European effort spotlights plight of the Roma
By Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY
VOLUNTARI, Romania - Sometimes, the contempt is unmistakable, like the day a
shopkeeper blocked Marioara Tranca from entering her store and shouted, "Get
out of here, Gypsy!"
Marioara Tranca, front, pictured with her relatives, says she doesn't
believe Roma stereotypes will change. (Michelle Kelso for USA TODAY)
Other times, it's more discreet. Why, for example, were certain top-scoring
sixth-graders rewarded with a crown of flowers, but not Tranca's daughter,
Madalina, who had the highest grades of all?
In such moments, "my heart hurts," says Tranca, 35, who is from a long line
of Gypsies known for their potmaking skills. The Romanians, she says,
"believe that we are all stupid and we are all thieves. I don't think it
will ever change."
In a country where the words "Moarte Tiganilor!" ("Death to the Gypsies!")
are scrawled across university buildings, it's tough to quarrel with
Tranca's observation. In fact, similar sentiments reverberate throughout
much of Europe, home to an estimated 7 million to 9 million Gypsies, also
known as Roma.
(Photos: Inside the world of the Roma
http://www.usatoday.com/news/gallery/2005/02-01-roma/flash.htm)
In the Czech Republic, 79% of respondents to a 2003-04 survey said they
wouldn't want Roma as neighbors, according to an EU report released in
November. The report also said leaders in the Slovak village of Svinia
refused more than a million euros ($1.3 million) in aid because the funding
would have helped the Roma.
Such attitudes are old news to the Roma, who comprise a diverse ethnic group
from a range of communities that originated in India. Each has its own
dialect and traditions. Though Roma are concentrated in post-communist
countries, an estimated 1 million live in the USA.
In a major effort to help one of Europe's largest, poorest and
fastest-growing ethnic minorities, leaders of many Central and Eastern
European countries are vowing to address their problems. Some of the
pressure is coming from Roma activists. International organizations also are
calling attention to the issue. The World Bank and Open Society Institute
are launching a 10-year initiative today aimed at monitoring eight countries
that have pledged to improve their treatment of the Roma.
But the primary driver is the European Union, which recently opened its
doors to former Soviet bloc countries. Romania and Bulgaria are on track to
join in 2007.
Though EU membership confers benefits, such as access to markets and more
opportunities for foreign investment, it also carries responsibilities. With
80% of Europe's Roma living in new or candidate countries, last November's
EU report called their plight a "litmus test of a humane society."
But the effort to integrate Roma won't be easy. "Mentalities have to change
on both sides - of the majority (population) and of the Roma," says Ilie
Dinca, president of Romania's National Agency for Roma.
Difficult history
To Americans, Romania's record on discrimination sounds familiar: Like U.S.
blacks, Roma were enslaved by landowners and clergy until the mid-19th
century. Along with Jews, they were deported to concentration camps during
World War II.
FORGOTTEN POPULATION
Official count and unofficial estimates of Roma population in the countries
involved in an effort to improve the Roma's plight:
Country Official count Unofficial estimate
-------------------------------------------------
Romania 535,250 1,800,000-2,500,000
Bulgaria 370,908 700,000-800,000
Hungary 190,046 550,000-600,000
Serbia 108,193 400,000-450,000
Slovakia 89,920 480,000-520,000
Macedonia 43,707 220,000-260,000
Czech Rep. 11,716 250,000-300,000
Croatia 9,463 30,000-40,000
(Source: European Roma Rights Center)
History has left a devastating imprint. Romania is home to as many as 2.5
million Roma. According to the World Bank and Open Society Institute,
poverty rates range from four to 10 times that of Europeans. Nearly 40% of
Roma live on as little as $2.15 a day. In Bulgaria where there could be as
many as 800,000 Roma, 89% have never gotten past primary school. Life
expectancies regionwide are about 10 years lower for Roma than for majority
populations, the EU report says.
Though the Roma largely abandoned their nomadic ways after World War II,
Western European countries are attracting more Roma from post-communist
countries, many seeking political asylum. Among the reasons: The aid offered
there as immigration cases work their way through the courts is more than
what a Roma might receive at home.
In a part of the world where weak economies have forced nearly everyone to
struggle, many Europeans see the Roma as a danger to stretched resources,
says Gheorghe Sarau, a Romanian Ministry of Education and Research official.
It isn't clear how Roma, particularly those who avoid outsiders, will
respond to outreach efforts. The EU, for instance, has condemned the custom
of child marriages. But in some Roma communities, tradition is strong.
Tranca opposed the marriage in November of her son, Alexandru, 17, the
oldest of her five children. But her opinion was irrelevant. "In matters of
marriage, the elders have the last word," says Tranca's husband, Mladin, 34.
Local attitudes about Roma also are proving hard to change. Europeans
complain that the Roma don't bathe, have too many children and refuse to
send them to school. There are references to drugs, prostitution, the black
market. Just about everybody has a story about pickpockets.
"The first thing that comes into my mind is, 'They're dirty.' This is a
mentality that we grew up with," says Monica Branzan, 23, a student at the
University of Bucharest.
Perhaps more than older generations, Branzan and several classmates concede
a certain hypocrisy on their part. The Roma "seem not to want to change,"
says Cristina Mustea-Stanca, 22, another university student. "The problem
is, we want them to be normal on our terms."
The students acknowledge that their views are based on limited experience.
Textbooks offer little about the Roma. Aside from what they see in public,
Europeans mostly get information through the media, which tend to focus on
crime or seemingly archaic Roma traditions.
To the extent that the stereotypes are rooted in truth, they are a product
of history, say activists Delia Grigore, a professor at the University of
Bucharest and founder of an organization for Roma youth, and Costel Bercus,
executive director of Romani Crisis.
They argue that crime is a function of poverty, not ethnicity. Bercus says
the centuries-old custom of early marriages began as a survival technique:
It was a way to safeguard Roma girls from being raped by their owners.
Marioara Tranca notes that the Roma don't have a lock on antisocial
behavior. "Both Romanians and Gypsies have bad people in their populations,"
she says.
Prices of education
In Romania, one persistent assumption among non-Roma is that Roma families
don't value education.
According to the World Bank, 70% to 80% of Roma in Europe have less than a
primary school education. Fewer than 1% go on to higher education. The main
reasons, says an Open Society Institute report in 2000, are that the
isolation of Roma makes it difficult for their children to get to school,
seasonal work opportunities force them to move, or the children feel
excluded in the classroom. To that end, programs have been developed aimed
at improving the classroom climate and training teachers in cultural
sensitivity.
But Roma teens suggest the problems go much deeper.
Nelu Fieraru, 18, of Foltesti says he dropped out after the fourth-grade
because his grandparents wanted him to beg or steal. If he didn't make any
money, "they wouldn't let me come back home," he says.
Now, Fieraru is in the eighth grade, participating in a program in the
industrial city of Galati created two years ago to give Roma dropouts
another chance. In addition to English, math and other academic subjects,
they're learning food-industry skills.
Viorica Gotu, Galati County's adviser on Roma issues, sees a big difference
in the students, most of whom came from villages in the poorest parts of
Romania. But of the 30 students who enrolled, 11 left - all girls. The
problem, she says, is that the girls were being teased in their villages
because they weren't married.
Still, Gotu envisions long-term success: The remaining two girls are "going
to succeed," she says. "The girls who go home will be beaten by their
husbands and have a lot of children. They're going to see the others are
successful and will make sure that their children stay in school."
Contributing: Michelle Kelso and Andreea Cipca
C Copyright 2005 USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-02-01-roma-europe_x.htm
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