Project “Identifying and reducing prejudices as a source of conflict between Roma and non-Roma population – Cases of Bulgaria, Italy,

Romania, Slovenia compared”

Position of Roma in Romania and in four target localities – Timișoara, Sânpetru Mare, Sântana, Aleșd

Centrul Euroregional pentru DemocrațieEuroregional Center for Democracy

Romanian Principalities

(Wallachia and Moldavia)

14th-19th C: Slaves Abolition of slavery: 1844 - 1856

Transylvania and Banat

14th-15th C: Royal serfs18th C: Forced settlement

A brief history

Wallachia, Moldavia, DobrogeaTransylvania

Banat, Crisana, Maramures

 For sale

A first “sălaş” (family) of Gypsy slaves

Through an auction at noon at the St. Elias Monastery on 8 May 1852

It comprises of 18 men, 10 boys, 7 women & 3 girls

In fine condition

Source: Wikipedia

 

 

 

A brief history

14th century: Roma enter Romania1918 – 1939: Roma become land owners, a Roma elite emerges1942 – 1944: deportation to Transdniestria1947 – 1989: Roma’s cultural identity deliberately ignored, focus on the integration of this segment which led a “parasitic way of life”1

A brief history

1Crowe, David. 1996. A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia

Total popula-tion Roma

3.2%

96.8%

2011 census Council of Europe, Roma and Travelers Division

(2008)

Roma population in Romania

Roma = 8.5% of the total population

Facts

Other

Romanians

Hungarians

Roma

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

9%

12%

12%

58%

Poverty risk

Source: The World Bank, The Ministry of Labor, Family and Equal Opportunities, The National Institute of Statistics. November 2007. Romania: Poverty Assessment Report.

Employment

Roma Total population0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

36%

58%

Employment rate

Source: Soros Foundation (2012).The situation of Roma in Romania, 2011. Between social inclusion and migration.

Employment

Roma who perform unskilled work in the informal labor market;Extremely poor Roma who collect waste materials;Roma who perform household duties and other informal occasional activities; Roma who carry out traditional activities;Roma who are employed in the formal labor market; Roma who have their own businesses (e.g. real estate, recycling waste materials, trade etc.)Roma who work abroad.

Source: The Research Institute for Quality of Life. 2010. Legal and equal on the labor : market for the Roma communities. Bucharest: Expert.

Categories of working Roma

Romanians

Roma

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

75%

12%

Source: De Laat, Joost, and Christian Bodewig. April 2011. Roma inclusion is smart economics – Illustrations from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania and Serbia. World Bank’s Europe & Central Asia Knowledge Brief 39.

26% of the Roma aged 10 and over are illiterate

Education

Percentage of Roma with secondary or higher school completion

Healthcare

Scarce financial resourcesLack of ID papers and health insuranceDifficulties in buying prescribed drugs in rural areasLack of transport means to reach the medical care centersPoor medical infrastructure to which Roma have access given that they usually live on the outskirts Discriminatory behavior and attitudes of the medical staff

HousingLive on the outskirts of cities or villagesLess resistant dwellingsLimited access to utilitiesOvercrowded houses

Valid contract

Expired contract

No contract

Don't know / no answer

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

66%

4%

25%

5%

82%

1%

15%

2%

Other ethnic groupRoma

Bădescu, Gabriel et al. 2007. Roma Inclusion Barometer. Bucharest: Open Society Foundation.

Timișoara (Timiș County)Romanians – 85.52%Hungarians – 7.64%Germans – 2.25%Serbs – 1.98%

Sânpetru Mare (Timiș County)Romanians – 72.51%Serbs – 13.15%Roma – 12.13%

Sântana (Arad County)Romanians – 82.16%Hungarians – 10.67%Roma – 3.82%Slovaks – 1.23%Alesd (Bihor County)Romanians – 65.17%Hungarians – 19.07%Roma – 9.15%Slovaks – 6.19%

Target localities

No Urgent issues Number of interviewees

1 Poverty / low income / unemployment 8

2 Improper housing 6

3 Lack of / poor education 6

4 Poor health 2

5 Limited access to decent infrastructure (water, electricity, accessible roads etc.)

2

6 Discrimination, prejudices of the non-Roma 2

7 Limited access to public services 2

8 Marginalization 1

9 Lack of identity papers 1

10 Lack of affirmative policies for efficient schooling 1

11 Jobs correlated with training and qualification programs 1

Position of Roma in the target localities

Particularities of the target localities

Timișoara

Discrepancy between the rich and the poor: “palaces” vs. ramshackle cabins

Sântana

Unpaved roads

Poor water supplies

Dwellings in an advanced state of decay

Contrast between the rich and the poor

Aleșd

Electricity

Poor hygiene

A Roma “palace” in TimisoaraSource: Evenimentul zilei, 18

January 2012

Multifunctional Center, Alesd, Bihor County

International monitoring bodies

What causes the current condition of Roma?

Election campaigns

Attention paid by public authorities to Roma issues

Poor political representation

Public authorities

With no local and national political decision makers to plead for long and medium-term programs, and without an appropriate budget, the problems of Roma are passed to the European Commission and vice versa, to the EU member states.

Public policies and projects

Programs, national strategies for improving the situation of Roma

Limited time frames and external budgets instead of long- or medium-term programs funded from the state budget

Funds distributed on the basis of political criteria

Lack of financial resources for putting strategies into practice

The image of Roma in Romanian mass media

Subjects Adevărul România

liberă

Jurnalul

naţional

Evenimentul

zilei

Total

1. Crimes committed by the Roma:

In Romania (illegal deforestation, policeman

killed, aggression against the journalists from

TVT89 channel, utilities not paid for 20 years,

thefts of metal from railway lines, traveling by

train without buying tickets, prostitution,

counterfeiting Nokia phones)

Abroad (thefts in Ireland, aggressions in Italy,

thefts of metal from railway lines in UK,

fights between Roma clans in Finland,

squatters occupying a house in France)

3 2 5 5 15

2. “Gypsy palaces”, police raids, illicit fortunes

linked to such palaces, heavily ornamented chapels

in cemeteries (especially region)

2 5 7 - 14

3. Begging – beggars in Norway, Ireland, the BBC

documentary – The secret lives of 's Child

Beggars, Mark Deans’ s comment (FX-MM

magazine) on Britain’s hypothetical economic

recovery based on Romanian child beggars

1 3 5 3 12