Roma in Bulgaria

Roma people constitute the second largest minority and third largest ethnic group (after Bulgarians and Turks) in Bulgaria. According to the 2001 census, there were 370,908 Roma in Bulgaria, equivalent to 4.7% of the country's total population, [cite web
year = 2001
url = http://www.nsi.bg/Census/Ethnos.htm
title = Population as of 1 March 2001 divided by provinces and ethnic group
publisher = National Statistical Institute
language = Bulgarian
accessdate = 2006-06-18] so that Bulgaria is Europe's country with the highest share of Roma population. However, unofficial estimates have the Roma population at around 8-10%, with experts' estimates based on data from sociological polls, labour offices, social assistance service, and the Ministry of Interior varying between 600,000 and 750,000, but nearly half of them traditionally have Turkish or Bulgarian ethnic self-determination. [313,000 self-declared in 1992 census (Elena Marushiakova and Vesselin Popov, The Gypsies of Bulgaria: Problems of the Multicultural Museum Exhibition (1995), cited in [http://www.geocities.com/~patrin/bulgaria-hstry.htm Patrin Web Journal] ). According to Marushiakova and Popov, "The Gypsies of Bulgaria", Sofia, 1993, the people who declared Roma identity in 1956 were about 194,000; in 1959 - 214,167; in 1976 - 373,200; because of the obvious and significant difference between the number of Bulgarian citizens with Roma self-identification and this of the large total population with physical appearance and cultural particularity similar to Roma in 1980 the authorities took special census of all people, defined as Roma through the opinions of the neighbouring population, observations of their way of life, cultural specificity, etc. - 523,519; in the 1989 the authorities counted 576,927 people as Roma, but noted that more than a half of them preferred and declared Turkish identity (pages 92-93). According to the rough personal assumption of Marushiakova and Popov the total number of all people with Roma ethic identity plus all people of Roma origin with different ethnic self-identification around 1993 was about 800,000 (pages 94-95). Similar supposition Marushiakova and Popov made in 1995: estimate 750,000 ±50,000. Some international sources mention the estimates of some unnamed experts, who suggest 700,000 - 800,000 or higher than figures in the official census ( [http://europeandcis.undp.org/uploads/public/File/rbec_web/vgr/chapter1.1.pdf here] , UNDP's Regional Bureau for Europe). These mass non-Roma ethnic partialities are confirmed in the light of the last census in 2001 - more than 300,000 Bulgarian citizens of Roma origin traditionally declare their ethnic identity as Turkish or Bulgarian. Other statistics: 450,000 estimated in 1990 ( [http://countrystudies.us/bulgaria/25.htm U.S. Library of Congress study] ); at least 553,466 cited in a confidential census by the Ministry of the Interior in 1992 (cf Marushiakova and Popov 1995).] Another sources claim to be between 700,000 and 800,000 Roma in Bulgaria. [http://europeandcis.undp.org/uploads/public/File/rbec_web/vgr/chapter1.1.pdf]

Roma are commonly referred to as "tsigani" (цигани, pronounced /'ʦigəni/), an exonym that some Roma resent, but others embrace. The form of the endonym "Roma" in Bulgarian is "romi" (роми).

Bulgaria participates in the Decade of Roma Inclusion, an international initiative to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of Roma, like eight other governments committing itself to "work toward eliminating discrimination and closing the unacceptable gaps between Roma and the rest of society". [cite web
year = 2005
url = http://www.romadecade.org/itentcms/www/roma/index.php?content=77
title = Declaration of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015
publisher = Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015
language = English
accessdate = 2007-04-20] The rights of the Roma people in the country are also represented by various political parties and cultural organizations, most notably the Civil Union "Roma".

Noted Roma from Bulgaria include musicians Azis, Sofi Marinova and Ivo Papazov, surgeon Aleksandar Chirkov, politician Toma Tomov, footballer Marian Ognyanov, 1988 Olympic boxing champion Ismail Mustafov.

ubgroups

Roma in Bulgaria are not a unified community in terms of culture and lifestyle. The most widespread subgroup of the Roma in the country are the "yerlii" or the 'local Roma', which are in turn divided into Bulgarian Gypsies ("daskane roma") and Turkish Gypsies ("horahane roma"). The former are mostly Christian (Eastern Orthodox and Protestant), while the latter are Muslim.

Other Roma subgroups include the conservative wandering "Kalderash" (sometimes referred to by the exonym "Serbian Gypsies") that are Eastern Orthodox and the "Rudari" (or "Ludari") who speak a dialect of Romanian and are known as "Vlach Gypsies" or "Romanian Gypsies". They are further subdivided into three groups by their traditional craft: the "Ursari" or "Mechkari" ('bear trainers'), the "Lingurari" or "Kopanari" ('carpenters', primarily associated with wooden bowls) and the "Lautari" ('musicians').

Additionally, the offsprings of a Bulgarian and a Roma are referred to as "dzhorevtsi" (джоревци) or "zhorevtsi" (жоревци). [cite web
url = http://www.segabg.com/online/article.asp?issueId=591&sectionid=5&id=00005
title = The Capital Roma: Zhelev is to be Blamed for the Gypsy Stuff
publisher = Sega Newspaper
language = Bulgarian
accessdate = 2006-06-18]

Demographics

Between the 2001 census and the one 1992 the number of Roma in the country has increased by 57,512, or 18.4%. Constituting 4.7% of the total population in 2001, the Roma were only 2.8% in 1910 and 2.0% in 1920 [cite web
url = http://balkans21.org/2002_1/euro1.html#7
title = Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kiril Kertikov, Europeisation or "tsiganisation" of Bulgaria. Institute of Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
publisher = In: Balkans'21, vol. 1, 2002, ISSN 1311-9583
language = Bulgarian
accessdate = 2007-08-03] .

The Roma are present in all provinces of Bulgaria, but they represent the highest portion of the population in Montana Province (12.5%) and Sliven Province (12.3%), with their share being smallest in Smolyan Province, where they are only 686, a negligible part of the population.

There is no city, town or village in the country where Roma are the only ethnic group. The largest Roma quarters are Stolipinovo in Plovdiv and Fakulteta in Sofia. The number of places where Roma dominate (i.e. constitute more than 50% of the population) has risen from the 1992 to the 2001 census).

Problems of exclusion and discrimination

The Roma in Bulgaria, like in many other European countries, face deep-rooted problems of exclusion in employment, education, housing and other areas.

In a UNDP/ILO survey, Bulgarian Roma identified unemployment, economic hardship and discrimination in access to employment as major problems. In 1997, 84% of Bulgarian Roma lived under the poverty line, compared with 32% of ethnic Bulgarians. [The Roma in Central and Eastern Europe: Avoiding the Dependency Trap, pp. 31, 39.]

The Council of Europe body ECRI alleged in its Third report on Bulgaria of June 2003 that Roma encounter "serious difficulties in many spheres of life", elaborating that:

"The main problems stem from the fact that the Roma districts are turning into ghettos. [..] Most Roma neighbourhoods consist of slums, precariously built without planning permission on land that often belongs to the municipalities [..] . As the Bulgarian authorities have not taken steps to address the situation, the people living in these districts have no access to basic public services, whether health care, public transport, waste collection or sanitation".cite web
year = 2003
url = http://www.coe.int/t/e/human_rights/ecri/1-ecri/2-country-by-country_approach/bulgaria/bulgaria_cbc_3.asp#P378_38836
title = Third report on Bulgaria
publisher = Council of Europe - ECRI
language = English
accessdate = 2007-04-20]

To which the Bulgarian government answered officially in the same document:

ECRI has correctly observed that members of the Roma community encounter “serious difficulties” “in many spheres of life”. The rest of this paragraph, however, regrettably contains sweeping, grossly inaccurate generalizations ... Due to various objective and subjective factors, many (but by no means all!) members of the Roma community found it particularly difficult to adapt to the new realities of the market economy. “…Romani mahala-dwellers are still captives of the past, holding onto and behaving according to preconceptions about the socialist welfare state that clash with the modern realities of a market economy and privatisation.” (Skopje Report, p.6) [http://www.per-usa.org/reports/Roma-Skopje.pdf] .

More concretely, the allegation that the people living in these districts “have no access to basic public services” is largely inaccurate. Certain difficulties (though not remotely on the scale suggested) do exist in this regard, and the authorities are taking concrete measures to address them (see above). However, as the Advisor on Roma and Sinti issues at the OSCE, N. Gheorghe remarked during the Skopje meeting: “…many of the Roma confuse public services with rights to which they are entitled and which are guaranteed by the welfare state” (Skopje Report, p.16). ...

Concerning the issue of the electricity supply it should be noted that dwellers of such neighbourhoods sometimes refuse to pay their electricity bills. This attitude could at least in part be explained by the fact that “…Romani mahala-dwellers believe they have rights as citizens to electricity and other services, and that the state has an obligation to provide and to a large extent to subsidize them” (Skopje Report, p. 7). In these circumstances electricity suppliers may find themselves with no other option but to “sometimes cut off” the electricity supply in order to incite the consumers to commence honouring their debts. It should be emphasized that such cut-offs are part of standard practice and the ethnic origin of the consumers is completely irrelevant in these cases.

With respect to welfare benefits, which allegedly “in some cases, moreover, Roma do not receive” while “they are entitled” to them, it should be underscored that Bulgaria’s social welfare legislation sets uniform objective criteria for access to welfare benefits for all citizens, irrespective of their ethnic origin (furthermore, any discrimination, including on ethnic grounds is expressly prohibited by law). The question of who is entitled or not entitled to welfare benefits is determined by the relevant services on the basis of a means test. Every single decision of these services must be (and is) in written form and clearly motivated. If a claimant is not satisfied with a decision, he/she is entitled to appeal it before the regional welfare office. Consequently, this allegation of ECRI is also erroneous."

A monitoring report by the Open Society Institute found that Roma children and teenagers are less likely to enroll in both primary and secondary schools than the majority population, and less likely to complete their education if they do. Between 60-77% of Roma children enroll in primary education (age 6-15), compared to 90-94% of ethnic Bulgarians. Only 6-12% of Roma teenagers enroll in secondary education (age 16-19). The drop-out rate is significant, but hard to measure, as many are formally enrolled but rarely attend classes. [cite web
year = 2007
url = http://www.eumap.org/topics/minority/reports/roma_education/reports/national/bulgaria/romeduc_bulgaria.pdf
title = Equal access to quality education for Roma, Bulgaria
pages = pp. 32-34
publisher = Open Society Institute - EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)
language = English
accessdate = 2007-04-20]

The report also alleges that Roma children and teenagers attend segregated "Roma schools" in majority-Roma neighbourhoods and villages. These "Roma schools" offer inferior quality education; many are in a bad physical condition and lack necessary facilities like computers. As a result, Roma literacy rates, already below those for ethnic Bulgarians, are much lower still for Roma who have attended segregated schools. [Equal access to quality education for Roma, Bulgaria, pp. 18-20.]

The official position of the Bulgarian government to those accusations of segregation is:

"There had never been a policy of "segregation" of Roma children in the national education system. The fact that in some neighbourhoods in certain towns particular schools were attended predominantly by pupils of Roma origin was an unintended consequence of the administrative division of the school system. According to the rules valid for all children irrespective of their ethnic origin, admittance to any public school was linked administratively to the domicile of the family. In neighbourhoods where the population was predominantly of Roma origin, this system produced schools, attended predominantly by pupils of Roma origin. It is precisely this situation that the authorities are taking special measures to rectify. Therefore, the word “segregation" with respect to Roma children is inaccurate."

Roma children are also often sent to special schools for children with intellectual disabilities, or boarding schools for children with "deviant behavior" (so-called "delinquent schools"). According to reports of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), Roma made up half the number of students in schools for children with intellectual disabilities, and about two-thirds of the students of the boarding schools, where the BHC found a variety of human rights abuses, including physical violence. In both sets of special schools, the quality of teaching is very poor, and even essential things like desks, textbooks and teaching materials are inadequate or altogether lacking. [cite book
last = Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
title = Помощните училища в България (Remedial Schools inBulgaria)
year = 2002
isbn = 954-9738-14-0 cite book
last = Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
title = Социално-педагогически и възпитателни училища-интернати (Social-Pedagogical Boarding Schools and Correctional Boarding Schools)
year = 2001
isbn = 954-9738-03-5
pages = pp. 391–392 cite book
last = Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
title = В името на институцията: поправителните училища в България (In the Name of the Institution: Schools for Delinquent Children in Bulgaria)
year = 2005
isbn = 954-9738-21-3 ]

Political Representation

According to a report of POLITEA "For the most of the 1990s the only representation the Roma got was through the mainstream political parties. This was a very limited form of representation in which one or two Roma had a symbolic presence in Parliament during each term." The Bulgarian Constitution does not allow political parties based on ethnic, religious, or racist principles or ideology. However, "Twenty one Roma political organizations were founded between 1997 and 2003 in Bulgaria [...] ".cite web
year = 2005
url = http://www.politeia.net/themes/citizenship_and_participation/the_political_representation_of_the_roma_minority_in_bulgaria_1990_2005
title = The Political Representation of the Roma Minority in Bulgaria: (1990-2005)
publisher = POLITEIA - Participation for Citizenship and Democracy in Europe
language = English
accessdate = 2007-07-20]

In the Bulgarian parliamentary election, 2005, three Roma parties took part: Euroroma, Movement for an Equal Public Model (as part of a coalition led by the Union of Democratic Forces) and the Civil Union "Roma" (as part of a coalition led by the Bulgarian Socialist Party). [ [http://www.2005izbori.org/results/index.html Centralna Izbiratelna Komisija] ]

At the moment, there is one Roma representative in the National Assembly.

References

General references

* cite book
last = Giordano
first = Christian
authorlink =
coauthors = Andrea Boscoboinik, Dobrinka Kostova, Milena Benovska-Sabkova, Annabel Chanteraud
year = 2003
title = Roma’s Identities in Southeast Europe: Bulgaria
publisher = Ethnobarometer
location = Rome
url = http://www.ethnobarometer.org/pagine/bulgaria.pdf
id = ISBN 88-88235-03-5
* cite web
last = Slavkova
first = Magdalena
coauthors = Yeris Erolova
year = 2005
title = Study of the educational adjustment of the Roma population of Nova Zagora municipality
publisher = IMIR
language = Bulgarian
url = http://www.ncedi.government.bg/IMIR.htm

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.ric-bg.info/ Bulgarian Roma Info Centre]
* [http://www.chambersz.com/tehnitari/ Tehnitari Association]
* [http://www.studiiromani.org Studii Romani Specialized Library with Archive]
* [http://www.emz-berlin.de/projekte_e/pj41_pdf/MarushiakovaPopov.pdf The Gypsy Minority in Bulgaria – Policy and Community Development] by Elena Marushiakova and Vesselin Popov
* [http://www.cega.bg CEGA (СЕГА) Foundation]
* [http://www.dzeno.cz/docs/start_1e.pdf START Roma Rights Bulletin] , overview of Roma issues in Bulgaria
* [http://www.osaarchivum.org/db/fa/205-4-20-1.htm Bulgarian Subject Files - Social Issues: Minorities: Gypsys] Open Society Archives, Budapest