{"id":1367,"date":"2014-06-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/05-06-2014-daily-mail-promotes-ethnic-tensions-with-rroma-in-sheffield\/"},"modified":"2022-08-04T11:42:44","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T10:42:44","slug":"05-06-2014-daily-mail-promotes-ethnic-tensions-with-rroma-in-sheffield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/05-06-2014-daily-mail-promotes-ethnic-tensions-with-rroma-in-sheffield\/","title":{"rendered":"05.06.2014 Daily Mail promotes ethnic tensions with Rroma in Sheffield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reid (2014) reports on \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tincreasing ethnic tensions in Sheffield, England. The immigrant quarter Page \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHall is said to have become a social tinderbox, triggered by a massive \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timmigration of Rroma from Slovakia, who, according to the statements of residents, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdon\u2019t try to integrate into the community. It reports on increasing crime, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprostitution, and disorder. At the end of May, a mass brawl between Yemeni and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma boys raised media attention (Corcoran\/Glanfield 2014). Reid represents \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe statements of individual residents as incontrovertible evidence of ethnic \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttensions in Page Hall. However, it is very doubtful that the neighbourhood has \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbecome a social tinderbox because of individual incidents. Once again, it is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\targued with a cultural alterity of the Rroma who, according to the opinion of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe individual residents, are not willing to integrate into English society. Various \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tphenomena are mixed together, which must be distinguished for a real \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tunderstanding of the situation: the poverty and lack of education of immigrant \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma families have nothing to do with Rroma culture, but are the result of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texclusion and destitution. In addition, there are also many well-integrated \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma who are never mentioned in the media. It is astonishing that Reid attests \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tother immigrant groups such as the Pakistanis, Yemenis and Somalis a will for \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegration, which she denies the Rroma. At least, Reid admits that the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstatements of her informants are charged with strong emotions, as is the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcontroversial declaration of MP David Blunkett: \u201c\u2018We have got to change the behaviour and the culture of the incoming \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRoma community,\u2019 he said in a controversial statement on the growing tensions, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018because there\u2019s going to be an explosion otherwise. [\u2026] Page Hall\u2019s problems \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thave grown since a very large number of East Europeans moved into the area. At \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfirst it was a trickle, but according to figures given to me by the local \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcommunity centre, more than 900 Roma Slovak families now call it home. [\u2026] Given \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe strength of feeling that this influx has generated, it would be \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tunderstandable if there was a measure of exaggeration about the newcomers\u2019 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbehaviour – and it is, of course, impossible to verify all the stories told about \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Roma in Page Hall. But one thing is certain: many residents believe them to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbe true.\u201d <\/em>Then Reid refers to the notion already regularly disseminated by the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDaily Mail: that immigrant Rroma of South-eastern Europe all want to exploit \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe British welfare system. That this opinion is driven by strong political \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbeliefs and prejudices is not mentioned. Extreme cases are presented as normal \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand therefore all Rroma who live integrated lives are denied existence. It is striking \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat Reid uses the terms \u201cEastern Europeans\u201d and \u201cRroma\u201d interchangeably and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthus discloses her own prejudices: \u201cThere \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis no doubt that local indigenous families and immigrants who came to Britain a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlong time ago – and who, they point out, have paid their taxes – feel \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taggrieved. Talk to them and they will tell you that, thanks to our open-borders \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolicy, countless East Europeans can come here and immediately become entitled \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto welfare hand-outs of up to \u00a32,000 a month and free state services. In Page \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHall, I saw dozens of cars with Slovakian number-plates belonging to Roma who \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thave driven across Europe to join relatives or friends in Sheffield. Everyone \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thas a horror story – again difficult to prove – about the new incomers. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMohammed Akra, a 65-year-old who runs the Eastern Eye takeaway, talked to me of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEast Europeans abusing the child benefit system and having babies to boost \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheir state hand-outs.\u201d <\/em>Reid conceals the fact that the statistics paint a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdifferent picture. The migration to Western Europe has not increased noticeably \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsince the free movement of workers with Romania and Bulgaria. Many Rroma remain \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin their countries of origin, where they want to build a better future, despite \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe poor economic situation. Reality consists of more than eye-catching extreme \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcases, but Daily Mail has still not understood that, as doesn\u2019t Breitbart News \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNetwork, which spreads the same information (compare Walker 2014 I\/II).<\/p>\n