Roma minority of Hungary
Encyclopedia
Hungarian Roma, also known as Romani Hungarians, are Hungarian
citizens or resident aliens
in Hungary
of Roma descent. They comprise between 2% (2001 census) and 6-11% of the total population. There is an ongoing ethnic crisis, unique in Europe at the moment, concerning Hungarian Roma, with Reuters reporting:
The Hungarian Internet news site Index.hu quotes the Red Cross saying that for the first time since the Second World War, it has had to evacuate civilians due to danger from a paramilitary group in Hungary. Recent Ethnic murders of Hungarian Roma have added to fears that Roma are in danger from extremist groups.
Romani people first appeared in Hungary in the 14th and 15th centuries, fleeing the conquering Turks in the Balkans. A significant number migrated further to West European countries. Since they were thought to be Egyptian pilgrims in some places, they are still known by the term 'Gypsy' in these areas today. These people, with an alien culture and unfamiliar with agricultural production, were soon expelled and deported from Western Europe
, sometimes brutally. Some groups managed to hold onto homes in the Mediterranean region but the majority retreated to Central and Eastern Europe
.
In the mid-18th century Maria Theresa (1740–1780) and Joseph II
(1780–1790) dealt with the Romani question by the contradictory methods of enlightened absolutism
. Maria Theresa enacted a decree prohibiting the use of the name 'Gypsy' and requiring the terms 'new peasant" and 'new Hungarian' to be used instead. She later placed restrictions on Romani marriages, and ordered children to be taken away from Romani parents, so that they could be raised in 'bourgeois or peasant' families.
Joseph II prohibited use of the Romani language
in 1783. The forced assimilation
essentially proved successful - in the 19th and 20th centuries the vast majority of the Romani population, who had settled hundreds of years earlier and held onto their customs and culture for a long time, gave up, even forgetting their native language and assimilating in Hungarian society.
, the number of Roma has increased rapidly, multiplying sevenfold in the last century. Today between 17 and 20% of newborns are of Roma descent. Estimates based on current demographic trends project that in 2050, around 14 to 15% of Hungary's population will be Roma.
The Roma continue to be among the poorest in the country. Their birth rates are much higher and their average expected life span is significantly lower than the national average. Roma continue to be discriminated and live a harsh life in Hungary. They often face hardship and prejudice, and many live in poverty.
Whereas almost half the Hungarian secondary school students enroll in vocational secondary schools or comprehensive grammar schools, which provide better chances, only one in five Romani children does so. Moreover, the drop-out rate in secondary schools is significant. The Roma struggle to succeed in Hungary's educational system. Only 61% of Hungarian Roma aged 15 and above have completed primary education, and just 13% have completed secondary education.
This may be caused in part by the original culture of Romani people, which they carried with them from India, and which was reinforced during their centuries of nomadic existence; they could ignore or get around many of the laws of the nations through which they traveled. Even today, having been largely settled for much of the twentieth century, they have not managed to fully integrate.
Much of the Romani population are quite poor. They are not provided with fair and equal access to educational resources, resulting in high unemployment, and the perpetual cycle of poverty that keeps them from social mobility.
Currently, around 90% of Romani children complete primary education. A research of sample schools however suggests that the drop-out rate among Roma is still almost twice as high as among non-Roma.
The share of Romani students entering secondary education has increased greatly, with the percentage of Romani children not pursuing any secondary education dropping from 49% to 15% between 1994 and 1999. But that increase is almost exclusively due to increased enrollment in the lowest levels of education, which provide only limited chances for employment.
During World War II
, 28,000 Roma were killed in Hungary.
Chinese merchants in Hungary often hire women such as Gypsies and Romanians, to do work since they don't require high pay. No taxes or social security are present in these arrangements. Intermarriage sometimes occurs with the Chinese and their Hungarian, Gypsy, or Romanian workers. These marriages do not occur with Chinese and other peoples at the same rate as Hungarians, Gypsies, and Romanians
's RTL Klub TV program "Esti Showder", a popular talk show on Hungarian commercial TV, broadcast a "Romani show" on November 6. The project was potentially very risky as it was only last spring that TV2 ran their highly controversial and damaging program "Big Romani Wedding", in which it had presented Romani men as criminals and thieves and the women as prostitutes. However, the ratings for the "Big Romani Wedding" were high, and the RTL Klub "Esti Showder" approached the Romani community directly. He invited some Romani entrepreneurs, musicians, and artists to the studio for the production and, thus, made the parody of quite a different color. After the show had been aired, the RTL Klub issued a statement that "prominent Romani politicians had given their approval and appreciated that the show rectified the reputation of Romani community defamed by TV2" in March. "Showder" is a pun merging the words `show` and 'sóder' - which means "gravel" in Hungarian but also means "talk" in obsolete Hungarian slang. The word "esti" could be translated as "tonight" or "night time".
There are problems related to the Romani minority in Hungary, and the very subject is a heated and disputed topic.
Objective problems:
Please note that this list below consists disputed issues.
the 1998 parliamentary elections on its own, accepted an offer from a majority party, the Union of Freedom, which promised to assist the Roma in the resolution of their problems. One Romani candidate of the Union of Freedom was elected, yet the Romani Civic Union found that it was unable to influence the Union of Freedom’s political program. Following the European elections, 2009, Livia Jaroka
is the sole Romani representative of the 22 members of the European parliament from Hungary.
The gates of secondary schooling are at last wide open to Romani students, observes educational sociologist Istvan Kemeny, the author of pioneering fieldwork, in the January issue of the authoritative journal Hungarian Quarterly. But the educational gap between the Roma and the Hungarian ethnic majority 'has not narrowed over the past 40 years... And even today, only one in five Romani families could afford to send their children to secondary schools'.
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Demographic change in Hungary is characterised by an ageing, falling population while the number of people of Romani origin is rising and the age composition of the Romani population is much younger than that of the overall population. Counties with the highest concentration of Romani minority are Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén
and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg
(officially 45'525 and 25'612 people in 2001), but there are other regions with a traditionally high Romani population like parts of Baranya
and the middle reaches of the Tisza
valley.
Although they were traditionally living in the countryside, under general urbanization trends from the second half of the 20th century many of them moved into the cities. There is a sizable Romani minority living in Budapest
(12'273 people in 2001, officially). The real number of Roma in Hungary is a disputed question. In the 2001 census only 190,000 people called themselves Roma, but experts and Romani organisations estimate that there are between 450,000 and 1,000,000 Roma living in Hungary.
During World War II
, 28,000 Roma were killed in Hungary. Since then, the size of the Romani population has increased rapidly. Today every fifth or sixth newborn Hungarian child belongs to the Romani minority. Based on current demographic trends, a 2006 estimate by Central European Management Intelligence claims that the proportion of the romani population will double by 2050.
Many other Romani children are sent to classes for pupils with learning disabilities. The percentage of Romani children in special schools rose from about 25% in 1975 to 42% in 1992, with a 1997 survey
showing little change - whereas a National Institute for Public Education report says that "most experts agree that a good number of Roma children attending special schools are not even slightly mentally disabled".
Fewer than 1% of Roma hold higher educational certificates. Their low status on the job market and higher unemployment rates cause poverty, widespread social problems and crime.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
citizens or resident aliens
Resident Aliens
Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony is a 1989 book by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon which argues that Christian churches should focus on developing Christian life and community rather than attempting to reform the secular culture...
in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
of Roma descent. They comprise between 2% (2001 census) and 6-11% of the total population. There is an ongoing ethnic crisis, unique in Europe at the moment, concerning Hungarian Roma, with Reuters reporting:
The Hungarian Internet news site Index.hu quotes the Red Cross saying that for the first time since the Second World War, it has had to evacuate civilians due to danger from a paramilitary group in Hungary. Recent Ethnic murders of Hungarian Roma have added to fears that Roma are in danger from extremist groups.
History and language
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, sometimes brutally. Some groups managed to hold onto homes in the Mediterranean region but the majority retreated to Central and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
.
In the mid-18th century Maria Theresa (1740–1780) and Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
(1780–1790) dealt with the Romani question by the contradictory methods of enlightened absolutism
Enlightened absolutism
Enlightened absolutism is a form of absolute monarchy or despotism in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment. Enlightened monarchs embraced the principles of the Enlightenment, especially its emphasis upon rationality, and applied them to their territories...
. Maria Theresa enacted a decree prohibiting the use of the name 'Gypsy' and requiring the terms 'new peasant" and 'new Hungarian' to be used instead. She later placed restrictions on Romani marriages, and ordered children to be taken away from Romani parents, so that they could be raised in 'bourgeois or peasant' families.
Joseph II prohibited use of the Romani language
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
in 1783. The forced assimilation
Forced assimilation
Forced assimilation is a process of forced cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups, into an established and generally larger community...
essentially proved successful - in the 19th and 20th centuries the vast majority of the Romani population, who had settled hundreds of years earlier and held onto their customs and culture for a long time, gave up, even forgetting their native language and assimilating in Hungarian society.
Demographics
Since World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the number of Roma has increased rapidly, multiplying sevenfold in the last century. Today between 17 and 20% of newborns are of Roma descent. Estimates based on current demographic trends project that in 2050, around 14 to 15% of Hungary's population will be Roma.
The Roma continue to be among the poorest in the country. Their birth rates are much higher and their average expected life span is significantly lower than the national average. Roma continue to be discriminated and live a harsh life in Hungary. They often face hardship and prejudice, and many live in poverty.
Hungarian discrimination against Roma
Endemic discrimination against Roma appears to be growing, even as Hungary is transforming itself. Attacks on Roma, open discrimination and abuse by government officials exist, and appear to be part of a broad social pattern of discrimination and marginalization which seems likely to continue in Hungary well into the foreseeable future. There is evidence that this discrimination increases at times of economic hardship.Whereas almost half the Hungarian secondary school students enroll in vocational secondary schools or comprehensive grammar schools, which provide better chances, only one in five Romani children does so. Moreover, the drop-out rate in secondary schools is significant. The Roma struggle to succeed in Hungary's educational system. Only 61% of Hungarian Roma aged 15 and above have completed primary education, and just 13% have completed secondary education.
This may be caused in part by the original culture of Romani people, which they carried with them from India, and which was reinforced during their centuries of nomadic existence; they could ignore or get around many of the laws of the nations through which they traveled. Even today, having been largely settled for much of the twentieth century, they have not managed to fully integrate.
Much of the Romani population are quite poor. They are not provided with fair and equal access to educational resources, resulting in high unemployment, and the perpetual cycle of poverty that keeps them from social mobility.
Currently, around 90% of Romani children complete primary education. A research of sample schools however suggests that the drop-out rate among Roma is still almost twice as high as among non-Roma.
The share of Romani students entering secondary education has increased greatly, with the percentage of Romani children not pursuing any secondary education dropping from 49% to 15% between 1994 and 1999. But that increase is almost exclusively due to increased enrollment in the lowest levels of education, which provide only limited chances for employment.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 28,000 Roma were killed in Hungary.
Chinese merchants in Hungary often hire women such as Gypsies and Romanians, to do work since they don't require high pay. No taxes or social security are present in these arrangements. Intermarriage sometimes occurs with the Chinese and their Hungarian, Gypsy, or Romanian workers. These marriages do not occur with Chinese and other peoples at the same rate as Hungarians, Gypsies, and Romanians
Parody of Roma
Sándor FábrySándor Fábry
Sándor Fábry is a Hungarian comedian, talk show host, and writer.Born in Budapest, to Sándor Fábry Sr. and Éva Kovácsy. He has a brother. He attended the Teachers' Training College of Pécs and later the ELTE university...
's RTL Klub TV program "Esti Showder", a popular talk show on Hungarian commercial TV, broadcast a "Romani show" on November 6. The project was potentially very risky as it was only last spring that TV2 ran their highly controversial and damaging program "Big Romani Wedding", in which it had presented Romani men as criminals and thieves and the women as prostitutes. However, the ratings for the "Big Romani Wedding" were high, and the RTL Klub "Esti Showder" approached the Romani community directly. He invited some Romani entrepreneurs, musicians, and artists to the studio for the production and, thus, made the parody of quite a different color. After the show had been aired, the RTL Klub issued a statement that "prominent Romani politicians had given their approval and appreciated that the show rectified the reputation of Romani community defamed by TV2" in March. "Showder" is a pun merging the words `show` and 'sóder' - which means "gravel" in Hungarian but also means "talk" in obsolete Hungarian slang. The word "esti" could be translated as "tonight" or "night time".
Other examples
Cooperation between Roma and non-Roma is also taking place around the Opre Roma ("Rise Up, Roma") community in eastern Hungary. Romani residents in the area were to be evicted from their homes, but they have found unlikely support from local citizens and church members.There are problems related to the Romani minority in Hungary, and the very subject is a heated and disputed topic.
Objective problems:
- Education/poor chances for work: slightly more than 80% of Romani children complete primary educationPrimary educationA primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
, but only one third continue studies into the intermediate (secondary) level. This is far lower than the more than 90% proportion of children of non-Romani families who continue studies at an intermediate level. Less than 1% of Roma hold higher educational certificates. - Poverty: most of the Romani people live in significantly worse conditions than others.
- Bad health conditions: life expectancy is about 10 years less compared to non-Roma
- Lack of debate regarding the subject: academic researchers and members of the mainstream press disregard any critics and study the subject in the canonical viewpoint. Critics don't have the funds necessary to perform alternative studies.
Please note that this list below consists disputed issues.
- Natural repugnance: there are differences is the social behavior of the host nation and the Romani people leading to a disinclination towards each other. This is slowly decaying on the Hungarian side (36-38%); as of 2007, there is no research made regarding the Romani side.
- Integration problems on the host side: there's a significant prejudice towards Romani people in Hungary affecting the motivation for integration. Exact numbers are unknown as the research material available mixes prejudice with "post-judice".
- Crime: "gypsy crime" ("cigánybűnözés" in Hungarian) is a phenomenon well disputed and often misunderstood.
- School segregation: likely due to bigotry, non-Romani people tend to choose schools with fewer Romani children. It's also believed that there were cases where healthy Romani children were assigned to classes for pupils with learning disabilitiesLearning disabilityLearning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...
(although this might have been a financial issue).
Romani political representation
In Hungary, two Roma were elected to parliament as candidates of mainstream parties in 1990, but only one in 1994 and none in 1998. In any case, it has been questioned whether a minority MP who gets into the parliament as a member of a mainstream party can properly represent the interests of his or her minority. During the conference discussions, a Rom from the Czech Republic recounted that his party, the Romani Civic Initiative, instead of participating inthe 1998 parliamentary elections on its own, accepted an offer from a majority party, the Union of Freedom, which promised to assist the Roma in the resolution of their problems. One Romani candidate of the Union of Freedom was elected, yet the Romani Civic Union found that it was unable to influence the Union of Freedom’s political program. Following the European elections, 2009, Livia Jaroka
Lívia Járóka
Lívia Járóka is a Hungarian politician of Romani ethnicity. She is a Member of the European Parliament, elected as part of the Fidesz list in 2004...
is the sole Romani representative of the 22 members of the European parliament from Hungary.
Political parties
Hungarian Roma are represented by a number of conventional political parties and organizations, including the Roma Social Coalition (an organization, consisting of 19 Romani organizations), the Independent Interest Association of Roma in Hungary (a new coalition, including the Lungo Drom, the Phralipe Independent Roma organization, and the Democratic Federation of Roma in Hungary) and others. The most recent addition is the Democratic Roma Coalition, established in December 2002 by three Romani organizations in time for 2003 local elections.Political discrimination
In Hungary, 'only 0.3 per cent of Roma hold post-secondary school diplomas and only one in four complete primary school', says Professor Miklos Haraszti of the University of California's Study Centre in Budapest. Their jobless rate is over 60 per cent, more than six times the Hungarian average. And their life expectancy—a vital measure describing health, economic and social conditions—trails the national average by as much as ten years.The gates of secondary schooling are at last wide open to Romani students, observes educational sociologist Istvan Kemeny, the author of pioneering fieldwork, in the January issue of the authoritative journal Hungarian Quarterly. But the educational gap between the Roma and the Hungarian ethnic majority 'has not narrowed over the past 40 years... And even today, only one in five Romani families could afford to send their children to secondary schools'.
Demographics
Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén
Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén is the name of an administrative county in north-eastern Hungary , on the border with Slovakia. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Nógrád, Heves, Hajdú-Bihar and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. The capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county is Miskolc...
and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg
Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg
Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg is an administrative county in north-eastern Hungary, bordering Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Hajdú-Bihar and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén...
(officially 45'525 and 25'612 people in 2001), but there are other regions with a traditionally high Romani population like parts of Baranya
Baranya
Baranya may refer to:*Baranya , a geographical region in Hungary and Croatia*Baranya , a county in Hungary*Baranya , a county in the historic Kingdom of Hungary...
and the middle reaches of the Tisza
Tisza
The Tisza or Tisa is one of the main rivers of Central Europe. It rises in Ukraine, and is formed near Rakhiv by the junction of headwaters White Tisa, whose source is in the Chornohora mountains and Black Tisa, which springs in the Gorgany range...
valley.
Although they were traditionally living in the countryside, under general urbanization trends from the second half of the 20th century many of them moved into the cities. There is a sizable Romani minority living in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
(12'273 people in 2001, officially). The real number of Roma in Hungary is a disputed question. In the 2001 census only 190,000 people called themselves Roma, but experts and Romani organisations estimate that there are between 450,000 and 1,000,000 Roma living in Hungary.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 28,000 Roma were killed in Hungary. Since then, the size of the Romani population has increased rapidly. Today every fifth or sixth newborn Hungarian child belongs to the Romani minority. Based on current demographic trends, a 2006 estimate by Central European Management Intelligence claims that the proportion of the romani population will double by 2050.
Romani autonomy in Hungary
The separation of Romani children into segregated schools and classes is also a problem, and has been on the rise over the past 15 years. Segregated schools are partly the result of "white flight", with non-Romani parents sending their children to schools in neighbouring villages or towns when there are many Romani students in the local school. But Romani children are also frequently placed in segregated classes even within "mixed" schools.Many other Romani children are sent to classes for pupils with learning disabilities. The percentage of Romani children in special schools rose from about 25% in 1975 to 42% in 1992, with a 1997 survey
showing little change - whereas a National Institute for Public Education report says that "most experts agree that a good number of Roma children attending special schools are not even slightly mentally disabled".
Fewer than 1% of Roma hold higher educational certificates. Their low status on the job market and higher unemployment rates cause poverty, widespread social problems and crime.