R o m a - G y p s i e s of R o m a n i a
The
children seem oblivious to the stench of rotting garbage. They laugh easily,
joking as they fossick through fresh refuse in search of anything that may
still hold some value. Smoke rises from smoldering heaps of decomposing rubbish
and the constant rain turns everything into black mud. Their home is Pata-Rât,
a small community of 200 people squatting illegally in makeshift shacks adjoining
a garbage dump on the fringe of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca. These
kids have known no other life and don't complain. To them achievement is survival.
They are Roma. They are Gypsy. At over 2 million they make up about ten percent
of Romania's population. They are one of Europe's largest and most oppressed
minorities.
The Gypsy migration started from Northern India between the 10th and 11th centuries arriving in the area that would eventually become Romania at the end of the 14th century. Persecution began immediately with many Gypsies being enslaved. This situation existed until Wallachia and Moldavia freed their slaves in 1856. During the Second World War more than 90,000 Gypsies were deported to camps in Transnistria, a part of the Ukraine seized from the USSR. Over a third were to succumb to exposure, malnutrition and disease.1
Under Ceausescu's communism, Roma carts were confiscated, houses bulldozed and communities forced into ghettos alongside towns and villages. Ceausescu himself simply refused to acknowledge the Gypsies existence. After the revolution of 1989 and Ceausescu's downfall persecution of the Roma still remained. The Gypsies still found themselves the target of mob violence and although there were a number of Roma killed and many houses burned down police turned a blind eye. No arrests were made.
At present there are few opportunities for the Roma to earn an honest living. Work that had previously been available to them on State run farms and factories ceased to exist when such places were shut down. Advertisements placed in employment sections of some Romanian newspapers often state that Gypsies need not apply. Such discrimination has pushed some into begging or crime to survive. This only serves to add to the widespread generalisation amongst the gadjé (non-Gypsies) that Gypsies are thieves, smugglers and beggars.
Until recently international aid for the Roma has been almost nonexistent. In the late 1980's the world was shocked at images of orphans locked away in 'Institutes for the Irrecuperable'. Instantly aid agencies came to Romania to offer humanitarian assistance. One such group was the organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Realising that a large percentage of the orphans were Gypsies, often abandoned because of their parents inability to provide for them, MSF decided that they would be better suited to attempt to deal with the problem at its source.
The first part of the MSF project aimed to gain trust and then improve
the living conditions of the poorest Roma communities. Patrick de Briey, MSF's
Chef de Mission explains, "When we arrive in a community for the first
time the initial reaction is one of suspicion. Nobody has shown interest in
caring for them in the past and when somebody does come to them it is usually
only to create problems. Our main objective is to help them to help themselves
so that they can improve their situation." Soap,
milk and clothing were distributed and the Roma encouraged to help in the
construction of sidewalks, roads and wells. Médecins Sans Frontières
then set about building positive relations between members of Roma communities
and local authorities, no easy task considering the Gypsies’ mistrust
of authority and the general indifference of the authorities towards Gypsies.
However without such relations the Roma are unable to obtain their birth certificates
and identification papers which are necessary to give them access to health
care and education.
Where
projects have been in operation for some time, relations between Gypsy and
non-Gypsy have improved. Occasional work has been offered with Roma working
alongside villagers during the harvest or caring for cattle. The Transylvanian
communities of Nusfalâu and Jibou have been able to earn income making
bricks using skills previously learnt in State run factories. Another
community, Valcau, has improved its living conditions considerably by generating
income shelling and selling nuts. A carpet of discarded nut shells litter
the community from one end to the other. Although such progress signifies
hope there is still a long way to go before there can be true understanding
between the Roma and their neighbours. Romania has one of the lowest standards
of living in Europe. The average wage is US$75.00 ($100.00A) a month and the
country has yet to show significant signs of economic recovery. Under conditions
such as these history has shown that there will always be those looking for
a scapegoat with whom to vent their frustrations.
At Pata-Rât
there will be no more garbage trucks until morning. Thousands of black crows
take flight, crowding the sky as last light indicates the end of another working
day. The children are still laughing as they head for home. Their parents
walk back in silence. Winter is coming and wood for the fires is expensive.
© David Dare Parker
*
page 268 The Gypsies Fraser, Angus (Blackwell UK/US 1993)