Eurocommissar Laszlo Andor points out the inclusion of Gypsies is a challenge for the European Union as a whole, but progress depends on efforts at national and local level. The issue of Gypsies inclusion has been on the European policy agenda for several years now. The European institutions have mobilised around the Gypsies issue. A lot of work has been done in terms of strategic planning and coordination.
Basil Venitis asserts that Gypsies need a Spartacus to liberate them from the tyranny of Fourth Reich. Our hearts go to suffering Gypsies. There are fifteen million Gypsies in Fourth Reich, who are treated like second-class citizens, creatures of a lesser God. Significant Gypsies are found in the Balkans, in some Central European states, in Spain, and in France. It's becoming more difficult for Gypsies every single day as they are treated as monkeys. The traveling people, gens du voyage, are suddenly finding themselves on the wrong side of the government, more so than at any other time since World War II. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Andor laments that not much — and certainly not enough — has changed on the ground. Far too many Gypsies are still trapped in poverty and suffer from inadequate education, unemployment, bad housing and poor health. The economic crisis and the social tension it has brought in several Member States make Gypsies integration strategies or integrated sets of policy measures more important than ever.
Kleptocrats are whipping up public enmity towards Gypsies ahead of elections and making them scapegoats in anti-immigration policies. European politicians should promote deeper understanding of the Gypsies plight by explaining their troubled history. Kleptocrats should not exploit the latent prejudices against Gypsies.
Andor notes the stakes are high. It is now primarily for the Member State governments to reach out to people and NGOs to build and foster consensus on Gypsies inclusion. So far there has been a lot of talk. Andor expects their national Gypsies integration strategies to bring real improvements for these millions of European citizens.
Venitis muses that Napoleon Sarko cannot understand that he is also a sort of gen du voyage, a virtual Gypsy, since his father is a Hungarian immigrant and his mother a Jewish Greek! A virtual Gypsy harasses Gypsies! France's ongoing deportation of Gypsies has been making headlines around the globe. But Gypsies have been living in France for many centuries. In the 15th century, Gypsies arrived in Europe from India via Little Egypt, a passage in Northern Greece.
Andor says the macroeconomic policy context is far from ideal. Economic growth across the Union is sluggish and very uneven, and the uncertainty created by the current sovereign debt crisis could trigger another recession.
In Gypsy ghettos of Fourth Reich, the narrow alleyways criss-cross between pre-war buildings, and laundry hangs out to dry overhead. Children play barefoot around in the alleyways, while elderly men talk animatedly in front of their apartment buildings. In Gypsy camps, tents are scattered all over under unhealthy conditions. Nobody gives a damn, nobody cares. Children here belong to a lesser God.
As many Member States are concentrating on getting their finances in order, they have less funds available for labour market and social investment — let alone Gypsies inclusion. But this could aggravate social inequality and exclusion and hamper longer-term growth prospects as well. The resulting social time bomb could explode at any moment.
In response to the Commission's threat to consider bringing France before the Fourthreichian Court of Justice, Sarko said the Commission has wounded France! Sarko's discrimination and integration have long been defining issues in the lives of French Gypsies. They are all citizens of France, but poverty and illiteracy have been their constant companions.
Still, the life of Gypsies appears to be marked by a lust for life and by a taste for the melodramatic. Gypsies usually earn a living in recycling scrap metal and garbage. A kilo of scrap iron fetches 20 to 30 cents, a kilo of copper goes for four or five euros, and brass is also a good seller, as long as they can find a scrap dealer willing to do business with Gypsies.
We have witnessed once again attacks against Gypsies who are becoming targets and scapegoats, given their vulnerable, marginalised and often desperate situation. These are intolerable violations of the most fundamental rights all European citizens should enjoy, and are incompatible with the social values on which the European Union is built. I urge the Member States to take action to end them, hold those responsible to account and prevent any repetition.
The scrap dealers on Boulevard Felix Faure of Paris and elsewhere in France are now asking for a French ID card, which Gypsies don't have. All they have is a worthless foreigners' ID card from other countries and temporary Balkan passports. The fact that Gypsies have been citizens of Fourth Reich is irrelevant. The people look at their faces and see a Gypsy. And Gypsies are not the kind of people with whom the French are eager to be doing business with these days. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Andor states that not just being nice and politically correct, national politicians have to build a positive atmosphere around Gypsies inclusion in order to ensure that social and economic inclusion is embedded in cultural and political integration. The EU made a strong commitment to these values in the Europe2020 Strategy. It set targets to reduce the number of people living in poverty and exclusion by 20 million by 2020, to raise the employment rate to 75% or to reduce the early school-leaving rate to under 10%.
But we cannot meet or risk these targets if we leave Gypsies by the wayside. And that means all Member States must make a big effort. The bad news is that the Member States' combined national targets to reduce poverty and social exclusion do not add up to the EU headline target agreed by the European Council, at least for a time being.
French policy specifically targets people of a particular ethnic origin and thereby gave rise to a situation Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War. The only Fourthreichian leader to openly support Sarko's policy of closing illegal camps and deporting their inhabitants is Il Duce Berlusconi. The consequences of Sarkozy's racism are now in full view almost daily.
What is more, at present and for the foreseeable future, it will be even harder for the Member States to meet the targets they have set, while the corresponding need will be even greater. They would have to step up their efforts at a time when they need to balance their budgets and reduce debt. How can they preserve growth and safeguard people's welfare at the same time?
What is happening in Fourth Reich today is ethnic cleansing, pure and simple. Crews are showing up in shantytowns with bulldozers and backhoes, destroying the roofs of shacks or demolishing them completely. Before the demolition crews arrive, the residents are driven out by canine squads, often provided by private security firms. Then the police units arrive, together with teams wearing white overalls and facemasks, suggesting a need for disinfection. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Andor points out the Europe2020 Strategy offers a solution. Improving education, employment, and reducing poverty are about better using our human resources. And that is especially relevant to empowering Gypsies. We cannot build an inclusive Europe if we continue to ignore the needs of disadvantaged groups. And we cannot have high employment and economic growth if we exclude a large section of Gypsies from the labour force and societal life.
Addressing the eviction raids, delegates to the National Assembly of France used the term rafles, a word that in France had been reserved for raids against the Jews during World War II, and sharply criticized the policy as a case of state racism, calling it a season of shame.
Gypsies already take it for granted that they are unwanted, wherever they turn up in Europe, and they are constantly trying to make the best of their miserable situation. The supposed repatriations, publicized by the government with much fanfare, are completely ineffective. There are half million Gypsies in France, and 10,000 are expelled each year. They leave and then they return, participants in a cat-and-mouse game the government cannot possibly win.
Ensuring that young Gypsies receive a proper education and necessary training, become productive members of society, and share in its prosperity will be even more vital as the population grows older and the percentage of pensioners rises in Europe.
That is why the success of Gypsies inclusion is in everyone's interest in Europe. Societies where Gypsies do well will be more cohesive and more prosperous too. Protecting and supporting disadvantaged individuals and communities is not just important when times are hard, but is also an investment into our future prosperity and well-being.
Gypsies do not steal, are not particularly bothersome, and do not defraud anyone. They scrounge and sell scrap metal, and in doing so they have, in a sense, found their niche, playing a vital environmental role in recycling. They live on the crumbs that fall from the tables of an affluent society. They spend half their days driving through the suburbs, searching for usable waste, and anyone who observes them as they make their rounds quickly realizes that they work hard to make ends meet.
They remove the things that people no longer want, the television sets, ironing boards, stoves, and window frames left on the sidewalks. They dig around in garbage cans for electronic scrap or a few pieces of bread, and they go to the street markets at the end of the day to gather crushed vegetables and leftover fruit, and to take meat that is past its sell-by date off the hands of butchers. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Andor points out action in the short term should serve a long-term vision. The crisis should prompt the refocusing of budgets and society on what matters for the future. The Europe2020 Strategy is based on the belief that economic and social objectives can be mutually supportive. There is no trade-off between economic efficiency and social equity. A strong economy relies on a cohesive society.
European governments should grant citizenship to stateless Gypsies who have resided in their countries for several years, beginning with children who were born there. Gypsies who have no nationality, or lack papers to prove it, are even more vulnerable to the social and economic exclusion that affects other Gypsies.
It is fair to say that the main responsibility for social inclusion policy lies with the Member States. But the European Union has contributed significantly and is determined to continue to do so in the future, in particular through our financial instruments.
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