ROMANI, SLOVAKIA,
SOCIAL WORK

Officially as of 2021, more than 67,000 Roma live in Slovakia – 1.23% of the entire population of the country, according to unofficial estimates, there are approximately 500,000 of them, which is 7-11%.

Officially as of 2001, 47,587 Roma live in Ukraine – 0.1% of the entire population of the country; according to unofficial estimates there are approximately 300,000 Roma, which is 0.6%.  

I encountered Romani people for the first time in Kyiv. In the city where I was born (Donetsk), I did not meet Roma, or maybe I simply did not notice their presence. I got fully acquainted with Roma in the Sviatoshynskyi District of the capital. Almost every day I witnessed anarchic hordes: dirty children, strange and loud behavior, outstretched arms, and pregnant women on their knees at the subway entrance. You feel disgust, sometimes fear, sometimes pity, but more often disgust. I wished that there were no such people on the streets of my city and my country at all. I wanted to look for easy solutions to complex issues.

After seeing a video on the Internet about how one of the "nationalist" organizations forcibly dispersed the Romani camp in Kyiv, I was happy. At that time, I was not interested in where they went, what happened to them, and most importantly - whether this action really solved the problem. After entering the university and deepening my knowledge about the Roma community in Ukraine, I realized that these actions did not lead to anything, except being yet another act of violence.

Suddenly, there were fewer and fewer Roma. I still heard about them from the news, and the residents of my house two years ago "asked" the Roma community to remove a newly formed camp 200 meters from our house. Roma disappeared from my everyday life.

In Lviv this year I remembered about them once again. In one of the old bookstores I found a book published by one of my favorite publishing houses ("Choven") - "The Dog Eaters of Svinia". This is a report by an Austrian writer Karl-Markus Gauss about the Roma community in Eastern Slovakia, their living conditions, history, and the problems they face. Already after the first chapter of the book, I knew that I should write an article about it.

Of course, I recommend you find and read a paperback in bookstores or flea markets. There’s only one Ukrainian edition, and only in 1000 copies, which will make your search much more difficult. As far as I know, the electronic version in Ukrainian was not published. Here I will also share the most important findings for myself, as well as draw several parallels with Ukraine, and construct a conclusion, that will rather be a question.

Theory

Gypsies, Roma, and Degezi are not different names for the same ethnicity. These, as in Indian culture, are castes. The highest in the hierarchy are Roma, the middle - Gypsies, and the lowest - Degezi, the Roma consider them "unclean" and they do not have the right to enter a Roma home. Degezi means “dog-eater”. There is also the term "gadjo", which refers to people who are not ethnic Roma, but live with them; or Roma who do not live in the Roma community. Gajo in literal translation is a "foreigner". It is interesting that in Slovakia, and probably in other countries, Roma are considered "black", and the book describes the problems of relations between whites (Slovaks) and blacks (Roma).

In general, it seemed to me that the situation of Roma in Slovakia is more blatant than in Ukraine. There are many of them in the country, they are widely "scattered" across it. In schools, Roma children are often separated from Slovaks, and there are cases when they are not given forks and knives in school canteens because the school administrations believe that they do not know how to use them anyway, and sometimes they are given only spoons instead. Executive authorities in various regions of the country often treat the Roma community unfairly and limit their rights. And in the times of socialist Czechoslovakia, there were also cases of secret sterilization of Roma women during gynecological examinations. They were invited to these examinations by social workers, which promised them that sterilization lasts only a couple of years. Let me remind you, that the ability to have children and give birth is one of the greatest values for the Roma community.

At the same time, the way of life led by Roma in Slovakia is somewhat similar to the situation in Ukraine. Dirty "towns", where the street serves as a sewer and a garbage dump, houses created from what was at hand, and children who hardly attend school. All this is illustrated in the book by Kurt Kaindl's photographs. Of course, it is wrong to say that all Roma live the same way, there are also those who have better homes and receive higher education at European universities. Often it is them who become gadjos for all other Roma and break off communication with them.

Despite what the Roma do with the environment, they are as clean and tidy as possible within their homes. Their homes are marked by order and cleanliness because it is "theirs". The borders of the Roma's "home" are equal to the borders of the physical building which they inhabit. It is worth mentioning that in Ukrainian society a certain part of the population lives by similar rules. Home is an apartment, a street, or a hometown first, the country comes last. When the question "Who do you identify yourself with?" gets an answer in the likes of "Galician" or "Kyivan", and not "Ukrainian" – it is not acceptable.

Assimilation

Soviet and modern practice shows that it is difficult for Roma to assimilate. They stick to communities and have a high birth rate, which prevents them from "dissolving" in society. The school could be the leading factor of assimilation, but there the Roma are mostly fenced off, and the Roma parents themselves are against their children going to educational institutions. Interestingly, it is the men who are mostly against it, especially when it comes to their daughters. As a result of industrialization, the Roma father lost his masculine role in the community: he no longer needs to carry materials in his hands when there are machines, and he does not need to plow the field with a horse when there are agricultural machinery. Because of this, the Romani patriarchal father, who himself did not attend school, does not welcome the idea that his children will know and be able to do more than him, especially if they are women.

Roma have also lost the skills to live independently. The book describes an experiment in which the Roma community was given a large number of chickens with the hope that they would build chicken coops for them, and take care of them. What a surprise it was when the Roma ate one half of the chickens on the first day, and simply threw the other half away because they simply did not know that chickens lay eggs. This is a good example of "a fish, not a rod."

I believe that Romani people do not assimilate into communities because they do not feel that they are part of them. How can you assimilate in a community that does not accept you? At the same time, how can you accept those who live by their own rules, within their traditions, and do not want to change?

In general

The book won't make you love the Roma, and you won't get rid of your aversion to them (if you had one), but you will gain an understanding of many processes; a lot of "why?" will find their answers. However, the main question for us "what to do with the Roma in Ukraine?" - remains unanswered.

Of course, this topic should be approached in an institutionalized manner. It is worth canceling freely available social benefits; refusing a condescending attitude to violations of rules and laws by Roma; understanding that one-time trips of schools to Romani camps do not contribute to the popularization of education in the communities. Roma should be placed in such conditions, when it will be more profitable for them to follow the laws, provide a decent level of education and life for their children and be a part of Ukrainian society. The best thing we can do with the Roma ethnic group together is to build legal equality. As soon as equality before the law will be ensured, inter-ethnic tension between Ukrainians and Roma will gradually decrease.

Another aspect is the Child and Family Service. It must work, and the prospect of deprivation of parental rights must hover over Roma families. This prospect will be a reminder of whose legal field Roma communities live under. Let me remind you that according to the Article 164 of the Family Code of Ukraine parents may be deprived of parental rights if they:

• did not take the child from the maternity hospital or from another health care institution and for 6 months did not show parental care for it;

• shirk their responsibilities regarding raising a child and/or ensuring that he/she obtains a full general secondary education;

• treat the child cruelly;

• are chronic alcoholics or drug addicts;

• resort to any kind of exploitation of the child, force him to beg and wander;

• were convicted of committing an intentional criminal offense against a child.

From my observations, I can say that several of these points appear quite often in the life of Roma communities. Of course, I do not call for the deprivation of parental rights of all Roma families at once, that would be an inhumane and ineffective method of solving the problem. But it should be clearly defined - everyone is equal before the law. The service for children and family affairs, and law enforcement agencies must clearly record violations and take regulated actions, while at the same time providing recommendations for improving the conditions of coexistence of both adults and young Roma.

It is also important for me that the culture of both our ethnic groups gets combined. This will allow us to build a dialogue not only around existing social problems. The thing is that Roma culture is not widely spread. Directly opposite Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is standing the Kyiv Academic Music and Drama Gypsy Theater "Romance", which I only found out about due to its location. I also knew little about the history of Roma before reading this book. There are a couple of references to Romani people in classical Ukrainian literature and art, but in general, most people don't even know what the flag of the Roma looks like. Due to geographical heterogeneity, Roma culture is sufficiently multifaceted, which allows us to implement it as a part of Ukrainian of our own free will.

Soviet and modern practice shows that it is difficult for Roma to assimilate. Will they be able to assimilate in the Ukrainian context? This question remains open. Should they be assimilated? This question remains difficult.

Finally, I will recommend two portals where you can learn more about the Romani people. The first is this Roma program in the International Revival Fund; here you will find information about how the Roma ethnic group gradually merges into Ukrainian society. The second is the Roma Education Fund – an international organization aimed at eliminating the gap in educational outcomes between Roma and non-Roma.

On January 27, traveling in the Kyiv subway, between stations "University" and "Vokzalna", I heard a dialogue between two boys aged 16-19:

- There is still time. What are we going to do?

- Let's f**k off gypsies!

- What?

- F**k off the gypsies!