Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

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07.02.2014 „I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies“ by Yaron Matras

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Matras is a linguist and advocates the rights of the Rroma. His new book “I Met Lucky People”, which was published on 6th of February. According to the reviewer Katharine Quarmby, the book presents a heterogeneous, non-political view on the Rroma, their social organization, their language, their traditions and identity. A non-political perspective is particularly desirable due to the polemical, un-objective debate about mass immigration from Romania and Bulgaria. However, the book is not confined to the presentation of alleged facts, but holds a mirror up in front of the readers and shows them how the widespread knowledge about the Rroma tells more about the authors than about Rroma themselves: “The book […] makes a strong argument for his contention, that the way we gadjes, or non-Roma people, talk and write about the Romani people reflects more about us than reflecting their reality. This reflection is not a pretty one.” Matras remind the persecution of the Rroma in Europe, and also in Great Britain, where the author is based. The chapter on the language Rromanes falls into the expertise of the author, as he is a linguist. Quarmby qualifies as particularly compelling Martras’ writing about the creation of myths and identities by the majority society. This topic has already been investigated in the German-speaking world by Klaus Michael Bogdal. Towards the end of the book review, the reviewer outs herself as also charged with prejudice, when she indicates that the immigrant Rroma, British Rroma and Irish Travellers are said to only meet in scrap yards. She doesn’t seem to have an awareness of non marginalized, invisible Rroma living in Great Britain. Finally, Quarmby points to the important question of whether it is appropriate that non-Rroma represent Rroma people and to what extent this is practice is challenged by Rroma. Matras is optimistic that Rroma activists, academics and writers are increasingly questioning this status quo (Quarmby 2014).

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07.02.2014 Increasing discrimination of Rroma in Greece

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Roumpis (2014) paints a bleak picture of the social situation of Rroma in Greece: Segregated schools, growth of extreme right-wing groups, maintenance of pejorative stereotypes and harsh economic conditions make life for many Rroma in Greece an unhappy thing. The prejudice against the minority wad additionally fuelled by the media hype around the blonde Rroma girl Maria. Also, a conservative public accuses the Rroma to burden social welfare: “In Sofades, a town of 6,000 that’s evenly divided between Roma and “balamos” — what Roma call white Greeks — many Roma live in unheated, barely fitting houses made of asbestos, stone and zinc. Although they patronize local Greek-owned shops, they aren’t welcome in cafes and bars. […] Greece’s financial crisis has made matters worse. Many Roma families receive financial assistance for low-income households and having more than three children, an issue that has bred resentment.”

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

07.02.2014 Integration efforts for Rroma families in Hellemmes-Lille

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La Voix du Nord (2014) reports on the installation of several caravans, where Rroma who moved to Hellemmes are supposed to stay in the future. The five Rroma families benefit from the assistance of local politicians, the help has at the same time drawn the anger of local residents. The children of the five families are already enrolled in local schools. The mayor is optimistic despite the resistance: “We remember that the announcement of the opening of the insertion village angered many residents. What’s about now? “The residents of Hellemmes now make the difference between the Roma and our Roma”, said the mayor.” The integration efforts on part of the mayor of Hellemmes are very commendable, but they form an exception to the otherwise very repressive policy towards the Rroma. Also one should not forget that there are many Rroma in France who have been living integrated and unobtrusive in the country for many years. Of them is never spoken in the media.

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07.02.2014 Libération criticizes the Rroma policy of Martine Aubry

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Boy (2014) from Libération criticizes the promises made by Martine Aubry, mayor of Lille, concerning the accommodation and integration of Rroma into the city. Aubry is said to have claimed in a public statement to want to accommodate 30% of the Rroma living in France in the city of Lille. In a later announcement she is said to have corrected the number to 10% of the Rroma. The statements are especially contradictory because several large Rroma camps of Lille had been evicted during the summer of 2013: “The mayor of Lille tries to justify this huge discrepancy by explaining that she did not renounce her policy, but that Lille hosts a disproportionate part of the Roma population of France: 30% [of the population] she stated in November on France Inter. “I have never changed my declaration since 2008, I have always said the same thing: humanity, she said. Accommodate a part of the Roma, but not 30% of all those on the French territory. We are ready to accommodate 10%, that is to say 1,500. With humanity.” Boy rightly points out that the figures about the Rroma based in France – immigrated ones as well as those with a French passport – are very inaccurate. But to accuse Aubry of a repressive Rroma policy is inappropriate. Aubry called on several occasions for an inclusive policy towards the Rroma in France.

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07.02.2014 Photo series about Rroma in Wroclaw

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The NZZ currently published a short photo gallery on Rroma in Wroclaw (Breslau), in south-western Poland. The emphatic photo reportage by photographer Adam Lach focuses on the exclusion and marginalization of the Rroma in Eastern Europe. Despite his benevolent perspective, the photographer perpetuates and indirectly disseminates stereotypes about the Rroma, because he focuses exclusively on the impoverished, visible Rroma. That there are also integrated Rroma that do not correspond to the stereotype of poverty is not mentioned here (Lach 2014).

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07.02.2014 Racially motivated acid attack against Rroma in Paris

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Le Monde (2014) reports about an acid attack against Rroma who live on the street, close to the Place de la République. The offender had doused the Rroma’s mattress with acid and escaped when sighting eyewitnesses. The attack is just one in a series of acid attacks, which took place against the Rroma. Apparently, all harassments were done by the same person. It is believed that the perpetrator is the owner of an adjacent house. The victimized Rroma are preparing to file complaint against the offender: “The Rroma are encouraged to file complaint at the police office of the third arrondissement, the assistant of the organisation Autremonde has also filed complaint. “The officer in charge of the case is said to “use all possible means to find the perpetrator”, Mediapart states […]”. That the police truly helps the affected Rroma unbiased, is to be hoped.

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07.02.2014 Segregation of Rroma in Northern Bohemia

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Ebert (2014) reports on the children centre “Ambrela” in Schluckenau, an institution for assisting disadvantaged children, primarily Rroma. The children are – amongst others – helped with homework, whereby the still widespread segregation of Rroma children in the Czech Republic should be challenged. Many Rroma children are enrolled into so-called “practical classes”, which do not foster their skills and greatly reduce their chances on the labour market: “educational discrimination” is the keyword. This phenomenon ensures anywhere in Central and Eastern Europe that ethnic or social minorities remain where they are: on the edge of society. The Czech Republic is no exception. Especially members of the Roma minority are likely to be sent into the so-called “practical schools”[ … ].” Pastor Pavel Prochazka complains that the support of the Rroma is boycotted or disapproved by numerous representatives of the majority society and thereby maintains segregation. The emphatic article disapproves the educational discrimination against Rroma in public schools in the Czech Republic. However, it also indirectly confirms notions of impoverished, poorly educated Rroma, as they regularly circulate in the media.

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31.01.2014 Immigration debate in Germany

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Wragge (2014) raises the question why the debate about the supposed mass immigration from Romania and Bulgaria ever evolved. There are plenty of reasons to refute the arguments of the proponents of mass migration as the experiences with the free migration policy with Poland and the Czech Republic show. Also, the EU law protects Germany against excessive payments from the social security system. Wragge sees the origin of the debate in polemical statements by conservative politicians and in the dissemination of distorted images through the media: “An attempt to explain the existence of this debate leads to the images that we have of Bulgarians and Romanians. If one speaks of the predicted 80,000-200,000 newcomers – do we see only low-income families in Duisburg’s “problem houses” in front of us, or also the engineers, doctors and nurses who come to us? Around these images there is a raging “semantic battle” in the media […].”  Furthermore, the responsibilities of the EU and the German government are repeatedly mixed in the debate and a false image the various actors is spread. Wragge identifies the debate as permeated by fears and taboos, such as naming problems as the immigration of Rroma by their name. He is, however, clearly wrong if he means that the immigration debate is a problem with the Rroma. The Rroma are exploited and instrumentalised by politicians and journalists for their purposes. They create a distorted, negative caricature of the Rroma, what makes them the real aggressors in the debate.

The district Reinickendorf in Berlin has been allocated 130,000 Euros for the years 2014 and 2015 to support immigrant Rroma in their integration process (Schindler 2014). The integration assistance is supposed to encompass language courses and the teaching of general social competences. The awarded funding is surprising in the sense that the ethnicity of immigrants is not identified. The figures are based on estimates and speak of 900 to 1000 immigrant Rroma in Reinickendorf. Schindler reproduces a one-sided image of needy, uneducated Rroma, which has been spread the media for over a year.

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31.01.2014 Media attention on immigrant Rroma in illegal settlements continues

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Huguenin (2014) of France 3 reports on a recently evicted illegal settlement in Languedoc- Roussillon, near which Rroma have again resettled. The article reproduces – despite its emphatic perspective – a negative image of poor, uneducated Rroma, as the French right so often portrays.

In Val-de-Marne, a Rroma settlement with 1000 to 2000 inhabitants is being evicted. Residents were informed a week before the eviction about the upcoming action. The majority of the children are enrolled in Bonneuil. This clearance challenges the continued schooling of minors (Le Parisien 2014/I). The one-sided media focus on Rroma in slums increases the biased public impression that all Rroma live in such conditions. It is constantly neglected that there are many Rroma in France who lead an integrated and unobtrusive life.

The mayor of Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Luc Jousse, doesn’t have to fear any sanctions from his party, the UMP, which dropped all charges against the mayor. Jousse had stated in December 2013, that a fire in a Rroma settlement was reported too early to the authorities, which from his point of view was a pity. For this tasteless statement, Jousse had been suspended until further notice (Le Parisien 2014/II , Francetv info 2014 Nice Matin 2014/I, Nice Matin 2014/II).

Guévart (2014) from the Courrier Picard meanwhile mocks himself without shame about the fate of the Kosovar Rroma girl Leonarda and her family. He accuses the left-wing supporters of the family of blind humanitarianism and sees the rejection of the asylum application as a just conclusion to this matter: “The left has criticized the evictions as being managed like an industry in the era of Sarkozy-Guéant, being continued now in its his own camp [through Manuel Valls]. What now? Not applying the law to avoid controversy? Hold a press conference to reach out to a teenager who stands up to the president of the French state, and offer her … what to do? Home, studies, all expenses paid by whom?” Guévart is totally indifferent towards the situation Rroma face in Kosovo. He doesn’t care that they are confronted with the aftermath of the civil war and all its consequences.

Paupe (2014) meantime questions the effectiveness of the French migration policy regarding Rroma. Manuel Valls ordered 20,000 deportations of Rroma in 2013. The number of foreign Rroma in France meanwhile stays around 17,000 people. The numbers are misleading because the same people were often deported multiple times, the author states. The organization Romeurope criticizes the usefulness of a rigorous deportation policy. What is really wanted is constructive solutions, improving the conditions of all actors involved. To only remind continuously of the necessity to cut down public spending isn’t solving anything, Umberto Guerra from Romeurope criticized. The evictions indeed exacerbate the long-term improvement of the life situation of those affected. They complicate a regulated access to health, education, and labour institutions.

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31.01.2014 Rally for a humanitarian asylum policy in Erfurt

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Thüsing (2014) reports on a rally of around 120 young adults in Erfurt. The protesters demanded a more humanitarian asylum policy and the unrestricted right of residence for needy immigrants, particularly for Rroma. The rally was organized at the initiative of the groups “Roma Thüringen” and the Thüringer Refugee Council. A spokeswoman from the committee declared: “Particularly in the current populist debate about flight and immigration and against a background of racist expressions even in the Thüringer state parliament, it is important to show solidarity to the people affected by discrimination and to set an example for a humanitarian approach and a human rights-based refugee policy [ … ].”  Rroma are exploited in the polarized debate over and over again for political purposes and stylised into biased caricatures.

Thüsing, Matthias (2014) Flüchtlingsrat fordert Bleiberecht für Roma-Familien. In: Thüringer Allgemeine online vom 27.1.2014. http://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/startseite/detail/-/specific/Fluechtlingsrat-fordert-Bleiberecht-fuer-Roma-Familien-641336188

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31.01.2014 Rroma Holocaust commemoration

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The 27th of January is the official day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism in Germany. On the 27th of January 1945, the Red Army liberated the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The state chairman of the Hessian Sinti and Roma, Adam Strauss, warned in his speech of the importance of civil courage and the danger of spreading false information about Rroma. He further noted a continuity of prejudice against this minority, which persists and is jointly responsible for the genocide. The Deputy Prime Minister of Hesse, Al-Wazir, pointed on the danger of intellectual arson and the way it is fuelled by ill-considered remarks: “He directly pointed to the current debate on poverty refugees from Romania and Bulgaria, who come to Germany. Al-Wazir called it “important that we do not build new walls due to reckless words.”  Prudence and respect are important “to us Germans in this debate.” On the same day Bouffier, in a newspaper interview, took a similar view of the debate on poverty migrants. It is important “to use appropriate words to designate the facts”, he stated” (von Bebenburg 2014).

In his text, Hagemann (2014), addresses the discrimination of Rroma by German teachers during and after the Second World War. NSDAP compliant teachers wrote students from ethnic minorities “characteristics of their race” into their testimonials and managed to obtain their deportation. During the memorial service in Menden, the secondary school students read frighteningly many names of young children. They were infants who were born after 1940 and were nonetheless deported in March 1943. It is particularly shocking that many of the teachers were allowed to teach after the war had ended and were supported by public institutions such as the Catholic Church: “The students called the names of the teachers who were allowed to educate the children of Menden in the post-war years. They criticized the Catholic Church, which did not protect these Catholics, the archbishops, who did not respond to petitions, although the brutal extermination of the Sinti and Roma was described in them in dramatic terms. […] One student described the terrible conditions that were faced by the Catholic Gypsies of Menden in Auschwitz, where they were branded as “asocial” with a black triangle on the clothing: they faced typhoid and diarrhoea, abuse and rape. Those who survived, were led into the gas chamber.”

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31.01.2014 Rroma in Hungary are still taught segregated

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Le Point (2014) discusses the continuing segregation of Rroma in Hungarian schools. The article criticizes the ongoing discrimination against Rroma children by the Hungarian school system. Particularly outrageous about the segregation is, that it mixes ethnic categories with poverty. With this logic, a Rroma child is automatically mentally handicapped because he comes from a socially disadvantaged environment. Healthy Rroma children are attested disabilities based on flimsy arguments: “In this country of 10 million inhabitants, Roma make up about 8% of the population. One third of Roma children attend mixed schools, one third attend schools only for Roma, and one third is allocated to schools for the mentally disabled, according to unofficial estimates. There are no statistical studies based on ethnic criteria in Hungary.” The EU has repeatedly cautioned Hungary on its racist methods within the school system. Only mixed schools can ensure the integration of Rroma and educate all parties to become tolerant citizen.

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31.01.2014 The Hungarian Reformed Church, the Orbán government and the Rroma

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Wipfler (2014) addresses the question of the implications for Rroma from the partnership between the Hungarian Reformed Church and the Orbán government. The Reformed Church of Hungary shares many conservative values with the ruling party:  “The harsh criticism from the West on Viktor Orbán’s government is not shared in Hungary. This at least is the view of the reformed Bishop of Debrecen, Gusztáv Bölcskei. [ … ] Orbán represents “Christian values”, one cannot be opposed to that, explained Bölcskei. That Orbán took values such as fatherland, Christianity, family, loyalty, faith, love and national pride into the new constitution is highly valued and beliefs shared by many Hungarian Reformed.” Wipfler states that Antiziganism is widespread in the Hungarian Church. The exclusion of the Rroma from the majority of society is upheld and not fought against, even though the church should do so as a social actor. One reaction to this is an increased emigration to the West. Ethnic racism is particularly strong on the streets. Wipfler’s article is very critical of its subject, but neglects the fact that there are certainly also dedicated clergy who are committed to the integration of the Rroma (compare Wipfler 2014/II ).

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31.01.2014 The Rroma identity as a taboo

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Bollmann/Kloepfer (2014) draws an analogy between being gay and belonging to the Rroma ethnic group. Whereas the taboo around homosexuality has nearly disappeared and gays and lesbians are predominantly socially accepted, the Rroma still face great reservations: In the current debate, some authors only use the words Romanians and Bulgarians, although they are talking about the Rroma. Bollmann and Kloepfer do not state that this method is not only correlated with political correctness but with the prevention of further prejudices. It is repeatedly pointed out by Rroma representatives that ethnicity is usually mentioned within a negative context and thus discredits the Rroma and maintains a pejorative image of them. On the other hand, the authors are right when they state the maintenance of prejudices, who are caused by a negation of the subject: “The mechanism of concealment worked earlier with gays and lesbians as perfidious as it is today with the Roma. He who doesn’t call things for what they are plays – consciously or unconsciously – with hints and prejudices. The wider public then perceives only those exponents of the minority that correspond to the popular stereotype and thus appear as “fancy”. These are the “poverty refugees”, the “immigrants into the social system” who pile up garbage – or with benevolence the musician who sings “Gypsy Songs”. The successful lawyer from a Roma family remains as invisible as until recently the gay leaders in general. “I didn’t want to be a Roma, I was ashamed” said a lawyer from Essen last year to a journalist.” But the apparent taboo about Rroma should not obscure the fact that it is most appropriate to use great caution when applying ethnic terms and ascriptions. Imprudent statements free from any taboos can equally contribute to the spread of prejudice as a too politically correct handling of a subject. Not the ethnicity is crucial, but the identification of a problem and the recognition of poverty. If Bollmann and Kloepfer think they need to identify poor Rroma as Rroma in order to help them, they have misunderstood something significantly: “A particular Roma strategy is not required here”, the German government propagated just recently.” Here the federal government is perfectly right. The debate on immigration is not a debate about Rroma, but one that exploits and politicizes the Rroma for their purposes.

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31.01.2014 The Rroma in France and French politics

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The Schweizer Fernsehen (2014) discussed the rejection of the asylum application of the Kosovar Rroma family Dibrani as well as the French asylum policies and regulatory measures concerning Rroma. The uncompromising deportation of the family had resulted in numerous demonstrations against the French asylum policies, which were denounced as inhumane. The articles addresses both the political instrumentalisation of the Rroma and the invisible, integrated Rroma in France that are not discussed in the media: “The group of Roma comprises a total of around 10 million people, of which about 400,000 live in France. Most Roma are well-integrated French citizens and are employed. Only a minority of around 15,000 Roma is living in precarious conditions.”

The NZZ (2014) complements that the French administrative court rejected the request of family Dibrani to asylum on the grounds that the parents didn’t show any efforts to integrate in France. The family’s last legal change is an appellate court. Leonarda criticized the authorities for not considering her family’s real life situation in their decision. She stated that she didn’t see any future for herself in the Kosovo, and that France was her home (compare Tagesspiegel 2014 , Swiss Television 2014/II ) 

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25.01.2014 Canada: A Hungarian Rroma Family that may be deported back is fearing for their security.

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The asylum case of a Rroma family from Hungary in Montreal continues to make the headlines. Facing an imminent deportation back to Hungary, the Horvath family fears for their safety in Hungary in view of the extreme racism against Rroma in that country and in view of the activities of rightist extremist such as Jobbik and the Hungarian Guards. In spite of what is being said by the Hungarian Government and by its Minister Balog, little has improved for Rroma.

Une famille de Roms qui doit être déportée craint pour sa sécurité. In Metro News Canada. 21.01.2015. http://journalmetro.com/actualites/montreal/706448/une-famille-de-roms-craint-pour-sa-securite/

Montreal Gazette: Roma family fearful of deportation to Hungary. In Politics.hu. 22.01.2015. http://www.politics.hu/20150122/montreal-gazette-roma-family-fearful-of-deportation-to-hungary/

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24.01.2014 Jean-Marie Le Pen appears unrepentant

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The founder and honorary president of the National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, repeated in a video message his racist remarks against Rroma, remarks for which he was sentenced in late 2013 to a fine of five thousand Euro. Le Pen insists on his view that Rroma are natural thieves: “La condamnation ne l’effraye pas. Le président d’honneur du Front national Jean-Marie Le Pen a répété vendredi 27 décembre des propos pour lesquels il a écopé de 5000 euros d’amende pour injure publique envers un groupe de personnes en raison de son appartenance à une ethnie le 19 décembre. Il avait affirmé que les Roms „comme les oiseaux“ „volent naturellement.““[The condemnation doesn’t scare him. The honorary president of the National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen repeated Friday the 27th of December statements for which he was condemned to a 5000 euro fine for public insults against a group of people due to their ethic appurtenance on December 19th. He had stated that Rroma “ as birds”, are “natural thieves”” He therefore reinforces widely held stereotypes that ascribe the Rroma a culturally-related delinquency. That such statements are completely absurd and lack any common sense should be clear to any person thinking critically (L’express 2014).

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24.01.2014 Notions of criminal Rroma clans persist

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Morel (2013) reports on decreasing rates of crimes that are apparently being committed by southern European Rroma clans. This isn’t supposed to mean that the numbers of offenses have effectively decreased, but that the offenders act more skilfully and unobtrusively, according to Morel. They are apparently acting in a more focused way, renting less rooms in cheap hotels, they are scattered in public transport to attract less attention. Recently, the suspects were mainly minor Rromnja in groups of two. For Morel and his informants there is no doubt that there are internationally organized Rroma clans behind these activities: „Les équipes de tziganes, qui agissent jusqu’à cinq fois par jour, ont également renouvelé leur manière de transporter leur butin, constitué d’argent et de bijoux. Désormais, elles n’hésitent pas à se l’insérer dans le sexe pour passer la frontière. Selon la police, elles font partie d’un réseau international qui pourrait être basé en Belgique, en région parisienne ou dans l’est de la France. Les délinquantes vivent la plupart du temps dans des camps de roms.” [These teams of Gypsies (Sic!), who act up to five times a day, also renewed their methods for transporting their bounty, mostly money and jewellery. They do not hesitate to put them in their sex in order to cross the border. According to the police, they are part of an international band possibly based in Belgium, in Paris, or in Eastern France. The criminals mostly live in Rroma camps.] Guggisberg (2014) also feeds the notions of criminal, organised Rroma clans, smuggling stolen goods over the Switzerland-Italian border. Once again it must be stressed that Rroma are not more delinquent than people of other ethnic groups. The idea of organised Romany clans feeds absurd and false ideas of culturally-related crimes. These assumptions are stupid and should be relegated ad acta.

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24.01.2014 Refutation of the prejudices against Rroma

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The Rroma organization “Romeurope” republished its booklet “Les Roms: luttons contre les idées recues”. The organization argues against the most stubborn prejudices that are spread about the Rroma immigrants from Eastern Europe: 1. They have no right to stay in France. This statement is incorrect because most European countries now are members of the Schengen area and Rroma are entitled as citizen of these countries to make use of the free migration policy. 2. The Rroma love to live in slums. Wrong, poor Rroma live in informal settlements in the suburbs because of lack of alternatives. This has nothing to do with their identity. 3. The Rroma are nomads. Also wrong. The Rroma are forced by evictions to change their location. The majority of the Rroma are sedentary. 4. They only want to live amongst their own clan. Wrong, the Roma live in family groups to be able to help each other and to master their often precarious living conditions. 5. Rroma do not want to work. Wrong, the Rroma are working as hard as other people. However, their access to the labour market is still very restricted. Institutional racism against the Rroma is still prevalent in many European countries. 6. Rroma prefer to beg. Also wrong. Due to the precarious economic situation of many immigrant Rroma and lack of alternatives many are forced to beg. 7. Rroma do not want to send their children to school. Wrong, often complicated regulations do prevent the enrolment of young Rroma. The regular evictions hinder an undisturbed schooling. 8. The Rroma are carriers of disease and bring diseases to France. Wrong, the precarious hygienic conditions in the informal camps and poor access to health care make immigrant Rroma susceptible to disease. 9. The Rroma are social parasites and exploit the French welfare state. Also wrong, most foreign Rroma have very poor access to public institutions (Romeurope 2014).

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24.01.2014 Rroma and education policy in Great Britain

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Le Bas (2014) takes a critical look at the education policies in Great Britain and the integration of Rroma into public educational institutions. He notes that the Rroma are strongly under-represented in public schools: „The mental age of an average adult Gypsy is thought to be about that of a child of 10, said the 1959 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14 years after the end of the Nazi genocide of Romany Gypsies. This week new analysis of the 2011 census has been released by the Office for National Statistics. It revealed that of the 58,000 people who identified themselves as being of Gypsy/Traveller ethnicity, 60% had no formal qualifications whatsoever.” However, the equation of Rroma and travellers as an ethnic group is wrong. Most English travellers can be traced back to Irish travellers who have their own origins. Le Bas continues on the question of what factors lead to low school enrolment rates among Rroma. In addition to obvious factors such as discrimination, he also deals with sensitive cultural explanations, but he immediately qualifies these to the benefit of individual experiences: As among other ethnic groups, there are some Rroma families who value education more than others. The crucial question remains how to integrate the Rroma successfully into society as a whole.

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