MINELRES: Romania: Ethnic Diversity Briefs, No.29

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: Mediafax <divers@mediafax.ro>


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No. 29 / October 28, 2002

DIVERS
- reporting ethnic diversity -

SUMMARY
1. ROMANIAN RULING PARTY AND HUNGARIAN ALLY TO CONTINUE COOPERATION
2. MAGYARS COMMERATE TEN YEARS SINCE DECLARATION FROM CLUJ
3. RELIGION SUBJECT BOOK IN RROMANI LANGUAGE
4. MOSCOW INSISTS RUSSIAN LANGUAGE TO GET OFFICIAL STATUS IN MOLDOVA

FEATURE
5. ROMANIA'S ROMA FLOOD EUROPE
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ROMANIAN RULING PARTY AND HUNGARIAN ALLY TO CONTINUE COOPERATION
BUCHAREST - Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Hungarian
Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) last week evaluated their
cooperation in 2002 and decided to maintain their good relations in the
future.
Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, who is also the PSD chairman, indicated
that, as a result of the protocol evaluation at central level and of the
local protocols signed by PSD and UDMR, the two parties found out there
is no different approach in terms of principle and that most of the
protocol aspects were observed. "Naturally there are some aspects
consisting of various points of view, yet what is remarkable is our
parties' will continue cooperation", said Nastase.
PSD-UDMR cooperation has provided political stability domestically and
facilitated successes at the international level, such as the lifting of
visa restrictions for Romanian citizens traveling to EU member states
and the increasing likelihood of Romania joining NATO, according to
Nastase."We hope the two years -cooperation experience to help us in
preparing a new protocol in the short run ", added Nastase, indicating
"there exist very good perspectives in this respect".
UDMR leader, Marko Bela, appreciated in his turn that finalizing the
legislative aspect regarding retrocession of community goods seized by
communists stands for the best accomplishment of this year, while the
failures are represented by "structural transformations occurred at
universities Babes Bolyai and from Tirgu Mures", thus solutions are
required in this respect. While not a formal PSD ally, the UDMR supports
the ruling party's initiatives in parliament and holds some government
positions. (DIVERS)

MAGYARS COMMERATE TEN YEARS SINCE DECLARATION FROM CLUJ
CLUJ- On October 25, 1992, Transylvanian city of Cluj, the leaders of
Magyar minorities enacted a declaration indicating that the solution for
the national problem lies in internal self-determination, which is "a
way out of crisis for the Magyar nation from Romania and for the entire
country". "It is our duty to mark out the solution representing also for
us as well as for the country a way out of this crisis. The autonomy of
the ethnical and religious communities is an organic part of the
Transylvania's past, we would evoke the 800 years of self-determination
exerted by the Saxons of Transylvania communities and this fact was
stipulated into the Declaration from Alba Iulia in 1918. We state that
this way is the way of the internal self-determinism", according to the
declaration from Cluj.
UDMR leader Marko Bela told Magyar press in Romania how much he
succeeded in ten years time to implement what was stipulated into the
Declaration from Cluj. "In my opinion this document is presently valid
as well. Along the past ten years, UDMR steadily fought to accomplish
the objectives of the Declaration and we obtained significant results.
After all our accomplishments target at the self-determination of Magyar
nation from Ardeal, irrespective it is about the Magyar private
university, about using the mother language within public
administration, about the extending education in mother language or
about land and forest retrocession. Our entire activity was directed in
such a manner so that to hand the Magyar nation from Transylvania the
necessary means to have control over their faith" stated Marko Bela.
(DIVERS)

RELIGION SUBJECT BOOK IN RROMANI LANGUAGE
BUCHAREST - Starting this year, the Roma children from Romania will be
able to study religion in their mother language, once publishing a
Corpus of biblical texts, conceived by University doctor in science
Gheorghe Sarau. The book was launched on Friday, October 25, at the
Museum of Romanian Peasant (MTR), as part of a Roma autumn fair. The
Biblical Corpus publishing was facilitated with the finance support of
Providenta Foundation, being the first manual of such type in Romania.
(DIVERS)

MOSCOW INSISTS RUSSIAN LANGUAGE TO GET OFFICIAL STATUS IN MOLDOVA
CHISINAU - The speaker of Upper House in Russia (Duma), Yevgheni
Seleznev last week said he would like to see Moldova proclaim Russian as
its second language, according to Moldovan press. However, he said he
understands that "there are problems" associated with doing so. The
importance of the Russian language in Moldova "is an objective reality,"
as there are 600,000 ethnic Russians in Moldova and all Moldovan
citizens speak Russian, according to Seleznev. Furthermore, the two
languages "enrich the culture," he said. (DIVERS)

FEATURE

ROMANIA'S ROMA FLOOD EUROPE
BUCHAREST - Amid garbage piles, naked children playing in water puddles
and decrepit caravans a young Romanian Roma man is working hard at
faking a limp. Leaning on a makeshift crutch, he stumbles back and forth
again and again before dropping his stick and walking briskly through
the bustling camp. Such footage, aired recently on a Romanian television
channel, is all the more stunning because it was shot near the French
city of Nice. Since the European Union lifted visa requirements for
Romanians in January, with a view to Romania eventually joining the
bloc, thousands of Roma have flooded European cities, complaining of
racism and poverty at home. One of their first choices was France, where
about 1,000 Roma, or Gypsy, children on the streets of Paris alone and
more in other cities are believed to be forced into prostitution,
begging and other crimes, officials say. But anger among the French, a
bad press and a police crackdown on gangs importing children to beg or
steal has since sent many to neighboring countries such as Switzerland,
Germany and Belgium - effectively exporting the problem across Europe.
In the first eight months of this year, about 6,800 Romanians have been
arrested and expelled from European countries, Romanian border
authorities said. "We asked for asylum; political, economic asylum but
they wouldn't give it to us," a middle-aged Roma man sent home from
Switzerland told reporters at Bucharest's Otopeni airport.

LARGE EXODUS
Romania has Europe's largest Roma community. A recent census put them at
about 2.5 percent of the country's 21.6 million population but the Roma
say they are closer to three million. "About 1.5 million have left
Romania in the past decade," Roma parliamentary deputy Nicolae Paun told
Reuters. "Between 100,000 and 200,000 since the visa requirement was
lifted." Paun said most of those fleeing sought a place where laws
prevented discrimination but admitted some were involved in human
trafficking - as perpetrators or victims. "They participate but are not
the masterminds," he said. "Our investigations show top border officials
are involved, which explains how so many leave the country without
passports." Although authorities deny any involvement in trafficking
networks, they admit hundreds of border police have been punished for
"irregularities on the job" this year and the French government is
sending officers to assist local forces. "In nine months we identified
940 policemen (who were punished) and 18 border policemen have been
fired," border police spokeswoman Ionela Bucur told Reuters. "We are
conducting weekly controls to check how they do their job." Roma
community representatives blame the exodus on poverty and demand social
programmes to keep people home, saying their lot has not been easy since
their ancestors migrated to the Balkans from India in the early Middle
Ages."From the 13th to the 19th century Roma were slaves," Paun said.
"During and after World War Two they faced an extermination campaign.
During the communist years they faced forced assimilation. We are the
descendants of this history." In the impoverished Balkan country where
horse-drawn carts are a common sight on the roads, Roma complain
post-communist governments have done little to improve their lives.
Receiving minority status in 1990, a year after the fall of communist
dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, most remain on the fringes of society, with
little or no education or jobs and living in the most run-down parts of
Bucharest and other towns. But in Romania there is little sympathy from
the rest of the largely poor population, which sees the flaunting of
wealth by Romania's Roma elite as a provocation. "They are rich. Look at
all the gold they are wearing. The palaces they live in," said a
Bucharest resident who declined to be named.

DECEPTIVE WEALTH
In the hills near the Transylvanian village of Costesti, thousands of
Roma gather every year on the Virgin Mary's birthday, September 8, to
match-make their children, socialize and show off wealth. The desired
age for brides is 10 years old. Gleaming Mercedes cars head up the
Carpathian slopes, tables are laden with whole roasted suckling pigs
decorated with fruit and flowers while pedlars sell colorful skirts and
trinkets. The King of All Gypsies, Florin Cioaba, who lives in a villa
decorated with several turrets, is surrounded by television reporters.
His sister, poet and activist Luminita Cioaba, says it is the hostile
European press that is giving her people a bad name. "French people
really like the Roma. It's the press that's making trouble," she said,
sitting in her tent, surrounded by large photographs of herself shot in
various European cities.
The wealth exhibited at the gathering is meant to attract good mates for
offspring but, some say it is deceptive. "I am convinced nobody would
leave Romania if they had the resources to survive," said Vasile
Ionescu, head of the non-profit Roma Center for Public Policies.
Embarrassed and worried about a possible return of the visa requirement,
Romania has made all the right noises to the West. It says it is eager
to cooperate with other countries and start Roma advancement programmes
to avoid further tarnishing its image at a time when it is knocking on
the doors of NATO and the EU. But Ionescu said a plan to reintegrate
those deported back to Romania, signed with France, exists only on paper
and that measures were urgently needed to support the community. "The
government claims to have no money to launch this campaign," he said.

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