Family shut out of their 'dream home' by Romanian squatters

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Well as I understood it Roma was a new name for gypsies and they roam about alot I wouldn't know never met one never will most likely and if I do I won't notice. I looked at all the links and looked stuff up and what I found was that Roma aren't Romanians but gypsies but I may be wrong. Never mentioned caravans at all doubt they have them probably just families that move around together to the same areas (but not all at once) anyway doesn't matter poor education and lack of mainstream society connections is probably why they always do as they please they don't know the other options. Not saying they should get away with it but they do need a better education for their kids and mainstream society connections b/c I doubt it's normal even in Romanian for people to just go in your house and live there while police refuse to throw them out.

However, like any other government in the world. the government doesn't really make the effort (by not giving as much money as it can and instead having tax breaks to the rich) to reach out to the Romas and let them be educated, and let them seize the opportunities to work hard and change their lives...

Roma is the very old name for this group of people. For a while they were known as gypsies but now they are back to being called by their proper name, Roma. A bit like the Inuits who everyone called eskimos but have now reclaimed their proper name. There are 2 main reasons why the Roma moved away from being called gypsies.

1. The Roma had become a pretty settled people, very few of them moved around. There were lots of other groups of people who chose to move around who were also referred to as gypsies. Travelling or roaming around does not make one a Roma, the Roma are of a different ethnic origin to other Europeans. They wanted to make this distinction. That they are a different group of people to those we think of today as gypsies, or to be PC, travellers.

2. The word gypsy has picked up lots of negative vibes and to call someone a gypsy is now considered an insult.

So someone is Roma by their ethnicity not by whether they roam about or not. Saying that being Roma means you roam about alot is like saying that being Irish means you are a potato farmer. It may have been like that hundreds of years ago but not any more.



If you did meet one you would know. They are very distinctly different from other Europeans. I've never met an African American but I am pretty sure that if I met an American I would know whether they were of African descent or not. It's like that with the Roma.



Yes and no. Hundreds of years ago the Roma came to eastern Europe from much further east. They roamed all over Europe, although predominately eastern Europe. This is why they are a different ethnicity to regular Europeans. Eventually they settled down all over eastern Europe. Those that settled in Romania have been there for hundreds of years. They are absolutely Romanian, have Romanian passports, vote in Romanian elections and so forth. But they are different from the other Romanians. The majority of Romanian people are typical white Europeans. The Roma are much darker skinned and have more distinct facial features. They look more Asian than European.



This is where the waters get muddy. I have several Romanian friends and it's very obvious that there is intense hatred of the Roma. They say this is because the Roma are nothing but criminals. The Roma say they are the way they are because of years of oppression and mistreatment at the hands of the non Roma majority. Who knows.

What I can say for sure is that if you travel to London you will come across lots of Roma, from different Eastern European countries who have taken advantage of being in the EU to get there. They are the ones in organised gangs of pick pockets on the underground. They are the ones using their children to beg on the streets. It's very sad, but true, that in London the Roma you encounter will be engaged in some sort of criminal activity.

Which government are you referring to? The Romanian government where they started or the British government where they ended up?

That was very informative thank you.
But as for the noticing thing I don't know alot about European groups I may be able to tell them apart but I meant I wouldn't know they were Roma. I would after having met some and learning the differences like for instance I can tell Scottish from Irish accents and to me an outsider with very limited experience they sound a lot alike at first, anyone who lives nearby as in England probably would have no trouble at all. And yeah I know Scotland is attached to the top of England that just means their closer lol. Oh if you can tell me I'm not sure on the Scottish nationality thing are they a sovereign nation or are they totally integrated as a part of England nationally the UK Empire thing confuses me sometimes I don't know what's still in and what just honors the Crown or history. Canada too I'm not sure about that either :/ they have their own nation but have the Queen on their money... Anyway yeah I'm sure they are distinctive but I wouldn't know them for their specific group that they are a part of unless I spent some time with them or around them. Something I found interesting even though all these people live in nations so very close together they can have so many differences Asia too and the differences seem to happen noticeably very quickly Taiwanese and Chinese for instance I can tell them apart and if I'm remembering correctly Taiwan didn't cut off from China until the Communist revolution drove them out and they founded Taiwan as a new nation. My knowledge of foreign nations and their isn't is high as I'd like.



^^^^
My above comments may be riddled with inaccuracies that is just what little I've been able to learn by self study and Educational television shows <Better than school though. School taught me jack squat about the world and left out a lot about my own nation if it made it look bad... Like Japanese internment camps as I recall all the history books said was that the Japanese were gathered up and put in them then let out later but no more than that like how many were born in America not Japan they were full Americans from birth by our own laws. (Looking like the Enemy is a good book by a woman who was in one of these camps I recommend it as very few such books seem to exist the book even explains why that is very well too)

Oops I forgot to be precise. I meant the Romanian government where they started... Please, they should have their richest people dole out some money for the Romas, who need opportunities in the form of more governmental support (and money)!

Scotland has a devolved parliament. This is very complicated, the easiest way to explain it is that they have their own government that is partially independent from London. Policies such as education and health are dealt with by the Scottish parliament and are therefore very different from England whereas others are still very much dealt with by London, such as defense. I'm not sure where exactly all the other stuff falls. The queen of England is also the queen of Scotland.

Canada is a completely independent country with it's own government. It is a monarchy that has the same monarch as England. A bit like how you can be president of the chess club and captain of the netball team even though the 2 aren't really connected. Although sharing a monarch does create closer bonds.

You're right. And in an ideal world this would happen. But I think you have to keep in mind the history of the country. Romania only gained it's independence from the soviet union in 1995. The country was completely destroyed by communism. All the people need opportunities and more governmental support but it isn't easy when you are trying to rebuild a whole nation.

To give you an idea, my friends are only in their 20s. They tell me that as children they had no running water and electricity was provided for just 1 hour every evening. They had seen pictures of things like bananas and oranges but had never seen a real one. There was a shop near their home that had to open every day (by order of the state) and yet there was not a single thing for them to sell and this was the same for all the other shops. People would get beaten in the street by the Russians for wearing jeans which apparantly are the ultimate symbol of capitalist pigs.

They have come a long way and have even further to go. I really do wish them well.

I also wish the Romanians well. But the Romas really need more help as the country recovers from the mess it is in.

The Roma are doing quite well themselves compared to other sections of society. This made me cry when I saw it on the news recently: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8425001.stm

Glad to see the Roma lot doing better now... Phew.

This kind of thing rarely happens in the USA. There is a strong respect for property values combined with the government enjoying broad police powers. Squatters get roughly and quickly ejected and thrown into prison.