July 8
Belgrade, Serbia - Piles of garbage, dirt and mud are everywhere. There is no running water, no electricity. There are among hundreds of thousands of Gypsies, or Roma, living in the Belgrade slums, or "the cardboard settlements," as they are called by the locals.

The Gypsies - one of Europe's most segregated and neglected ethnic groups - are the sole residents of these makeshift enclaves, perched alongside fancy hotels or first-class residential complexes in the Serbian capital. The Belgraders mostly turn their heads from these settlements, regarding them as "tumours" in the body of their city.

The Gypsies have occasionally organized their own guards and nightwatch to defend themselves since there has been no systematic response from the state to protect the slums, despite pledges by the police to hunt down the attackers.

The deplorable situation of the Belgrade Gypsies has come into focus recently as Serbia strives to reconnect with mainstream Europe following years of wars and international isolation.

As part of pro-western reforms, the Serbian government approved a national strategy in 2005 to integrate its Gypsies into the society and provide for their basic needs, such as health and social services.

"We don't have money for anything, we pick food from garbage containers, we fight the rats during the night." "This is no life."

Gypsy children suffer from "chronic malnutrition," which leads to bad health and "three times higher mortality rate than the national average."

About 80 per cent of the Gypsy children enrol in the obligatory primary schools, but only 20 per cent actually graduate.
go

mhm.

This has been a problem for the Rrom ever since Communism destroyed our ability to travel as we had done for centuries past.

The Russians told us to stay where we were with little heed for the fact that few if any people actually wanted us around them.

And this has been the case all over europe for centuries.

Due to the relatively low number of Rrom few people hear of the troubles that they face everyday.

All over Europe, the various nations of the Rrom barely survive, doing the jobs noone else is willing to do. We have been in Concentration Camps belonging to the Germans, and after leaving them we were shunted to camps belonging to the Russians.

And since the end of Communism things have only gotten worse. Central and Eastern European countries that are barely managing to survive, that are for the most part little more then dictatorships have a hard time looking after its natural citizens, let alone a people who for the most part are ignored.

Hate crimes against the Rrom are extensive, particularly in Slovakia where gangs of natives often quite violently attack the Rrom and more often then not the crime is never even investigated.

Anyway yes many of the Rrom suffer extensively unto this day and there seems to be no way for that to let up.


WanderingGypsy

If you ever meet a group of modern gypsies, you lose sympathy... fast.

this is terrible it dosent matter what ethnic group/race/regilion u belong too your still human the goverment has to help these people it bugs me even more because my grandpa was one

Er I've been to Slovakia many times. You're painting a very one sided account. Why is it classed as a hate crime when decent people have had enough..
If Gypsies go around robbing stealing and raping..and pretty much doing what they want, why isn't this classed as 'hate crimes?'
Oh no people go around beating up Gypsies for no apparent reason. Watch out, it's the irrational, evil Racists tm verses the logical, kind, caring Gypsies.

Amen.
I grew up in Spokane, Washington where there is a local family of gypsies, or Rrom if you prefer.
A bigger collection of thieves, liars, cheats, con men, ne'er do wells and general criminals would be hard to find. I know, because I had dealings with them in both business and law enforcement.
There's a reason why the Rrom are disliked; their culture admires criminal activity at the expense of non-Rrom.

I'll be sure to let my half Roma daughter know how everyone feels about her ethnic background (one she's quite proud of--she's Czech Roma)

I also live in Washington and my grandparents owned a huge ranch just north of Spokane back in the 70's/80's. The group in Spokane that you're talking about aren't true Roma as I understand it. They're a semi-traveling band of con artists. They have a pretty notorious reputation in the area. From what I have heard, they call themselves "gypsy" but they have no Roma background. They're more like "travelers". My father tangled with them a couple of times when he was doing some natural gas pipeline work over there.

Well Billyhill, I can tell you why my daughter's paternal Roma grandparents left Czechoslovakia. Just after WWII, in the early 50's, the entire family fell victim to what amounted to ethnic cleansing in the country. Their family maintained their Roma traditions and religion, but were not liars theives or ner-do-wellers--they were only perceived badly because they rarely lived in one place for more than a handful of weeks but they were honest hard working day laborers. They barely escaped with their lives.

After coming to the USA in horrible travel conditions, they made their way to Ohio (where some of the family members remained and one eventually became a state senator), and the rest ended up in Seattle where they still maintain their traditions, religion but live in a beautiful home, with all the upper-middle class advantages. All it took was the freedom to do better.

Now, I have very little to no contact with them anymore... Romani aren't hip on "outsiders" they never were. Since I was no Roma (apparently Danish doesn't cut it with them) they've always refused to acknowledge my daugher as their granddaughter. Her father is mostly the same way. I suppose it's really no different than a conservative jew or other marrying someone outside their religion. To each his own I guess.

This isn't anything new to me. People are mistreated all around this world.

Ain't that the truth...it's the same story around the world. Ever seen the film 'snatch?'
In the UK the gypsies have set up camps all over the country..it's become an effective criminal network; where in one place they steal cars or dogs or whatever..then drive them up to other camps in different locations so the police can't cotton on to what's going on.
You'd need a whole riot squad to take on a gypsy camp-so if there are only two police officers; they usually just turn a blind eye...and who can blame them?

It's a shame people don't take responsibility for their actions but then claim unfair treatment and claim people are being racist against them.
I've also noticed- when gypsies are caught out involved in criminal activity- other people always claim- "No no no they're not the real gypsies!" eh? what's that suppose to mean?
No doubt so people will claim it's racist...but when does something stop being racist-if it's an accurate observation?

Because Rroma have a specific blood line, language and specific religious/cultural practice.

Don't confuse groups that call themselves gypsies and the real thing. They are quite different. Here's an article on Roma history, it's a simple introduction if you're inclined to educate yourself.

Roma history

Most of the time I have bumped into the type of gypsies who break onto private property so they can set up camp there or the ones who try and sell you a little branch off a tree or a pebble and tell you it's good luck then ask you to pay £20 for it. I have once bumped into some nice gypsie folk though who were different from the leech kind who were lovely and fun to chat too.

Ooops my mistake.. having read the link.. I now understand Gypsies are lovely wonderful people...
I shall now bang my head against the wall and eradicate all my past real experience I've had with them.

Thousands of gypos deprived of basic needs, like working?

haha.. yeah or PS3..
what is it? Like a new movement to paint gypos as exotic, romantic and like 'wow amazing man'

Move over, BillyHill ... got room on that wall for my head too?
I too shall eradicate all of my real experience and bow down to the great Goddess Pee-Cee, while I pound my head against the wall. Surely what I read on the net supercedes my personal experience.

Why are you so down on these people?Have they hurt you or your family?Why let our movie and book culture decide for us.I think its aweful that they need help and are not reciveing any.Never met any and I have heard people down talk them but for what.They travel a lot?They work as day laborers or is it they are stealing jibs that no one wants????I think it's odd that anyone would just judge all on the actions of the few.

Just might be me but don't you think it odd how quickly we are to judge others on actions of a few?

It seems to be common sport around here.

I think the problem is that over here (UK and Ireland) they are not called gypsies, they are "travellers" or "knackers". Most of them stem from Ireland, and they can basically go whereever they want... There have been many cases of these travellers making camp for example in an older womans orchard, and she had no right to remove them, neither could the police. All they could do was "ask" them to move on... That was a good few years ago, and afaik, they are still there.

I have no experience with gypsies/romas or whatever they prefer to be called, I have only heard the stories/seen them on the news and that paints as bad a picture as any.

Travellers and Roma are different.
There are, gypsies of Romany origin and travellers of Irish descent.

These two ethnic groups are usually lumped together and labelled either travellers or "gypos" or other pejorative terms.

The true Roma gypsies do not live as the travellers do. Although they live together on council sites because they are not allowed to travel legally anymore and pull up on roadsides, they do not get on, do not share a culture, or live the same life-style. Some travellers do carry guns, do deal drugs, do steal and start fights but gypsies are considered to be part of them. And they are not. My Roma Grandad calls them 'minkies' and HATES them,(there is racism even among traveling folk)

Sir Trevor Phillips of the Commission for Racial Equality lamented that in this country,(UK) it is still regarded as respectable to be racist against gypsies and travellers. If you knew the abuse travelling folk get, how their children are bullied and taunted in school, how the gypsy women are tailed in supermarkets, you would understand better what an abused group they are. And yet the gypsies are GENERALLY,(there is the odd bad egg, just like any other culture) wonderful people with a rich culture, including a real understanding of horses and dogs.

I'm (mostly) Roma and I've never nicked a thing in my life..

Hi Hemet, thanks for the clarification I apologise, didn't mean to come across as ignorant, although I probably did.

Don't worry about it, it's not a problem.
You didn't sound ignorant, just uniformed..