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Romanies can improve their situation only themselves - press

22 October 2012
4 minute read

Czech Romanies can change their situation permanently only if they actively work on it and realise own responsibility for their lives, Milan Daniel, head of an advisory centre for foreigners in the Czech Republic, writes in the daily Lidove noviny (LN) today.

He compares the stances of local Romanies to Ukrainians who seek work in the country.

Daniel refers to the re-location of Romanies from Vsetin, north Moravia, by town mayor Jiri Cunek, current deputy PM and Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) chairman, who approved moving of dozens of local Romany rent-defaulters were moved from a dilapidated house in the town centre to a new house made of tin container-like houses on the town’s outskirts. Further Romany families were sent away from Vsetin and resettled elsewhere in Moravia.

Daniel says that the discussion around Cunek’s steps is pointless as it neglects the fundamental aspect, which is the problem of the community’s relation to work, and their possibility to work and actively seek jobs.

He says that unlike Czech Romanies, Ukrainians, a number of whom are among his clients, take great pains to find work in the Czech Republic. They must undergo a complicated bureaucratic procedure to gain a work permit and the necessary visas. Moreover, they do not hesitate to leave their homes, families and friends and stay in a remote country in low-standard dormitories with often degrading conditions.

The Ukrainians are willing to go through it to earn their living and support themselves and their families at home since they practically cannot reckon with an unemployment benefit in their country.

The situation of Czech Romanies can be to a certain extent compared to the Ukrainians, but they differ in their motivation and willingness to change anything in their lives and in their possibilities and advantages given by Czech state citizenship, Daniel says.

Though almost all unemployed Romanies who live on welfare claim that they actually want to work, only a very few of them are willing to do something for it on their own. They prefer using the mercy of the state welfare system, which provides them with social security of a low, but guaranteed income.

Cunek claims that he has made Romanies equal with other fellow citizens and his local adherents, who work hard to earn their living, appreciate it. In this respect, Daniel adds, it is hard to accuse Cunek and his supporters of racism.

Daniel says that unlike Romanies whose traditional way of living declined during the communist regime, Ukrainian communities in poor areas of the country did not have to cope with the collapse of their paternalistic system based on strong "chiefs" who enjoyed a great natural authority in the community. This social structure is reflected in the current "client system" where the "clients" are Ukrainians’ more successful neighbours whom they trust.

The Ukrainian paternalistic system is similar to their respected chiefs ("vajda") of clans who were able to keep order in Romany communities. However, this traditional Romany hierarchy and values were destroyed in the past, Daniel notes.

Now you can hardly find any leading personalities among Romanies, and if they appear, they even more rarely help Romanies seek jobs and restore their self-confidence. Successful Romanies often loose their ties to the community living in "ghettoes," Daniel says.

Cunek’s opponents criticise him for having offered a solution to the deprived Romanies that they did not accept freely, and therefore they did not identify themselves with it. This is definitely a democratic approach, but the question is whether this would be possible under the concrete circumstances, Daniel writes.

The relocated Romanies from Vsetin now need not passively wait for retirement, but they can find work in their new place of residence and improve their economic situation themselves. They have the same opportunity as other people who simply leave for another town or another country to get a job, Daniel points out.

The Romanies need "activity, working at full stretch and responsibility" to succeed, he adds.

"The indebted Czech state is trying to reduce social expenditures, which has naturally the strongest impact on the lowest income groups. The sooner these people, who suffer from social deprivation, realise that they can receive nothing but mercy from others’ hands, while they can bring about permanent changes only with their own hands, the better for them. Ukrainian workers in our country prove this simple truth," Daniel concludes in LN.

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