publicistika / autorský þlánok

titul Put Down In The Underclass podtitul Romanies in autor Michal Vašeþka zdroj The New Presence n. 10, October 1999

3XW'RZQ,Q7KH8QGHUFODVV

Romanies in 1998 in Slovakia

For Romanies in Slovakia, as for the majority of the population, the year 1998 was revolutionary. Representatives of Romany political parties prepared intensively for parliamentary elections in September and municipal elections in December. After accepting basic conceptions of the Slovak Republic toward the solution of the problems of Romanies, Roma professionals entered more intensively into discussion with the plenipotentiary government for the solution of the problems of citizens who need personal help. 1998 also brought the attempt at emigration by several hundred Roma families from Slovakia to Great Britain, and at the end of the year to Belgium and other countries. In July 1998, primarily Romany regions in eastern Slovakia were affected by destructive floods. The high level of unemployment in most of Slovakia with a high percentage of residents of Romany nationality repeatedly grew higher. The change in the members of the government improved the entire societal atmosphere in the region, and access to state organs by the Romany minority. A government position of Vice-Chairman for Human Rights, Minorities and Regional Development was created. The government further decided to create a post of Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for the Solution of the Problems of the Romany Minority.

Specific Characteristics of the Romanian Minority

Romanies are the second most numerous national minority in the Slovak Republic. According to the 1991 census 75, 802 citizens declared themselves as belonging to the Romany minority, a figure which represents 1.4% of the residents of the Slovak Republic. The estimated number of Roma in Slovakia is, however, several multiples higher. According to the city summaries and state communications of municipal offices from the year 1989, 253, 943 (4.8%) Romas lived in Slovakia. This statistic, however, is evidence only of the social heritage of citizens. For this reason it should be assumed that the number of Romanies in Slovakia is even higher. Today estimates by professionals run between 420 and 500, 000 and considering the high infant mortality among the Romany population, this number is continuously increasing.

Even more numerous Romany communities live in many European countries. In absolute numbers the largest Romany community in the world is in Romania. However, as a proportion of the population, Slovakia has the largest Roma community in the world. (8-9%)

The poor social situation of the majority of Roma in Slovakia raises the question whether Roma start to be more a social than an ethnic minority. In professional circles the problem of the "underclass" is frequently discussed, and this concept captures the situation of Roma living in Romany communities. The basic characteristics of an

1 underclass are long term unemployment, an unstable work history, long term activity only in the secondary job market, dependence upon support from the state social services or from activity in the shadow economy. The basic characteristics of the underclass precisely capture the situation of Romas from Romany communities.

Social Distance Toward Romanies

According to all sociological studies investigating the relationship of the majority of the population toward minorities, social distance is most conspicuous toward Romas and reaches very high values. Every investigation done on this theme since the year 1990 declares that social distance toward Romas is spread universally in every layer of the population without regard to age, education, sex, type of economic activity, religion, political preferences, economic and foreign-political orientation; and it does not change with time.

According to various public opinion surveys, the inhabitants of Slovakia have, in general, the most positive relation toward Czechs, and Romas fall at the opposite end of the scale for friendliness. As many as 4/5 of the inhabitants of SR would interfere if Romanies moved into their neighborhood. In comparison with positive characteristics, the various negative characteristics attributed to Romanies are markedly articulated. Negative evaluative qualities attributed to Romas include, above all, criminal activities, a tendency to avoid honest work, low standards of personal hygiene, drunkenness, noisiness, and sneakiness. Such qualities fill out the picture of Romas common among the majority of inhabitants of Slovakia, and the same stereotype with the same negative attributes is widely shared.

Discrimination and Racially Motivated Violence

It is possible to regard the recording of facts about the nationality of Romas as one typical manifestation of latent discrimination in the Slovak Republic; for several reasons, this is the official point of contact with state organs of the Slovak Republic. For example, a common practice at employment offices is to indicate requests by Romas for work with the letter "R" written on files. This sort of procedure does not have support in the law and further disadvantages Romas in the job market. Similarly, many departments of social affairs at offices record for verification of family relationships upon providing a portion of social benefit, whether the family is Roma (other characteristics are family problems, disturbances, complete and incomplete).

The army of the Slovak Republic may serve as a specific example. When a recruit indicates Romany nationality it influences their assignment to an individual department of the army. As in the preceding case, such a procedure is at variance with the law.

Discrimination against Romanies also relates to autonomy, and above all currently, with arranging long term residence in a community and with possible change of residence. In April 1998 the City Office in Jelšava refused to accept five Roma families for long term residence, although they had their own real estate there and had someplace to live. Romanies in Jelšava make up 37% of the residents and city authorities for this reason wanted to prevent a further increase in the number of Romanies in the city and a change toward a "Romany city". "We know that we are breaking the law," conceded mayor Ondrej Mladší. "We do not have that sort of problem only in Jelšavá," he conceded,

2 "We don't have such a problem only in Jelšava, but also in other cities and villages. The government should be concerned . . . toward the solution of the question what to do in cities and regions where the Romany population approaches more than half."

Still more transparent violations of human and civic rights of Romanies for autonomy is forbidding Romas to enter communities. This happened, for example, in one striking case, when two eastern Slovak citizens attempted to enter Nagov and in July 1997. In spite of this, that the National Front of Slovakia had the right to revoke in universally binding decrees for autonomy among the Romanies, not one of the members of parliament from the National Front revoked the proposal.

A further form of discrimination is the repressive behavior of the police toward Romas. Roma repeatedly complain that the police treat them differently than other citizens. Romany leaders complain above all about the inconsistency and unwillingness of the police to investigate racially motivated attacks against Roms. It is possible to lay out a short typology of the behavior of the police during investigations which leads to discrimination against Romanies:

Denying the criminal acts of police after racist attacks against Romas,

Denying the racist dimension of attacks upon Romas,

Distorting the charges after racist acts against Romas,

Denying public violence in general

A very specific dispute with racist dimensions is the assertion by the police that attacks against Romanies cannot be racist because (or Hungarians) and Romanies belong to one -- Indo-European -- race. Many victims of racially motivated violence have met with this argument. The District Court in Banska Bystrica used a similar argument in May 1999 in the case of a racially motivated attack on Romas by skinheads. In spite of the fact that the judge recognized the racial motivation of the acts of the perpetrators, he did not decide the exact punishment according to the applicable state law -- in the law race is mentioned, not ethnicity; Romanies, from an anthropological point of view, do not constitute a special race. The Association of Slovak Judges acknowledges that in Slovak legislation there is a gap, and from this point of view it is necessary to amend the law.

Romas repeatedly complain also about the fact that in the mass communications media there are statements about, so-called, Romany Criminality. Vincent Danihel, advisor to the Minister of the Interior, shortly after parliamentary elections in 1998, expressed the view that the evidence of Romany criminality will serve only the inner needs of the Minister of the Interior of the Slovak Republic and will not be made public. The Slovak National Front reacted to this decision negatively, "Romany criminality is real. It is necessary to get it straight and wake up public opinion and individuals of the Romany community, and not to hypocritically sweep the problem under the carpet."

At the end of August 1990 the Office of Human Rights for Ethnic Minorities in Slovakia stated that from the start of the year 1998 there were 33 recorded cases of the violation of human and civic rights of Romas. The director of the office, Anna Koptová,

3 asserted that the state administration has no interest in the monitoring which the office regularly prepares. At the same time, that in the year 1998, the number of attacks of skinheads against Romanies rose.

On August 6, 1998 the then Slovak Premier Vladimír Meþiar suggested a way to solve unemployment in the region of Košíce. He proposed to establish an operation which would furnish the unemployed "intellectually modest work" By this he made an insult to the high percent of unemployed Romas, and added, "Slovaks produce first-rate values, Romanies only themselves..."

March 5, 1998 in his sad celebration appearance at the meeting of HZDS and SNS in Kysucka Nove Mesto, Ján Slota, mayor of Žilina, president of SNS, member of Parliament and President of the Parliamentary Committee for Control of the Secrect Service, and in addition in a tipsy condition, announced, "In no case shall we agree that there is here a Romany nationality. That is absolutely rubbish. They are Gypsies, who steal, plunder, and loot!" In reaction to his remarks, various social and political organizations passed on to Ján Slota an initiative for the General Public Prosecutor of the Slovak Republic for suspicion to commit criminal acts, defaming nationalities, races, and inciting toward nationalistic and racist hatred, violence, against groups of citizens, or individuals and spreading alarming messages. In a sober condition, Ján Slota reacted to his performance in Kysucka Nove Mesto with the words, "It is possible that they were somewhat hard words. It is my inner conviction."

An extraordinarily unpleasant reality damaged the reputation of Slovakia abroad when, after the parliamentary elections, the new director of SIS Vladimir Mitro made public the activities of SIS in the time before the preceding election. The SIS, under the leadership of Ivan Lexus planned , organized, and helped discredit neighboring post- communist countries in their attempts at European and transatlantic integration. In the case of the Czech Republic, the SIS sent out a neo-Fascist group, whose activities were directed against Romas.

The Departure of Slovak Romanies to Countries of the European Union

During the entire year 1998 attempts by various Romanies to emigrate continued, first to Great Britain, and, at the end of the year to Belgium. In April 1998 the Minister of the Interior of Great Britain issued an advisory statment about the growing number of Romas who were departing from Slovakia for Great Britain. An unambiguous message warned the Romanies before their trip to Great Britain: "Don't think that it is enough to be here. My policy is to refuse entry to and deport persons who have no legitimate reasons to be granted asylum." According to a spokesperson at the Interior Ministry of the Slovak Republic, the causes for the flight of the Romanies to Great Britain are not ethnic but economic. According to him they are money-lenders from the ranks of rich Romas, who are affiliated with a legal office in London. Also, according to the British Ministry of Information for Foreigners, there are indications that the departure of Slovak Romas to Great Britain was organized by an international Slovak-British group. In the first half of the year 1998, 1, 256 Slovak citizens (472 families) requested asylum in Great Britain. In April 1998, the British government granted asylum to a sixth of Romanies from Slovakia. As a reaction to the departure of Romas from Slovakia, on 10 October 1998 the British again brought back a visa requirement for citizens of the Slovak Republic.

4 In the course of June 1998 more than 1,000 Slovak Romanies made requests for asylum in Finland. The government Plenipotentiary for the Solution of the Problems of the Romany Minorities, Vincent Danihel allowed that the departure of Romanies to Finland had been speculated to include, behind the scenes, lucrative contributions by asylum seekers to the Finnish government. The Finnish government did not grant asylum to even one of the Romanies who requested it, and on 6 July Finland established a visa requirement for Slovak citizens out of fear of further tides of Slovak Romas.

This selection is taken from the report in the volume Slovakia 1998-1999, published by the Institute for Public Affairs, . http://www.ivo.sk/

The author works at the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava and lectures at the Academia Istropolitana. He studied Sociology at Masaryk University (Brno) and the New School for Social Research (New York).

5