UN RADIO IN KOSOVO
ROMA WORLD DAY
By Blagoje GRUJIC
Hello and welcome ... this is UN Radio in Kosovo ..
Since more than 30 years
April 8 is celebrated as Roma World Day, and this year on April 8 started the
so-called Decade of Roma in the Southwest Balkans. Romas are still living under
very hard conditions and much more efforts is needed throughout the Europe to
improve their position.
Representatives
of Southwest Balkan countries announced new age in dealing with Roma issues,
and recently in Bulgaria the joint charter was signed, as a sign of
determination of these countries to promote better education and overall
emancipation of Roma population.
Music fade in and under ...
There are relevant figures
about the number of Roma population living in Kosovo. A huge number of Kosovo
Roma lives today as internally displaced persons in Serbia or Montenegro, as
well as in some of the IDP centers in Kosovo. One thing is for sure – the
living conditions for Romas are not favorable, for both those who are displaced
and who are still in their homes in Kosovo.
Today in Gracanica, near
Pristina, there are some 1.000 Serb families, alongside with some 100 Roma
families. It is estimated that before the conflict in 1999. there were in
Gracanica some 300 Roma families, with average seven members of the family.
Huge majority of the today have no permanent job and those people, who used to
live on various handicrafts and trade, today earn very hard just a small amount
of money to survive.
Demiri family used to live
on producing the swabs or besoms. Sead Demiri says that today the market for
selling his products is limited and not enough to feed the family any more.
CUT:
- Sead Demiri – There is no job as it was before ... Before the bombardment
we used to produce some 1.000 – 1.500 besoms per week ... each one cost 1 DM
... it was lot of money then ... but today there is no job as it was before ...
He
said that majority of young Romas are forced today to work from very early age
to earn some money to survive, although it is often a case that they get just a
100 dinars (one euro or so) or a bit more per day, working all dirty jobs none
else would do.
Music fade in and under
...
In
every street of Roma mahala you can hear children’s wassail. However, there are
less and less Roma children in schools. The main reasons for Roma children not
attending schools could be very low awareness of the importance of education,
as well as extreme poverty.
Roma NGO On the better
road organized a couple of projects aimed to promote Roma culture, history,
Roma identity and Roma language ...However, that it is just a initial step,
says Sebastijan Serifovic from the NGO, and much more is needed to be done for real
promotion of Romas.
Shanzy Cokatoli – is
a 12-years old boy who has not been attending school since the conflict in
1999, he is very sad because of that. Almost everyday he goes to schoolyard –
just to play for a while with his Serb friends. Due to administrative obstacles
this young Roama child is not allowed to sit with his friends in the school
room.
CUT – I wanted to join the school, but they refused to
sign me in ....because I’m a refuge and I did not have a school ID card ...EDIT
TO I finished five years in the school EDIT TO and now I feel sad ... somehow
sick ... EDIT TO I go to schoolyard and ... play football with my friends ...
and when the school bell rings ... they go in and I stay alone outside ...
In Kosovo in huge majority
of primary schools at the moment there are no classes in Roma language at all.
Local Roma NGO On the better road, from Gracanica, initiated last year, with
the support of donors, establishing of the Educational Center in Roma mahala in
Gracanica. But, much more is needed and first step could be introducing Roma
language classes in primary schools, believes Serifovic.
CUT
- Sebastijan Serifovic- It could be an optional class and people
could learn more about Romas, and they could treat Romas as a nation ... as
humans..
Music fade in and under ...
CUT
– (Serifovic - People in Kosovo, both Serbs and Albanians, they do not see
Romas as people who have their own identity, as people who have their own
history, as people who have their own language
EDIT TO ... Yes, it is normal
for Romas from Gracanica to be linked more with Serbs, because they lived here
in this environment more than hundred years. So you cannot expect from them to
speak excellent Albanian and to have such relations with Albanians. However,
Romas who live in areas populated mostly by Albanians, it is normal that they
accepted some Albanian habits and their customs, even their language ...
Gazmend Salijevic is
living in Roma mahala in Gracanica and he told UN Radio that out of more than
100 Roma children, only a couple of dozens of them attend primary school
classes in Gracanica. Gazmend believes that extreme poverty is the main reason
for parents to decide not to send their children to schools.
CUT:- Gazmend Salijevic
- The problem is that no one is
working here and people do not have money ... Out of total of 100 Roma families
that are living here, in only 4 or 5 of them you can find someone members of
family working ... mainly with UNMIK or getting salaries from Serbia. But all
the rest are just adrift to harsh circumstances.
Aside of very hard living
conditions, Romas are faced usually with a wall of non-understanding or
non-accepting in society – not only in Kosovo, but rather throughout of Europe.
Here is how Sebastijan describes it:
CUT
– Personally, I think that every child is intelligent and smart on its own
way, every child knows something and is unique. In some places here and ...
Macedonia or Bulgaria, some people claim that Roma children are not smart
enough and intelligent enough to attend schools together with other children.
That’s very bad, you know ... those are
just kids ... I know some cases in Macedonia where Roma children are sent to
Mental Schools, for kids with need for special treatment. And if you go and
speak with those children, than you will find out that they are very smart and
intelligent, that it is not an appropriate place for them. But, simply, people
just wanted to abandon them, probably because ... because of the way they dress
or so ...
In
the decade ahead us, that is proclaimed as Decade of Roma in Southwest Balkans,
it is expected to see a stronger promotion of education for Romas and overall
improvement of living conditions for them. However, one thing is for sure - all
of us have to do more to make the Balkans a better place for everyone.
But, anyway ... despite all
the circumstances they live in, Romas are well known as being always ready to
sing and dance. They call it – a Roma way of life.
CUT
– That’s our way of life ... I can freely say, no matter what problems we
have ... you can see a Roma very poor dressed and so ... but he is going to
sing at the street. That’s a matter of our mentality and that’s very normal
here among Romas. EDIT no matter what problems you have, if you hear the music
you are going to sing.
With this we end today’s
program ... thanks for listening us and stay tuned.....