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Portraits
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Ogy
Ogy is a student of journalism in Bulgaria.
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Nesime - asks for concrete measures
Nesime Salioska is the coordinator of the Roma Organization for Multicultural Affirmation – SOS in Prilep, Macedonia, where officially live 80.000 Roma (the unofficial number however is much greater): “The social standard of the Roma community is below the medium standard of the Macedonian community. For example, the Macedonian Roma keep having problems to gain access to public institutions or to enjoy their human rights”. Nesime is really pessimistic about the future: “Many countries that are members of the EU only talk about the situation of the Roma community, but never take concrete measures. Germany and Spain are two good examples: they are constantly talking about the necessity to improve the situation of the Roma communities in other countries, like for example Macedonia. However, neither Germany nor Spain takes concrete measures to solve the problems of the Roma communities within their own countries”. -
Kike - Roma, Basque, Spanish, European ...
Kike Jiménez, 24 years old, is a social worker in the association Kale dor Kayiko in the Basque Country, situated in the north of Spain. Kike admits difficulties to define his own identity: “If I feel like where I come from? Uff, it is a bit complicated to answer, keeping in mind the political situation in which we live in the Basque Country. When we put my Roma identity on top of this, it seems to become a question even more complicated. I feel just as much like a Roma as I feel Basque or Spanish. All equally much and at the same time I feel European”. Kike affirms that the Roma in the north of Spain lack a bit behind in the subject of education compared with those in other parts of Spain like Catalonia, Andalusia or Madrid. About the future Kike says: “During the last 50 years the Roma society has undergone enormous changes. I think that within the next 50 years we will be everywhere, wherever we are pushing to.” -
Karolina - in her heart is Roma
Karolina Mirga studies international relations and works for a Polish NGO where she lives: “My official nationality is Polish, but in my heart I am a Roma; hence, I would say that I am a Polish Roma. My father is Roma, my mother is Polish and I am a mixture between the two identities”. In Poland, which is officially the home of some 20.000 to 30.000 Roma, her community is “quite well integrated, although it keeps having problems in fields like education or habitation”. Karolina shows some insecurity with regard to the future, but she recognizes that the changes “have already begun”: “I cannot tell you what is going to happen during the next 50 years, but maybe some Roma will end up being president of the United States [laughs]”. -
Ionut - feels the wind of change
Ionut Stan works as policemen in the north of Romania. Ionut feels like a Roma because “he cannot be anything else” and he knows that his community keeps being discriminated against due to “the colour of their skin”. Nonetheless, he notices “a certain wind of change”: “There are certainly several regions in Romania where the Roma communities are extremely poor, however there are also members of my community who are very integrated in general student and working life”. Ionut had the opportunity to work in Brussels for six months thanks to a scholarship. Therefore he very much appreciates the significance of the EU. Ionut looks optimistically into the future: “The life of my children will be better than mine.” -
Brisilda
Brisilda Taço studies communication and public relations in Albania, where the Roma community comprises some 120.000 persons, however only according to estimations as there simply are no “official statistics”. Brisilda is clear: “The situation of the Albanian Roma community is bad: it suffers from a high unemployment rate, there are families which have no home and live in shops or shanty towns. A lot of children do not go to school. I dare say that the social situation of the Roma in Albania is now even worse than it was during the communist era.” The Albanian student asks little and much from the future at the same time: “I hope to see all the Roma children in schools and adults of my community represented in Parliament”. -
Admir - the optimist
Admir Biberovic is a law graduate who lives in Tuzla, in the North of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he works for an NGO. Admir looks optimistically towards the future of his community in Bosnia which officially has a population of around 100.00 Roma: “The government of my country is member of the project Decade or Roma Inclusion, which pushes for the inclusion of the European Roma community. Therefore it has spent 3 million Euros this year for the project.” Admir is optimistic because he believes that if someone is confident to change something he can change it, and he sees more than enough confidence in meetings like the one in Berlin. -
Hamze: "Metropolitan, European and Roma"
Hamze Bytyci is a Berliner with Kosovarian roots who feels “metropolitan, European and Roma”. Hamze usually works in the association Amaro Drom, which is why he knows well the situation of his community in Germany and Berlin. Hamze believes that the future of the Roma community in Europe “carries two faces”: “Now, we are doing the first steps in order to improve the situation. It is like the beginning of a peaceful revolution. On the other hand, we all know what is happening right now with the Roma minority in countries like Italy or the Czech Republic. We need more money and more time”.
