{"id":1449,"date":"2014-04-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/09-04-2014-the-invisible-rroma-in-switzerland\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T14:05:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T13:05:48","slug":"09-04-2014-the-invisible-rroma-in-switzerland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/09-04-2014-the-invisible-rroma-in-switzerland\/","title":{"rendered":"09.04.2014 The invisible Rroma in Switzerland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Plozza (2014) focuses, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ton the occasion of the international Rroma-day, on the invisible Rroma of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSwitzerland. He spoke with the Rroma representatives St\u00e9phane Laederich and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMustafa Asan. Both emphasize the massive prejudices that still prevail against \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Rroma and make a disclosure of one’s identity a difficult task: \u201cMost Swiss Roma are not criminal and they \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdo not pull their caravans from place to place. On the contrary, they lead a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnormal, almost petit bourgeois life, explains the Roma representative Mustafa Asan. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u201cThe Swiss Roma are sedentary and integrated. They live in their own homes, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthey have their own jobs and their own occupation […] Today, 50,000 to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t100,000 Roma are living in Switzerland. One does not know that for sure. Because \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmany of do not reveal themselves as being Roma, says St\u00e9phane Laederich, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdirector of \u201cRoma Foundation\u201d in Zurich. \u201cMany are still afraid that they will \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlose their friends, their job, or certain opportunities in their career\u201d, he \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsays. Fearing the old prejudices about Gypsies and travelling people, they \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprefer to remain silent.\u201d<\/em> Asan demands that the Rroma occur more often in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe public, reveal themselves and reach out to their fellow human beings. This \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis the only way to dismantle prejudices and stereotypes, he says. However, this \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thas to happen with objective facts and not positive clich\u00e9s as dancing and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsinging Rroma. The fact that not only the Rroma, but above all the majority \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpopulation \u2013 that has marginalized the ethnic group for centuries \u2013 is encouraged \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto act, should not go unmentioned. It must signal to the minority that they are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taccepted and welcomed. Because integration is a process based on reciprocity that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trequires commitment of all parties involved (compare Aargauer Zeitung 2014, Gehrig \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2014).<\/p>\n