{"id":1581,"date":"2014-05-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/16-05-2014-status-report-about-neukolln-rroma-are-exposed-to-exploitation\/"},"modified":"2022-07-24T14:02:37","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T13:02:37","slug":"16-05-2014-status-report-about-neukolln-rroma-are-exposed-to-exploitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/16-05-2014-status-report-about-neukolln-rroma-are-exposed-to-exploitation\/","title":{"rendered":"16.05.2014 Status report about Neuk\u00f6lln: Rroma are exposed to exploitation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The current, fourth Roma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstatus report on the district of Neuk\u00f6lln comes to a sober finding regarding the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsocial integration of Rroma. Members of the minority are exposed to abuse and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texploitation, the study concludes. Many are said to work for dumping wages as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcleaners and under inadequate working conditions in the building sector. In \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taddition, they are exposed to exploitation in the housing market through the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trental of junk properties to unreasonable prices: \u201cPeople attracted to Neuk\u00f6lln, mainly come from precarious conditions \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinto precarious conditions\u201d, says the study. Nationwide averages of highly \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tskilled migrants from Romania and Bulgaria are not very helpful, when one has \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto decide what to do on the actual site, the authors note critically. […] \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u201cDebt and lack of housing\u201d are mentioned as most urgent problems. Around 40 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpercent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants in Neuk\u00f6lln receive social benefits.\u201d \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/em>The argumentation repeatedly makes use of statistics, which are cited at \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe same time approvingly for the authentication of receiving social benefits, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thowever perceived critically regarding the proportion of highly skilled \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timmigrants. This reasoning shows that statistical findings can be interpreted \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin different ways, depending on the need, and this is also done so here. Interesting \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis also the title of the study as \u201cRroma Status Report\u201d, as it is explained that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe vast majority of immigrants are Romanians and Bulgarians. This finding is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timportant because in German statistics ethnicity is not captured. Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoliticians like Romeo Franz argue the exact opposite: only just 10% of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRomanian and Bulgarian immigrants are Rroma. Nevertheless, the problems described \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tshould not to be negated. It is important to address them. However, it is very \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tproblematic to identify them as specific \u201cRroma issues\u201d. Thereby, poverty \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tproblems are ethnicized (see Flatau 2014, Lombard 2014, Vogt 2014).<\/p>\n

The district councillor \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof Neuk\u00f6lln, Franziska Giffey, notes critically that it is not the high- \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tskilled immigrants who are coming to Neuk\u00f6lln, but mostly poorly educated immigrants, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twho are marginalized in their countries of origin. To foster their successful \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegration, more funding is needed: \u201cThere \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare various measures that should be implemented, but in reality we are missing \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfinancial resources and personnel\u201d, said the SPD politician. Only 500,000 Euros \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfor language and cultural mediators were allocated, which should then be inplace \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthroughout the city \u2013 far too little, Giffey thinks. \u201cOf course, in a 3 1\/2-million \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcity, leaving out the fact that we have over 10,000 Romanians and Bulgarians \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRoma alone here in Neuk\u00f6lln, with such numbers and sizes there is of course not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta lot you can do.\u201d<\/em> Regarding the promtion of integration, the politician is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tabsolutely right that combating nuisances contributes nothing to improve the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsituations. However, also here the dictum applies that the problems should not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbe treated as specific Rroma-problems (compare Runfunk Berlin Brandenburg 2014).<\/p>\n