“Dear Mr. X,
EUROCAR cannot rent any of its vehicles to Romanian citizens because they steal them and cross the borders with them.”
Laugh as much as you may wish and when you're done with it, take a deep breath and read it again! This is no joke. This is the answer that a Romanian citizen with Roma background got in München from a respectable car renting company. The speaker introducing this piece of information claimed it was a clear case of discrimination against Roma. My opinion is that first and foremost it is a case of discrimination against Romanians. But establishing a clear causality is not important, nor possible. Either or, the Roma citizen has clearly been discriminated, be it once - as a Romanian citizen, or twice - as a Romanian Roma citizen, or even 3 times - as each of the above mentioned plus the Romanian-Roma aggregate value; if we admit that a sum brings in more than both of its components.
On Roma - be they Romanians, Hungarians, Slovaks or Austrians - did a most interesting public discussion focus, 2 evenings ago, that is Anno (how many Post?) Domini 2011, March 29th. In the House of Europe and with the help of Vienna University (through its research platform Ludwig Boltzmann Institut of Human Rights) and Amnesty International (Austria & the General Secretariat in London). Irregardless of their nationality, Roma are “facing discrimination everywhere”. Representatives of the Viennese written media (derStandard and FALTER) attended the event. Manfred Nowak (Research Platform “Human Rights in the European Context”, Universität Wien, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights) moderated the interventions of 3 equally interesting figures:
Barbora Cernusakova (International Secretariat of Amnesty International, London), extensively addressed the right to housing and education of Roma children. Valeriu Nicolae (Policy Centre for Roma and Minorities, Bucharest) insisted that the phenomenon of anti-gipsyism is insufficiently dealt with at a European level, therefore awareness raising campaigns ought to be intensified. Katalin Brenner (Desk Officer responsible for Roma Inclusion, Directorate-General for Regional Policy, European Commission) adopted what she labelled as a “cold blooded and rational” approach, in depicting the disastruous scenario in which Hungary - her country of provenience - will undergo in a couple of years, shall the substantial proportion of the Hungarian Roma citizens be left uneducated, and thus unemployed.
All 3 participants agreed that the common legislative framework secured by the Commission, centering around the “Directive against Racism and Xenophobia”, represents a stepping stone - stronger or weaker - as defined and redefined by the willingness and resources of Member States to implement it.
As expected, great emphasis was placed on fostering the practice of “active citizenship”. Roma are constantly being portrayed as victims, which undermines their capacity of relating to host societies both in terms of rights and obligations. The point was illustrated by Ms. Cernusakova through the example of luxurious residences, in which Roma people are placed without a minimum attempt of previous consultation among members of the community upon their housing eeds. These prove to a large extent uncorresponding to the understanding of shared common spaces in the Roma culture, therefore their use is modified. Such a path tends to trigger much finger pointing from members of host societies, who claim that Roma are impossible to house. Equally important, local authorities need to acknowledge the fact that there exists a right to housing for everyone and refrain from conducting forced evictions of Roma into peripheric camps - which typically trigger loss of jobs and school drop of those removed.
Against expectations... the issue of “political correctness” was labelled as an obstruction to addressing and therefore solving omnipresent phenomena, like prostitution, forced marriages and children rights. Surprisingly enough, Roma discrimination was ignored, dismissed, or simply left unaddressed by the 20 + year old representative of the European Commission, who redefined the issue in economic terms, and called for the Member States to spend available EU funding for Roma integration. The nerve of a school debate competitor (determined to win the case against potential imperfections in current Roma policy), equipped with PR strategies, black suit and fluttering eyelashes seemed out of tune in the context of identifying shortcomings, on the purpose of improving the Roma situation. As plastically pinpointed during the discussion, the lack of experts on Roma issues in the Commission underlies the lack of realistic targets in EU Roma policy - shaped by an abundance of bureaucrats, “employed to check boxes, not to think; about anything”.
Mr. Nicolae challenged the classical approach to affirmative action in current employment practices. For instance, he deconstructed the argument made by the Ms. Brenner - that the Commission does have experts (because she herself works with a young Romanian lady from the ghetto and with a Hungarian Roma specialist). He categorized the habit of employing Roma - for carrying out Roma projects - as more of a problem than of a benefit. Precisely because it promotes superficial solutions to a structural problem, ethnicity oughtn't be the primary criterium at the basis of assigning responsibilities. Instead it should be replaced by expertise. What employers in the public sector need is a couple of coloured faces, to vocally claim they solved the problem of discrimination against the Roma. On the contrary, serious efforts must be made - by real experts, and from both sides.
Acknowledging the importance of political statements in paving the road to equality, imperative action at the level of host societies needs to be taken in view of translating these measures into palpable social realities. As Nicolae summed the issue up, what does it really mean to be equal in theory when your father is in prison and your mother is a drug addict?
by Geanina Gabriela Ţurcanu
Carpatian Mountains
Romanian school
Nabeelah
lucyanna
geanina ţurcanu