{"id":1773,"date":"2014-07-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/26-07-2014-stereotypes-fifteen-rroma-sentenced-for-child-trafficking\/"},"modified":"2022-08-21T07:33:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-21T06:33:20","slug":"26-07-2014-stereotypes-fifteen-rroma-sentenced-for-child-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/26-07-2014-stereotypes-fifteen-rroma-sentenced-for-child-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"26.07.2014 Stereotypes: fifteen Rroma sentenced for child trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Numerous French language \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnewspapers reported about the verdict against fifteen Croatian Rroma in Nancy. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Rroma were convicted of inciting their children to commit about a hundred \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthefts in France, Germany and Belgium. The defendants were sentenced to prison sentences \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof two to eight years. While all Rroma were convicted for incitement to theft, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tindividual defendants were indicted for trafficking and forced marriages. The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcourt of appeal of Nancy thereby confirmed the judgment of the criminal court. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe prosecution demanded maximum sentences of ten years. The evidence of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprosecution was based on the survey of 120 suspects, who confirmed the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texistence of organised, hierarchical gangs, let by a clan chief: \u201cThese children had no choice\u201d, said the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprosecutor in front of the audience. \u201cIt was not a matter of education and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tself-realisation, only one thing was important: to steal. It was a downright \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\teducation to steal. Families borrowed children, according to their potential in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheft and even bought wives for their sons to strengthen their teams\u201d <\/em>(Nicolas \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2014, see 20 minutes in 2014, La D\u00e9p\u00eache 2014 RTL 2014). The stereotype of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcriminal, hierarchically organised Rroma clans who commit thefts under the command \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof a clan chief, is widely spread. It cannot be critically evaluated at this \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoint whether the judgment is justified, as the evidence is only discussed in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpassing. But it is important to emphasise that Rroma are not more criminal than \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tother ethnic groups. The idea of hierarchical family ties traces back to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprojection of the medieval caste system on Rroma and on the equation of Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfamilies to criminal organisations. However, this is incorrect. While it is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttrue that the family has an important place among Rroma, its organisation is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlargely egalitarian. The case discussed here is therefore an exceptional occurrence \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand not the norm. In addition, the stereotype of arranged marriages is conveyed, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhich also is only true for a minority of the Rroma. The phenomenon of child trafficking \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tas it is presented here, has furthermore to be critically assessed. As social \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tscience studies show, social realities behind begging or alleged child \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttrafficking are largely hidden. Similarly, structural differences between the involved \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsocieties and related reasons for a migration to France need to be highlighted. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe research conveys a more complex, less black and white notion on the subject \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand points out that crimes such as incitement to begging or stealing are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpervaded by a wide variety of morals views in the analysis and assessment by the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tauthorities. The authorities often deny the perspective and motivations of the persons \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconcerned and impose their own ideas of organised begging, criminal networks or \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tchild trafficking on them. Not uncommonly, behind the accusations one just finds \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timpoverished families in which the children supplement the family income by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbegging, and whose way of life thereby contradict the bourgeois notions of a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnormal family and childhood (compare Cree\/Clapton\/Smith 2012, O’Connell \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDavidson 2011, Oude Breuil 2008).<\/p>\n