Tag Archives: Education

Deutschland News Westeuropa

05.12.2014 Integrated Rroma in Germany

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Jaeger (2014) spoke with Sonja Böttcher, a German social worker and Rromni. The 43-year-old is the daughter of Hans-Georg Böttcher, one of the founders the Roma Union. Böttcher talks about persistent prejudices against the minority, Rroma living integrated and the importance of being able to accept ones’ identity in spite of prejudices: “There are deeply rooted prejudices against Roma. That they are dirty and mostly homeless, depraved. However, most people do not even know Roma.Changes and positive examples are not perceived. Many Roma are indeed born here and have respected professions. […] But we live in a time, where the origin does actually not matter anymore. Therefore, I would like to see a stronger voice in the community. This may help to eliminate clichés. For a long time, I have denied my origins and told that I am from India […]. And based on my experience, I can say today that there is no reason to deny oneself. I actually think that it is time that we should go into the offensive.” In Germany, according to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma. The majority of them is integrated, works, speaks German and sends their children to school. They are proof that integration is possible. Rroma belong to all social strata and professions. On the occasion of the debate about the so-called “poverty immigrants”, a highly biased notion of the minority was spread which discredits the majority of integrated Rroma. In an article of December 2nd, Jaeger (2014/II) himself points out to the problems of overcrowded house, into which Rroma families moved. The inhabitants of the overcrowded apartments will be allocated alternative accommodation. Nevertheless, the one-sided coverage of Rroma is not discussed (compare Jaeger 2014/III).  

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05.12.2014 Halle: persistent aggressions towards Rroma

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Neues Deutschland (2014) reports on ongoing pogroms and incitement against Rroma in Halle. In the recent months, repeated assaults against Rroma occurred in the quarter of Silberhöhe. Moreover, xenophobic Facebook groups called for violence against the minority. Silberhöhe is a poor district, which is characterised by industrialised apartment blocks: “The attackers were between 10 and 13 years old. In mid-September, a young Roma woman and her two-year old son were attacked by adolescents in Silberhöhe, an industrialised building quarter in Halle. […] The instigators however, are adults. They operate Internet sites such as “hallemax.de”, where in hard tone and partly with multiple entries a day, one speaks about “alienation” and against Rroma. […] The focus of their aggression is a group of 40 families, belonging to the Roma minority, who immigrated from Romania and Spain – in the context of the EU-wide freedom of movement. From the beginning, the newcomers were faced with dislike, aggression and hatred. Especially the children reported bullying on the street or in the supermarket, the mobile victim counselling of Halle states. Later, a so-called “vigilante group” was founded, who was supposed to ensure “peace and order” with patrols in Silberhöhe.” In response to the xenophobic actions, a group against anti-Semitism was founded. The alliance “Hall against right-wing extremism” organised counter-demonstrations to the hostile actions against Rroma, in order to express their solidarity with the minority and to stand up against anti-Semitism. In addition, a meeting was organised to counter the prejudices against immigrants with facts and  knowledge. In Germany, there are an estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma, many of them for generations. They are integrated, go to work, speak German and send their children to school.

Frankreich News Westeuropa

05.12.2014 Bron: Mrap criticises planned segregated class for Rroma children

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Bevand (2014) reports on the latest matter of the French movement against racism (Mrap). The organisation criticises the decision of the mayor of Bron, to set up an extra class for Rroma children in the community. The class is supposed to encompass the children of a local Rroma settlement and to include Rroma children already enrolled in school. The movement against racism justifiably criticises that the children are thereby intentionally excluded and disadvantaged: “Towards a new controversy? In any case, the movement against racism and for the friendship between people (Mrap) condemned in a statement on Monday the decision of the mayor of Bron – a statement near Lyon – to open an “ethnic class” to receive the Roma children of a local slum. […] Without distinction, it groups together children who were already enrolled in previous years and speak French well, with other children who have just arrived in France, MRAP continues, which wants “to invoke the defenders of rights to finish this additional ethnic segregation.” Segregation is inevitably the wrong way to promote the integration of migrant children. Rather, it promotes the exclusion and marginalisation of the children as well as the immigrant families. As Bevand himself points out, so far, children with weak knowledge of the French language were additionally supported, but could attend regular classes. This is a much more elaborate method, which aims at integration and support, and not to at a special treatment and exclusion. – According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, in France there are between 100,000 and 500,000 Rroma. The vast majority of them is integrated, goes to work, and sends their children to school. The estimated 15,000 Rroma living in informal settlements are a minority of the minority.

Ungarn News Osteuropa

28.11.2014 Hungarian Spectrum: Zoltan Balog promotes segregation of Rroma children

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Hungarian Spectrum (2014) reports on the ambivalent Rroma policy of the Hungarian Minister of Human Resources, Zoltan Balog. Hungarian Spectrum accuses the Fidesz-politician to foster the segregation of Rroma pupils in contradiction to his public statements. The special schooling of Rroma children fostered by Balog is the result of a double standards concerning integration: He does not want equality, but a special treatment of the Rroma, Hungarian Spectrum criticises: “during Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first six months of 2011, the Hungarian government took upon itself the creation of a Roma program for the entire European Union. From the beginning I noted Balog’s reluctance to follow the earlier Hungarian government’s strategy of integration. There were also signs that Balog, realising the enormousness of the task, wanted to dump the problem on the churches. […] My other suspicion was that in his heart of hearts Balog does not believe in school integration. He is convinced that special Gypsy classes enable students to catch up with their non-Roma contemporaries–separate to become equal. Based on countless studies we know that this is a misguided notion. But it seems that Fidesz politicians cannot easily be convinced by hard data or evidence.” In addition, the Minister is accused of having campaigned for the reopening of a segregated Rroma school in Nyíregyháza, which was closed in 2007. In spite of the decision of the appellate court that declared segregated schooling of Rroma children illegal, the Fidesz government enacted a change in law in favour of Balog’s Rroma policy, which allows him to continue administering segregated schools and classes: “How strongly Balog felt about this particular case is demonstrated in a press release his ministry issued on November 6 […]. This press release is a perfect example of the double talk this government specializes in. The final verdict in the case is” highly regrettable because many children will be deprived of a superior education.” […] The proposed amendment says that in the case of schools run by churches or in schools serving national minorities the minister – in our case Zoltán Balog – can issue a decree that will allow segregated classes.”

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28.11.2014 Award for Holocaust survivors Hugo Höllenreiner

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Trebbin (2014) reports on the award for the German Rroma-Holocaust survivor Hugo Höllenreiner. Höllenreiner is one of three thousand survivors who survived the “gypsy camp” of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Most of the approximately 30,000 prisoners, including many women and children, were killed. In the 1990s, Höllenreiner began to break his silence about this traumatic experience and henceforth committed himself as a contemporary witness. He has reported on the Nazi atrocities at Auschwitz-Birkenau to thousands of German pupils: “How SS men launched sheep dogs on naked people before his eyes. How they drove people into the gas chambers. How he had to witness mass shootings and then had to help with filling in the graves with the bodies of the murdered. And how little Hugo was lying on the operating table of camp doctor Josef Mengele… […] 36 family members of the Höllenreiners perished in the Holocaust. Hugo’s parents and their six children survived with a lot of luck and great courage. However, his education after the war and the liberation was short-lived: the teachers put the “Gypsy boy” unceremoniously out the door. The discrimination continued. So Hugo Höllenreiner had to start his career with peddling.” For his commitment as a contemporary witness to the Holocaust, Höllenreiner has now been awarded with the medal “Munich shines”. West Germany did not recognise the genocide of the Rroma until 1982, when many of the survivors had already died. The Holocaust of the Rroma is often incorrectly referred to with the word “Porrajmos”. The term, which traces back to the verb “porravav”, meaning to “open wide”, is often used in the context of sexual activity and therefore is not appropriate to describe a genocide.

News Westeuropa

26.11.2014 Rroma and the Pentecostal movement in Great Britain

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Ridley (2014) reports on the relationship between Rroma and the Pentecostal Church in Great Britain. Based on the biography of the Rroma Pastor Jackie Boyd, she discusses the characteristics and contradictions of the Pentecostal movement: she assesses as positive the efforts of the Pentecostal church to improve the education of the Rroma. On one hand, this happens with the aim to understand the Bible in its details, on the other hand, the social status and position of the Rroma shall be improved. Ridley sees as negative the very conservative ideas with respect to the status of women. Thus, in the “Light and Life” church, it is forbidden for women to preach. Also, conservative role models dominate their role in the family and in society: “Light and Life followers straddle both the mystic and the modern. They believe in miracles, carry out full-immersion baptism and follow the bible’s words literally. Yet the church is making some sweeping modern changes to the traditional gypsy culture: it forbids fortune-telling, drinking and smoking, as well as arranged marriage which is practiced in mainland Europe. It supports education beyond 12 years old. Around a fifth of gypsy children in the UK don’t go to secondary school, and of those that do, half drop out. […] Dennis Latham, a volunteer to National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups, says Light and Life is “getting people on the straight and narrow” but is concerned it promotes male dominance over women. An evangelical Christian himself with a church affiliated to Light and Life, he explains: “They won’t let a woman preach in a church. I disagree with it, because modern teaching is that women have equal rights. I’ve seen Light and Life put women out if they spoke out.”” The statistic mentioned above that claims one-fifth of Rroma children in the UK do not go to school and that half of high school students drop out has to be critically questioned. Since there are no comprehensive surveys on Rroma in the UK, it has to be assumed that the statistic only took into account Rroma already marginalised and therefore easy-to-find. However, many Rroma in the UK are well integrated.

The self-empowerment of Rroma through the Pentecostal church can indeed be seen as something positive, if one focuses on the aspect of the strengthening of civil rights and the fostering of education. However, one should be cautious when the Pentecostal morality is said to be superior to other social values. Many Pentecostal churches forbid their members to use contraceptives, to abort and diabolize homosexuals as possessed by demons. Such a morality is not based on an enlightened understanding of the world and independent critical thinking, but on Christian traditions, which in case of contradictions, put themselves above the traditions of the Rroma. An uncritical subjection to conservative role models and values should be questioned. They can also severely hinder a real self-determination.

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26.11.2014 Huffington Post: economic and social integration of Rroma must be encouraged

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Cyrulnik (2014), a psychiatrist and member of the UNICEF, talks about his work in Romania and Bulgaria. By working for the children’s charity UNICEF, Cyrulniks perspective is largely restricted to the excluded Rroma of Romania and Bulgaria. Despite his emphatic perspective on the minority, he reproduces several stereotypes about Rroma, such as the misconception that Rroma were all originally travellers: “At the time of communism, the sedentarisation of Roma was enforced, and the results seemed rather promising. The kids could run around everywhere, were laughing and were supervised by the “big” between 10 and 12 years and all adults of the village [Siria]. […] The Roma population is important. One estimates 2 million of them for Rumania, of which 650,000 are nomads. They are therefore already largely sedentary.” However, Rroma have always been largely sedentary. The travelling lifestyle ascribed to them is rather the result of their continued exclusion and dissemination. – Another focus of Cyrulnik’s article is on the limited access of the Rroma to health care institutions, the low enrolment rates and the continuing segregation. However, Cyrulnik forgets that, concerning this topic, he addresses only the visible, marginalised part of the minority and negates the integrated Rroma. In addition, it is dangerous to ascribe the marginalised Rroma a collective apathy toward the inevitability of their situation: “The segregation plays an important role in the difficult socialisation of Roma. The distance at the countryside reinforces the clan spirit and creates a culture that is difficult to participate in and in which one group ignores the other. The Roma families set themselves limits and internalise the discrimination. They subject themselves to a faith that makes them say that they cannot do better, that this is their fate. They easily become school dropouts, which threatens to make their integration in Europe difficult.” Nonetheless, Cyrulnik’s plea to economically and socially foster the integration of the Rroma and to make better use of their work force for the economies of Europe is commendable and indeed of great significance. 

Bulgarien News Osteuropa Rumänien

21.11.2014 Tagesspiegel: emphatic, but one-sided depiction of Rroma in Romania and Bulgaria

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Appenzeller (2014) reports on the visit of Neukölln’s education councillor, Franziska Giffey, in Romania and Bulgaria. The Berlin politician, who, among others, is in charge of the integration of immigrant families from Southeast Europe, wanted to get an idea of the Rroma situation in their countries of origin. However, Appenzeller’s Rroma representation remains one-sided, despite an emphatic perspective and the reference to well-educated immigrants: “The often heated debate revolves around Bulgarian and Romanian Roma families who are accused of migrating into the welfare system. Since they do not get regular jobs here, they sign up as contractors. The men then find underpaid work in the construction business, the women work as cleaners, gladly also in luxury hotels. […] And these people have children, many children. They go to German schools without speaking a word of German. […] A focal point of the Roma immigration in Berlin is the district of Neukölln. The official figures estimate 5,500 people, councillor Franziska Geffey, responsible for education and schooling, estimates twice as many.” However, critical studies could not detect any mass immigration of Rroma, as is repeatedly claimed. In addition, the claim that Rroma are needy, poorly educated, and have many children, is a massive generalisation. Rroma build part of all social strata and professions.

Appenzeller then discusses the educational journey of Giffey to Romania and Bulgaria. There, the education councillor was able to see the misery of the Rroma with her own eyes, the journalist emphasises. Unfortunately, Appenzeller reduces the Rroma situation in Romania and Bulgaria to marginalised Rroma in the slums, and the present, but not omnipresent racism, as he represents it: “Politics begins when looking at reality. Franziska Giffey wanted to know from what environment Roma families come from. This reality has opened her eyes. She has seen that Roma children have no way to be admitted to normal schools in their homeland. She saw that their parents have fewer opportunities for jobs, because they are discriminated against because of their origin and darker skin colour. She has experienced how these families are stigmatised by the prejudice that Roma are lazy and not willing to work. […] German politics may well ask the question of how the EU intends to sanction two member states, who brutally discriminate against an ethnic group that lives on their territories for centuries.” Rroma are discriminated against in Romania and Bulgaria, but they are not faced with an all-embracing state racism, as Appenzeller claims. The plight of marginalised Rroma in the two countries is the result of weak economies and the historical discrimination and exclusion of Rroma – in the case of Romania their enslavement that lasted until the mid 19th century. – The marginalized Rroma in the ghettos, who get all the media attention, are juxtaposed by an big part of integrated Rroma, which belong to the middle class, and some even to the upper class (compare Mappes-Niediek 2014).

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21.11.2014 Persistent segregation of Rroma pupils in the Czech Republic

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Beger (2014) reports on the continued segregation of Rroma pupils in the Czech Republic. The disproportionately high allocation of Rroma into so-called “practical schools”, with which the students have almost no chance to a job in a free market economy, was repeatedly criticised in recent months and years. A few weeks ago, the European Commission has threatened to initiate proceedings against the Czech government for violation of the anti-discrimination legislation. But  in spite several verdicts of the European courts, including the case “D. H. and Others vs. the Czech Republic”, which the condemned the Czech rulers for discrimination, until now, little has changed on segregation: “On a recent visit to Děčín, in the north of the Czech Republic, Amnesty International met Tereza. After her eldest son was transferred to a school for children with ‘mild mental disabilities’, having missed classes following a broken leg and surgery, she was determined not to let history repeat itself with her younger son, Dan. Despite pushing for Dan to remain in mainstream education, the director told Tereza that she didn’t want him in the school, and didn’t have the resources ‘to be bothered’ with him. Currently, both sons of Tereza attend a ‘practical school’. The prospects for Romani children who do make it to mainstream education aren’t much better. Many are segregated into ‘Roma only’ schools or classes with lower educational standards, with Romani parents given little choice as to where to send their children. In January 2014, a primary school in Ostrava rejected 12 children at registration; 10 were Roma. All the children lived in the catchment area.” Whether the Czech government will fulfil the demand of the European Commission to end desegregation, is still uncertain. In the Czech Republic, there live an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Rroma (compare Jurist 2014).

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21.11.2014 International Day of children’s rights: Rroma children should be fostered more in school

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On the occasion of the International Day of children’s rights, Dubuc (2014) reports on the education of Rroma children in Romania. According to Eugen Crai, director of a Romanian school fund for the promotion of Rroma, the enrolment rate of Rroma children is still unsatisfactory. In 2005, only 46% of Rroma children over 12 years went to school for more than four years. George Puiu, a schoolteacher from Fantanele, sees one reason for this in the lacking practical orientation of the schools. Parents, who are affected by extreme poverty and went to school themselves only for a short time, would not sufficiently appreciate the value of education and instead need their children as labourers for the family income: “At the edge of the measures, which the government implemented since 1990 to integrate the children into the school system, various programs have been launched, such as the “Let’s go to school” UNICEF initiative. In Fantanele, where one of 250 schools is involved in the initiative, the faculty decided to develop two projects, in order to connect extracurricular and educational activities to make the school more attractive: a day of sporting encounter with the other schools and an excursion to the zoo and the botanical garden of Bucharest. “This allows the children to put into practice what they have learned in the physical and science classes… but also to create a link between the school and the community, by including the parents – spectators, but also mediators and accompanying persons”, explains the director of the school, Dora Stefan.” – The article wants to provide a balanced presentation of the topic. Nevertheless, it hides important aspects: racist teachers or school authorities that impede Rroma access to education. A visit to the zoo or the botanical gardens will change little about this. The part of Rroma, who are well educated and do not live in ghettos, is ignored: from the estimated one and a half to three million Rroma in Romania, many build part of the middle class. In addition, access to the labour market is not egalitarian, as in many other countries. In addition, Romania has its history of Rroma slavery; a historical responsibility towards the minority that is often ignored.

News Westeuropa

21.11.2014 Great Britain: survey confirms discrimination, but perpetuates biased Rroma image

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A survey conducted on behalf of Anglia Ruskin University and the National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups, which interviewed 120 Rroma and Irish Travellers, confirms the discrimination and exclusion of Rroma and Irish Travellers in the areas of health care, access to education and the labour market, and indicates elevated levels of infant mortality and lower life expectancies. However, due to the very small group of subjects it seems likely that only already marginalised Rroma and Irish Travellers were interviewed for the survey. Of the 90,000 to 120,000 Rroma, who have been living integrated in England for generations, belonging to all social strata, not a word is said of in the study. The study seems concentrated on the easily identifiable, marginalised Rroma and Irish Travellers, who only represent a part of these groups. The investigation is understood as a critique of the Rroma policy of the British government, which so far only undertook insufficient efforts to help the minority integrate successfully: “Nearly nine out of every 10 children and young people from a Gypsy, Roma or Traveller background have suffered racial abuse and nearly two thirds have also been bullied or physically attacked. As a result many are scared to attend school. The infant mortality rate of Gypsies and Travellers is three times higher than the national average. The life expectancy of Gypsies and Travellers has been estimated to up to 12 years shorter than that of the general population. They are significantly more likely to have a long-term condition and suffer poorer health. Gypsies and Travellers use mainstream health services less than other members of the population because of practical difficulties, such as complex procedures for registering and making use of services. Traditional occupations such as scrap metal dealing are being made more difficult or disappearing altogether due to Government policies. Roma are often exploited by gang masters.” In addition to the one-sided focus of the study on a marginalised minority of the minority, it is must be criticised that one didn’t deal precisely enough with terminologies and cultural explanations. While the distinction between Irish Travellers with European roots and Rroma with Indian origins made, the differentiation between “Gypsies” in opposite to “Rroma” and “Irish Travellers” remains unclear. Moreover, the claim that clan chiefs often exploit Rroma is the reproduction of a popular prejudice about Rroma. Rroma are not organised in hierarchical clans, but structured largely egalitarian (compare Lane/ Spencer/Jones 2014).

Frankreich Italien News Westeuropa

21.11.2014 Discrimination against Rroma in Italy

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As in the beginning of November, the Local (2014) reported about the discrimination against Rroma in Italy. Subject of contention are the numerous camps in which the Italian authorities deliberately hold the minority at the margins of society. The conditions in these state camps are heavily criticised: the air is insufficient to breath, an inmate says, as well as the hygiene: tuberculosis, scabies and lice are much more frequently than usual. The permanent monitoring in the camps, which is part of the facilities, leads particularly among children to anxiety and sleep disorders as well as phobias, the Rroma Rights Centre criticises in a report: “It [the Rroma Rights Centre] also warned of daily discrimination and violence against Roma in “an ever-growing climate of racism”, including repeated cases of local residents attacking camps with Molotov cocktails while police turn a blind eye. Although over half the 170,000 or so Roma and Sinti people in Italy are Italian citizens with regular jobs and houses, hate crimes against the poorest strata are rife, fuelled by inflammatory comments by politicians on both the left and right quick to paint Roma as crooks. […] Camp dwellers are prevented by council regulations from applying for public housing even if they were born in Italy, trapping them permanently in fenced-off centres far from schools, shops, health care centres or workplaces.” Because of this strong discrimination against Rroma, the European Commission has threatened legal actions against the Italian government for violation of the anti-discrimination legislation. Rroma belong to all social strata, but are indeed particularly affected by poverty and discrimination. Since the euro and economic crisis, various parties especially instrumentalise them as scapegoats for social ills. As in France, the public image of the minority is marked by extreme prejudice and misinformation: in the minds of many Italians, Rroma are synonymous with the residents of camps in the suburbs. The aspect of social exclusion is largely ignored.

Deutschland News Westeuropa

19.11.2014 Rome e.V awarded with integration medal

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The Cologne “Rome e.V.” association, under the direction of Simone Treis, which is committed to the integration and acceptance of Rroma in Germany, was awarded the integration medal of the Bundestag. The school “Amaro Kher”, founded by the association, especially supervises Rroma children from refugee camps. Despite the very positive work of the association, stereotypes about Rroma are also reproduced here, when speaking about alphabetisation coursers and migrants. 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma have been living in Germany for generations, can read and write and are integrated. This integrated, invisible Rroma are not mentioned here: “Simone Treis is chairman of “Rome e.V.”, which since 1986 is committed to fight antiziganism and discrimination against Sinti and Roma. Her projects include literacy classes, social counselling and intercultural festivals. The goal is a lived practice of integration, which includes the Sinti and Roma into the society and at the same time indorses them in preserving their traditions. Because, according to Treis, many of them have the option of either hiding their culture or to face hostility. […] At the ceremony, Volker Beck pointed to the continuing problem of antiziganism in Germany. Education is the foundation for a free and independent life, this is particularly true for marginalized minorities such as Sinti and Roma, he stated” (Iding 2014).

Deutschland News Westeuropa

19.11.2014 “Till the end of the world”: differentiated and prejudiced views about Rroma in Germany

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The feature film “Till the End of the World” tells about the relationship between a German pensioner and a young Rrom who recently immigrated to Germany. In the beginning, the woman has major reservations about the Rroma who moved into her house. However, her prejudices are increasing changed after she meets a young, extremely musically talented Rrom. Despite the desire to portray the Rroma as differentiated and unbiased as possible, the film is not without clichés: “The widow Maria Nikolai (Horbiger) dares barely to go out the door, since more and more foreigners live in her neighbourhood, especially Roma refugees in her house which she regards as riffraff. But as it is: When shopping, her wallet falls out of her pocket – and it is the Roma boy Bero (Samy Abdel Fattah), which brings it back to her. When he later finds shelter in her apartment from extreme right-wing thugs, the pensioner recognises his musical talent. The music-loving woman encourages the boy, meets his family and can overcome some of her prejudices. […] Of course, the film does not address the problems and biographies of all Roma in Germany. At the heart is the situation of a refugee family that suffers from poverty, their cramped living situation and back-breaking jobs. […] And that the boy can play the accordion so beautifuly, is ultimately a decision for a cliché” (Sakowitz 2014). In Germany, according to assessments of the Foundation Rroma, there are an estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma. Before the Nazi genocide, there were much more. Many have lived in Germany for generations, speak fluently German, have a job and send their children to school. They are the proof that the prejudices about the minority do not correspond to reality (compare Gangloff 2014, Hupertz 2014, Schilling-Strack 2014).

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19.11.2014 Stereotypes: criminal Rroma clans

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Guggisberg (2014) reports on criminal Rroma clans that allegedly force children into crime. Parents surrender their children to an omnipotent clan chief – to whom they are indebted – for begging and theft and some even end up in prostitution. Guggisberg uncritically reproduces the perspective of the “Wiener Drehscheibe”, a social service for begging and stealing children who have been arrested by the police. Guggisberg does not question that the social educator Norbert Ceipek – the head of the institution – who identifies each begging or stealing child as a victim of human trafficking, could himself be subject to prejudices and be providing misinformation on Rroma: “Ceipek opens another photo file. It shows a Roma village in Romania, which he recently visited. He tells of houses, cobbled together from planks and plastic sheeting, and dirt roads full of garbage. In the middle is a magnificent villa. “It belongs to the clan chief. He rules the villages as a state within a state”, says Ceipek […]. Many of the children dealt with in Vienna belong to the Roma. […] “The phenomenon of Eastern European gangs of beggars is not new. But since a couple of months, it taken new proportions”, says Ceipek. Very active are the Bosnian gangs, he states. Every few weeks, they would bring the children to different European cities, according to a rotating system. The social worker explains that his aim was to provide a perspective to the children, a little education. They might get on better path.”” Alexander Ott, head of the Foreign Police Bern, who has already been quoted repeatedly in articles about criminal Rroma gangs and trafficking of children, has his say. He reproduces the usual prejudices about hierarchical Rroma clans with a clan chief who leads children into crime: “The network of child traffickers reaches from Eastern Europe to Switzerland. “The victims are recruited in Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Often they come from large Roma families, are purchased or borrowed”, says Ott. One sends the boys to steal, urges them into prostitution, or forces them to beg. The instigators know well that the Swiss justice system cannot prosecute the perpetrators because of their young age. Adolescent burglars are booming in the autumn and winter months. Ott emphasises that they have to deal with highly professional, specialised and hierarchically-run clans, who practice their craft since generations.” Rroma are not more criminal than other ethnic groups. They are not hierarchically organised, as is often claimed, but structured largely egalitarian. So-called “Rroma kings” are self-elected and have purely representative character. Guggisberg and experts’ claim that behind begging children there is inevitably trafficking and organized crime, is wrong.

The characteristics of transnational operating trafficker networks, as presented here, are questioned by social science research. Their existence itself is not denied, something that cannot be in the interest of combating injustice. But their manifestation, their number, their omnipotence and the motivations attributed to them have to be questioned. These are often tainted by ideological fallacies, brought into connection or even equated with ethnic groups such as Rroma. Furthermore, the equation of child migration and trafficking has to be set into context. The stereotype of Rroma as child traffickers dates back to their arrival in Western Europe, and is in part based on the racist notion that Rroma did actively recruit children for criminal gangs. Regarding the topic of child migration, social science studies convey a more complex notion on the subject and point out that crimes such as incitement to beg and steal or alleged child trafficking are often permeated by various morals in the analysis and assessment by authorities, who don’t appropriately consider the perspective and motivations of migrating children and their relatives, and instead force on them their own ideas and definitions on organised begging, criminal networks or child trafficking. Structural differences of the societies involved and resulting reasons for a migration are given too little consideration. In reality, behind begging children there are often simply impoverished families, in which the children contribute to the family income and who therefore do not correspond to bourgeois notions of a normal family and childhood. De facto child trafficking is rare according to the sociological studies. Furthermore, the incomes from begging are very modest, which makes them unattractive for organised crime.  Guggisberg, who states that 200’000 children are recruited annually by the trafficking mafia, contradicts this. 

At the end of the article, Guggisberg quotes another expert opinion by Norbert Ceipek, the director of the “Wiener Drehschreibe”: At 15, many of them would get married and have children themselves, so that the cycle of crime continues. Likewise, Guggisberg reproduces this racist prejudice uncritically. The majority of Rroma, who live integrated, go to work and send their children to school, remain unmentioned (compare Cree/Clapton/Smith 2012, O’Connell Davidson 2011, Oude Breuil 2008, Tabin et al 2012).

  • Cree, Viviene E./Clapton, Gary/Smith, Mark (2012) The Presentation of Child Trafficking in the UK: An Old and New Moral Panic? In: Br J Soc Work 44(2): 418-433.
  • Guggisberg, Rahel (2014) Das Schicksal der Roma-Kinder von Wien. In: Tages-Anzeiger online vom 14.11.2014. http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/leben/gesellschaft/Das-Schicksal-der-RomaKinder-von-Wien/story/14626308
  • O’Connell Davidson, Julia (2011) Moving children? Child trafficking, child migration, and child rights. In: Critical Social Policy 31(3):454-477.
  • Oude Breuil, Brenda Carina (2008) Precious children in a heartless world? The complexities of child trafficking in Marseille. In: Child Soc 22(3):223-234.
  • Tabin, Jean Pierre et al. (2012) Rapport sur la mendicité « rrom » avec ou sans enfant(s). Université de Lausanne.
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14.11.2014 Stereotypes: marginalised Rroma in Albania

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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.

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14.11.2014 Eviction of a Rroma settlement in Ivry-sur-Seine

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Métout (2014) reports on the eviction of an informal settlement Rroma in Ivry-sur-Seine. Around 30 families lived on a terrain of the French rail network (Réseau Ferré de France RFF), since July this year. On September the 30th, the justice ruled that the location has to be evacuated. The reasoning of the court referred to the security flaws in the camp: “RFF had demanded the intervention of the public authority, pointing to an imminent threat. People had been spotted on the railway tracks, and the power supply of the camp had been done through a transformer, which is used by the SNCF. Therefore, the prefecture has promised an urgent intervention. Upon the arrival of the police this Thursday, one of the two grounds was completely free of any residents. “On the site there were a dozen families, as the collective in support of the Romanians of d’Ivry stated. They decided to go away on their own. The others have no clue, where they shall go.” In France, according to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma. The majority of them is integrated, goes to work, speaks French and has its own accommodations. Many of them live in France for several generations. The media, the politicians and the public do not perceive these invisible Rroma: they are even denied existence. On the other hand, there is a minority of the minority, approximately 17,000 recently immigrated Rroma, who get all the media attention. – These marginalised Rroma are hindered in their integration efforts by the relentless expulsion policy of the French state, especially the children, who are often enrolled in local schools, are negatively affected by the continuous expulsions (compare RTL 2014).  

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14.11.2014 Institute Economic and Social Studies (INESS): Rroma in Slovakia are not financially advantaged

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The Slovak Spectator (2014) reports on the publication of a new study by the Slovak Institute for Economic and Social Studies (INESS). The study comes to the conclusion that Rroma, contrary to widespread stereotypes and myths arguing that the minority receives excessive social funds, are not treated differently by the state. The study also refutes established ideas about the high number of children among Rroma. The analysis came to the conclusion that 90% of the families who receive child benefits, have one or two children: “NOT even 2.2 percent of total public spending goes to Roma citizens even though they are often depicted as those who abuse the social welfare system in Slovakia. This is the finding from an analysis conducted by the Institute for Economic and Social Studies (INESS) released on October 22. The think-tank looked into numbers provided by the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (ÚPSVaR), social insurer Sociálna Poisťovňa and the Atlas of Roma Communities and concluded that the costs of welfare paid in districts with a two-thirds Roma population makes up 2.2 percent of public spending, which is €578 million. “Even though Roma are proportionally higher recipients of public transfers these don’t amount to such a proportion of public finances as is discussed in inns or at the family table,” INESS analyst Ján Dinga, one of the study’s authors, told The Slovak Spectator.” Jarmila Lajčáková from the Research Centre for Ethnicity and Culture also pointed out that the misinformation and prejudice about the alleged preferential treatment of the Rroma in the social system complicates the integration of the minority, because they are confronted with these prejudices when trying to access the education system and the labour market. In Slovakia, according to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 450,000 to 550,000 Rroma. Many of them belong to the middle class, have educations and their own apartments. They are almost constantly hidden in the public debate over the minority.

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12.11.2014 RTS: one-sided reportage about Rroma in Switzerland

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Widmann and Widmer-Baggiolini (2014) report in a current documentary about the life of Rroma in Switzerland. Unfortunately, the journalists focus their attention only on those Rroma who are already visible and who are anyway in the media focus: Rroma who recently immigrated from Romania, many of whom live begging. At the beginning of the report, one can see a young Rromni on a public square of Lausanne. She repeatedly speaks with passers-by and asks them for some money. Before that, the audience is at home of the young woman and sees her together with her little daughter. She begs for herself and not for a criminal clan, as it is often incorrectly stated. This stereotype is put into perspective at the very beginning. Even the police officer responsible for Rroma confirms that there is no organised begging in Lausanne. The portrayed beggars state that they earn 15 to 20 francs per day. Thus, they earning far less than the official estimates, which talk of several hundred francs per day. A family portrayed has been repeatedly fined for illegal camping and begging. Without the help of the Rroma organisation “Opre rrom”, and its president Véra Tchérémissinoff, the family could not have paid the fines. For health care, the family is dependent on the organisation’s help and also takes help from the church. Two other recently immigrated families live in a big house, thanks to the help of a real estate owner. Here, Widmann and Widmer-Baggiolini focus on the school enrolment of the children. These have undergone numerous interruptions in their education, even if though they want to go to school. A negative notion about lack of education among Rroma is conveyed here. Another reproduced stereotype are traditional gender roles and child marriages: a young teenage girl goes not to school, as her mother states, because she is already married, and therefore must remain at home for reasons of tradition. Most of the 80,000 to 100,000 Rroma who have been living in Switzerland for generations, have a job, speak one of the national languages and send their children to school. This is not mentioned. Neither is the fact that traditions such as traditional gender roles or early marriages are critically questioned by educated Rroma. At the end of the report, one sees some of the portrayed Rroma back in Rumania. They live in poverty, but due to the large wealth gap between Switzerland and Romania, they live appreciably better thanks to the panhandled money.

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12.11.2014 Rroma and asylum in Canada

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Cain (2014) reports on a new and controversial practice in the Canadian immigration policy. Financial subsidies are paid to immigrants when they voluntarily agree to renounce an asylum procedure and return to their homeland. From the perspective of immigration lawyers, this practice is not without problems, as asylum applicants are  encouraged to give up their rights in return for financial incentives: “Under the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Program, unsuccessful refugee claimants who agree to abandon the appeal process are given airfare home, which on average costs $1,500, and “in-kind reintegration assistance” to a maximum of $2,000. […] Immigration lawyers question how voluntary the program – targeted at people who are often extremely poor, worried about incarceration or deportation and may be unfamiliar with Canada’s refugee appeal system – really is. “The more appeal rights you give up, the more money you get,” says immigration lawyer Max Berger. […] “Essentially, it’s a bribe. The Government of Canada is offering refugee claimants money, which is tied to them forgoing their appeal rights.” In addition, Cain’s article discusses the fate of a Rroma family from Slovakia. The father portrayed points out on his ill-treatment and discrimination in his home country. He wanted to spare his two young sons such experiences through emigration to Canada. For five years, the young family man has been living there with his children and his wife. However, the personal experiences of discrimination have little impact compared to the official estimates of the authorities. Rroma are not politically persecuted in Europe. However, that does not mean that they do not experience discrimination in everyday life, in the education system and the labour market.

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