Thomas Hammarberg
There was a growing international attention on Roma lately and Romanians reacted to it, from politicians to media to daily debates. Hammarberg perceives this context as an opportunity to advance Roma inclusion in Romania: “The necessary legal and institutional frameworks are in place, but anti-Roma sentiment in political discourse and the media is still a major problem”.
If you take a look at any online newspaper that has an article on Roma issues and check the comments you will find the most blatant anti-Roma opinions that are never addressed by these newspapers. These opinions that can come up in any conversation on Roma in Romania represent a long history of anti-Gypsyism and have direct effects on the lives of Romanian Roma.
As this article observes: "Rather than discussing which term should be used to designate the Roma population, emphasis should be put on educating the general public about Roma history. The slavery they were subjected to in Romania for several centuries, their mass deportation and extermination during the second World War and their forced assimilation during the Communist period have put them in an inferior position, the consequences of which they are still suffering from today."
No wonder that Roma people are forced to leave Romania and face difficult and dangerous conditions in Western Europe, as their only escape from discrimination. As long as they do not exist as citizens, they do not have any rights and they are the target of daily and institutionalized racism, no wonder that they try to use their freedom of movement, which should be respected unconditionally because they are still part of the European Union.
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