Influenced by a post from our friend from Slovenia Matej Golob, today I'll write about a controversial issue in Bulgaria - the Roma people. After ethnic Bulgarians (84%) and ethnic Turks (9.3%), the Roma come third (4.7%) with 371 000 people and are officially recognized as a minority.The main problem that the Roma here face is poverty. Among other problems are poor education, unemployment, high crime rates, etc. All of these are connected and hardly anyone can be surprised. Gypsies live in neighborhoods (ghettos) in most major cities. While the overall population growth is negative, their growth is positive. The government (under the pressure of the EU) is putting great effort to socialize them and improve their way of life.
However, there is a tendency that has become way too obvious (Note: the following does not apply to the whole Roma population): once some of them got used to living the easy way - on social aid, on mercy or crime, with cheap or free electricity, on illegal trade, and prostitution - it's difficult to start earning money with hard but honest labor. And here's the catch: if economic sanctions are enforced to make them work or study, they protest (sometimes violently), human rights organizations sound alarms and everything settles down as quickly as possible in their favor because the EU is following such issues closely. My city has seen such protest as Plovdiv has a large Roma neighborhood. So far a considerable part of them are using free electricity (tax-payers pay the cost) and some of them enjoy new free houses from the government as part of certain programs.
At the same time the first thing that crosses most Bulgarians' minds is that they have to pay their bills (as every normal citizen does). The conflict arises from the fact that some Bulgarians are not wealthier than some gypsies, but they work and pay taxes... It is simply unfair. Another fact is that most everyday crimes are committed by gypsies. It all mounts up and the social gap widens.
There are social programs that aim at educating those who desire to learn and teaching them crafts, so that they can improve their lives. Many of them choose that path and achieve much. I know we're not the only country with such problems and I believe such programs are the most important way to solve this modern injustice. In July 2006 Bulgaria took the Presidency of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015 for one year. This is "a political commitment by governments in Central and Southeastern Europe to combat Roma poverty, exclusion, and discrimination".
In conclusion, my common sense tells me that people should live in harmony and understanding regardless of race, ethnic group, religion, language, gender, or any other discriminating factor. But they should also live according to the laws of their country in the name of everyone's well-being.
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2 comments:
Thank you, Filip, for a detailed and informative post. You have stated the problem clearly and soberly.
This touches a chord with me for it reminds me of the treatment of the American Indian tribes that were (and still are) living outside of the norm of American society. The efforts to 'socialize' them were often horrendous efforts to remold them into 'good white people' with no understanding of their culture.
With this prior influence on my thoughts, I will have to pay close attention to your posts so that I can understand the problem your countries face.
A question: do the programs for free electricity and housing require the persons to be Roma or are they open to anyone who needs assistance?
Thanks, Jane. There's much more that can be written on this topic. After Bulgaria and Romania join the EU on Jan 1, the Roma living in the Union will increase to more than 10 million.
Roma have been around since XI-XII c. and there are no feelings of invasion or suppression. So the problem is not cultural, it's economical.
Unlike housing, free electricity is not a program. Those who cannot pay (Roma or not) fall in debts to the electric company which leads to being cut off. But in the case of Roma it's a whole neighborhood that gets cut off, and they protest. The municipality negotiates discounts and even free electricity until they pay their debts. The injustice is that other people just get cut off (that's why they do whatever they can to pay in time), while some Roma got used to living in debt and ultimately the rest of us are paying. Same goes to the water.
The government is building houses for those who live in miserable conditions (recently there was a disease outbreak in the largest Roma neighborhood in Plovdiv). After the devastating floods last year lots of people in need (not only Roma) received help to rebuild their homes. But there's just not enough funding for everyone to get new home.
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