A VISIT TO THREE ROMA VILLAGES REVEALS ENDURING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BUCHAREST 000841

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY.

STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI RO

SUBJECT: A VISIT TO THREE ROMA VILLAGES REVEALS ENDURING
POVERTY AND PREJUDICE

REF: 05 BUCHAREST 1761

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1. (U) Summary: In April, Human Rights officer visited three
Roma communities in Mures County, Transylvania, the most
ethnically diverse and yet ethnically divided county of
Romania. Although less than 20 kilometers apart, each
community demonstrated dramatically different levels of
development, and distinctly varied experiences in terms of
inter-ethnic relations and Roma integration. A repeated
assertion by Romanians, ethnic Hungarians, and Roma in the
region was that the term "gypsy" is used just as frequently
to describe an economic class type -- those at the lowest
rung of the socio-economic ladder -- as it is to describe a
distinct ethnic identity. All commented that alhough
Romania has progressed economically since the fall of
communism, tis particular sector has "stayed behind." Some
ocals blamed the lag on Roma themselves while others
attributed it to discrimination and "hatred" frm non-Roma.
Despite claims by the central governent that conditions for
Roma are improving, mostethnic-Roma Romanians still live
largely segregaed from mainstream society, many of them in
absolutely destitute conditions. End Summary.


2. (U) In April, Human Rights Officer visited three vastly
different Roma villages in Mures County, Transylvania.
Bordering the ethnic-Hungarian Szekler Land, Mures County is
the most ethnically diverse county in Romania. According to
local contacts, the two largest ethnic groups in Mures
Country -- ethnic Romanians and Szeckler Hungarians -- co-
exist peacefully. These same contacts emphasized, however,
that this was not the case for the ten percent Roma
population living in Mures. In Hadareni village, for
example, three Roma men were killed and 14 Roma houses burnt
in 1993 when relations broke down between non-Roma and the
Roma community in that locality. This situation has become
even more tense in recent months following several court
rulings requiring reparations for the 1993 violence. (ref)
The three nearby Roma communities had not experienced the
same degree of violence as in Hadareni. Rather, POLOFF
observed three contrasting views of relations between Roma
and non-Roma populations, and a broad variance in socio-
economic conditions for Roma in Mures, ranging from absolute
poverty to nouveau riche.


3. (U) One Roma community was dominated by three wealthy
Roma clans which competed among themselves and excluded
other Roma groups. In another village only four miles away
from the county capital of Targu Mures, marginalized Roma
families live on the outskirts of a wretched village at the
end of a dirt road. In a third village with an ethnic-
Szekler majority, most Roma families lived side-by-side with
ethnic Hungarians in relative "peace"; the villagers,
however, still preferred "minimal association" with their
Roma neighbors. Villagers appeared to liberally use the
term "gypsy" in conversations with POLOFF to refer to those
at the bottom of the economic and social ladder rather that
an ethnic group per se.

The Tri-Clan Craciunesti
--------------

4. (SBU) Craciunesti village is a model of Roma wealth. The
majority of residents in Craciunesti village are Roma, and
since 1989 have purchased or constructed numerous large
houses, many with intricate metal roofs, an easily
identifying characteristic of affluent Roma homes. One
local journalist informed POLOFF that what appears to be an
infusion of Roma money had driven up property values. He
claimed that a house in this small rural community would now
easily cost USD120,000, almost five times the average
housing price in the area of USD25,000, because "the gypsies
are buying." Local villagers nearby alleged to POLOFF that
"those gypsies got rich overnight" and are willing to pay
"any price for their mansions." The source of this
unexplained wealth remained the subject of considerable
speculation. Some residents claim that the Roma obtained
money by selling silver they had stolen or saved before
Romania's 1989 revolution. Others claimed it came through
organized crime. None could conceive that the Roma had come
upon this wealth honestly.


5. (SBU) Moreover, the wealth had not increased the social
status of the Roma in the villagers' eyes. They vehemently
insisted to POLOFF that they had no desire to "live with
these mafia gypsies." The villagers stated that three Roma
clans -- the Burceas, the Rostas, and the Kocsas -- had
built huge houses, along with new asphalt streets, and then

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named the streets after themselves. They barred from entry
to the village other Roma clans and fought among themselves,
bringing a heretofore unknown level of violence to the small
community. None of the villagers said they had befriended a
Roma. Several said they were considering moving out of the
area.

The Levezeni Village of Shacks
--------------

6. (U) No further than four miles from the modern Mures
County capital of Targu Mures, conditions in the village of
Livezeni could not have been more different. A group of
Roma lived in abject conditions in makeshift mud shacks at
the margin of an already poor village. Families with six
children were crammed into a mud house the size of a single
room that provided no heat, no electricity, no water, and no
sewage; "windows" could not be closed because there was no
glass. An ethnic Hungarian Targu Mures resident informed
Poloff that these Roma families made a "living" by going
through garbage sites in Targu Mures. Their means of travel
were carts drawn by similarly malnourished horses. Local
residents explained to POLOFF that these Roma live in a
permanent vicious cycle -- no one would give them work or
associate with them because they are Roma; without work,
their living conditions continued to deteriorate, especially
during the harsh Transylvania winter.

The Szekler-Hungarians' Foi
--------------

7. (U) In the ninety-percent Szekler-Hungarian village of
Foi (Folyfalva in Hungarian),Roma villagers lived in
relative harmony next to ethnic Hungarians. Although some
Roma villagers still lived in houses built from mud, others
had built themselves brand new homes. A villager in Foi
informed POLOFF that the so-called Roma middle-class earned
a decent living through "trading." They acquire goods from
elsewhere and sell them at flea markets or weekend fairs.
He complained, however, that "the gypsies just do not know
how to save" -- all the money earned during the summer is
apparently quickly spent during the winter. By early
spring, they are "out of money again." He also accused the
Roma of "never paying taxes," as profits from their goods
sold at fairs were not declared as earnings. Although the
Roma villagers spoke Hungarian fluently and mingled with
other Foi villagers, their lifestyle remained stigmatized.
Non-acceptance and likely a lack of understanding between
the two groups appeared to underpin a subtle but real
segregation of the two ethnic groups.


8. (SBU) Further aggravating the situation, according to
Roma advocate Istvan Haller of the respected NGO Pro Europa
headquartered in Targu Mures, is the fact that many
"integrated" Roma choose to deny their Roma ethnicity.
Haller lamented to POLOFF that instead of proudly displaying
their heritage, well-to-do and educated Roma often choose to
hide their ethnicity because of the negative connotations of
the term "gypsy." Haller claimed that this denial further
reinforces the vicious cycle of stereotyping Roma -- and the
myth that Roma are either "poor because they are lazy," or
"rich because they are the mafia." The term "gypsy" has
negatively evolved in some parts of Mures County to describe
anyone who lives in poverty, chooses not to work, or engages
in illicit activities. Haller believed that a nationwide
government-sponsored campaign is necessary to improve the
social image of the Roma ethnic group and debunk this myth.
He opined in frustration, however, that the Romanian
government -- despite repeated declarations to the contrary
-- is doing precious little on any positive outreach
campaigns.


9. (SBU) Comment: The prejudice against Roma in these three
Transylvanian villages mirrors the prejudice which exists
across Romania towards this minority that represents an
estimated eight percent of the total population.
Irrespective of Romania's level of social and economic
development, mainstream Romanians still frequently express
overtly prejudicial attitudes or more subtle, but deeply
entrenched, bias towards the Roma. Many educated and
ostensibly sophisticated contacts of PolOff, for example,
routinely refer to Roma by the pejorative term "crow."
These same interlocutors frequently express the sentiment
that Roma are, in some fundamental but undefined way, not
fully "Romanian." This mentality also reflects that social
attitudes toward Roma are often based on social class as
much as, and in some cases more, than ethnicity.
Regrettably, political leaders are reluctant to openly

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confront this prejudicial attitude. And more often than
not, the leaders of many Roma clans are also unwilling. One
local European Commission diplomat observed to POLOFF that
Romania as a whole had made tremendous progress over the
past 16 years in terms of human rights and economic
development. In the same breath, however, he noted that
Roma had somehow fallen still further behind. Addressing
this issue, he stressed, "will be a big problem not just for
Romania, but for Europe," especially after Romania joins the
EU. While the challenges facing large segments of Romania's
Roma community, such as poverty, discrimination, and inter-
clan violence, are neither unique to Romania nor the region,
no country has a higher percentage of Roma in its
population. The challenge of the Roma community is one feat
Bucharest can ill afford to ignore. End comment.


10. (U) AmEmbassy Bucharest's Reporting telegrams, as well
as daily press summaries, are available on the Bucharest
SIPRNet website: www.state.sgov/gov/p/eur/bucharest

Taubman