Roma in Bulgaria - Problems of Exclusion and Discrimination

Problems of Exclusion and Discrimination

In a UNDP/ILO survey, Bulgarian Roma identified unemployment, economic hardship and discrimination in access to employment as major problems. In 1997, 84% of Bulgarian Roma lived under the poverty line, compared with 32% of ethnic Bulgarians.

The Council of Europe body ECRI stated in its June 2003 third report on Bulgaria that Roma encounter "serious difficulties in many spheres of life", elaborating that:

"The main problems stem from the fact that the Roma districts are turning into ghettos. Most Roma neighbourhoods consist of slums, precariously built without planning permission on land that often belongs to the municipalities . As the Bulgarian authorities have not taken steps to address the situation, the people living in these districts have no access to basic public services, whether health care, public transport, waste collection or sanitation".

To which the Bulgarian government answered officially in the same document:

ECRI has correctly observed that members of the Roma community encounter “serious difficulties” “in many spheres of life”. The rest of this paragraph, however, regrettably contains sweeping, grossly inaccurate generalizations ... Due to various objective and subjective factors, many (but by no means all!) members of the Roma community found it particularly difficult to adapt to the new realities of the market economy. “…Romani mahala-dwellers are still captives of the past, holding onto and behaving according to preconceptions about the socialist welfare state that clash with the modern realities of a market economy and privatisation.” (Skopje Report, p.6). More concretely, the allegation that the people living in these districts “have no access to basic public services” is largely inaccurate. Certain difficulties (though not remotely on the scale suggested) do exist in this regard, and the authorities are taking concrete measures to address them (see above). However, as the Advisor on Roma and Sinti issues at the OSCE, N. Gheorghe remarked during the Skopje meeting: “…many of the Roma confuse public services with rights to which they are entitled and which are guaranteed by the welfare state” (Skopje Report, p.16). ... Concerning the issue of the electricity supply it should be noted that dwellers of such neighbourhoods sometimes refuse to pay their electricity bills. This attitude could at least in part be explained by the fact that “…Romani mahala-dwellers believe they have rights as citizens to electricity and other services, and that the state has an obligation to provide and to a large extent to subsidize them” (Skopje Report, p. 7). In these circumstances electricity suppliers may find themselves with no other option but to “sometimes cut off” the electricity supply in order to incite the consumers to commence honouring their debts. Such cut-offs are part of standard practice and the ethnic origin of the consumers is irrelevant in these cases. With respect to welfare benefits, which allegedly “in some cases, moreover, Roma do not receive” while “they are entitled” to them, it should be underscored that Bulgaria’s social welfare legislation sets uniform objective criteria for access to welfare benefits for all citizens, irrespective of their ethnic origin (furthermore, any discrimination, including on ethnic grounds is expressly prohibited by law). The question of who is entitled or not entitled to welfare benefits is determined by the relevant services on the basis of a means test. Every single decision of these services must be (and is) in written form and clearly motivated. If a claimant is not satisfied with a decision, he/she is entitled to appeal it before the regional welfare office. Consequently, this allegation of ECRI is also erroneous."

A monitoring report by the Open Society Institute found that Roma children and teenagers are less likely to enroll in both primary and secondary schools than the majority population, and less likely to complete their education if they do. Between 60-77% of Roma children enroll in primary education (age 6-15), compared to 90-94% of ethnic Bulgarians. Only 6-12% of Roma teenagers enroll in secondary education (age 16-19). The drop-out rate is significant, but hard to measure, as many are formally enrolled but rarely attend classes.

The report also indicates that Roma children and teenagers attend de facto segregated "Roma schools" in majority-Roma neighbourhoods and villages. These "Roma schools" offer inferior quality education; many are in a bad physical condition and lack necessary facilities such as computers. As a result, Roma literacy rates, already below those for ethnic Bulgarians, are much lower still for Roma who have attended segregated schools.

The official position of the Bulgarian government to such segregation is:

"There had never been a policy of "segregation" of Roma children in the national education system. The fact that in some neighbourhoods in certain towns particular schools were attended predominantly by pupils of Roma origin was an unintended consequence of the administrative division of the school system. According to the rules valid for all children irrespective of their ethnic origin, admittance to any public school was linked administratively to the domicile of the family. In neighbourhoods where the population was predominantly of Roma origin, this system produced schools, attended predominantly by pupils of Roma origin. It is precisely this situation that the authorities are taking special measures to rectify. Therefore, the word “segregation" with respect to Roma children is inaccurate."

Roma children are also often sent to special schools for children with intellectual disabilities, or boarding schools for children with "deviant behavior" (so-called "delinquent schools"). According to reports of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), Roma made up half the number of students in schools for children with intellectual disabilities and about two-thirds of the students of the boarding schools, where the BHC found a variety of human rights abuses, including physical violence. In both sets of special schools, the quality of teaching is very poor, and even essential things such as desks, textbooks and teaching materials are inadequate or altogether lacking.

On two occasions, the European Committee of Social Rights has found violations of the European Social Charter in situation with Bulgaria's Roma population: in 2006, concerning right to housing, and in 2008, concerning right to health, in both cases on complaints from the European Roma Rights Centre.