Abstrakt
The latest figures from the EU show an alarming increase in the number of Roma asylums seekers coming from Serbia and Macedonia. Since the EU began allowing visa-free travel for Serbs and Macedonians, there has been a sharp increase in Roma from the Balkans applying for asylum in old members countries such as Germany or Scandinavia.
The EU says there are no grounds for granting asylum in these cases. Meanwhile, Czech and Hungarian Roma are seeking asylum in Canada.
Thousands of Roma have gone to Canada in the last fifteen years stigmatized as false refugee claimants, yet hundreds of them have been granted refugee status. In Germany, around 10,000 Roma refugees from Kosovo are facing return, after having spent up to ten years there.
Both France and Italy have expelled thousands of Roma migrants back to Romania and Bulgaria recently. These headlines have repeatedly brought the migrations of Roma in Europe into the spotlights of European media.
All these stories have common roots. The origins of Roma migrations can be dated back to the 1990s when many of the poorly qualified Roma lost their jobs due to the transformation after the collapse of communism.
Roma populations suffer from discrimination in the countries of origin and they cross borders to escape from poverty and hostile environment. We argue that Roma migration can be considered as a litmus test of European anti-discriminatory policies, the right to free movement within the EU as well as the effects of visa liberalization processes.
The European institutions, however, have only limited scope of action on member states violations of rights in relation to Roma, discrimination and increasing level of poverty. We conclude that to overcome the causes of Roma migration the enforcement of European freedom of movement and visa liberalization must be accompanied by strengthening of the EU’s competences for consistent enforcement of anti-discriminatory measures and social inclusion policies.