{"id":1744,"date":"2014-04-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/25-04-2014-the-european-rroma-policy\/"},"modified":"2022-08-04T11:42:50","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T10:42:50","slug":"25-04-2014-the-european-rroma-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/25-04-2014-the-european-rroma-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"25.04.2014 The European Rroma-policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bendavid (2014) reports \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta forced eviction of informal Rroma houses in Eforie, in south-eastern Romania. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe residents are still deeply angered by the destruction of their homes by the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlocal government in September 2013. As a substitute, they were offered container \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tflats that most refused, because of the remote location and the tight space. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe European Rroma Rights Centre filed a complaint against the eviction. The expulsion \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis taken by Bendavid as a starting point to reflect on the European policy \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttowards Rroma. With the accession of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto the European community, the will as well as the political pressure for the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegration of this minority has increased. Western European countries fear an \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinflux of impoverished Rroma from Eastern Europe, a fear that has proved \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tunfounded until now. Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsees an important reason for the lack of effectiveness of the aid programs, in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe widespread prejudice against the minority, which prevent politicians to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttake actions out of fear that they will not be elected again: \u201cMs. Reding, of the European Commission, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsaid the problem may not be solved as long as local officials are terrified of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta public backlash upon helping Roma. That means the EU ultimately may have to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tissue its own Europe-wide rules, she said. \u201cI’ve been told directly by several \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmayors, ‘I am not a racist, but if I call a program ‘Housing for Roma’ or \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t‘Education for Roma,’ I will no longer be mayor,’\u201d said Ivan Ivanov, director \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof the European Roma Information Office, a clearinghouse and advocacy group.\u201d<\/em> This insight is particularly relevant when one considers that the Rroma are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trepeatedly accused of being responsible for their own fate. The fact that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoverty and lack of education are not a self-chosen way of life, but rather the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tresult of exclusion, should be obvious to anyone. While some government \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tofficials strive for a better integration of the Rroma, others want to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsegregate them consistently and build walls around Rroma settlements. Thus, in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSlovakia 400 mayors joined the movement Zobudme \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSa!<\/em> that wants to remove all Rroma settlements by the uncompromising application \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof health and safety regulations (compare Wall Street Journal 2014, Nair 2014).<\/p>\n