Boull\u00e9 (2014) spoke to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLausanne photographer Yves Leresche, who has dealt with Rroma living in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSwitzerland for several years. Leresche deconstructs four common stereotypes \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tabout the minority. (1) The Rroma are all the same: false. Rroma belong to diverse \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgroups such as the Sinti, the Gurbeti, the Arlii, the Lingurari, the Ursari, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Kalderasha etc., who pursued traditional occupations in earlier times, to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhich their group name often refers. Leresche terms the Jeniche wrongly as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma. From a political point of view \u2013 concerning the prejudices against the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminorities \u2013 this may be useful, because \u00a0they share a history of exclusion and persecution. In terms \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof migration history, language and traditions however, there are striking \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdifferences between the two ethnic groups. The Rroma are from India and the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttalk Rromanes, originating from Sanskrit. The Jeniche however derive from \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEuropean folk groups that were starting to travel in the wake of social \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tupheavals and speak the language Jeniche, influenced by Yiddish and other old \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEuropean languages.<\/p>\n
(2) Rroma are all \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbeggars: also wrong. Leresche distinguishes four different groups of Swiss \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma: The invisible, who have been living in Switzerland integrated and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tunobtrusive for decades, sometimes generations. Very few know that they are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma, because they keep their identity a secret. The travellers; the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstereotypical notion that all Rroma are travellers refers to them. However, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthey represent only a small percentage of the Rroma. In Switzerland primarily the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJeniche are travellers, and also of them only a small percentage. Rroma are often \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tequated with asylum seekers. While this is true sometimes, many have been \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tliving in Switzerland for a long time and have a definite residency status. Leresche \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\talso points to refugees from the Kosovo, which present the most recent \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmigration movement of Rroma to Western Europe. Finally, with European Rroma, Leresche \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trefers to migrants from the EU-countries. He makes aware of the economic \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timmigrants among them, but far too little stresses that the predicted mass \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmigration from Southern and Eastern Europe is a political issue.<\/p>\n
(3) The Rroma come to us, to enrich \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthemselves: also wrong. The Rroma seek an alternative to their often precarious \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tliving conditions in Southern and Eastern Europe. They want a normal life, a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tjob, a good education for their children. Unfortunately, some of them lack good \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tqualifications, what makes the integration into the labour market more \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdifficult. Leresche doesn\u2019t stress enough that the begging Rroma usually have \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnothing to\u00a0 with criminal begging \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnetworks, as it is often claimed by the police, but beg because of lacking \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\talternatives.<\/p>\n
(4) The Rroma do not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstay for a short time, but forever. In this stereotype, Leresche differentiates \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfar too little between invisible and visible Rroma. He merely indicates that Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twho migrate seasonally only come for a few months to beg. Because after some \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttime, political and police resistance starts to form, begging becomes unprofitable \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tafter one to two years. Here it must be added, that only a small part of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma are begging. The majority of the Swiss Rroma is integrated and pursues a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnormal work. In addition, the idea of the lucrative nature of begging is false, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tas recently Jean-Pierre Tabin has shown in his study.<\/p>\n