Hungarian Discrimination Against Roma
Discrimination against Roma appears to be part of a broad social pattern of discrimination and marginalization which seems likely to continue in Hungary well into the foreseeable future. There is evidence that this discrimination increases at times of economic hardship.
Whereas almost half the Hungarian secondary school students enroll in vocational secondary schools or comprehensive grammar schools, which provide better chances, only one in five Romani children does so. Moreover, the drop-out rate in secondary schools is significant. The Roma struggle to succeed in Hungary's educational system. Only 61% of Hungarian Roma aged 15 and above have completed primary education, and just 13% have completed secondary education.
This may be caused in part by the original culture of Romani people, which they carried with them from India, and which was reinforced during their centuries of nomadic existence; they could ignore or get around many of the laws of the nations through which they traveled. Even today, having been largely settled for much of the twentieth century, they have not managed to fully integrate.
Much of the Romani population are quite poor. They are not provided with fair and equal access to educational resources, resulting in high unemployment, and the perpetual cycle of poverty that keeps them from social mobility. Currently, around 90% of Romani children complete primary education. A research of sample schools however suggests that the drop-out rate among Roma is still almost twice as high as among non-Roma.
The share of Romani students entering secondary education has increased greatly, with the percentage of Romani children not pursuing any secondary education dropping from 49% to 15% between 1994 and 1999. But that increase is almost exclusively due to increased enrollment in the lowest levels of education, which provide only limited chances for employment.
During World War II, 28,000 Roma were killed in Hungary.
Chinese merchants in Hungary often hire women such as Gypsies and Romani People, to do work since they do not require high pay. No taxes or social security are present in these arrangements. Intermarriage sometimes occurs with the Chinese and their Hungarian, Gypsy, or Romanian workers. These marriages do not occur with Chinese and other peoples at the same rate as Hungarians, Gypsies, and Romanians
Between 2008 and 2009 six Roma were killed in a string of attacks. The group of men who are thought to committed the murders went on trial in 2011.
On 22 April 2011 a vigilante group called Véderő organized a training camp in the town of Gyöngyöspata. This created fear in the local Roma residents, and Aladár Horváth, leader of the Roma Civil Rights Movement, called on the Red Cross to evacuate the women and children. Péter Szijjártó, spokesman of the Hungarian prime minister stated that the evacuation is clearly a lie as the departure of the people is an organized vacation. The Red Cross also denied that it was an evacuation, stating the trip was requested by the Roma community for the Easter holidays. But, according to Radio Free Europe, Red Cross said in a statement that "This is the first time the Hungarian Red Cross has organized the evacuation of Hungarian civilians threatened by paramilitary activities since the Second World War." The camp was eventually folded up yet on 22 April and the members of Véderő left the area. Four days later some of the members returned to Gyöngyöspata following the situation escalated and in the fight between the local Roma and the Véderő left four people injured.
Read more about this topic: Roma In Hungary