Roma (not Romans)

 April 8 is the Day of the Roma in Macedonia and elsewhere.

One of the regular occurances around Skopje and other parts of the Balkans  is to find a disabled person laying on a blanket begging for money, or a young mother holding a baby doing the same. I have seen this in other parts of the world and even in some areas of Boston. 

But one of the strangest experiences is to be accosted when dining at a fancy coffee shop or restaurant by 5 or 6 year old Roma kid who comes up to your table and asks you for money, or tries to sell you a flower or a magazine. The restaurants are mostly fine with it, but the Embassy has encouraged us to not donate anything to the children. Money goes directly to a parent or other adult hanging outside the restauratnt.  The kids do not benefit. The kids do not go to school. Begging is their job. The kids seem absolutely fearless and are quite good at making their pitch. 




Macedonia has a significant Romani population. 

From Wikipedia: According to the last census from 2021, there were 46,433 people counted as Romani, or 2.53% of the population.[2] The majority are Muslim Romani people. Another 3,843 people have been counted as "Egyptians" (0.2%). The municipality of Šuto Orizari is the only municipality in the world with a Muslim Romani people majority and the only municipality where Balkan Romani is an official language alongside Macedonian. The mayor of the municipality, Kurto Dudush, is an ethnic Roma.

Here is an article about the only Roma-run mumiciplaity, a suburb of Skopje: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/4/8/shutka-inside-macedonias-only-roma-run-municipality

In 2009, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia took measures to enlarge inclusion of Romani in the education process.[7]

North Macedonia is the region's leader in respecting the rights of the Romani people. It is the first country in the region with a minister of Romani ethnicity and also has many Romani in high government positions. However, there is still a lot to be done concerning the education and integration of the Romani.[8](wikipedia)


Most Romani children do not go to school. Ever. They work full-time begging with their siblings while the parents look on from afar. 


The Roma originated in northwest India and migrated west as a group  about a thousand years ago. They wer formerly called gypsies.. The majority are Muslim. The Romani people were targeted by the Nazis and as many as 1.5 million of them may have been killed by the Nazis or their Croationa collaborators.


Speaking in 1993, Václav Havelprophetically remarked that "the treatment of the Roma is a litmus test for democracy": and democracy has been found wanting. 

The consequences of the transition to capitalism have been disastrous for the Roma. Under communism they had jobs, free housing and schooling. Now many are unemployed, many are losing their homes and racism is increasingly rewarded with impunity (wikipedia)


I have offered kids food from my plate when they stop by but they don't want it. Just money, or "buy my balloon or flowers." 




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