A scholarly work on the Moslem presence in the Balkan in the last two hundred years. And it concerns Roma too, as the fourth largest Moslem minority in the Balkans, after the Albanians, the Bosniaks, and the Turks.
– Revisiting Europe’s Muslim Heartland. In: TOL. 19.12.2017. http://www.tol.org/client/article/27422-albania-bulgaria-romania-muslims-islam-books.html [link-preview url=”http://www.tol.org/client/article/27422-albania-bulgaria-romania-muslims-islam-books.html”]
The news in France were dominated by the evacuation of the camp on the petite ceinture railway in Paris. Other news included a fire in a camp in Ivry, near Paris, resulting in the evacuation of the entire camp; in that same city, other Roma were received by the authorities, as they are requesting access to housing (as mandated by French Law); a discussion on a project from Roma in the North was very much controversial; a cold snap in Western France; and finally an altercation between Roma and Albanians in Macon.
– Paris : les Roms de la Petite ceinture ont quitté le bidonville… mais pour combien de temps ? In: Le Parisien. 28.11.2017. http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75018/paris-les-roms-de-la-petite-ceinture-ont-quitte-le-bidonville-mais-pour-combien-de-temps-28-11-2017-7421238.php
– A Paris, un campement de Roms évacué pour la 4e fois en trois ans. In: RFI. 28.11.2017. http://www.rfi.fr/france/20171128-paris-campement-rom-evacue-france-fois-3-ans-nord-communaute
– Paris: un campement de Roms démantelé. In: Actu Politique. 28.11.2017. http://www.actupolitique.info/paris-un-campement-de-roms-demantele/
– Pierrefitte-sur-Seine : un campement rom évacué à cause d’un incendie. In: Yahoo. 02.12.2017. https://fr.news.yahoo.com/pierrefitte-seine-campement-rom-évacué-à-cause-d-123015231.html
– Ivry-sur-Seine : les Roms de l’ancien camp Truillot ont rendez-vous en prefecture. In: Le Parisien. 28.11.2017. http://www.leparisien.fr/ivry-sur-seine-94200/ivry-sur-seine-les-roms-de-l-ancien-camp-truillot-ont-rendez-vous-en-prefecture-28-11-2017-7420830.php
– Ivry : la préfecture reçoit les Roms. In: Le Parisien. 29.11.2017. http://www.leparisien.fr/ivry-sur-seine-94200/ivry-la-prefecture-recoit-les-roms-29-11-2017-7423200.php
– La réunion publique de présentation du «sas roms» a été houleuse… In: La Voix du Nord. 29.11.2017. http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/275904/article/2017-11-29/la-reunion-publique-de-presentation-du-sas-roms-ete-houleuse
– Avis de grand froid sur le campement rue du Maine. In: Ouest France. 28.11.2017. https://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/angers-49000/avis-de-grand-froid-sur-le-campement-rue-du-maine-5413796
– Deux suspects jugés ce vendredi après l’altercation au parking Monnier. In: Le Journal. 01.12.2017. http://www.lejsl.com/edition-macon/2017/12/01/deux-suspects-juges-ce-vendredi-apres-l-altercation-au-parking-monnier [link-preview url=”https://fr.news.yahoo.com/pierrefitte-seine-campement-rom-évacué-à-cause-d-123015231.html “]
The other victims of the Kosovo war, the Serbs, the Rroma, Moslem Slavs, Turks, and even Albanians are increasingly asking for justice. Many of them were killed by the UCK, were ethnically cleansed from their ancestral homes.
Up till now, no one was condemned for those acts, even in the case of Haradinaj who was judged in the Hague’s tribunal. In that latter case, several witnesses were subjected to extreme pressure not to appear in court.
Let’s hope for justice!
– Les victimes de «second ordre» du Kosovo. In: La Tribune de Genève. 13.02.2017. http://www.tdg.ch/monde/victimes-second-ordre-kosovo/story/22753153
– Oubliées, les victims de la rébellion kosovare réclament justice. In: Media 24. 13.02.2017. https://www.medias24.com/filafp/afp-81110-Oubliees-les-victimes-de-la-rebellion-kosovare-reclament-justice.html [link-preview url=”https://www.medias24.com/filafp/afp-81110-Oubliees-les-victimes-de-la-rebellion-kosovare-reclament-justice.html”]
Only a few news this week on Rroma in France. The fate of the Rroma from Montreuil who were evicted in July still dominate the news. Frankly, had half the energy that has been put into news, manifestations and other activities be invested into solving the issue, these people would have a house by now. Now, the are threatened with being expelled from France. Among the other news, a fire in a Rroma camp in Grigny, near Paris; neighbours protesting a Rroma squat near Paris; in Western France, in Caen, Rroma from Albania are occupying a house; and finally in the South West, after their eviction, Bulgarian Rroma are sleeping in tents in Mérignac.
– Montreuil : bras de fer entre la municipalité et des Roms attachés à la ville. In: Libération. 13.10.2016. http://www.liberation.fr/france/2016/10/13/montreuil-bras-de-fer-entre-la-municipalite-et-des-roms-attaches-a-la-ville_1521525
– Montreuil : des Roms sommés de « quitter le territoire » In: Le Parisien. 11.10.2016. http://www.leparisien.fr/montreuil-93100/montreuil-des-roms-sommes-de-quitter-le-territoire-11-10-2016-6194751.php
– Familles Roms expulsées à Montreuil: comment ça va la santé? In: Mediapart. 10.10.2016. https://blogs.mediapart.fr/juliette-keating/blog/101016/familles-roms-expulsees-montreuil-comment-ca-va-la-sante
– Grigny : une partie du camp de Roms part en fumée. In: Le Parisien. 11.10.2016. http://www.leparisien.fr/essonne-91/grigny-l-incendie-du-camp-de-roms-provoque-la-fermeture-de-l-a6-11-10-2016-6194979.php
– Corbeil-Essonnes : les voisins d’une maison squattée par des Roms exceeds. In: Le Parisien. 10.10.2016. http://www.leparisien.fr/corbeil-essonnes-91100/corbeil-essonnes-les-voisins-d-une-maison-squattee-par-des-roms-excedes-10-10-2016-6191785.php
– Près de Caen. Une famille d’Albanais squatte une maison à Fleury. In: Ouest France. 14.10.2016. http://www.ouest-france.fr/normandie/caen-14000/pres-de-caen-une-famille-d-albanais-squatte-une-maison-fleury-4558783
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– Mérignac : après l’évacuation de leur squat, une quinzaine de Roms bulgares dorment dans des tentes. In: FR3 France Info. 10.10.2016. http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/aquitaine/gironde/bordeaux-metropole/merignac-apres-evacuation-leur-squat-quinzaine-roms-bulgares-dorment-tentes-1105725.html [link-preview url=”http://www.ouest-france.fr/normandie/caen-14000/pres-de-caen-une-famille-d-albanais-squatte-une-maison-fleury-4558783″]
Appart from the news on the town of Saint-Ouen ordered to enrol Rroma children in school, the news is (unfortunately as usual). Still no solution for the Rroma who were expulsed in Monteruil, this is spite of a lot of mobilisation; the Rroma who occupied the island of the impressionists in Chatou have left; in Western France, the prefect of the Loire Atlantique discussed possible means of integrating Rroma in Nantes; in Bordeaux, a camp was closed; in Albi, in the South, no solution has yet been found to the Albanian asylum seekers; in the North, in Hautbourdin, the Rroma can stay; a positive story on an association helping young Rroma to learn near Paris; a mayor complaining of having to enrol Rroma children in classes (again); and finally, a really BAD story on beggars and human trafficking re-inforcing all stereotypes.
– Montreuil. Familles Roms expulsées: impasse et voie de secours. In: Mediapart. 19.09.2016. https://blogs.mediapart.fr/juliette-keating/blog/190916/montreuil-familles-roms-expulsees-impasse-et-voie-de-secours
– Montreuil. Rue fée d’herbes. In: Mediapart. 21.09.2016. https://blogs.mediapart.fr/juliette-keating/blog/210916/montreuil-rue-fee-dherbes
– Chatou : les Roms ont quitté l’île des Impressionnistes. In: Le Parisien. 22.09.20126. http://www.leparisien.fr/chatou-78400/chatou-les-roms-ont-quitte-l-ile-des-impressionnistes-22-09-2016-6142403.php
– Roms : le préfet reçoit les 24 maires de la métropole nantaise. In: Ouest France. 23.09.2016. http://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/nantes-44000/roms-le-prefet-recoit-les-24-maires-de-la-metropole-nantaise-4511520
– Mérignac : ce jeudi, un camp de Roms bulgares a été évacué et des gens du voyage se sont installés. In: Ouest France. 22.09.2016. http://www.sudouest.fr/2016/09/22/merignac-ce-jeudi-un-camp-de-roms-bulgares-a-ete-evacue-et-des-gens-du-voyage-se-sont-installes-2510242-3001.php
– Grand ménage d’automne dans les squats de Bordeaux Métropole. In: Rue89. 22.09.2016. http://rue89bordeaux.com/2016/09/grand-menage-dautomne-dans-les-squats-de-bordeaux-metropole/
– Albi : la Préfecture a mis à disposition des hébergements d’urgence pour les demandeurs d’asile Roms Albanais. In: Le Tarn Libre. 22.09.2016. http://www.letarnlibre.com/2016/09/22/4779-albi-prefecture-mis-disposition-hebergements-urgence-pour-demandeurs-asile-roms-albanais.html
– Le Département débouté en appel : les Roms sont autorisés à rester. In: La Voix du Nord. 19.09.2016. http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/47085/article/2016-09-19/le-departement-deboute-en-appel-les-roms-sont-autorises-rester
– Antenne scolaire mobile/ Les petits Roms en route pour l’école. In: JSD. 19.09.2016. http://www.lejsd.com/content/les-petits-roms-en-route-pour-lécole
– D’après le maire, les enfants du 115 lui coûtent trop cher. In: Le Parisien. 22.09.2016. http://www.leparisien.fr/espace-premium/seine-saint-denis-93/d-apres-le-maire-les-enfants-du-115-lui-coutent-trop-cher-22-09-2016-6139667.php
– Embauchés pour cueillir des pommes en Belgique, ils finissent mendicants. In: La Voix du Nord. 20.09.2016. http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/47639/article/2016-09-20/embauches-pour-cueillir-des-pommes-en-belgique-ils-finissent-mendiants [link-preview url=”http://www.leparisien.fr/chatou-78400/chatou-les-roms-ont-quitte-l-ile-des-impressionnistes-22-09-2016-6142403.php”]
Rroma from Elbasan in Albania have gone back to their ancient craft of basket making, and are turning it into a profitable business.
Fingers crossed that it continues to be successful.
How daft can that be … Raising money for a caravan park for Rroma in Albania. When one knows that almost no Rroma are travellers in the Balkans (only a very tiny minority of 0.1% maximum), this is a totally idiotic idea. From a good intention, maybe, but really not what is needed.
The French Newspaper le “Progrès” has been cleared for its article on criminality where they explicitely cited Rroma besides Georgians, Albanians and Travellers (by the way, showing they have no clue about what they are talking about).
SHAME.
Seems that if you are Rrom, well, then you are a criminal, that’s not offensive, isn’t it ?
The prefect of Lyon, Mr. Michel Delpuech, has to appear in front the administrative tribunal of Lyon following a complaint from about 60 Romanian Rroma who were expulsed from their illegal camp by order of the prefect. There is a further complaint from Kosovars and Albanians for the same reason. The Prefecture states that there is no legal basis for asking to be re-lodged, as this is purely required for asylum seekers and not for EU citizen.
We hope he gets convicted…
Glass (2014) reports on Rroma living at a large garbage dump on the outskirts of Tirana. Both the children and parents, who live in extremely modest circumstances, participate in the search for re-sellable materials that ends up on the garbage dump. The children go to school and hope for a better future. A woman speaks of discrimination by a local hospital that did not want to treat her because she is Rroma. The short documentary gives an insight into a life of extreme poverty. In his statement, the mayor denies that people are living at the garbage dump. He claims that there was a wall built around it. Despite its emphatic perspective, the report reproduces one-sided stereotypes about Rroma: that they are poor, uneducated, have many children and live in slums. Economic misery is the fate of many people of former Soviet states, and is not restricted to Rroma. In Albania, according to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 Rroma. Many of them are well integrated and have their own homes, but are not perceived as Rroma by the public, because they do not conform to stereotypes about the minority. Especially in the Balkans, the integration of Rroma into the majority society is historically documented: there are Rroma teachers, doctors, lawyers, police officers and much more. Unfortunately, all too often, the media neglects this aspect.
Baeck (2014) reports on the German return assistance project URA-2 in the Kosovo. The controversial aid program is supposed to help deported families or voluntarily returnees from Germany with their reintegration. According to Baeck however, the aid project doesn’t not fulfil this task. The program is more a political representation project, than that real integration assistance is being provided, Baeck criticizes: ““Ura” – means “bridge” in Albanian and is a project for “returnees” in the Kosovo, which Lower Saxony finances since 2009 with six other provinces and the federal government. Just recently, Lower Saxony decided to extend it until 2015. […] During a visit in February, the door to the URA-2-building is closed. […] People should actually queue here: anywhere in Prishtina, one encounters deportees, who wear rags and live in the worst conditions, in shacks or demolished houses. This morning, there is no one to be seen of all these people in the URA-2 building. […] URA 2 seems to be more effective in Germany. By default, during asylum procedures in Lower Saxony, the authorities refer to the assistances that are listed on leaflets. The project serves as a mean to overturn in advance possible reasons that could hinder a deportation – for example health reasons.” Baeck sees the return assistance project as an excuse to have arguments for the deportation of immigrants back to the Kosovo. The Rroma constitute the largest group of those affected. All the promises that are made in the information brochure of URA-2, are not adhered to, Baeck criticizes: “In the brochures of URA 2, one can read of “support with administrative procedures” and “psychological support”, of grants for rent, medicine, school supplies, or the initial furnishing of an apartment. To promote the integration into the labour market, one time training costs can be paid, up to 170 Euros, when starting a business even several thousand Euros. Who is returning from Germany “voluntarily”, receives more than “repatriated persons.”” Rroma are not politically persecuted in Kosovo. However, that does not mean that they are not there affected by severe poverty and a wide variety discriminations. This is given too little consideration when deporting people back. – Before the war, 100’000 to 300’000 well integrated Rroma lived in the Kosovo. Today, according to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, there are around 40’000.
The European Commission has announced in a recent press release that it awards seven distinguished organisations that are particularly involved in the integration of the Rroma in their countries. The winning organizations include: Roma Active Albania (RAA), which advocates the Rroma civil rights and draws attention to current topics of Romnja; the organization Citizens Association for the Promotion of Education of Roma Otaharin that is committed in Bosnia-Herzegonvina to better educational opportunities of the minority; in Kosovo The Ideas Partnership, which advocates for the integration of former beggars and promotes the enrolment of children; in Macedonia the organization Centre for Integration Ambrela that is committed to the promotion of Rroma in early childhood; in Serbia Hands of Friendship, which operates a parent-child education project; in Turkey the children’s art project Sulukule Roma Culture Development and Solidarity Association; and finally in Montenegro a project against child and forced marriages in Rroma communities, through the Centre for Roma Initiatives. The European Commission justifies its decision as follows: “We all – the European Commission, the governments, civil society organisations – need to send out the same message: Roma integration is an important policy. And it is not only investment for the benefit of this minority but it is also an investment to the benefit of society. Living in an environment in which each member of society contributes with their spirit and work force, will allow countries to grow strong and prosperous, from an economic, social and cultural perspective”, said Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, at the award ceremony.” Concerning the integration programmes of the warded organizations it must be remarked that begging Rroma or child marriages in no represent the norm among the minority.
– European Union (2014) Award for Roma Integration in the Western Balkans and Turkey. In: European Union online vom 1.10.2014. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-1064_en.htm
Keywords: Rroma, Europe, European Union, integration projects, organization, awards, stereotypes
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.
Ernst (2014) reports on the legal and political investigation of the war crimes committed against Rroma, Serbs and other minorities during the Kosovo War. The accused are the leaders of the liberation movement of Kosovo (UCK), who, according to the just-concluded report of the American judge John Clint Williamson, but also according to the findings of the Swiss correspondent of the council of Europe, Dick Marty, were involved in systematic acts of violence against ethnic minorities in the Kosovo. The Kosovo ministry of foreign affairs stated that the actions of the UCK were correct and committed for the sake of the independence of the Kosovo. Williamson’s report contains no new facts or insights, it stated. Nevertheless, a trial on the responsibility of the UCK, built on the insights of Williamson’s report, will be held: “In the coming year – probably in the Netherlands – a special tribunal will be initiated. International judges will then evaluate Williamson’s allegations on the basis of Kosovar law. This court will formally report to the European rule of law mission EULEX in Kosovo. The unpublished accusations are directed against a ring of high functionaries of the UCK, which are accused of crimes against humanity. It is a matter of a “brutal attack on almost all Serbs who wished to remain in the Kosovo, the Roma and those Kosovo-Albanians who opposed certain UCK groups.” Large parts of the minority population of the Kosovo south of the Ibar river were displaced. The crimes were so numerous and so systematically committed, that they meet the statement of facts of a crime against humanity.” Ernst sees the continuity of former warlords as current policy makers in Kososvo as a decisive factor for the slow investigation of war crimes. These policy makers were not held accountable for these facts not for the intimidation or even murder of witnesses of the war crimes, and is due in part on the inadequate work of the international Kfor peacekeepers and international police and judicial authorities, which neither were able to prevent the atrocities nor did pursue them. Regarding the fate of the Rroma, their persecution and displacement is only known among very few. However, their discrimination and marginalisation continues to the present day (compare Echo der Zeit 2014, Robelli 2014, Rroma Foundation Reports 2008, Schulte von Drach 2014).
The administrative court of Stuttgart, in what is perhaps a landmark ruling, recognized the refugee status of two Rroma from Serbia. Thus, it challenged the views of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, which at the end of last year came to the conclusion that no persecution of Rroma could be established in Serbia and deportation was therefore justified: “As reasoning, the judges said that the Roma were experiencing extreme disadvantages in their home country and were forced to live on the margins of society, as a spokeswoman for the court said on Monday. The main reason for the judgment was the restriction of the free movement of Roma in the southeast European country. For Roma, under certain circumstances, it is punishable under Serbian law to apply for asylum in another country. This equals a persecution, the court judged.” The verdict has the character of a precedent insofar, because the Rroma are not persecuted in Serbia, according to a federal decree that will be adopted shortly. Thus, the discussion about the discrimination against Rroma in former Yugoslavia and their status as refugees is once more opened. The decision also highlights that the assessment of discrimination against a minority is far from evident and easy. While some assessment are based on the legal foundations of a country, other evaluations are based on everyday practices, such as discrimination in the labour market and the education system, that are far more difficult to prove than law-related disadvantages (see Focus online 2014/I, SWR 2014).
The federal government wants to take a completely different direction. According to the daily newspaper Neues Deutschland (2014) the government wants declare Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as safe countries of origin. German interior minister Thomas de Maizière stated that Cabinet would discuss the bill on April the 30th. De Maizière had previously proposed, to also take Albania and Montenegro onto the list of safe countries of origin, but this proposal failed because of the criticism of the SPD: “SPD and the Union had approved in the coalition agreement, to take the three states of Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina onto the list. Asylum applications from people from these Balkan countries can then be processed faster – and are usually rejected. […] De Maizière said that Serbia had candidate status as a member state of the European Union. Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina went for it. “From these states one must expect that they deal well with their own citizens”, de Maizière said.” This contrasts with a perspective that emphasizes the individual destinies of those affected. For the German Institute for Human Rights, the concept of safe countries of origin is problematic in itself, because it greatly complicates the presentation and verification of individual persecutions (compare Focus online 2014/II).
Petignat (2014) reports on the conscious promotion of a multi-ethnic police force in Kosovo and Serbia. It is supposed to consist of ethnic Serbs, Albanians, and Rroma. By this measure, it is hoped that the confidence of the population in the authority is to be strengthened. The project is supported by the OSCE and Switzerland. In Serbia, the reluctance of non-Serbian speaking population to contact the police was significantly higher up till now. The aftermath of the Yugoslav wars is not yet completely forgotten and often leads to disagreements, as lately in Presevo during the construction of a monument to the Liberation Army. The multi-ethnic police in Serbia is planned to include 270 Albanians, 130 Serbs and some Rroma who have so far been under-represented. In Kosovo, the project is less advanced: “The example of the multi-ethnic police has caught on in the Balkans. Quite contrary to the north-Kosovo, where the still divided city of Mitrovica gradually integrates members of the Serbian community into the mixed police force. These are former guards, previously paid by Serbia, that must be re-included into the Kosovar institutions in this region with a potential for secession, following an agreement signed on April 2013 between Serbia and the Kosovo. In this way, 300 “Serbian” policemen are progressively integrated into the regular police forces of the Kosovo.” Petginant’s article shows that the Rroma are also under-represented among the authorities. Only a few Rroma build part of the multi-ethnic police.
On the occasion of the international Rroma Day, the chairman of the European Rroma Rights Centre, Robert Kushen, reflects on the situation of the Rroma in Europe and the continuing challenges for this minority (Kushen 2014). He arrives at a sober view: the decade of Rroma inclusion, which was adopted in Sofia in 2005, and encompassed the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Spain, unfortunately cannot fulfil the expectations that it raised. Rroma are still affected by widespread poverty, discrimination, unemployment and insufficient access to public institutions such as schools and hospitals: “Despite this political recognition of an unconscionable social crisis, Roma remain among the poorest, unhealthiest, least educated and most marginalised European citizens. The data are devastating: Across Central and Southeast Europe, 90 percent of Roma live in poverty. Fewer than one third of adults have paid employment. Only 15 percent of young Roma have completed secondary or vocational school. Nearly 45 percent of Roma live in housing that lacks basic amenities. Life expectancy in Roma communities is 10-15 years less than in non-Roma communities, with many Roma lacking access to insurance and health care.” Kushen refers in his judgement to information from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 2013). Reasoning with such figures is not without dangers, since the representation of the Rroma as uneducated, poor, and unhealthy is often interpreted by the polemical, public discourse as a cultural peculiarity of the minority, although these characteristics are inevitably a poverty phenomenon. Although is not to deny that numerous Rroma are poor and uneducated, the relevant question is whether such an argument can contribute to the integration of the Rroma. In addition, surveys often only take into account the visible Rroma, because the integrated ones are hard to identify as Roma and difficult to contact. Not only images of misery are needed, which generate compassion, but also images of success that allow a positive identification.
Kushen continues with information about the marginalization of the Rroma in Italy, France, Sweden and Hungary, and then gets on to the latest report from the European Union on the situation of the Rroma. The report published on April the second this year, can not present success stories either: “In early April, the European Commission convened a “Roma Summit” and issued a report assessing how member states are doing in addressing the interconnected problems of poverty and discrimination which the Roma are facing. The report noted “the persistence of segregation” in education, a large and in some cases widening employment gap between Roma and non-Roma, big differences between Roma and non-Roma in health insurance coverage, and an “absence of progress” in addressing the need for housing. Finally, the report noted that discrimination remains “widespread” (compare European Commission 2014).
With the debate over the right to stay of a Rroma family from Macedonia in Germany, the massive disagreements over the conditions in the countries of origin of people threatened with deportation became apparent. While proponents of deportation rely on country analyses, which state that no or very minimal discrimination against minorities in countries like Macedonia exists, supporters of the asylum seekers claim the exact opposite: “With a deportation to Macedonia the Roma family faces a hopeless fate”, writes member of parliament Kühn-Mengel to Rosenke. If the family will be deported, the Rustems will be exposed to “institutional discrimination”, warns the politician.” The father of the Rustem family had been beaten so heavily in his home country that he lay in comma for several days, according to his own statement. Subjective expertise, which can rarely be proved with documents, usually face hard resistance against official analyses that assess the social situation in a country (Kölnische Rundschau 2014, Wochenspiegel 2014).
Gajevic (2014) reports on the deportation of Rroma from Germany to Kosovo. She points out that in the opinion of social scientists and left-wing politicians, the situation for many Rroma in the Kosovo is precarious. Because they often do not speak Albanian, an enrolment into school is usually not possible. The supply of water, electricity, food and sanitation is often poor and discrimination as a minority is anything but irrelevant: „Largely unnoticed by the public, Rroma living here in Germany are increasingly forced to move back to Kosovo. According to the left party viewpoint, this is often a return into misery. The response to a request by the left party to the federal government shows that in the past two years, nearly 850 people were reported into the Balkan country, nearly half of whom were Roma. [ … ] The federal government signed in 2010 a readmission agreement – against fierce criticism – with the republic that split from Serbia, which allows to send back 2500 refugees every year.”
Le Nouvel Observateur (2014) reports on the lawsuit on the right of residence for the family of Leonarda Dibrani, whose deportation made national media coverage last autumn and led to strong criticism of French migration policies. The spokesman of the French administrative court stated that the application of the Dibrani family for a residence permit will be most likely rejected. The final verdict is still pending. The court criticised that Mr. and Mrs. Dibrani could not point to any real integration efforts. They isolated themselves and Mrs. Dibrani cannot speak any French, the court added. Leonarda and her family nonetheless still hope to be granted a residence permit for the whole family. France was her home, not the Kosovo, Leonarda stated. Also, she doesn’t speak any Albanian, which makes her integration in the Kosovo more difficult than in France.
Dubasque (2014) takes the events of Leonarda as an opportunity to reflect on the French Rroma policies. The approximately 15,000 Rroma in France are and were the target of a rigorous order-policy, which takes no account of their historical exclusion and marginalization. The Rroma are being represented – Dubasque criticizes – as if they uphold illegal migration, are not willing to work and want to live in degrading conditions voluntarily. Poverty is therefore being ethnicized: „Si l’on peut comprendre les problèmes que ces occupations sauvages peuvent poser aux maires et aux riverains, il convient de rappeler que ces installations constituent des occupations par défaut, conséquence du manque d’hébergements et de logements accessibles aux personnes à très faible revenu […].“ [While one can understand the issues of these illegal occupations can cause to mayors and to neighbours, one needs to state that these occupations occur by default, as a consequence of the lack of housing for people with very low income]. The continuing evictions of Rroma from illegal settlements strongly impairs their access to educational and health institutions and the labour market. Because basic human rights are withheld from them, for many Rroma, a successful integration is a highly demanding task.
Based on selected informants, Woker (2014) presents an unbiased, nuanced view of the fate of Rroma in Kosovo. He portrays various projects in Pristina and the suburbs that were co-sponsored by returning or remaining Rroma. In the Serbian municipality of Gracanica they run a hotel, which was co-sponsored by a Swiss official. Nrecaj, a Rrom, wanted to set up small libraries in all public schools to improve children’s education skills. However, the Kosovo authorities showed no interest in his project. Andreas Worms, an official who assessed the return of Kosovo exiles in late 1999 on behalf of the Swiss Federal Government and some aid agencies, confirms the difficulties of reintegration. Not infrequently, the houses of the Rroma were destroyed in Serbian minority areas: “Wormser had to assess the reasonableness of a return in the event of asylum applications. The current situation of the minority was often delicate: their homes in Serbian villages were destroyed and in the Albanian settlement area they were seen as collaborators with the Serbs and had to fear for their lives.” Woker’s conclusion is that the situation for the Rroma in Kosovo is still unsatisfactory. The conflicts from spring 2004 encouraged many in the decision to seek their luck abroad. From originally around 200’000 Rroma today about 50’000 remain in the Kosovo. Despite efforts by organizations such as “Voice of Roma”, who work for better educational qualifications among the Rroma, there remain strong tensions between the two other ethnic groups in the country: the Kosovar Albanians who make up the majority of the population and the Kosovo Serbs, who constitute the second largest group. Whether the Rroma hotel will become a model project or not, will have to be seen.
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