GHM REPORT TO ERRC No 66:
4/9/1999
REPORT ON THE COVERAGE OF THE ROMA IN THE
GREEK PRESS
AUGUST 1999
(Comments in italics are made by the
GHM)
Eviction in Ioanina
Aspropyrgos on TV
Roma in Kosovo
Roma criminality
Eviction in Ioanina
17/8/1999 Eleftherotypia p. 7
[Ioana Sotirhu]
New Eviction: ‘Far West’ for the
Roma of Anatoli
Also: 17/8/1999 Avgi (also
with an announcement on the front page) [Natasa Vourna]
35 Roma Families Evicted in Anatoli
(Ioanina)
17/8/1999 Paratiritis
(The report presents the common press
release on the eviction of Roma in Ioanina of the GHM, MRG-Greece, DROM and Doctors of the
World).
Also: 18/8/1999 Vradini p.
30
Arbitrary Eviction of 35 Roma Families
Despite their long-standing promises to
establish decent Roma camps with the necessary infrastructure and thus to resolve the
housing problems of a large number of Greek Roma, the authorities continue with evictions
all over Greece. Now it was the turn of the Roma in Ioanina. Last year was the year of the
3,500 Roma of Evosmos. The Ioanina Roma were living for four years on a private land
paying a monthly sum to the owner. Without the presence of a district attorney and the
presentation of any legal document, the police evicted the 35 families of the camp.
Following the eviction, a bulldozer entered the place and leveled everything to the
ground. According to the mayor, the Roma are not welcome in the region, they are
troublemakers and they keep the place dirty. Ironically enough, the very same community
was incorporated into the pilot program of the government on Roma education. This was a
1.1 billion-drachma program, which was held by the University of Ioanina.
The report of Eleftherotypia is
sympathetic to the Roma, critical to the government and the municipal authorities and
covers the incident extensively. In fact, the report is almost a literal summary of the
relevant GHM press release issued on August 16, which brought into light the facts of the
eviction and condemned the acts of the government. The reports of Avgi and Vradini are
shorter, without further comments of sympathy by the reporters. They simply refer to the
facts presented by the GHM and the rest of the organizations (DROM and Doctors of the
World). These are neutral to positive reports.
Also: 17/8/1999 Eleftherotypia
p. 8 - 9 [Ioana Sotirhu]
Roma Evictions
Reporter Ioana Sotirhu, besides her
extensive presentation of the eviction in Ioanina, also published a critical review of the
governmental announcements and the acts that followed in the last few years. Instead of
camps with infrastructure, all one can see are constant evictions. Similar is the
situation with the refugees.
A very positive report, highlighting the
inconsistence between announcements and acts of the Greek government.
Also: 17/8/1999 Kathimerini p.
9
Why Did You Kick the Roma out?
The report is not as extensive as the
previous ones. Still it is positive in the sense that it covers the incident in the first
place and denounces the arbitrary behavior of the authorities.
2. Aspropyrgos on TV
16 August, 1999/ Antenna evening news
[F. Karidas]
A three-minute piece of the journalist F.
Karidas, which included an interview with the deputy mayor of Aspropyrgos and which was
shown on the evening news of Antenna on August 16, 1999 highlighted the problems of the
Roma in the region. According to the deputy mayor, the February 1999 operation eventually
backfired into the municipal authorities. As a result, now they have to put up with the
Roma. In the wider area there are plans to start major construction due to the forthcoming
Olympic Games. The Roma will have to leave the place anyway, to move to other areas -since
garbage dumps are their natural habitat, he said- and face their housing and unemployment
problems wherever they are eventually accommodated with the help of the Greek state. In
any case it is not up to the citizens of Aspropyrgos to carry the burden of such
responsibility.
The reporter ended the interview by posing
the following question… Even if the Roma have chosen this way of living how can a modern
state tolerate such a situation?
Since the report was presented on TV -on
one of the private channels with the highest ratings- it certainly brought the issue to
the wider public in a much more direct and personal way. The footage of the terrible
living conditions of the Roma certainly contributed to the overall message. Moreover, the
journalist had a rather critical attitude towards the authorities demonstrating indirectly
the unwillingness of the local authorities to facilitate the lives of the Roma.
3. Roma in Kosovo
4/8/1999 Avgi p.1 and 9
KLA Beyond Any Control
Human Rights Watch and the European
Roma Rights Center in Budapest denounced violations of human rights against Serbs and Roma
by members of the Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army. Roma are seen by the KLA as allies of
the Serbs. Since June 1999 there have been many incidents of attacks on Kosovo Roma as
reported and cross-checked by the two organizations.
The report shows sympathy to the Roma.
This is demonstrated also by the title of the report and the fact that the story was on
the front page as the main theme of the day.
Also regarding the reports of ERRC
and Human Rights Watch
4/8/1999 Eleftherotypia p. 14
Who Is Going to Save Them from Ethnic
Cleansing?
A neutral report, based on data reported by
the two non-governmental organizations.
4. Roma criminality
a) Dendropotamos
7/8/1999 Avgi p. 24
Kusturica’s Scenes…
The fight of two Roma men for the same
woman ended up in the police station of Dendropotamos in the district of Thessaloniki.
Even there, the fighting went on. Everything started when one of the men attacked his
rival. The latter wanted to take revenge so he chased the former, threatening him with a
weapon. He even fired at him but luckily for the initiator of the fight, missed his
target. Then the relatives of the threatened Roma joined in the fight and chased the other
Roma man into the streets. In order to save his life, he entered the police station and
gave himself up. Still, even there, he did not manage to secure asylum. The angry
relatives of his rival invaded the police station and finally attacked him.
A very humorous report, which is neutral
in its presentation of Roma as very hot-blooded and spontaneous people who can turn
everything upside down because of their passions.
Also: 7/8/1999 Kathimerini
p. 7
Angry Roma Sorting Things out
A rather negative report referring
to the Dendropotamos settlement as a “high criminality area” and implicitly suggesting
that Roma are generally troublemakers.
Also: 6/8/1999 Macedonian
Press Agency
A neutral report, referring to the incident
without further comments.
Also regarding the same incident but
giving the story another dimension.
7&8/8/1999 Nea p. 53
Roma Vendetta in a Police Station
The report implicates the participants
in the above-mentioned story in drug trafficking. The drug issue seems to be
applicable to the whole area. Reportedly, the police raided a neighboring camp and
arrested nine people. A similar raid was repeated in the early hours of August 6.
A rather negative report. It does not
mention how Roma themselves perceive the drug trafficking issue and what dimensions they
see in this. Thus, the report sounds rather exaggerated, presenting the whole settlement
and, in this way, all of its inhabitants as involved in the drug business.
b) Agrinion
27/8/1999 Eleftherotypia p. 10
Roma Civil War
A fight among Roma in Agrinion resulted
in injuries, arrests and panic. The reasons for the fight are unknown to the police. Two
cars driven by Roma stopped near a local cafe and without any warning or reason the
drivers came out and started shooting at two Roma musicians who were wounded. The
victimizers ran away on foot. Later on, the police spotted one of the cars and asked the
driver to stop. A 13-year-old boy who was in the car came out with a carbine and set fire
against the policemen. The police started chasing the criminals and finally arrested them.
The report is neutral to negative. It
highlights the ethnicity of the victims and victimizers and without any further
investigation on the reasons behind the event it unintentionally creates the impression
that Roma are hot-blooded people and trouble-makers who do not respect the rules and even
“teach” this way of behavior to minors.
c) Zefiri
28/8/1999 Adesmeftos [Iakovos
Pothitos] p. 20 and 21
A State of Emergency Due to the Drugs
The municipality of Zefiri is where
lawlessness and criminality are flourishing. That is the place where people are selling
their property at any price, to move to another area to save their children from drugs and
stray bullets. A group of Roma, living a few kilometers away from Athens, have turned a
whole municipality upside down. The mayor has declared a state of emergency in Zefiri but
none of the competent authorities seems to take him seriously. Could it be that minorities
belong to the “protected species”? Who is ever going to protect the majority from the
illegal activities of the minority? Any good will on behalf of the authorities is
confronted with the unwillingness of the minorities to accept the rules of the local
authorities and the scientific studies saying that smooth integration for the minorities
can only take place with a parallel preservation of their special cultural features. What
if those cultural features do harm to the rest of the people? What if the behavior of
certain minority groups endangers the life of the others who do not wish to change their
own way of living for the sake of the minority?
Lots of drug cartels in Colombia would like
to get fraternized with the municipality of Zefiri. The area is the biggest drug market.
This can be proven with the relevant statistics. In the shacks and lodgings of the Roma,
drugs are sold 24 hours a day, sometimes using the help of minors, and other times using
direct force. Violence outside schools is a common phenomenon. Underage Roma carry weapons
and frighten the rest of the students. The region is impassable even for the policemen
who, on many occasions, have been attacked and wounded while on duty. Robberies, beatings,
threats against peaceful residents are common on a daily basis. [Non-Roma] people are
selling their houses at any price. They live with the windows shut and their children are
constantly locked at home, because of the fear of the stray bullets and the constant
violent incidents. It is the first time a municipality has declared a state of emergency
not because of a natural disaster but because of criminality!
Roma camps are everywhere - in public
places and private plots of land. They trespass land that does not belong to them and when
the real owners ask them to leave the place they beat them up. Hepatitis is a common
phenomenon as Roma live without any healthy infrastructure. The public parks are
surrounded by fences and locked during the night so as to prevent the Roma from parking
their cars or camping there. Rubbish is found everywhere as those Roma who collect old
scrap throw everything that is of no use to them out into the public places and the
streets. Marriages start at an early age and intermarriages are quite frequent. When
celebrations take place, no rule is respected. The music is very loud, the streets are
closed and there are constant shots into the air. In many cases, single or elderly Roma
declare that they have many children -sometimes reaching 25 children- so as to take
advantage of the social benefits. None of the competent authorities check the validity of
such data. Many others are given certificates of epilepsy under unclear procedures.
Underage Roma drive without licenses and if somebody is unlucky enough to be in a car
crash with them there is no way for him or her to get compensation. Roma have no permanent
address, do not pay taxes or insurance and do not follow any bureaucratic or legal
procedure. This pattern of behavior does not leave much room for peaceful coexistence with
the local, non-Roma, residents of Zefiri. However, there are some integrated Roma
residents in the area who do not cause any problems to the rest of the people and who
constitute examples of the existing possibilities of peaceful coexistence when there is
mutual respect and wish to adapt to the social norms. It is neither a matter of policy on
behalf of the authorities, nor a matter of education. What counts is the will to accept
and respect the rules. A modern society cannot accept other than this behavior.
A negative and very superficial report.
The journalist sticks only to the opinion of the local authorities without giving the
floor to the Roma themselves. The report does not provide any framework of extenuating
circumstances for the anti-social behavior of certain Roma in Zefiri. Poverty, illiteracy
and unemployment are pictured solely as a deliberate choice of the Roma who wish to stay
in the margin, living at the expense of the others and the state and wishing to impose
their will and way of living on the others. It also reinforces the stereotype that
“lawful” Roma are those who live in houses, while those in tents are vagabonds.
Moreover, the report does not make any reference to the non-Roma who cooperate with the
Roma in the drug trafficking and without whom the Roma would not be able to get into the
business. The report provides numerous alibis legitimizing any future violent intervention
on the part of the police, as well as the inertia shown by the authorities in respect to
the housing, educational and health problems of the Roma. Education does play a role and
integration does not mean assimilation. Interethnic coexistence means mutual acceptance
and respect and not cultural subordination of the minority. That is exactly the message
that this report fails to pass to the wider public. On the contrary, the idea one gets
after reading the report is quite the opposite.
d) A court story
28/8/1999 Adesmeftos p. 10
The Time of the Gypsies
Two young Roma women and mothers
-approximately 18 year olds- stood trial in which they were accused of beggary. Many Roma
- relatives of the defendants - had already “camped” outside the court long before the
trial begun. The men were talking loudly gathered together in a big circle. The women were
on the other side lying in the grass or feeding their children. When the trial begun,
around 40 people invaded the courtroom. The accused Roma women started apologizing by
stating their financial difficulties in raising their children properly. “We have
somehow to survive, Mr. President. Who is ever going to hire us as illiterate as we are?
We can’t be even cleaning women…” said the first. “We sell handkerchiefs Mr.
President” claimed the second and went on saying: “I have to somehow provide a living
to my family. My husband is going from neighborhood to neighborhood selling potatoes. We
have three kids, how can we survive on this?” It turned out that from the dawn to dusk
the women -kids in their arms- were collecting no less than 20,000 drachmas per day by
selling handkerchiefs and other articles. They were free only Sundays. Still, they did not
seem to complain about their life… They did not feel unhappy and expressed no wish to
change their life. When they were asked about this, they answered: “But how is it
possible to [want] to change something? That is the way our race is, you expect us to
decline it?” They were eventually charged with two months of imprisonment with reprieve.
They all left the courtroom laughing and telling jokes. They had a celebration that
evening and had to get everything ready by the night.
This is a “traditionally
stereotypical” report, in the sense that it presents all well-known and recycled
traditional images of the Roma. They are people who live happily in the margin of
mainstream society and economy on their own wish. In this way they think they will manage
to preserve and follow their traditions and customs. They beg because they were taught to
do so and get quite an amount of money by simply provoking people’s sympathy. In this
way, they avoid being fully employed in non-Roma businesses and institutions and survive
on their own. Roma distinguish separate roles and activities for both sexes. Men can talk
seriously only with men, while women are in charge of the kids and initiate their own
separate discussions. The report, through its descriptions, reinforces the stereotype of
the happy Roma who wants to and deliberately makes efforts to live separately from the
non-Roma. The report neglects completely the other side, which happens to be closer to the
truth: that Roma are forced to live separately from the rest due to their exclusion from
all spheres of life: economy, politics and society. |
