Roma MEP on her people’s plight in EU
Written by Robert Hodgson
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
The right fight
International Roma Day last Tuesday saw celebrations of Roma culture around the world. At the same time, many NGOs, politicians and representatives of Roma communities across Europe discussed what is being done to address the seemingly intractable problems of social exclusion and racism. The Budapest Times spoke to Lívia Járóka, who in 2004 became only the second Roma to be elected to the European Parliament.
The situation
The plight of the Roma people in Central Europe deteriorated rapidly after the change of system in 1989-90, when 50% of Hungarian Roma lost their jobs. Estimates of the number of Roma in the European Union vary from nine to fifteen million, but it is generally accepted that there are at least ten million. It is difficult to get a precise figure as people often do not declare their ethnicity. In Hungary the 2001 census suggested 190,000; the real figure is believed to be over half a million, or at least 5% of the population.
Many of Hungary’s Roma live in ghettos on the edge of towns and villages, and the level of segregation has – in some places – reached that of a sort of apartheid. Many communities lack even basic utilities such as sewerage and electricity. Unemployment among the Roma is estimated to be around 80%. Life expectancy for Roma is ten years lower than the Hungarian average.
Fight from within
Lívia Járóka, 33, grew up in Sopron near the Austrian border. After studying sociology on a Soros Foundation scholarship, she turned to politics and has made it her mission to push for reintegration of Roma into mainstream society. She became Hungary’s first Roma MEP in 2004 on a centre-right Fidesz party ticket.
Járóka said she found most European politicians to be ignorant of the issues affecting the EU’s Roma citizens when she arrived Brussels. Since the accession of 12 new member states in 2004 and 2007, the minority has increased such that it is now larger than the population of each of the EU’s 14 smallest countries – too large to be ignored.
“I knew I had to bring the Roma issue to the European agenda. I wanted to demystify what it means to be Roma,” said Járóka. She was aware of a paternalistic attitude to Roma during the pre-2004 accession talks. “Many people had a very prejudiced idea about how they live and what they want,” she said, adding that there had been very little real research into the situation. “Politicians were not ready to see this issue as a complex question. They try to change living conditions, or education, or healthcare, but they never see that it is a complex combination of all these, especially in totally segregated areas.”
(MORE)
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
The right fight
International Roma Day last Tuesday saw celebrations of Roma culture around the world. At the same time, many NGOs, politicians and representatives of Roma communities across Europe discussed what is being done to address the seemingly intractable problems of social exclusion and racism. The Budapest Times spoke to Lívia Járóka, who in 2004 became only the second Roma to be elected to the European Parliament.
The situation
The plight of the Roma people in Central Europe deteriorated rapidly after the change of system in 1989-90, when 50% of Hungarian Roma lost their jobs. Estimates of the number of Roma in the European Union vary from nine to fifteen million, but it is generally accepted that there are at least ten million. It is difficult to get a precise figure as people often do not declare their ethnicity. In Hungary the 2001 census suggested 190,000; the real figure is believed to be over half a million, or at least 5% of the population.
Many of Hungary’s Roma live in ghettos on the edge of towns and villages, and the level of segregation has – in some places – reached that of a sort of apartheid. Many communities lack even basic utilities such as sewerage and electricity. Unemployment among the Roma is estimated to be around 80%. Life expectancy for Roma is ten years lower than the Hungarian average.
Fight from within
Lívia Járóka, 33, grew up in Sopron near the Austrian border. After studying sociology on a Soros Foundation scholarship, she turned to politics and has made it her mission to push for reintegration of Roma into mainstream society. She became Hungary’s first Roma MEP in 2004 on a centre-right Fidesz party ticket.
Járóka said she found most European politicians to be ignorant of the issues affecting the EU’s Roma citizens when she arrived Brussels. Since the accession of 12 new member states in 2004 and 2007, the minority has increased such that it is now larger than the population of each of the EU’s 14 smallest countries – too large to be ignored.
“I knew I had to bring the Roma issue to the European agenda. I wanted to demystify what it means to be Roma,” said Járóka. She was aware of a paternalistic attitude to Roma during the pre-2004 accession talks. “Many people had a very prejudiced idea about how they live and what they want,” she said, adding that there had been very little real research into the situation. “Politicians were not ready to see this issue as a complex question. They try to change living conditions, or education, or healthcare, but they never see that it is a complex combination of all these, especially in totally segregated areas.”
(MORE)
Labels: Budapest, Europe, Racism, Roma
posted by Allie @ 4:17 PM
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