R 101250Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9415
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BUCHAREST 000243 
 
 
EUR/CE FOR ASCHEIBE; DRL FOR DNADEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIA'S ROMA: STILL ON THE PERIPHERY 
 
Summary 
-------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) As Romania's Roma celebrate their National Day this 
week, the community remains on the outskirts of mainstream 
Romanian society in almost every respect: politically 
disenfranchised; lacking access to adequate education, 
housing and employment; and victimized by prejudicial 
campaigns in the media and by popular stereotypes. 
Conversations with Roma activists, intellectuals, artists, 
students, a Parliamentarian, and the President of the 
government's Roma Protection Agency revealed frustration with 
the community's lack of political organization, unity and 
clout. Nevertheless, our interlocutors noted a few positive 
trends: better government efforts to liaise with Roma 
communities; a significant decrease in physical violence 
against the Roma, and less vulgar racist rhetoric than in the 
past. Lack of reliable statistics, disorganization and apathy 
at the community level, and low levels of education, continue 
to hamper efforts to assist the Roma -- or help them help 
themselves. 
 
Stereotypes and Segregation 
----------- --------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Popular perceptions of the Roma remain negative. 
According to a 2008 poll coordinated by the National Council 
to Combat Discrimination (NCCD), 71 percent of Romanians 
believe Roma are the perpetrators of criminal activity. 
Between 45 and 50 percent view negatively the possibility of 
having a Roma relative. Sixty percent favor travel 
restrictions on Roma wishing to go abroad. The NCCD chair 
told us the most common complaint at the Council was from 
Roma denied access to public places. Segregation, he said, 
was particularly strong in education and housing. The 
continued practice of placing Roma children in classes for 
the handicapped, and the desire of both Roma and non-Roma 
parents to keep their children separate, were the primary 
culprits. In terms of housing, most Roma communities are 
situated at the margins of cities and towns, and many Roma, 
lacking property titles, are forced to leave even these areas 
when land developers arrive.  The Director of the Roma NGO 
Romani CRISS told us of a recent case in which twenty Roma 
families were relocated twenty kilometers outside their town, 
with no access to schools, public transport or employment 
opportunities. The NCCD chair separately told us that plans 
to build segregated housing for Roma in the provinces 
continue today. 
 
The Media and "Linguistic Violence" 
------------------- ---------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Across the board, our interlocutors complained about 
negative media coverage of the Roma. While the racist 
language appearing in the media was perceived as less vulgar 
and more nuanced than a decade ago, there still existed what 
the local UNICEF director termed "linguistic violence." In 
early March, for example, the popular mainstream daily 
Jurnulul National (JN) launched a campaign to ban the word 
"Roma" from official usage and substitute the term "Tsgani," 
which many Roma consider pejorative. "Tsgani" is  of Greek 
origin and roughly translates to "impure." For the measure to 
go to Parliament, organizers need to collect 100,000 
signatures. As of the end of last week, they had gathered 
only 26,000. In the meantime, Romani CRISS began planning for 
a counter-petition to ban the word "Tsgani," and expressed 
confidence they would reach the 100,000 mark. However, 
because the initial petition drive appears to be sputtering, 
Romani CRISS has postponed plans to circulate the 
counterpetition. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Note:  On April 2, 2009, the MFA sent a follow-up 
note verbale to the U.S. Consulate in Bucharest asking that 
the three-letter alpha numeric code for Romania be "ROU" and 
not "ROM."  This code, approved by the International 
Organization for Standardization (IOS), is used on the 
printed visa foils on Romanians' passports and on other 
international identification documents.  Romania first asked 
for IOS approval for this change in 2002 and sent a note 
verbale to the Consulate in 2008 on the same issue.  The 
Department has not issued its approval as yet.  We see this 
request as yet another example of linguistic discrimination 
against "roma," especially given the Romanians' dislike of 
the Russian rendition of their country name as "Rumania," 
which they traditionally see as erasing their Latin/Roman 
roots.  End note. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Roma are divided over the meaning and impact of the 
JN campaign. The President of the government's Roma 
Protection Agency said that many Roma couldn't care less, as 
they were more concerned with daily problems of poverty and 
unemployment. Several of our NGO contacts thought the JN 
campaign was a reaction to the negative publicity Romania 
accrued following a crime wave in Italy in which Roma were 
implicated. The head of a media-monitoring NGO argued that 
the problem lay not with any media drive, but with Romanian 
insecurity over being associated with Roma in the minds of 
outsiders. "Ask someone about Romania and Roma will be one of 
the first five things mentioned," said the NCCD Chair. 
"They're a Romanian 'brand'." 
 
Disorganized, Divided and Devoid of Influence 
------------------- ------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Roma remain easily subject to political 
manipulation. Rather than identify with their small, 
ethnically based "party" (Note: It legally is an NGO, and has 
only one member in Parliament.), Roma tend to identify 
themselves with the dominant political party in their 
locality. Across the board, our interlocutors agreed that 
politicians open up to Roma only by offering food for votes, 
and then abandon them after getting elected. The PSD was 
particularly guilty of this practice, a researcher at the 
Center for Roma Research told us, but all political parties 
did it. Roma activists and students expressed frustration 
that this was so easily done but difficult to solve, largely 
due to the dire economic circumstance of the constituents. 
The end result was declining Roma confidence in local 
government and greater apathy. 
 
¶7. (SBU) A central theme of our discussions was why the Roma, 
Romania's largest minority, were unable to exert political 
clout along the lines of Romania's ethnic Hungarians or 
achieve the unity of Romania's small Jewish community. 
According to Istvan Haller, an NCCD board member, the Roma 
movement suffered from a lack of connectivity between the 
Roma intellectual strata and grassroots communities. Some 
contacts disagreed but identified other cross-cutting 
cleavages that made unity difficult to achieve. Roma remain 
divided by their level of education, traditional or modern 
outlook, rural or urban residence, and even language. (Note: 
some Roma speak Hungarian and not Romanian). Such divisions 
do not occur in Romania's ethnic Hungarian communities. And 
in contrast to Romania's Jews, the Roma do not have a strong 
sense of collective memory around which to unite. 
 
Education: A Mess at the Bottom 
------------- ---------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Aside from the problem of segregation, our contacts 
widely agreed that not enough Roma are attending primary and 
secondary school. No reliable statistics are available, but 
Maria Korek of the NGO Project on Ethnic Relations estimates 
that of those Roma in school, 75 percent either did not 
attend kindergarten or attend school irregularly. While in 
the past many Roma children stayed home because they lacked 
clothing, Roma parents are today's "hugely negative 
influence," she said. The need to put food on the table and 
the lack of parental motivation brought on by unemployment 
and apathy often keep the kids out of the classrooms, she 
explained. Teacher role models are relatively few, as the 
percentage of Roma schoolteachers is thought to be 
disproportionately less than the percentage of Roma students. 
 The situation at the university level appears somewhat 
better, as special slots exist for Roma at state universities 
and some public high schools. And the Presidential Advisor on 
Minorities opined that the quality of the Roma intelligentsia 
was improving. 
 
Lack of Information Hampers Planning 
-------------- -------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) In contrast to Romania's other minority communities, 
no one is sure how many Roma live in Romania. The official 
population is 535,140, according to the 2002 census, but 
estimates range up to two million and over. These estimates 
reflect the likelihood that many Roma instead identify 
themselves as ethnic Romanians or ethnic Hungarians. 
Statistical uncertainty and lack of systematic research makes 
it more difficult to design and enact affirmative action 
policies, fix the schools and monitor human rights abuses, 
several contacts noted. "We don't know how many Roma there 
are in the education system, or the special education 
system," complained the UNICEF director. Nor is there data on 
police raids against Roma or forced relocations, said a 
representative from the respected NGO Center for Legal 
Resources. This lack of data makes it harder to measure 
progress over time. 
 
Comment: A few bright spots 
-------------- ------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) While this is a bleak report, it is not all bad 
news. Physical violence against the Roma appears on the wane. 
In contrast to Hungary and Slovakia, there have not been 
recent anti-Roma attacks here, and the NCCD has received no 
reports of attacks against Roma neighborhoods or individuals 
this year. Roma activists also report that the economic 
downturn has not been accompanied by a concomitant increase 
in the number of hate crimes.  Meanwhile, the government has 
reached out to Roma communities by assigning 600 "health 
mediators" who facilitate Roma access to health care. Roma 
advisors also exist in almost every prefect's office (Note: 
The prefect is the central government's representative in 
each county).  Importantly, interest in these issues remains 
high; a Public Diplomacy-sponsored debate on Roma Day and a 
joint U.S. Embassy-Romani CRISS reception both had excellent 
turnouts. The number of Roma-focused NGOs continues to grow, 
and our contacts perceive an increase in the number of Roma 
activists in country. We were impressed by the young, 
energetic Roma we met, and their willingness to lead. 
 
 
GUTHRIE-CORN