The Roma Children

link to photo
at a social center for Roma children in North Bohemia



A few weeks ago a close relative lost his wallet on the Paris subway. There was hardly any money in it, and the credit cards were canceled quickly, so it turned out ok.... except for the stress involved.

While walking into the open doors of the subway car, he was blocked by four pre-teen girls. It was a strange scene since he is over 6 ft. tall -- the girls had him pinned. Neither one of us could figure out what was going on. The girls finally let go and suddenly ran out of the subway just before the doors closed. Two men sitting near us told him to check his wallet, and yes, it was gone.

After wandering around for twenty minutes with the bad directions from the subway employees, we finally found an open police station. The officer was sympathetic. He said they were Romanians - and this type of thing was very common in the Paris subway.

We talked to my step-daughter who had lived in Italy - she said, oh yes, they are Roma (Gypsy) children. Losing your wallet on the subway is an epidemic in Italy.

For a few days I thought about posting something on stereotypes and how they get started. I decided against it... my writing about little girls stealing things on the subway wasn't going to help anyone.

Then today, in the London Guardian there is an article about the Italian government wanting all Roma children to be fingerprinted...

The Roma have a very complicated existence. Their history is tragic. The Nazi's imprisoned them and exterminated many. After a thousand years of being on the outside, what can anyone say about four young girls stealing a wallet?
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Unicef among critics of Italian plan to fingerprint Roma children
Guardian - London
by Tom Kington

The Italian government's plan to fingerprint Gypsy children was condemned yesterday as a discriminatory "ethnic headcount" that insulted the country's Roma population.

...Silvio Berlusconi's government is introducing a series of measures aimed at reducing crime, for which immigrants are increasingly being blamed - including thousands of Romanian Gypsies who have entered Italy since Romania joined the EU last year....

Amos Luzzatto [A former head of the Union of Jewish Communities in Italy] told [the] La Repubblica. Recalling Italy's fascist past, he added: "Italy is a country that has lost its memory..."

This article appeared in the Guardian on Friday June 27 2008 on p24 of the International section. It was last updated at 00:02 on June 27 2008.

for link to complete Guardian article click here