UK Poverty Post

Racism in a velvet glove…

If there was a group of people linked only by their ethnographic commonalities, a group who were marginalised, faced discrimination every day of their lives, had poor health, little access to normal education in their home countries, lived considerably shorter lives than others, whose incomes were well below the poverty line, and who were generally maligned by the media throughout the world – you would expect someone to do something wouldn’t you?

Particularly if all of this took place based simply on the basis of their race! If you then found out that these people lived in Europe and, even more so that they lived in the UK, then you probably wouldn’t believe it – and if you then found out that you, or maybe some your friends, were amongst those who felt such antipathy against them and yet almost assuredly had never met them or spoken to them, then you would be shocked!

This week many people watched with horror a BBC programme about a few Romanian Roma, who for a variety of reasons felt justified in exploiting their children to earn the money to survive.  Do not think for one moment that I approve or try to justify, I don’t. But I do want to explain - I want people everywhere to understand the whole story, and I want more work like the partnership project Oxfam supports in Glasgow rolled out throughout the country so that no Roma family will ever feel that desperate.

Roma from across Eastern Europe come here to get away from the discrimination that often leaves them living in extreme poverty, excludes them from the labour market, denies them decent health care, and often means that their children are sent to segregated or special schools, if they can get into school at all.

Many of the adults are in poor health particularly the women; they have had little or no work experience and many are totally illiterate. They arrive unable to speak the language, navigate the systems, understand the rules, and are desperate to find work. Those from Romania and Bulgaria are not permitted to work in the UK under agreements made within the EU when these two countries became union members, making them vulnerable to homelessness and exploitation.

In the whole of the UK there are around five projects whose aim is to guide, support, or advise Roma migrants. They face, even here, great prejudice – not only because they are Roma but because they are Eastern European migrants. In a recent study when members of the public were asked what they thought of Roma Gypsies and Travellers, over 60 % gave the standard stereotypical answers; that they were thieving, dirty, trouble makers yet, only one of these experts had ever spoken to, or even met a member of any of these communities. Fewer than 10% had anything  positive to say.

The press delights in publishing the most appalling racist stories about the Roma, and in the health and police services, teacher training, and local Government there is still a huge amount of both ignorance and prejudice.

I have worked with Roma families for 20 years and things have improved a little, due in a large part to the work being done by a few NGOs:  Save the Children, The Children’s Society, Oxfam and the London based Roma Support Group supporting Roma communities and raising issues which affect the community.  But it is far from enough, and you may well imagine that funding for such work is hard to come by. Of course it is. I said at the beginning, the dislike and prejudice is incredibly universal. One funder recently explained to me the Roma are seen as the undeserving poor and donors would not give to such a cause!

TV programmes such as the one this week only add to these problems, it is a form of racism in a velvet glove! And it can have the most detrimental and dangerous effect.

Heather Ureche is a consultant with European Dialogue who are an Oxfam UK partner.