Hungary’s Gypsies Fear Violence And Far Right (FEATURE)
By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief reporting from Budapest
Caramel, whose nickname refers to the color of his skin, is among the few Roma Gypsies to have been able to escape rampant poverty after winning the Hungarian talent search show Megasztár, to become a megastar himself. The 28-year-old sang about life’s challenges this weekend at a picnic for Roma and non-Roma in a Budapest park.
The first-ever gathering of its kind was aimed at easing tensions between the two communities. And that is necessary, explained Caramel. Two decades after communism collapsed, Hungary’s Roma face new challenges.
“Of course I was very young when communism disappeared. But I can say that the transition has brought poverty and stress to many Roma,” he told Worthy News and its partner agency BosNewsLife.
Yet, he wants to encourage the Roma to build a better future, despite discrimination and violence that killed at least nine Gypsies in the last few years.
SPECIAL AMBASSADOR
At the weekend concert, rain-soaked crowds watched him perform a mixture of Roma and Western style music and songs.
“This is a symbol of unity,” explained chief organizer Eszter Éva Nagy, a 27-year-old non-Roma Hungarian.
But Nagy admits that her youthful ideals often seem far removed from daily reality after the Movement for a Better Hungary, or Jobbik, entered parliament last week as the country’s third largest political party.
HUNGARIAN GUARD
Jobbik has been criticized for verbal attacks against Gypsies. The party also supports the banned paramilitary group Magyar Gárda, or Hungarian Guard, which marched through Roma villages in uniforms and flags resembling Hungary’s pro-Nazi regime during World War II.
Jobbik denies wrongdoing, saying it works in the interest of Hungarians.
The independent Budapest-based European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) suggests however that these and other groups are contributing to an atmosphere of hatred towards the roughly 800,000 Roma living in Hungary.
ERRC Programs Director Tara Bedard told Deutsche Welle that there have been fire bombings against Roma families in recent weeks. Nobody was injured, but she explains that the violence was similar to earlier, deadly, attacks.
“In the last two years, nine people, nine Roma, have been murdered in Hungary. The persons believed to be responsible for those attacks have been taken into police custody. However, the trial of those individuals has not yet started.”
“Since those individuals were taken into police custody, numerous attacks have taken place in the meanwhile. Most recently in March and April there were a number of attacks targeting Roma in two different locations in the country.”
Activists say Roma Gypsies, who often lack adequate housing and basic facilities, are suffering from attacks and discrimination across Europe at a time when people are seeking scapegoats for the continent’s economic difficulties.
INSPIRED BY OBAMA
Nagy said she was inspired to organize Saturday’s rare picnic by her experiences in the United States, where she worked as a volunteer for President Barack Obama’s election campaign.
Just as Obama became the first African-American president of the US, Nagy hopes qualified Roma will one day be able to take a more prominent role in Hungary’s political life and help create a more peaceful future for the country.
That’s music to the ears of Caramel, relaxing after an eventful concert. “Still, we have all kinds of people here. Black and white people. They are able to talk with each other.”
It shows, he says, that not all hope is lost for Hungary – and Europe. (With photographers Szilvia Bóka, Szilvia Sebestény Kovács and Gergő Szilvágyi).
Parts of this Worthy News story is also distributed by Deutsche Welle radio and online and the Voice of America network.