{"id":1731,"date":"2014-01-24T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-24T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/24-01-2014-rroma-in-great-britain-and-the-schengen-policies\/"},"modified":"2022-08-21T07:33:30","modified_gmt":"2022-08-21T06:33:30","slug":"24-01-2014-rroma-in-great-britain-and-the-schengen-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/24-01-2014-rroma-in-great-britain-and-the-schengen-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"24.01.2014 Rroma in Great Britain and the Schengen policies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Clark (2013) criticises the Romanian government for its Rroma policies. From \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\this standpoint, it is not appropriate that Romania criticizes the UK for its \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trestrictive migration policy. Romania itself, he emphasizes, has large \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tshortcomings in its policies concerning Rroma. The remark of the Romanian Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcommissioner Damian Draghici that one should not be angry with Rroma beggars \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbut rather be angry at bankers, Clark considers to be arrogant and as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdistracting from the abuses in Romania and Bulgaria itself: \u201eOver the past decade municipal [Romanian] \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tauthorities have ethnically cleansed their city centres of Roma and relocated \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthem to shanty towns on the fringes. In Cluj-Napoca, in a case which has \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taroused the interest of Amnesty International, 300 Roma people were moved to a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsite next to a landfill and chemical dump, where families have been made to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tshare one room. […] The inevitable result is a westwards flow of Roma fleeing \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom discrimination and poverty. The EU’s open borders policy should be \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsuspended until Romania and Bulgaria have improved living conditions for all \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheir citizens.\u201c <\/em>Clark fails to recognize in his analysis that there \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare no overnight solutions for the social ills in Eastern Europe. In addition, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe integration of the Rroma is a pan-European task requiring a pan-state \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsolution. Isolation is therefore clearly the wrong answer to social and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolitical shortcomings. <\/p>\n

The forced relocation of several Rroma families in Cluj-Napoca onto the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsite of a former chemical factory was judged illegal by the local court. The \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tincumbent mayor was convicted \u00a0for \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thaving exceeded his authority in authorizing the relocation. The decision was \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twelcomed by many organisations, such as the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat had supported the action against the forced relocation (Ekklesia 2014). <\/p>\n

An antithesis to Clark’s presentation is Kelley\u2019s (2014) article in The Journal<\/em>. It reminds about the prejudices, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Rroma genocide, the fear fostered by politicians and journalists: A flood \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof immigrants hasn\u2019t come to Great Britain so far and the British voters have \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tproven to be less anxious than some politicians and journalists prophesied: \u201eA survey revealed 68% of Britons welcomed \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEastern Europeans who work hard, pay taxes and speak English. And, according to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMartin Keles, a spokesman for the Roma community in Newcastle, that is exactly \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhat they intend to do. \u201cWe just want the opportunity to provide for our \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfamilies,\u201d he said.\u201c<\/em> Kelley further \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\temphasizes the strong institutionalized racism against Rroma in countries like \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia. But not only in Eastern \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEurope, but in Europe as a whole, the Rroma have experienced a history of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texclusion since their arrival in Western Europe in the 14th century. The human \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trights organization \u201cA Living Tradition\u201d conducted a survey among Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmigrants on behalf of the council of Newcastle. It revealed that the Eastern \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEuropean migrants are fleeing rampant racism in their home countries and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tappreciate the English educational institutions and the open society. Kelley\u2019s \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tarticle is a welcoming change to the many negative articles about Rroma and the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEuropean migration. His positive journalism helps to reduce prejudice and promotes \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe integration of the Rroma. <\/p>\n

Knight (2014) from Gentlemen’s \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tQuarterly<\/em> takes an ambivalent position concerning the debate about \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timmigration in Europe. On one hand, he propagates the idea of an impeding exodus \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof impoverished Rroma to Great Britain, on the other, he acknowledges their \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdiscrimination. He describes Rroma living in the streets of London, having to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcope with very modest incomes. Again and again they are asked by the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tauthorities not to beg and to no longer sleep on the streets. Knight sums up: \u201eCourtesy of the ever-expanding European \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUnion, the UK, and London, are finally waking up to one of Europe’s biggest \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tembarrassments: that after the better part of a thousand years, our continent \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstill does not know how to live at peace with its largest ethnic minority.\u201c <\/em>Contrary to the generalising \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstatements in the title, Knight recognizes that British society knows next to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnothing about Rroma and that one cannot predict how many Rroma will come to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUK. The statistics on immigrants do not capture ethnicity. Knowledge about the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma remains dominated by many unknowns and wrong stereotypes. When Knight quotes \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta local resident of Bryanston Square, the landlady reproduces racist stereotypes \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand generalizations, even though her parents are said to be immigrants. She \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texpresses the absurd image of culturally related crimes and otherness of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma that they don\u2019t want to integrate and deliberately choose a life in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tillegality. In the following paragraph Knight acknowledges that his presentation \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tat the beginning of the article cannot hide is his derogatory attitude towards \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma. He uncritically restates notions about organised begging, child \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprostitution, human trafficking and begging networks and qualifies the Rroma as \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thaving criminal habits: \u201eEver since, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tofficers have wondered about the level of organisation within the group, and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhether it is connected with more serious crimes, such as human trafficking or \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tchild prostitution. Hierarchical networks of beggars and street thieves – run \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby Gypsies, for Gypsies – have been on the rise in big European cities for the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlast decade: in Rome, in Milan, in Paris, in Madrid. London is a logical next \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttarget. Having spent day after day with the Gypsies this summer, I find they \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare never more than a few hours from their next visit from the police or their \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnext arrest for begging.\u201d<\/em> His investigative journalism is biased and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tunreflective. He limits himself to what he could personally observe on the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstreet and mixes it with crude culturalisations. The short trip to Romania is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcharacterized by the common misery images that are often repeated in the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcoverage on Rroma: Large families crammed together in one two rooms and minor \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tteenagers already being married and having kids. Knight quotes a Romanian \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thistorian, Viorel Achim, who no longer sees the future of the Romanian Rroma in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttraining and the building of an educated, integrated middle class, but in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\temigration to Northern Europe. The therefore agrees with the predictions of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconservative apologists, who warn of a mass migration to Western Europe. Knight \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcites a Rroma from Botosani: \u201eYou are going to be seeing a lot more of us \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin the future,\u201c says Manix. \u201eWe’re going to beg, do whatever we can. Anything \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto escape.\u201c<\/em> Romanian Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcommissioner Damian Draghici is particularly critical of NGOs who haven\u2019t used \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe money entrusted to them. The next few paragraphs revolve around the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprosperity gap between Eastern and Western Europe and whether this will result \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin strong migration movements. The fact that the opening of the border to other \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSchengen countries such as Poland and Hungary didn\u2019t result in any mass \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmigration is not assessed in any way. Knight communicates stereotypical notions \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof smuggler gangs and clan chiefs who tie off money for the adaptation to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnew place and exploit poorer Rroma systematically: \u201eYou \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thave to pay. You know from the outset. [\u2026] Everyone is controlled.\u201c<\/em> At the end of the very \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlong article, one impression dominates: A feeling of distrust from the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tjournalist towards his informants, the Rroma. <\/p>\n