On Friday, the Roma in Krško, Slovenia, convened a meeting with the police, due to the increasing number of vehicles confiscated from Roma recently. They were told, among other things, that they were not hunting Roma, but debtors.
Really?
Silva Mesojedec sent a letter to the Domovina editors in which he presents his eleven-point analysis of the state of the Roma issue, its causes and possible solutions. To quote her letter:
1964: 64 Roma lived in Žabjak (census of Roma in Dolenjska).
1971: the study mentions 37 Roma families and 200 Roma.
1984: 214 Roma are mentioned.
2014: there are about 700 Roma.
Today, the number is around 1,000 Roma.
Until 1984, the state at least systematically monitored the number. Then – nothing more. This is not a coincidence, but evidence of a completely wrong attitude towards the Roma issue: if you don’t measure the problem, you don’t solve it either. There are no statistics, no strategy, no responsibility.
In brief, Roma multiply. Ever had doubts about statistics? 10% of the population in the Balkan are Roma. The 64 in 1964 was an illusion …
The musician and activist Harri Stojka is calling for the swift construction of a memorial for Roma and Sinti in Austria at Schmerlingplatz in Vienna. “There, at a historically significant location in the heart of Vienna, a visible symbol of remembrance and recognition should be erected.”
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