Roma In the Balkans
The Roma are believed to have left India about AD 1000 and to have passed through what is now Afghanistan, Persia, Armenia, and Turkey. People recognizable by other Roma as Roma still live as far east as Iran, including some who made the migration to Europe and returned. It is virtually impossible to identify Roma still living in India. By the 14th century, Roma had reached the Balkans and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden. Some Roma migrated south through Syria to North Africa, reaching Europe through the Strait of Gibraltar. Both currents met in today's France.
The world population of Roma is difficult to establish with any certainty. Estimates suggest that there are between approximately 5 and 10 million Roma worldwide. As many as 6 to 8 million Roma live in Europe. The largest concentrations of Roma are found in the Balkan peninsula of southeastern Europe, in central Europe, the United States, and in Russia and the other successor republics of the USSR. Smaller numbers are scattered throughout western Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Bosnia and Herzegovina The Roma are ethnic minority group without a state of their own. They are among the largest minority groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the exact number can't be stated with any certainty. The Council of Europe estimates the number of Roma in B&H between 30 and 60 thousand, who live, in majority of case, in the 30 or so ilegally built Roma settlements. The Roma are the poorest and least educated population that lives in substandard conditions, and the unemployment rate in the group is over 95%. Majority Roma lack any personal identification or documents. The project for registration of the Roma in the birth registries, implemented by the OSCE Mission to B&H, attempted to improve the situation in that area. One of the aims of the project was to reduce the possibilities for children trafficking and human body-parts trade, which have flourished in the coutnry over the past several years. In April 2003, Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified the Framework Convention on Protection of National Minorities and addopted the Law on Protection of Minority Groups' Rights. The Law regulates the rights of 17 minority groups in the country, including the Roma. Among other things, the Convention covers the right to education, use of minority languages and the right to true participation in the work of the elected bodies and state administration. In spite of the existing legislation that provides the framework to regulate the Roma rights, that population, we can say, has no right in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For instance, there are no Roma in the police force, which has to correspond to the national structure of teh country. Only recently, Roma applicants were considered to be accepted at the Police Academy. We have the similar situation with the return of pre-war property to the Roma that return from abroad. Many Roma complaint that all requests for return of property is accompanied with demands for bribe by the officials. There are about 40 registered Roma associations in B&H, the majority of which are active in the BH Federation. The big international organizations and NGOs (OSCE, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the Soros Foundation...) also work on Roma issues. Croatia The exact number of Roma living in Croatia and their territorial distribution is difficult to determine for several reasons. Therefore, the results of the official Census of Population are just an indication of the true situation. The data on the number of Roma in Croatia are contradictory, to say the least. They range from approximately 10,000 (9.463 Roma according to the 2001 Census), to about 30-40,000 estimated by the expert teams of the Council of Europe and OSCE. The Roma NGOs estimates move between 100-150,000 Roma in Croatia. The main problems of the Roma national minority remain to be existential. The best illustration of the material situation of the Roma is the figure of 89% of polled households in which no member of the family has regular source of income. Communal problems, education, unemployment, the lack of will to provide for positive discrimination of the Roma, compared to the other minorities (social welfare, education, housing, tax rebates…) are the most important problems of the Roma population. The standards of living remain low for the majority of Roma. The reduced access to healthcare, sub-par housing, unsolved citizen/statutory issues, and the low employment rates are just some of the factors that contribute to the ever present marginalization of the Roma and their constant dependence on social welfare. According to the data available from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, there are 7,127 households (both single member households and families), or approximately 21,000 Roma persons that use the right to assistance and sustenance. Should we take into account the estimates of some 30-40 thousand Roma in Croatia, we may conclude that over 50% of the total Roma population lives of social welfare. The Roma share of the total number of welfare users is 13.56%. Macedonia Republic of Macedonia is (or should we way it strives to be) a multiethnic and multicultural state, in which tolerance, solidarity and mutual understanding and respect are promoted to be the basic principles of our living. It is very popular these days in Macedonia to work, or be a part of multiethnic tolerance, and working or talking about the rights of the minorities. Roma minority is just a one of the many minorities, or to be politically correct, nationalities, living in Macedonia. Yet, Roma are unique, not only in problems that are facing, like poverty and lack of education, but unique in the cultural legacy and influence in Macedonia. According to the data from the last census in 2002, there are 53.879 Roma in Macedonia, which account for 2.66% of the total population. Macedonia is the first country on the world in which Constitution, adopted in 2001, the Roma are declared, together with other nations living in the country, as carriers of the independence and integrity of the state. Since the beginnings of the parliamentary democracy in Macedonia, the Roma population has two political parties, strongly involved in the building of democracy. The only existing Roma municipality in Europe is in Macedonia. There are two private TV stations, as well as Roma language program on the national television. There is no segregation in the educational system in Macedonia, yet the number of Roma finishing secondary Scholl is very low, not to mention High education. That is why the National Strategy for Roma Inclusion is focused on the education of Roma population. The lack of education has been identified as one of the main reasons for social exclusion, unemployment and poverty. The Roma population is the most vulnerable category in Macedonia, since the rate of poverty is higher compared with the others. In that context must be mentioned that this situation is provoked not only by the present situation in the country, but goes deeper in the accumulated historical background of the Roma people. In terms of the civil initiative, must be mentioned that there are Roma NGOs in Macedonia, not merely existing on paper but vigorously working on Roma issues, as well as the human rights, education, democracy, etc. These NGOs will be crucial partners in the process of integrating Roma population in the social mainstreams, projected with the “Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015”. Kosovo The overall human rights situation in the Balkans, including Kosovo and its surrounding vicinities continues to give rise to serious concerns. It is of utmost importance that the international community bears particularly in mind the situation of the Roma in the region, as they are often left out of the context when protection of minority rights is at stake. The RAE (Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian) community in Kosovo has suffered discrimination, oppression, along with political and social marginalization. This situation was exacerbated since June 1999 by the perception that the RAE community colluded with attacks on Kosovo Albanians perpetrated by Serb military and paramilitary forces. These factors contributed to the increase of ethnically motivated violence against the RAE community by ethnic Albanians. Even though there are no accurate figures on the actual number of Roma living in Kosovo, it is estimated that today, the number of Roma in Kosovo has been reduced to 22,000-25,000, a number significantly lower than what it once was, again estimated, before the US/NATO intervention in Kosovo there were more than 150,000 Roma in the region. The political situation for RAE community in Kosovo has now more or less stabilized, and the focus of problems the RAE communities are facing has now changed. Political representatives of RAE in Kosovo have taken serious steps on taking part in institution building, while they are part of them since the first elections results in Kosovo’s post-war period. The war has exacerbated levels of poverty that this RAE community has not been able to recover from, and they have fallen through the gaps of social and economic assistance that has been offered to other ethnic groups. This has created problems with the RAE refugees living in neighboring countries such as Montenegro and Macedonia who would like to return now but do not consider that the conditions are suitable. They see that the RAE already living in Kosovo are living in extremely poor conditions, and they consider that it is not the time to return when there is nothing to return to. The encouraging fact about RAE community in Kosovo is that recent government is attempting to avert further social breakdown and positively encourage improvements in social cohesion. Serbia and Montenegro Serbia The Roma are mostly despised in Eastern Europe, but in Serbia they have the special status of musical entertainers and are well liked. That is the impression of the Roma of an American journalist who spent time in Belgrade during the NATO bombing. Nonetheless, the member of Roma nationality live in substandard conditions in Serbia, faced with poverty, unemployment and inadequate education. The majority of Roma families live in slums, without electricity, running water, heating or proper bathrooms. The majority of the approximately 60,000 people that live in the 593 substandard settlements in Serbia (102 in Belgrade) are Roma.
Of the total number of Roma, 33 percent is completely illiterate, while only 0.3% has completed higher education. Only 18.6 percent of working age Roma have regular jobs, 68.4% is unemployed, and eight percent finds temporary jobs. The Roma themselves list the lack of housing, food and clothing, salaried jobs, healthcare and education as their greatest problems. More that one half, 62%, of the Roma population is younger than 25 years of age, while only 4.1% are older then 60. The Roma in Serbia have always been located on the social margins, exposed to violence, segregation and discrimination. Between 2000 and 2004, the Humanitarian Law Centre has investigated and documented 241 cases of illegal actions by the police, violence and discrimination by groups and individuals motivated by racial bias against the Roma. The National Roma Action Plan for 2004 covered four areas: education, healthcare, education and employment. The goal of the Action Plan is to reduce the gap between the Roma and the majority population. The priority was put on the education of Roma. According to available data, one in five Roma of working age is illiterate, one in three hasn’t completed elementary schools, and one in ten is trained in some craft. Only nine percent of the Roma have completed secondary school. One fifth of Roma families have no regular income, and the majority lives off the earnings in the “grey economy”. Serbia is one of the eight countries in the region that has accepted the obligations to pay attention to the improvement of the social and economic status of the Roma, under the “Roma Decade” Programme. Montenegro Roma, Ashkaelia, Egyptians (RAE) represents one of the minorities that has always been, and are still today, discriminated against. They probably have the most distasteful status among all minority groups in the world, in Europe, and in the Balkans, and the situation is not better in the countries that have emerged from the former Yugoslavia. By examining the current tendencies in the lives of the Roma population, their culture, and their customs, it can be seen that the Balkans and Central Europe are their European homeland. Today in Europe, there are approximately 10 million Roma, although census data does not provide objective figures regarding their number. According to the statistics from 1991, there are 3,282 citizens of Montenegro that declare themselves as Roma. However, the real number of RAE in Montenegro is much higher because of the following: RAE are not interested to register, they frequently change their place of residence within the territory of Montenegro, they easily adapt to the conditions of their surroundings, and most RAE declare themselves as Muslims or Montenegrins. It is estimated that approximately 20,000 RAE live in Montenegro, since a large number have immigrated from Kosovo to Montenegro during the war (although it is not certain, some estimations put this number at over 6,600). Roma represent the third largest minority group in Montenegro, following Muslims – Bosnians and Albanians. The general difficulties that this population faces include: poor living conditions, health problems, unemployment, poverty, social problems, and educational difficulties. The basic prejudice against Roma is that they are lazy and irresponsible people. They usually live in settlements called “mahala”. A very small portion of Roma has a recognized occupation, and among these workers, the skills they possess have been developed through their work rather than a formal education. In Montenegro, most RAE live in suburbs’ settlements such as: Konik, Brlja, Komanski most, Vrela Ribnicka, etc. They have chosen to settle in the Central and Seaside portions of Montenegro, since these spots would lend themselves to a greater acceptance of their handicrafts and trade than would the Northern municipalities. Furthermore, temperatures in Northern Montenegro are very low and would not suit their way of life. The vast majority of this population (88.6%) lives in towns and suburbs, and only 11.4% live in rural areas. The general poverty and poor health of the RAE population in Montenegro is getting worse due to their living conditions that are characterized by unsanitary settlements with minimal living standards, low quality houses and water supply, lack of bathrooms and sewage systems, and illegally built and overcrowded houses. Due to the evident violation of human rights and serious endangerment of socio-economic conditions in RAE communities, the problems that RAE people face have received the attention of the international community during the last decade. In Europe, the following organizations deal with these problems: UNDP, Council of Europe, OSCE, and various non-government organizations such as Fund for Open society, Save the Children and UNICEF. Although there have been many incentives, especially after the conflict in Kosovo, it appears that the position of RAE has not been significantly improved – the vicious circle has not been broken! Poverty among the RAE people is a special problem; they have the highest risk of becoming impoverished in all countries of Central and Eastern Europe. RAE are poorer than other groups, with a higher probability to become and to remain poor. In some cases, poverty rates for RAE people are ten times higher than poverty rates of the non-Roma population. |
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