{"id":1180,"date":"2014-09-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/17-09-2014-serbia-macedonia-and-bosnia-herzegovina-safe-countries-of-origin-for-rroma\/"},"modified":"2022-07-27T07:48:53","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T06:48:53","slug":"17-09-2014-serbia-macedonia-and-bosnia-herzegovina-safe-countries-of-origin-for-rroma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/17-09-2014-serbia-macedonia-and-bosnia-herzegovina-safe-countries-of-origin-for-rroma\/","title":{"rendered":"17.09.2014 Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina: safe countries of origin for Rroma?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The daily news of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tARD (2014) reports on the ongoing discussions and protests because of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdeclaration of Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina as being \u201csafe \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcountries of origin\u201d. Accordingly, the federal government will soon enact a law \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat puts these three countries on the list of countries safe of persecution. Thereafter, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminorities like the Rroma will have very poor chances of obtaining asylum in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGermany. This is being criticised especially by social democratic politicians \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand non-governmental organisations. Recently, the Central Council of German \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSinti and Rroma has spoken out. Its chairman, Romani Rose, criticised in his statement \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat the three countries are anything but safe for Rroma: \u201cIn the three countries, the argument goes, there is no persecution, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttorture, violence or degrading treatment. […] Life for Rroma in Serbia, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMacedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina is anything but safe, Rose declared. \u201cLarge \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tparts of the minority in these countries have no chance in the labour market, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthey are excluded from any participation in social life.\u201d For Roma, which are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmerely tolerated in Germany, the implementation of the plans could mean \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdeportation.\u201d<\/em> While it is true that the Rroma in the Balkans were exposed \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto little discrimination until 1989, and many of the common stereotypes about \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe minority originated in Western Europe, this does not mean that the exaggeration \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof ethnic differences and the marginalisation of the Rroma have not become a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\treal issue since then that affect many members of the minority. The adoption of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe new law is due to an increase of asylum applications from Serbia, Macedonia \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand Bosnia-Herzegovina, which are turned down in the majority of the cases as being \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tunfounded. However, these decisions are also criticised, since individual fates \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof exclusion and persecution get too little attention and are not considered appropriately \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdue to lack of evidence. The status of safe countries puts administrative estimates \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tabout the protection of the civilian population, especially minorities, over \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe individual experiences of those affected. Whether this is a smart procedure \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat meets the real-life experiences of victims of discrimination, should be \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcritically assessed. What matters in the end is the individual fate and not the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tofficial status (compare Amtsberg 2014, Attenberger\/Filon 2014, Die Welt 2014, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUlbig 2014). \u00a0<\/p>\n

Eastern Europe \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcorrespondent Mappes-Niediek (2014) contradicts this opinion: He claims that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Rroma in South Eastern Europe are often affected by poverty, but are not persecuted. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn Macedonia and Serbia, the Rroma rather build part of local communities and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare found in all social classes and positions. Even the Rromanes is widely \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taccepted in Macedonia: \u201cTraditionally, in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMacedonia and Serbia, it is far less disparagingly spoken about Roma than in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe neighbouring countries of Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. The major, wearing \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\this chain of office and shaking hands, attend Roma celebrations. In the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnewspapers one respectfully speaks of \u201ccitizens of Roma nationality\u201d, and ethnic \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMacedonians also attend Roma pilgrimages. The European clich\u00e9 that Roma steal \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis unknown in both countries. […] If Roma are exposed to persecution somewhere \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin the region, then it is the EU-country Hungary, where right-wing extremist \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgroups inflame the atmosphere, literally hunt for Roma and the police looks the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tother way. However, from EU-countries no asylum applications are accepted in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprinciple. Even discrimination based on ethnicity is likely to be far less in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSerbia, Macedonia and Bosnia than what Roma have to endure in Hungary, the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCzech Republic or France.\u201d <\/em>Thereby Mappes-Niediek addresses an important \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoint: the difficulty of assessing the discrimination or acceptance of a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority that is already perceived very one-sided in the public in its entirety \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand complexity. For Mappes-Niediek, the Rroma in South Eastern Europe are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tparticularly affected by poverty. This is certainly true for a part of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority. But he also hides a part of reality: in particular the integrated Rroma, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhich can be found in all the countries of Europe and are not perceived as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma by the public. Rroma should not be equated with an underclass. They build \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpart of all strata of society. Regarding the aspect of discrimination, the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tindividual fate should still favoured to a reductionist, generalising \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tassessment: because mechanisms of exclusion in a society cannot be read on a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmeasuring instrument. They are subtly distributed in all spheres of a nation \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand not necessarily occur in the open. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n