Category Archives: Romania

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09.04.2014 Stigma and the international Rroma Day

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On the occasion of the international Rroma Day, Grunau (2014) spoke with the president of the central council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose. Rose’s assessment of the social integration of the Rroma is mediocre. While there has been progress in terms of political and historical recognition of the Rroma, there still are massive stigma and appalling living conditions in which Rroma have to exist: “In some areas some things have improved, but what we are not satisfied at all with is the situation of the Roma minority in Eastern Europe. There are situations that are catastrophic. […] These are particularly Bulgaria, Romania, but also the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There are informal ghettos that are without sewerage, without electricity, and water. There are villages, where over a thousand people live without any perspective. This situation has been known for many years. It is no longer acceptable. There is an infant mortality-rate that is four times higher and a life expectancy that is ten years lower compared to the majority population.” In this regard, Rose demands easier access to funding that doesn’t need not be refinanced by the states themselves. He proposes the creation of a special fund for the Rroma. Next, Rose criticizes the continuing discrediting and instrumentalization of the Rroma by right-wing nationalist parties and actors, but also by bourgeois politicians in the wake of the immigration debate in Western Europe. Thus, the openly racist Jobbik party made a share of 21% of the votes, in the elections in early April. At the end of the interview, Rose also points to the still highly distorted perception of the minority. 64% of the people of a survey said that they did not want Rroma as neighbours. However, many of them already have neighbours, friends or acquaintances that are Rroma are, but they do not know that they belong to the minority: “However, these 64 percent do not know that they already have work colleagues, neighbours and tenants, they do not know that they are shopping in stores with people who are members of the minority. Also in show business or in football, everywhere there are members of the minority.”

Caspari (2014) emphasizes in her conversation with the antiziganism researcher Markus End that there are not only negative but also positive stereotypes that encourage the idea of a cultural alterity of the Rroma: “Those who say that all Sinti and Roma make such great music just positively present a stereotype. It implies that members of the ethnic group are different, that they only make music and do not like to work as “we” do.” The same is the case with emphatic articles about the Rroma that still reproduce stereotypes: “In many – also benevolent – reports clichés of supposedly typical characteristics of the Roma are used, even though the Rroma do not exist at this general level. [ … ] An online editor recently headlined concerning the debate over free migration: “not only Roma are coming, but also academics” – as if there were only uneducated members of the ethnic group. About the nurse, the doctor or the construction worker, who are well integrated in Germany, rarely if ever is reported. Images that are added to the articles on the situation of Roma, often show poor, barefoot children. Here again, a cliché is conveyed.”

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04.04.2014 Polemical defamation of the Rroma

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The right-wing populist platform unzensuriert.at (2014) in its latest article defames the Rroma as unwilling to integrate and as a burden for Western European welfare states. In addition, a corruption bias is ascribed to them: “On a ‘EU Roma Summit’ on April 4th in Brussels, a “relief and development program” for the South-East European gypsies is planned to be implemented. Since the EU-extension onto Eastern Europe, those migrate in hordes from Bulgaria and Romania to Central and Western Europe. Municipalities such as Duisburg or Dortmund are close to a socio-political collapse due to immigration of the Rroma and the associated neglect of entire districts. [ … ] Such financial assistance has already in the past “fuelled” the corruption channels and could be diverted into the registers of Roma clan-chiefs and corrupt administrators and politicians connected with them.” Unzensuriert.at operates totally uncritically with a highly distorted, politicized, and value-loaded image of the Rroma. Through that, it propagates racist stereotypes such as the notion of criminal Rroma clan-chiefs and culturally related anti-social behaviour. The fact that such alleged “facts” are the result of centuries-old prejudices, is totally neglected by the platform. The same is true for the right-wing populist website Politically Incorrect (2014), which also propagates against the alleged exploitation of Western Europe through the Rroma.

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04.04.2014 Racist excess at the “Daily Star”

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Tom Rawle (2014) from the Daily Star presents a racist excess on Rroma in the UK: He talks about the upcoming TV show called “Gypsies On Benefits And Proud”, which reports on migrant Rroma in England. The program is said to show clearly how easy it is for Rroma migrants to travel to England and abuse the local social system: “Ion Lazar, 36, who came to the UK with five other immigrants, says it is so simple to walk into Britain and get everything given to you. He says on the show: “I know it’s very, very easy to take benefits in England… She [England] gives me a free home, she gives me free money, she gives me everything.” He is now focusing on earning £40,000 to take home to Romania to build a house in the small village where he grew up.” Rawle and the program Gypsies On Benefits And Proud encourage racial prejudice with their un-reflected reporting. They unjustly denigrate an entire ethnic group by establishing a clear link between ethnicity and social abuse. They thus make themselves indictable for racist defamation. Politically charged knowledge is presented as if it was a scientific fact. That the presented cases are extreme individual cases is not discussed at all.

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02.04.2014 Criminalization of Rroma in Duisburg

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Cnotka (2014) reports on the official cancellation of Rroma registered in Duisburg. The administration of Duisburg is said to have deliberately deleted many Rroma from the local registry, particularly the ones residing in the disputed tenement “In den Peschen”. However, the persons concerned are still resident there. This procedure is said to consciously push the concerned Rroma outside the law and enable their arrest and deportation. This viewpoint is contradicted by the city of Duisburg, which denies any criminalization of immigrated people: “Rolf Karling from the association “citizens for citizens” says that the city takes the Roma all their rights by unsubscribing them from the registry: “you can arrest and deport the people now at any time.” This view was contradicted by the city of Duisburg […]: Bulgarians and Romanians can stay legally and without a special permit in Germany. Just because they are not reported in Germany, they can not be arrested or deported.” Eduard Pusic, from integration organization “Zof”, claims that the Rroma were deregistered under pressure from the owner of the tenement. Overall, one could see anyhow an exodus into the districts Meiderich and Homberg. The Rroma of the tenement “In den Peschen” were repeatedly in the focus of a heated debate about immigration from Eastern Europe during last year. Polemicists instrumentalised this house and its inhabitants as a negative example of a “culture war” between Germans and Southeast-European immigrants. The integrated, unobtrusive Rroma, which make up the majority, were again once more not heard. Sanches (2014) quotes interior minister Thomas de Maizière, who, regarding the immigration from Romania and Bulgaria, claims that an above-average number of people from those countries would abuse social benefits. He contradicts several statistics and findings that cannot detect any additional usage of social benefits by immigrants from this region. These alleged facts are in fact emotionally charged views on an alleged mass immigration into the German social welfare system.

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02.04.2014 Insidious racism in France

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Several French newspapers report on the latest publication of the National Commission for Human Rights (CNCDH). The commission concludes that racism in France is in overall decline, but that it has become more insidious, subtle and sneaky as a result. Christine Lazerges, the president of the commission, concludes: “In the long view, racism in France decreases, the time of the riots is long gone, but the racism that is propagated today is much more insidious and no longer limited to the extremist edges. It pervades all strata of society.  […] The scapegoats today are particularly Rroma, who are stigmatized, including from the government, and then the Arab Muslims.” Whether the time of racially motivated riots actually belongs to the past may be doubted. Marches of right-wing groups against ethnic minorities such as the Rroma regularly take place in several Eastern European countries. The results of a recent survey, mandated by the commission, makes clear that negative stereotypes towards the Rroma are persisting in the minds of many people. 85% of the thousand respondents said that they believed that Rroma often exploit children and 78 % that they live of theft and the black market. In addition, the suspicion towards anti-racism actors is said to be significant. The commission recommends to continuously foster the education of the population, because it has been shown that there is a clear link between educational alienation and racism. The commission’s authors acknowledge that the Rroma are a heterogeneous group and are not belonging to a homogeneous culture or a single religion. However, they mistakenly assume that the Rroma live in France only since the early 20th century (CNCDH 2014: 201). However, they appear in France in early chronicles since the beginning of the 15th century. Tassel (2014) emphasizes the particular context in which the book is published. On the weekend of March 30th, the right-wing nationalist National Front, which bases significant parts of its policies on xenophobia, achieved a new high in the electorate. In addition, a new Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, has been inaugurated. He is notorious for his repressive policies towards the Rroma. The commission also emphasises the distinction between visible and invisible Rroma, a differentiation that has been fostered by the Rroma Foundation for quite some time: “Only a small minority of the Rroma define themselves in this way – between 15,000 and 20,000, who generally originate of a recent immigration from Bulgaria and Romania – live in a very large uncertainty, that means in the slums. The others are not “visible” and do not live in a state of extreme poverty. The vast majority consists of Gens du voyage, an estimated 350,000 people” (CNCDH 2014: 201-202). This view is contradicted by Tcherenkov/Laederich (2004: 4, 513), who make a clear distinction between travellers of European origin and Rroma. The latter are almost invariably not travelling and belong to the groups of the Manouche, Sinti, Gitans, Kaldersha, Lovara and Yugoslav Rroma (20 minutes 2014, La Croix 2014, CNCDH 2014, Tassel 2014, Vincent 2014).

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29.03.2014 The integration of the Rroma: poverty or minority problem?

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Alexander/Bewarder (2014) spoke with the CDU-politician Gerda Hasselfeldt on the issue of the social integration of Rroma. Hasselfeldt visited Romania for a three-day state visit and spoke with local political leaders on the issues of migration, Rroma and poverty. Hasselfeldt minted the much-cited and controversial phrase “He who is cheating flies”. However, she speaks decidedly for the free movement of people, which for her is not open to discussion. This is not without problems as Hasselfeldt explicitly identifies the subject as a Rroma-problem. As Mappes-Niediek has stressed on several occasions, the ethnicization of a poverty problem hinders the social integration of Rroma. This does not mean that Rroma are not affected by ethnic discrimination, but the term “Rroma-problem” inevitably implies a cultural component. Not surprisingly, Hasselfeldt also invokes cultural explanations: “The problems are very complex. We must, for example, deal with, why the Roma in Romania are so hard to integrate. One reason is probably some completely different values, which were described to us several times in conversations. For example, many girls from Roma families are already married at the age of twelve. This is unimaginable for us and frightens me.” The insistence on different values is based on stereotypes that are not true for many Rroma. Arguing with them is counter-productive and impedes the integration of the minority. This can be read in the comment section of the article, where many false prejudices are cited.

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26.03.2014 French mayoral elections: Rroma give their requests a voice

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Courtel (2014) reports on a group of Romanian Rroma who made use of their right to vote as EU-citizens and participated in the French municipal elections in Tourcoing. In addition to their EU-citizenship, they had to prove to be members of their community since more than six months. The participation of immigrant Rroma has mainly socio-political symbolism: in the media, they are accused again and again to not wanting to integrate. Now, they could actively demonstrate their desire for integration with their participation in the elections. Whether their specific demands – access to the labour market, material security – will be heard by the by the elected politicians is another question. Also in other municipalities in France, immigrant Rroma – which are usually visible in the media in contrast to the integrated ones – went voting: “The Rroma from Tourcoing are not the only ones: in Villeurbanne, in Saint-Denis, in Vitry … they also wanted to make use of their European legal rights and go voting. Some of them had access, the request of others was denied, under the pretext that they had no fixed domicile.” Based on the last example, the deprivation of the right to vote as a result of an ascribed homelessness, one can see how cultural stereotypes continue to influence reality. Most Rroma are not travellers.

On occasion of the French mayoral elections, Mathis (2014) reviews the statements of interior minister Manuel Valls towards Rroma. In September 2013, he alleged all Romanian Rroma a general unwillingness to integrate into French society: “The residents of the camps do not want to integrate into our country because of cultural reasons, or because they are in the hands of begging or prostitution networks.” Mathis identifies Valls expressions as deeply shameful and populist, as a disgrace for a French minister. Valls remarks are a clear case of state racism against a minority, a reductionist populism, which does not differ between different individuals of a group. The Rroma are Europeans, both politically and historically, this can not be repeated often enough.

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26.03.2014 Île-de-France: Rroma hindered at entering a bus

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Several French newspapers report about an incident in a public bus in the region of Île-de-France. A 23-year-old Rrom and his two colleagues were hindered at entering the bus 213 by the bus driver shouting with racist remarks at them. The bus driver massively insulted the Rroma and did not want to let them on the bus: “The Romanians walk, they do not get on the bus. I do not care, you can have two Navigo-passes, you will not get on my bus, the bus driver insisted. The bus is not public. You dirty Romanians, I do not like your visages. I take onto my bus who I want. […] Dirty Romanians, you are like dogs.” The Romanian Rroma has filed a complaint against the Parisian bus company Régie des transports autonomous Parisiens (RATP). A call for witnesses of the incident of the 28th of February was started. Meanwhile, RATP has urged all its bus drivers to accept all passengers unconditionally. – The event is thought-provoking, especially in the context of the strong growth of votes for the national-conservative Front National (Le Figaro 2014, Fouteau 2014, The Local, Metronews 2014, Respect Mag 2014).

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19.03.2014 Al Jazerra: Romania’s rich Rroma

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Leban (2014) reports on wealthy Rroma in Buzescu, in the south of Romania. The city has approximately 35% of Rroma. The photo report provides a counterpart to classical notions of impoverished Rroma, but simultaneously strengthens stereotype notions of Rroma palaces and unfair business practices: “Many of these Roma run large businesses, but they do not specify which ones. And when the mafia comes up in discussion, Costica Stancu, an affluent Roma, said “Mafia? What Mafia? The money comes from work – no begging or other trades.” In Buzescu, omerta – an old code of honour that emphasises silence – reigns.” Therefore, Leban’s report cannot be called a success. What would be desirable is an article about actually invisible Rroma that do not conform to one of the two extremes and live a quiet and integrated life. The fact that the article promotes stereotypical notions of Rroma kings involved in corrupt businesses can be read in the comment column.

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19.03.2014 “The health of the Rroma”

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Dupiot (2014) reports on the mostly inadequate health care of Rroma in French and Romanian slums. The reasons for the poor integration of immigrated Rroma into the French health system are inadequate language skills, lack of clarity about their rights and forced evictions. In terms of health conditions in the camps, Dupiot criticizes the often poor hygienic conditions in terms of water quality and sanitary facilities. The same is the case Rroma in Romania, where poor sanitary conditions lead to diseases such as tuberculosis, a “disease of poverty”. It must be emphasized that the health problems are a problem of poverty and have nothing to do with the culture of the Rroma, as sometimes stated by outsiders.

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19.03.2014 The Rroma and the European free movement of persons

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Rosendorff (2014) reports on an informal Rroma camp in the Gutleutviertel of Frankfurt am Main. The 19 Romanian Rroma who lived so far on an industrial wasteland must vacate the location. The social security office will clarify whether the residents of the settlement have pursued social insurance work. If not, they are not entitled to social security benefits and are likely to be expelled, Rosendorff states. The 37-year-old Rrom Mirkea sees the asylum system as unfair. He criticizes: “My country is terribly corrupt, and I can not get a job there”, he says. “Why does Europe exist? We are all colleagues. I do not understand why so many German say ‘shit Romanians’. We have financed our food by collecting returnable bottles. We do not steal”, asserts Mirkea.” The deportation method described is in conflict with the free movement of workers within the European Union, to which Romania and Bulgaria belong since January 2014. Under this scheme, residents of member states are allowed to reside six months or longer in another EU-member state if they are actively looking for a job.

Die Linke (2014) criticizes in a recent statement the efforts of the government coalition to classify the countries Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as safe countries of origin. With this decision, asylum reasons such as discrimination and exclusion would no longer be recognized: “As long as even only one asylum seeker from these countries is recognized as requiring protection, there can be no acceleration of proceedings by law. In 2013, at least 64 Serbian and 43 Macedonian asylum seekers were recognized as refugees or were given protection from deportation on humanitarian grounds. In two thirds of these cases, recognition was granted only by the courts, because the measures taken under an emergency procedure by the federal office for migration and refugees were wrong.” Die Linke criticizes correctly that the discrimination against Rroma is insufficiently highlighted by such country analyses. When determining migration policies, economic and not socio-political considerations are central to decisions, which is done at the expense of minorities such as the Rroma.

Gedziorowski (2014) spoke with Joachim Brenner, director of the Förderverein Roma. Brenner criticizes the widespread reservations about the minority and the polemical discourse against immigrants that is not dominated by facts but suspicion and emotions: “The whole terminology of tide, currents and wave – this is scaremongering. We took notice that we have to do more in the social counselling, but we also have to work with more people who live in poor conditions. [ … ] The last demoscopic studies by sociological institutes show that the resentments have not diminished, but still are manifest. When looking for housing Sinti and Roma have major problems.” Brenner further criticizes that it is above all a lack of political will, which leads to the marginalization of poor people and minorities, and not the lack of financial resources, which are certainly present. This may be seen with reference to the housing project Kulturcampus Bockenheim, which encountered great resistance by the welfare department from the very beginning.

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07.03.2014 Taking into care of Rroma children: care or structural violence?

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Voigt (2014) from the Frankfurter Rundschau reports on two young Rroma children taken into care by the Frankfurt youth welfare office. The youth welfare office justifies its action with reference to the precarious living situation of the family: the Romanian Rroma family is said to have lived under problematic conditions in an hut without heating and running water. The Förderverein Roma takes a very different viewpoint: “taking the two children into care [is] a clear case of “punishment of poverty”. The family was not illegal, but lived in the hut with the consent of the owner. Just because the parents cannot finance an own apartment because of their poverty, the children are taken away from them.” The association is committed to find a reasonable accommodation for the whole family and for the parents to receive social welfare.

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07.03.2014 Francetv info: “Who are the Rroma?”

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In a series of five articles, Francetv Info presents the lives of immigrant Rroma in France. Unfortunately, the only Rroma getting a voice already stood in the focus of media attention through the focus on differences to the general population. Baïetto’s (2014) text focuses on the fate of a Rroma family in Champs-sur-Marne. The article accuses the eviction-policy of the French authorities, but at same time confirms stereotypical notions of neglected Rroma that beg and sell scrap metal. In addition, once again only visible Rroma get a chance to speak: “For many families in their situation, scrap iron and begging are the two basic sources of income. The men get up very early in the morning, looking for pieces of metal they can sell. The women beg in the streets of the city and make five or six Euros a day.” The Rroma interviewed emphasize that life in France, in spite of their apparently miserable conditions, is still much better than in Romania. Here they don’t go hungry and the children can attend the school. Since she is living in France, says one Rromni, she had to change her accommodation a dozen times due to forced evictions. This happened in a time period of four years.

Legrand (2014) portrays a young Rrom who left Romania at the age of thirteen. Elvetian works as a middleman. He provides his acquaintances with outlets for objects such as mobile phones or jewellery whose origin are doubtful. In the following section Elvetian tells about his childhood, in which he committed shoplifting and illegal copper collection. He was deported several times, but always travelled back to France, because his entire family lives here. Legrand’s article gives an overview of the difficulties immigrant Rroma face in their attempt to integrate into the labour market and French society. However, her article confirms stereotypes about stealing Rroma, as the have been widely disseminated by the media. Therefore, one cannot describe the selection of the portrayed Rroma as fortunate nor as representative.  

The third article deals with a fifteen-year old Rrom who prostitutes himself in front of the Gare du Nord in Paris. He earns twenty to thirty Euros per client, who he usually serves on the toilets of the train station and the surrounding fast food restaurants. He has no pimp, but regular customers. Between thirty and fifty young Rrom prostitute themselves in front of the Gare du Nord, according to the sociologists Olivier Peyroux. One of the reasons for this are the difficulties minors face in finding a regular job. The article paints a picture of prostitution that is practiced out of poverty and lack of alternatives and not equated with human trafficking. Nevertheless, also this article has to be described as one-sided, as it confirms stereotypes of prostituting Rroma (Legrand 2014/II).

The fourth article focuses on the fate of a Rroma family from Timisoara, in north-western Romania. The family of 32-year-old Viktor benefited from an active integration policy, which was conducted between 2000 and 2007 by the agglomeration syndicate Sénart. As a result of the active integration policy, the portrayed family received a council house on the condition that the children regularly attend school, that the parents actively seek work and they would not beg: “At the end of the 1990s, Rroma families settled down in the heart of the new town. Some voters complained and the prefecture decided to try something out.  […] Based on their behaviour and their history, the prefecture chose 23 Rroma families and settled them on a site with sanitary facilities.” In return for their active integration efforts, the families received first job offers and residence permits, so that they would be able to raise the necessary funds to purchase regular social housing. In 2007, Sénart stopped its support payments to the families due to lacking funds. Viktor and his family could remain in the social housing thanks to his job in a supermarket. They do not approve the one-sided portrayal of the Rroma in the French media: “I hear pranksters about Romanians in television, rants Viktor. […] If a Romanian causes problems, they equate all Romanians, he complaints. Look at me, I’m working, I have a house and my children go to school, he tells.” The fourth article, concerning the stereotypical representations of Rroma, clearly can be better rated than the other ones. It shows the positive example of a successful integration. However, that there are other integrated Rroma in France, who are living the country since generations or decades, a fact that is not mentioned here either (Baïetto 2014/II).

The fifth article in the series also tries to create a counter-image against stereotypical notions of Rroma. Florin, a Rrom of 25 years, works as a storeman and speaks perfect French. Only as a teenager, when he newly arrived from Romania in France, he was begging. Then he made the acquaintance of a mart trader, for whom he worked illegally for seven years. His girlfriend helped him to learn French. After problems with the residence permit, Florin’s family was one of the few beneficiaries of the infamous, inter-ministerial circular of the 26th August 2012. His parents got a council house and he and his wife a room in a hotel. In September 2013, he finally finds a legal job as a storeman in Rungis. However, he still has no definite residence permit, even though he would like to integrate and live his life in France (Baïetto 2014/III).

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07.03.2014 Paul-Marie Coûteaux relaunches the Rroma debate anew

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Le Monde (2014) reports on the opinions of Paul-Marie Coûteau. Coûteau belongs to the national-conservative and Eurosceptic party Souveraineté, indépendance et libertés (SIEL), which he founded himself. On his blog, he expresses the idea that Rroma should be put in specialy established camps. The article has the telling title “On the establishment of Rroma in Paris and the slow extinction of the national sense of honour”. Coûteau perceives the sight of impoverished Rroma in the streets of Paris as aesthetically disturbing: “Their presence is an unworthy sight for Paris and unworthy of France, unworthy of a great country, and a problem for the aesthetic order.” He stands for election for the electoral coalition Rassemblement Bleu Marine as mayor for the sixth district of Paris. Coûteau expresses himself negatively towards the free movement of persons with Romania and Bulgaria, against which he voted.

Coûteau’s perspective on the Rroma is as one-sided as the majority of the public debate, which focuses only on visible Rroma. It is also telling, that he states to be hurt in his national honour by the sight of Rroma. He therefore reveals himself as a proponent of a radical order-policy that puts aesthetic feelings before human dignity, which is totally absurd. SOS Racisme has announced that it will file a complaint against Coûteau because of his racist remarks (compare 20 minutes 2014, Libération 2014, Théveniaud 2014).

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28.02.2014 Die Zeit criticizes the victim discourse about Rroma

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In her article in Die Zeit, Lau (2014) criticizes the victim role to which Rroma activists are said to refer to constantly in Germany. In the debate about poverty migrants from Romania and Bulgaria, one mainly talks about the immigrants, but not with them. This also has to do with the focus of the activism of Romani Roses, who has been working for the rights of the Rroma in Germany for several decades. Rose focuses his policy on the recognition that Rroma were victims of the Nazi genocide, whereby other topics are to receiving less than enough attention: “Ironically, the central council and Romani Rose prevent elsewhere that the understanding between newly arrived Roma and the majority society improves. Since he can remember, Romani Rose fought for the recognition as victims of genocide, a fact repeatedly disputed by historians. […] Since they share neither religion nor written culture, there is actually only one link between the Sinti and Roma: the experience of persecution. And that is the reason why discrimination is the central topic in the political statements of their community, rather than strategies of advancement.” Lau’s article tries to find out why there is a lack of solution strategies in the current debate about immigrants from Southeast Europe. However, she is wrong when she accuses Rroma to stick to a victim status. This criticism was already expressed in the beginning of 2013 by another author: In his book Zigeuner – Begegnungen mit einem ungeliebten Volk, Rolf Bauerdick criticised the lack of self-initiative in improving the social integration of the Rroma. This criticism is one-sided and hides the mechanisms of exclusion. Although it is right that a successful integration involves two sides, promotion and self-initiative, the latter one can only happen if the necessary conditions are given. Otherwise, suppression remains the dominant factor.

Just the opposite is argued by the TAZ in its interview with the historian Patricia Pientka. Pientka researched the story of a Rroma detention camp in Berlin-Marzahn. The historian is shattered about how bad the persecution of the Rroma in Germany was researched so far, also concerning the Berlin-Marzahn detention camp. In 1936, Rroma were selected via by sociographic criteria for the camp: caravans, many children and certain profession groups were decisive for the internment as well as the living on welfare. In 1938, the pseudo-scientific criteria of the racial hygiene research unit under Robert Ritter were implemented. The continuity between the war and the post-war period is particularly shocking. Perpetrators from the Nazi era were appointed as experts in courts, where they could play down or even qualify the war horrors with false statements: “In Berlin and elsewhere, the police departments for “Gypsy questions” established at end of 1938 are of central importance. In Berlin, the head of the department was Leo Karsten. After the war, he was superintendent of the police of Ludwigshafen and throughout Germany was the appointed expert on compensation issues for Sinti and Roma. His testimony led, among other things, to the verdict that the senate didn’t recognize the Marzahn detention camp as a labour camp […]. One can definitely say that the racist persecution of Sinti and Roma in Nazi Germany hasn’t been critically analysed until today. We have a huge deficit. This is also reflected in the case with Roma from South Eastern Europe, for instance Serbia, who are absolutely not perceived as descendants of Holocaust victims – what they definitely are” (Memarnia 2014).

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28.02.2014 The immigration debate and Rroma stereotypes

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The Romanian ambassador in London, Ion Jinga, writes against the stereotypical representation of the Rroma in the British media. Only recently, the English newspaper “Daily Mail” published an interview with the Romanian Rroma “Rudi”, who confirmed almost all prejudices against the minority: that Rroma steal and burden the British welfare system. That an individual of an ethnic group is taken to represent all members of a group, is not a new phenomenon, but it is amazing how well this presentation method works. Rudi stated: “I made my way by pick-pocketing, thieving and other small crimes. I was put in prison or arrested by the police in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, France, Austria and Germany before I arrived here. [ … ] Your benefits system is crazy. It’s like finding a sack full of cash that has been dropped, picking it up and no one saying anything.” Jinga attempts to qualify the one-sided statements and to show the complexity behind the generalizations. Rroma are marginalized, but most of them are trying to find a job and work hard, especially when they migrate to another country. The portrayal of problem cases through the media confirms false prejudices and hinders a successful integration of the minority. The Romanian government has repeatedly pointed out that the integration of the Rroma is a pan-European task that cannot be handled by a single nation. Jinga also convincingly demonstrates that the Romanian economy performs very well in a pan-European comparison. However, one has to disagree in one point with him. Jinga claims that access to the Romanian labour market is equal for all. That Rroma in Romania are still heavily discriminated against, should not be denied (Jinga 2014).

The highly one-sided article from Daily Mail (Reid 2014) builds its argument on dubious statistics from the British bureau of statistics. The ONS (Office for National Statistics) stated that Romania has the highest birth rates in Europe and that the British welfare system animates Romanian immigrants to get even more children. These statements are supplemented with the effusive confessions of Rudi, who confirms all prejudices about social tourism. That, through his statements, he advocates for the restriction of immigration, doesn’t seem to come to his mind. At the end of the article he states: “We Romanians can go anywhere we want in Europe now — but, of course, it is only Britain that pays us to live.” Reid manages to fuel fears of mass immigration into the British social system and to consolidate them. She doesn’t seem interested in an objective assessment of the situation at all.

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28.02.2014 Tilo Sarrazin propagates the alleged Rroma problem

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The highly controversial author Tilo Sarrazin, who sparked a debate about immigration and the safeguarding of German values with his 2010 book Deutschland schafft sich ab, rallies in a recent statement against the alleged taboo of the so-called Rroma problem. Sarrazin, as well as other conservative exponents, assume that Rroma do in fact pose a problem for the German social welfare system and the German society. He therewith strengthens the statements of xenophobic reductionists, who imply that Rroma lack the will to integrate and culturally tend to criminality. Sarrazin says: “Basically, the immigration from Bulgaria and Romania presents no other problems than the one from Lithuania and Poland. But there is a special topic and that is: Roma. But that is not clearly named and is one of the biggest taboos. […] Whether you say “Gypsies”, “Sinti and Roma”, “economic refugees” or “poverty tourists”, you have to tackle the problem at the source, which lead to widespread reservations, and not hide the problems through different names” (Focus 2014). Sarrazin therefore propagates the absurd idea that Rroma are harder to integrate than other ethnic groups, which is completely preposterous. The propagating of a Rroma problem spreads false notions of cultural alterity and incompatibility. The Rroma are just as willing to integrate as members of other ethnic groups. That the already well-integrated Sinti are completely negated in this debate is astonishing (compare Neues aus Braunschweig und Wolfsburg 2014, Ad-Hoc-News 2014).

A contrary position is taken by Vosskühler (2014). She questions the distinction between economically useful and un-useful immigrants with facts that are supported by statistics: „Romanians and Bulgarians are more commonly associated with social benefits than other EU foreigners“ – not true. „Romanians and Bulgarians abuse social welfare in a big way“ – not true. „All Romanians and Bulgarians who come to Germany are poverty immigrants.“ – Also not true.” What is needed are entrepreneurs, who are willing to integrate low-skilled migrants. The free movement of persons is not up for debate.

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21.02.2014 Rroma in Cluj-Napoca and the British-Romanian relations

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Alexander (2014) reports about segregated Rroma in Cluj-Napoca in Romania. The resident Rroma had obey the verdict of the local mayor, who planned to build a park and a church on their previous place of residence. The displaced Rroma now live on the site of a former chemical plant. The hygienic conditions are precarious: For around 360 people there is only one shower system. Initially, there were not even toilets in the one-room apartments. The English clergy has now appealed to the religious and moral conscience of the city mayor Emil Boc, in collaboration with Amnesty International, and asked this segregation to be ended. The criticism by the English happens during a highly politicized context, with British Conservatives repeatedly criticising the alleged upcoming mass migration of Rroma into Britain to tap the welfare system. To describe the Rroma in their countries of origin as victims and as perpetrators in Western Europe is symptomatic of the stereotyped coverage of the minority. The article goes on to compare the integration efforts of Romania and Great Britain. While from Alexander’s perspective, the Rroma policy of Romania has to be strongly criticised, for the press officer of Emil Boc, this is political propaganda: “We are far more tolerant than you guys, she said. The children get free buses to school. Before they were living in slums anyway. When they were moved to Pata Rat, it wasn’t that the land was bad and no one wanted to live there. It was just the only available area.” One third of the annual budget is said to be spent on social projects, the spokeswoman continues. For Alexander, however, it remains clear that Pata Rat is a clear example of state-organized segregation. The two sides remain at odds.

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21.02.2014 The Rroma and the Swedish-Romanian relations

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Iskenderov (2014) reports on difficulties in the Swedish-Romanian foreign relations. The reasons for the difficulties are the integration efforts of the Romanian government towards the Rroma in Romania. The Swedish government accuses Romania to inadequately ask for and utilise the social funds provided by the EU: “The allegations of Swedish politicians against the government of Victor Ponta relate to the use of resources from the European Union funds. It is in particular the inadequate use of these resources, which provoked the discontent of the Swedish politicians. According to the European commission, the European social fund has provided 3.68 billion Euros for the social integration of the Roma in Romania during 2007-2013. Only 27% of the funds were used.” The Swedish integration minister Erik Ullenhag particularly criticizes the non use of the European social fund. This criticism takes place in the context of the ongoing debate about the free movement of persons in the EU. The focus on Rroma is unfortunately highly selective and one-sided: only impoverished or delinquent Rroma get represented by the media and therefore reproduce a stereotyped, public image of the minority.

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21.02.2014 Discussion around the integration of Rroma in Duisburg

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Schlömer (2014) reports on a meeting of local organisations to discuss the possibilities for successful integration of immigrated Rroma. The presentation of the Romanian-German pastor Dieter Herberth is said to have revolved primarily around the deconstruction of prejudices: “Since a long time Roma migrants of In den Peschen are a controversial issue that haunts the population like no other. And just as long, dangerous half-knowledge about the new neighbours and wild speculations have been spread and constructed a terrifying vision.” The meeting was an attempt to provide historical facts instead of distorting culturalisms and to show the social structures in countries like Romania. The speaker also pointed out that integration requires patience and that the majority of the immigrants is willing to integrate, if they are allowed to. Schlömer’s statement about half-knowledge is very appropriate, since a lot of politicised and ethnicised knowledge was presented as total truth during the past year.  

Cnotka (2014) expands the topic by pointing out that beginning of next week, ten volunteer Rroma-Scouts will support the immigrant families in their integration efforts. The companions will help with administrative procedures or doctor visits in order to strengthen the autonomy of the immigrants: “The ten scouts will accompany their individual families to government offices, doctor visits, to shopping, or for finding accommodation”, says Jürgen Voss, head of the deaconry of Duisburg-West. Dieter Herberth adds that it will be easier for the Roma if they have a companion, not only because of the language barrier, but because refusals are common when the address In den Peschen is mentioned.”  One of the challenges is that none of the scouts speak Rromanes or Romanian. Thus, the families are actively encouraged to improve their German language skills as quickly as possible. Cnotka’s arcticle is written emphatically and objectively. Nevertheless, he indirectly promotes notions of Rroma who are hard to integrate and burden the social security system. The inconspicuous Rroma should get attention in the media as well.

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