalist states. As far as Rroma are concerned, Ulfat relativises the dramatic scenarios of a mass immigration of antisocial Rroma. There are just about 4,000 Rroma living in Duisburg. Regarding the social tensions, these already existed before the Rroma arrival . If one offers Rroma the possibility to integrate, they take this chance. An expert of the quarter, the protestant pastor Heiner Augustin, states: “If these people are moving into a good, well-established neighbourhood, it happens what always happen: the immigrants adapt. They see the cleanliness on the street, they begin to understand the cycles of garbage disposal – and they join in. They begin to cultivate gardens, to beautify the streetscape with flower boxes in the window. Roma also like to live pretty!” Problems would arise only if too many of these poor immigrants are crammed into one place. “But this is not a cultural problem. Imagine, you would squeeze 600 poor Germans into an apartment building with 20 apartments – no hope of finding work, no money, no government assistance. It would not look much different than in the Roma settlements”, the pastor assures.” However, interviewed pastor also reproduces several stereotypes about Rroma: Clan chiefs, who pinch money from them and force the women into prostitution, control the immigrants. However, Rroma are organised in a largely egalitarian way. So-called “clan-structures” are a prejudice and not a cultural feature of the minority.

 

– Ulfat, Jasamin (2014) Von neuen Menschen und alten Problemen. In: MiGAZIN online vom 27.8.2014. http://www.migazin.de/2014/08/27/von-neuen-menschen-und-alten-problemen/3/

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