Roma are gypsies, but not all gypsies are Roma. However, many Roma did flee the persecution of the Balkans once the European borders were thrown open a decade ago.
Now however, most of Europe is at a loss on how to deal with the communities, who live by a very strict code of conduct, passed down by generations, that harken to a past when they were self sufficient if non integrated.
Berlin however, is not just sitting back and complaining. They have sent a delegation to Romania to try to understand what Romas are, and specifically what their traditions mean once they travel outside their ancestral lands.
While some German politicians have already called for the deportation of all immigrants who are not able to find work and come to take advantage of social networks for the poor in that country, others want to understand why they have chosen Germany and other places to emigrate to, along with why they would abandon their ancestral land.
Even the German contingent who arrived in Romania to study Romas are saying that Germany can no longer keep receiving the constant influx of Romas, but at the same time, they realize that this people's homeland offers nothing for them. And that might just be what needs to be changed.
What the delegation soon learns is that in Romania, and Bulgaria for that matter, Romas are left to their own device. Children who arrive in Germany at 14 have never been to school, although education in Romania is compulsory. The picture that emerges is that Romas are last on anyone's list, when it comes to aid, assistance, school, medical care and any other social resource.
What they also learn is that the poverty benefits they can receive in Berlin are 20 times the amount they would receive in their home country.
What is more astounding is the finding that mayors in Romanian cities are pushing the Romas to leave. The delegation also learns that Romania has stopped its program of returning Roma to their home countries.
As the delegation returns to Germany to fill in the report, they learn that since the beginning of the year, 68 new Roma children have been enrolled in just one German school system.
Source : Spiegel online / 6.14.13
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