Britannia Radio

Roma gypsies flee racist attacks in Belfast – but the underlying problem goes further

http://www.culturedviews.com/roma-gypsies-flee-racist-attacks-in-belfast-but-the-underlying-problem-goes-further/2009/06/17/view.htm

Once again the people of Northern Ireland have woken to a day of news that draws unfavourable attention to the country, this time highlighting the ugly issue of racism. Having lived here for six years I can honestly say that the people of Northern Ireland are the friendliest and most welcoming that I have met anywhere and what has happened over the past week does not represent the way these people are in general.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A community of 100 Roma gypsies in South Belfast – they are not Romanians per say as the media have described them – have been enduring a week of racist abuse at the hands of a bunch of ignorant thugs. This past 24 hours the abuse turned into attacks – the Roma’s were driven from their homes and taken to a local sporting complex for safety.  Some of them are now considering leaving Northern Ireland and returning to Romania – personally I think they will head no further than mainland England – but I can’t really blame them. Small babies have been threatened, pregnant women have had bricks thrown at them…scum behaviour.

Right across the board these disgusting attacks have been condemned by the people here as the population are genuinely shocked. But at the same time you won’t go far here to find a person who has not looked at the Roma community with a fond eye. You also won’t go far, especially in Belfast, to find a street or location that does not have Roma women begging passersby for money. This tradition of theirs, and it is a tradition, has not made the Roma’s overly popular with the locals.

They are prolific in their activity; they stand beside you at ATM’s, approach you in carparks, outside shops, restaurants, nightclubs – one hand held out to you and the other clutching a mobile phone.  To be perfectly straight the people here do not like it or accept it. To see these women standing outside nightclubs in the small hours with very young children begging or trying to sell you a wilted flower is quite an affront to a society not accustomed to street begging.

The people of Northern Ireland lived through great austerity during and after the war, through the sixties and seventies – they knew very hard times and if you could not buy food you grew it…and you only ate what you could grow. I am told however that to go out begging, no matter how needy you were, was simply unthinkable. The people in those times were too proud to do so - and now to be constantly approached by these newcomers who boldy ask for money at every turn…?

This nation is still evolving and for a country that had little to no immigration for so long - until recently - it is a very tolerant society. While nobody condones those attacks on those people it would help the Roma’s case alot more if they understood that what they do on the streets of Belfast is not an example of ‘good integration’. If the Govt is going to allow unchecked immigration here surely it is good policy to ensure that these people are given a better understanding of the local culture – and that they are more than welcomed to share the best of theirs.