Ketels (2014) visited an informal Rroma settlement in the suburbs of Paris. There, she spoke with camp residents about their lives and the obstacles they face when trying to integrate into French society. A little later, she asked Paris passersby about their opinion towards the Rroma: the answers are negative throughout. The Rroma supposedly do not try to integrate. Kettels’s reportage shows vividly that the notion of Rroma among a large part of the French public is extremely biased and dominated by one-sided information. For one thing, it is repeatedly claimed in the public debate that Rroma do not want to integrate. In this perspective, it is completely negated that one cannot acquire good professional qualifications and language skills from one moment to the other, and that the Rroma are exposed to discriminations in their access to the labour market. But much more important is the fact that the 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma, who have been living in France for generations, belong to all social strata and are integrated, do not exist in the public perception. In the media and in the minds of many French people, Rroma are equated with the 15,000 to 20,000 Rroma living in the informal settlements. However, these Rroma, in relation to the 100,000 to 500,000 integrated Rroma, constitute only a minority of the minority. Since these visible Rroma have only recently migrated to France, they had no chance to build an existence yet. However, this does not mean that they do not want to integrate. Therefore, the public image of the Rroma in France does not do justice to the Rroma as a whole at all, but is permeated by massive misinformation, prejudices and misinterpretations.

• Ketels, Gönna (2014) #WhoAmI: Finding myself – Alina, France. In: Deusche Welle online vom 18.10.2014. http://www.dw.de/whoami-finding-myself-alina-france/a-17934700

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