After \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta flood of articles last week, the debate over the feared mass immigration of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma from Bulgaria and Romania to Germany has somewhat abated. News is now \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdominated by some more articles, which try to bring rationality and reflexion \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto the debate.<\/p>\n
For \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texample, Bild newspaper published an editorial entitled \u201cThe truth about the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma in Germany.\u201d It shows that after the establishment of residency rights \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfor citizen from Poland, no mass exodus to Germany took place. In addition to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe usual portrayal of a Rroma family living in poverty, the article actually \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgives a voice to the invisible Rroma noting that: \u201cAn estimated 120,000 Gypsies \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlive in Germany, 70,000 of them with German citizenship. Many have studied and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare successful.\u201d In contrast, they postulate the existence of a large mass of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvery poor Rroma living \u00a0on the edge \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof criminality (Kiewel, Solms-Laumbach, Winterstein 2013).<\/p>\n
The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTAZ denied once again the inflated figures that have been mentioned in the course \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof this debate. On the one hand, it was hardly mentioned that a significant \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnumber of immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria are actually seasonal workers. The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnumber of migrants in Germany is smaller by that large amount. TAZ states a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnumber of 58,000 seasonal workers out of the to 147,000 migrants claimed by the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGerman Federal Statistical Office. In addition, far from all immigrants have an \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tautomatic right to Hartz IV funds.[1]<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHe who in his business cannot provide official payment information, has no \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tright to social benefits (Dribbusch 2013).<\/p>\n Also Preffer \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(2013) of the FAZ criticizes the culture of one-sided discussion in this debate \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand takes Maybrit Illner talk show as an example. In the hysteria surrounding \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe predicted mass immigration the fact that the number of \u201cunqualified poverty \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmigrants\u201d is a minority was never stated. Preffer therefore calls the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstatistics of the Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research the \u201cNon-statistic \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof the month\u201d. Preffer qualifies the Maybrit Illner talk show as not fruitful, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tas far as the reduction of stereotypes and fears goes. As catchy picture of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma in conjunction with human trafficking, prostitution, crime and garbage \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdumps was presented instead. The only non-politician present was the Rroma Representative \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDotschy Reinhard but she could do little in this political tug of war.<\/p>\n What \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis amazing is the dedicated and constant belief in almost all articles and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttelevision shows that the problems of extreme poverty, rising crime in German \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmunicipalities and increasing prostitution and illegal employment are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texplicitly a Rroma issue. That these problems exist is not to be denied. It is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timportant to take them seriously. However, it is highly problematic to present \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthem as problems of a Rroma way of life or of a Rroma identity. With this \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tethnicization, no problems are solved, only new ones created. Numerous articles \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tassign a victim role to Rroma and establish a clear link between victimization \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand identity. In spite of good intentions, this results in one more inappropriate \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpreconception on Rroma. They are effectively deemed to be immature and to lack \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof free will.<\/p>\n The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnext surprise is the high level of expertise that most authors claim to have \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tabout the situation of Rroma in South-Eastern Europe. Again, discrimination and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe poverty of the Rroma are the key factors presented, but few of the authors \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tseem to have reliable sources on Rroma in the countries concerned and to rely \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinstead on the common views of the general population.<\/p>\n Martens \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(2013) mocks the Rroma debate with reference to the comedian Gerhard Polt. In \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe last few days and weeks, many of the concepts on and representations of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma were first immediate impressions, which would then be generalised to all \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma. Polt makes fun of this tendency in his article \u201cAll about the Russians’\u201d. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMartens deconstructs and denies the clich\u00e9 of Rroma King, the hidden force pulling \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tall the strings and forcing Rroma them to beg and who imposes his will in all \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tareas of life. This has nothing to do with reality, definitively not in its \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclich\u00e9 form. Martens concluding reference to the invisible Rroma is of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tparticular interest and has been pointed out by the RCP many times. He notes \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthis:<\/p>\n These are extreme cases of \u201cvisible Roma.\u201d They need \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcontrasted by the \u201cinvisible Roma\u201d over who have found their livelihood as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnurses, cleaning ladies or construction workers and are well integrated. That \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis why they are no longer perceived as Roma. These \u201cinvisible Roma\u201d have no \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinterest in identifying themselves to the begging or criminal \u201cvisible Roma\u201d, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhich are perceived by the majority of the general population as the only \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trepresentatives of their people. Roma are always the others (Martens, 2013).<\/em><\/p>\n Carsten \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(2013) refers to the situation of the Rroma in Europe as a misery circle and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsees their situation, and this is to be strongly endorsed, primarily as an \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tacceptance problem. Europe must finally stop to consider the Rroma as the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcontinent’s last wild horde and accept them as human beings and citizens. This \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tincludes overcoming a tradition of prejudices on Rroma handed down from \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgeneration to generation. Breaking this negative preconceptions cycle is in the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinterest of all involved.<\/p>\n Mappes-Niediek \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(2013) also contributes to the deconstruction and negation of false prejudices. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHe focuses on the idea that there is an extensive network of Rroma gangs organising \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprostitution, begging and theft. In this clich\u00e9, Rroma are victims, but also \u201cagents \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof a threatening power\u201d. Mappes-Niediek points out that is in the viewer\u2019s mind \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twho transforms a woman with a girl into a supervisor who collects the money. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParticularly problematic is the view \u201cthat human trafficking, crime and children\u2019s \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbegging is the norm among the poverty migrants from Bulgaria and Romania\u201d. This \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis an extreme form of cultural attribution with which one wants to explain the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoverty itself away. Ultimately, however, it is simply poverty, as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMappes-Niediek aptly states:<\/p>\n To understand the behaviour of Roma poverty migrants one \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tneed not be a criminologist and also do not need to study ethnological works. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIt is sufficient, in essence, to imagine how you would live even if you had no \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmoney, no job, no apartment. This is not a pretty picture, and who does not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thave to confront itself with it, tries to avoid it (Mappes-Niediek 2013).<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n