A recent incident where Madonna was booed by concert goers after speaking out against the widespread discrimination against Roma in Romania has reignited the debate over the general treatment of Roma in Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe. Roma, more colloquially referred to as Gypsies, have suffered rampant institutional discrimination since their arrival in Europe centuries ago. While there have been some improvements in recent years, the current economic crisis has found many Roma being targeted as classic scapegoats once again.
Discrimination and anti-Roma sentiment in Europe is nothing new. Much like Jews, they have suffered systematic discrimination throughout European history and are probably the second largest victim group of the Nazi Holocaust after European Jews. However while Europe has taken a firm stance against anti-Semitism since World War II, there has been no such concentrated movement for the Roma. In 2004, the European Commission released a report entitled “The Situation of Roma in an Enlarged EU” that detailed the widespread discrimination that Roma face throughout Europe in the fields of education, health care, employment, and housing. As a result, Roma typically have lower life expectancies, higher rate of unemployment and illiteracy, and exist outside of mainstream life. Further reports have detailed the segregation of Roma children in the education system, a situation that led to a landmark decision by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in 2007.
In that case, D.H. v. Czech Republic, the lower court found in despite of overwhelming evidence that the Czech government did not practice racial discrimination with its policies of placing Roma children in schools for mentally disabled children despite their actual IQ. The Grand Chamber overturned that decision and for the first time found that there was systematic government discrimination against Roma. Since then, the EU has launched programs to encourage the inclusion of Roma into European society. However the onset of the current economic crisis has served to justify anti-Roma sentiment in many European countries.
Part of the increase in anti-Roma sentiments lies in the boost that far-right wing extremist parties have gained in Europe as a result of the recession. While these groups by no means account for the majority of European political parties, they received unprecedented support in many countries during the European Parliament elections this past June. Yet to argue that the rise in extremism and growth in anti-Roma attitudes is only the result of the economic crisis would be too simplistic. Anti-Roma policies have existed for decades in Europe, and continue to emerge. For example, Amnesty International issued a news brief on the increase of anti-Roma sentiment and discriminatory policies throughout Europe, including forced evictions in Italy and Romania and forced deportations to Kosovo. Many of the policies detailed in the brief have been going on for years, long before the economic crisis started. But the crisis has led to increased tensions with Roma serving as a convenient scapegoat for government problems. This in turn has led to an increase in violent attacks against Roma, even in countries such as Hungary which has typically been far more progressive towards their Roma citizens than their neighbors.
The issues that Roma face in Europe and their potential solutions are complicated and would require far more attention than is available to give here. But the Madonna concert incident last week and the ensuing commentaries in the European press illustrates how deep these sentiments run. It also illustrates that these issues are serious enough and ingrained enough to require more attention than the EU is currently giving them if there is any chance of real change.
