Ostracised Roma still struggle across Balkans
By Zoran Radosavljevic
POSTOJNA, Slovenia (Reuters) - Elka Strojan and her 30-strong Roma Gypsy family, forced to swap a house for three rooms in a former army barracks, highlight the precarious existence in the Balkans of Europe's largest minority.
"It's really bad here. This is not ours, this is for refugees and we are not refugees. We are Slovenian citizens with all the documents," the 55-year-old told Reuters in broken Slovenian, sitting on an old bed with two small dogs surrounded by a dozen of her grandchildren.
The Strojans, including Elka's four sons and their families, were asked by the government in late October to leave their house near Ambrus in central Slovenia after angry villagers threatened to expel them by force.
The Council of Europe criticised European Union member Slovenia for the move, but villagers said they had had enough of the Roma's misdemeanours, ranging from petty theft to serious fights.
"Some 600 of us gathered near their house. We wanted to burn and destroy everything but we came too late, the police were already deployed," said Joze Lindic, a pensioner.
"We've had nothing but trouble with them in the past 20 years and we just cannot put up with it any more. Let the state or the European Union take care of them. We don't want them here, ever again," he said, sipping a beer at a cafe.
The government has vowed to provide alternative permanent housing for the Strojans, but that announcement immediately roused protest from residents in potential new resettlements.
AMNESTY REPORT
A recent report by human rights group Amnesty International on the Roma in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia said they still live in extreme poverty and their children regularly face discrimination in schools.
"The barriers Romani children face in accessing education deprive them of the chance of fulfilling the true potential and perpetuate the marginalisation of Romani communities," it said.
Only two of the Strojans' dozen children went to school while they lived in Ambrus.
Access to education is even worse for Roma in Serbia, home to an estimated 500,000 Romas.
According to the 1991 census, 34.8 percent of Roma in Serbia are illiterate and just 20 percent have completed obligatory elementary education. Those who enrol children in primary schools often do so to qualify for state welfare.
"The society as a whole expresses no interest for their problems and needs," said a report by the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF.
"This could be caused by general indifference, intolerance and dominant stereotypes on the Roma caused by poor knowledge of Roma history, culture and tradition," it said.
(MORE)
POSTOJNA, Slovenia (Reuters) - Elka Strojan and her 30-strong Roma Gypsy family, forced to swap a house for three rooms in a former army barracks, highlight the precarious existence in the Balkans of Europe's largest minority.
"It's really bad here. This is not ours, this is for refugees and we are not refugees. We are Slovenian citizens with all the documents," the 55-year-old told Reuters in broken Slovenian, sitting on an old bed with two small dogs surrounded by a dozen of her grandchildren.
The Strojans, including Elka's four sons and their families, were asked by the government in late October to leave their house near Ambrus in central Slovenia after angry villagers threatened to expel them by force.
The Council of Europe criticised European Union member Slovenia for the move, but villagers said they had had enough of the Roma's misdemeanours, ranging from petty theft to serious fights.
"Some 600 of us gathered near their house. We wanted to burn and destroy everything but we came too late, the police were already deployed," said Joze Lindic, a pensioner.
"We've had nothing but trouble with them in the past 20 years and we just cannot put up with it any more. Let the state or the European Union take care of them. We don't want them here, ever again," he said, sipping a beer at a cafe.
The government has vowed to provide alternative permanent housing for the Strojans, but that announcement immediately roused protest from residents in potential new resettlements.
AMNESTY REPORT
A recent report by human rights group Amnesty International on the Roma in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia said they still live in extreme poverty and their children regularly face discrimination in schools.
"The barriers Romani children face in accessing education deprive them of the chance of fulfilling the true potential and perpetuate the marginalisation of Romani communities," it said.
Only two of the Strojans' dozen children went to school while they lived in Ambrus.
Access to education is even worse for Roma in Serbia, home to an estimated 500,000 Romas.
According to the 1991 census, 34.8 percent of Roma in Serbia are illiterate and just 20 percent have completed obligatory elementary education. Those who enrol children in primary schools often do so to qualify for state welfare.
"The society as a whole expresses no interest for their problems and needs," said a report by the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF.
"This could be caused by general indifference, intolerance and dominant stereotypes on the Roma caused by poor knowledge of Roma history, culture and tradition," it said.
(MORE)
Labels: Education, Gypsy, Postojna, Roma, Slovenia Europe
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