The philanthropist \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGeorge Soros commented in the Romanian weekly Dilema Veche about the situation \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof Rroma in Europe. He sees the members of this minority to be particularly \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taffected by the economic crisis. The impact of the crisis is now added to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\talready existing exclusion and human rights violations. He further criticises \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe EU for failing to provide Member States with a counterbalance. The EU is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot a community of equals among equals, but represents tthe power of lenders. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSoros stated:<\/p>\n
[The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma community] which was already the victim of human rights violations and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsocial exclusion, is one of the worst affected by the economic crisis and the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoverty it has engendered. This has been compounded by the growing hostility to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Roma among the majority of the population, which also has to contend with \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\teconomic difficulties. Worse still, the situation is being exploited by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpopulist politicians (Presseurop 2013).<\/em><\/p>\n Conka (2013) informs \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tabout the infamous Rroma settlement Luna IX in Slovakia, where several thousands \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma live. Conka himself grew up in Luna IX, when it was still less segregated, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tas he says, and had regular contact with Slovak non-Rroma. His family then moved \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto Prague, Holland and later to London, where he still lives now. Conka sees \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmany of the Eastern European Rroma losers of the fall of the Iron curtain who \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twere excluded in the news economy and will. He says:<\/p>\n “What \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tI remembered as my happy home has turned into an unrecognisable ghetto with no \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tway out for those who live there, trapped by poverty and prejudice. Some blame \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe collapse of communism. Although lacking in freedom, communism was like a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsticky glue that bound everyone together, and my mum and dad said they would \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnever have left had it not collapsed, because everyone had jobs and decent \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thousing, and there was better integration between Roma and ethnic Slovaks, who \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tshared the same houses, schools and jobs. In the 1990s the local factories \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclosed, and since recruitment methods for smaller employers were relaxed, old \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprejudices against Roma resurfaced and Romani inhabitants of Lunik IX found it \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmuch harder to get work than their Slavic neighbours.”<\/em><\/p>\n Conka further references \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe debate about Rroma immigrants from Eastern Europe in the UK. Conka criticises \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe politician Nigel Farage for his blatant misrepresentation of the Rroma. He \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trepresents Rroma as hordes of welfare cheats who would only come to the UK for assistance. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tConka counters this view decisively and explains that many of the disadvantaged \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma are rather coming in order to get a fair chance to live a decent life. If \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthis was not possible in their country of origin, they will migrate because of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe lack of perspective. This must be taken into account in this \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tundifferentiated discussion.<\/p>\n In his short documentary \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u201cLunik IX: A Short Documentary\u201d he shows a sobering images of life on the edge \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof subsistence, a vicious circle of poverty (Conka 2012).<\/p>\n Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n