Roma in European Cities
Hungary, Pécs
Results of the First Phase (based on interviews and desk research)
Kurt Lewin Foundation, 2012
Table of Contents
Background of the Study 3
Introduction 5
The political representation of Roma in Hungary 6
Pécs - Key facts about the city 7
Main socio-spatial processes affecting Roma in the past decades 8
Roma in Pécs 9
Past city policies, trends in city policy approaches in past 20 years, current city initiatives 12
Education 15
Data on Level of Education 16
Disadvantaged and Roma Students in the Public School System of Pécs 17
Local Government and Civil Initiatives 18
Employment 20
Employment Situation of Segregated Neighborhoods in Pécs 20
Factors Affecting the Low Level of Employment 21
Local Government and Civil Initiatives, and Good Practices 23
Housing 24
Residential Conditions of the Segregated Areas in Pécs 24
Local Government and Civil Initiatives and Guidelines 27
Health 29
Public Health in the Segregated Areas of Pécs 29
Discrimination in the Health Care System 31
Local Government and Civil Initiatives 31
Media 33
Media Workers of Pécs on the Local Roma Population 33
Editorial/journalist Practice 34
Thematizing Experiments 35
Civil, Government and Local Government Initiatives 35
Critical Reflections 36
Participation and Citizenship 37
Non-profit Organizations in Pécs 38
Acknowledgement 41
Bibliography 43
Background of the Study
The Kurt Lewin Foundation has conducted a research in the city of Pécs on the request of the Open Society Foundation, in order to collect information related to the integration of the local Roma community. During the study we primarily intended to explore:
- General characteristics of the city of Pécs
- Demographics of the Roma population in Pécs,
- Current and past, local integration policies and initiatives – particularly in the fields of education, housing, health and employment,
- Role of the local media in the representation of Roma people,
- Roma participation and involvement in the mechanism of decision-making and civil society.
The research was carried out between February and May 2012; the actual fieldwork was conducted in March. We carried out 40 interviews with the employees of non-profit organizations, local media and local government, researchers and academic professors. In addition, by conducting desk-research, we processed previously collected data and research reports.
We have summarized the outcomes of the study in an extended research paper in Hungarian. However, as the research proceeds, we will revise and include the new results in the paper. Therefore in the present study, we provide a brief summary of the results – often without elaborate consideration of the subject and without interview quotes. After the analysis of the outcomes of the second phase (based on questionnaires and focus group research) the complete study will be compiled.
At the beginning of the research report, we have to address the general lack of accurate information specifically on the situation of the Roma due to personal data privacy and security regulations that prohibit the recording of data on ethnic background.[1] Social studies usually draw conclusion regarding the number of Roma people on the basis of inner categorization[2] or outer categorization – i.e. estimations made by other people. In the field of education, information on children and students[3] with special needs[4], with disadvantaged background and multiple disadvantages might be also employed in the research with certain limitations[5]. We do not equate these groups of children with Roma students. However, because of the low level of education, weak financial and „schoolless situation“[6] characteristic of Roma families, being misclassified by expert and rehabilitation committees and educational consultants, Roma children are often classified into these categories.
Introduction
According to representative survey data, the number of Roma population in Hungary is estimated to 600,000-750,000, 6/7,5% of the total population of cca. 10 million.[7] Research shows that the Roma population, which, though disadvantaged, in the decades preceding the 1989/90 transition was relatively well integrated in the labor market’s lowest segments, was the population group most vulnerable to the economic crisis in the ‘90s, its socio-economical conditions rapidly decreased in the past 20 years. Roma people face a multiple and interlinked set of social disadvantages, one of the important factors of which is various forms of discrimination.[8]
The spatial dispersion of the Roma population is an important factor in their disadvantaged social conditions.[9] There are systematic differences between the territorial allocation of the total population and the Roma population in terms of settlement type as well as regional settings. The proportion of Roma living in Budapest is smaller than the share of Budapest in the total population (cca. 10 per cent compared to 17 per cent according to the Third Roma Survey) [10], while the proportion of Roma living in villages is larger than that of the total population (it can be estimated to cca. 60 per cent[11] compared to 35 per cent of the total population). In smaller villages Roma are even more overrepresented.[12] The Roma population of the country increasingly concentrates in underdeveloped, economically depressed areas of the country, especially in the Northeastern and Southwestern parts, with poorer access to workplaces, (quality) services, educational and healthcare institutions. As a result, Roma are more than three times over-represented in disadvantaged areas of the country: 10 per cent of the total population, while an estimated one third of Roma lives in the most disadvantaged micro-regions defined on the basis of a complex indicator in a 2007 government decree (311/2007 (XII. 8)). [13]
The most problematic characteristics of the spatial allocation of Roma in sociological terms is segregation, the most important forms of which are colonies,[14] urban slum areas as well as villages and micro-regions subject to ghettoisation. Due to methodological differences between different data sources estimations somewhat vary, however the proportion of Roma living in segregated environment can be estimated to 45-55 per cent; the number of totally segregated colonies is at least 500 with at least 100,000 residents; on the basis of the latest published census data (2001) cca. 160,000 persons lived in urban slum areas; the number of segregated settlements is cca. 150;[15] the concentration of ethicized poverty appears in the micro-regional level especially in the North Eastern and South Western area of the country.[16] In Hungary, Roma live settled, no semi-sedentary or itinerant groups can be found.
The political representation of Roma in Hungary
The Roma form the largest minority community in Hungary and since the 1989-1990 democratic transitions they are in the focus of governments’ minority policies. Since the mid-1990 the governments each year submit to the Parliament a report on the situation of minorities in Hungary. These reports, just like other sources reveal the social marginalization of Roma and their disadvantaged position in comparison to other minorities, thus governments seem to be aware of the specific problems affecting the Roma.
The legal basis of minority rights protection in Hungary is the 1993 Act on the rights of national and ethnic minorities.[17] The law offers a broad set of specific rights in the fields of education, culture, participation in public life, etc. The most important innovation of the law was the establishment of minority self-governments both at local and national levels. Minority self-governments have primarily non-territorial competences, thus they offer a form of cultural autonomy for minorities. In 2011 a new law[18] replaced the former regulation, though the main elements of minority rights protection regime, like the system of minority self-governments remained almost unaltered. The 2011 law on the rights of nationalities finally offers a legal solution for the parliamentary representation of minorities, after the 2014 elections Roma may surely benefit from this. However critics point to the difficulties of describing the Roma identity in terms of national or ethnic features.[19] The legal system of cultural autonomy has also been criticized as not helping to combat segregation and social disadvantages.
As a matter of fact, the other main pillar of the legal structure particularly relevant for the Roma is the 2003 law on equal treatment, the so-called Anti-discrimination Act.[20] Most of the discriminatory actions committed against people belonging to minorities affect the Roma.[21] Particularly problematic in this regard is their relation with state authorities: the police, public schools and other public institutions are often involved in discriminatory actions. The Anti-discrimination Act was primarily adapted to implement the two equality directives of the European Union. A positive sign of the law, respect to the provisions under the acquis was the inclusion of “belonging to national minority” among the titles discrimination can be claimed. The Anti-discrimination Act also fulfils the main requirements of the Race Directive[22] in regard to the definition of direct and indirect negative discrimination, making a distinction between negative and positive discrimination, in turning the burden of proof in cases of discrimination, in setting up a public administrative body (Authority) ensuring compliance with the principle of equal treatment. The only problematic difference between the Anti-discrimination Act and the Race Directive can be the definition of the spheres of application. While the Race Directive shall be applied to “all persons (…) both the public and the private sectors” (Art. 3), the Hungarian law limits the scope of application to the public sphere.
Besides the legal protection, the Hungarian governments adopted a number of specific policy programmes for the social integration of Roma since 1995. Today, the most recent strategy for the social inclusion of Roma, adopted under the umbrella of EU Framework for national Roma strategies, focuses on combating poverty, child poverty in particular and improving the health care, employment and housing conditions of Roma.
Pécs - Key facts about the city
Pécs is located in the southwestern part of Hungary, with a population of over 150,000 it is the fifth largest city of the country, the largest city of the county’s Western part, Transdanubia.
The main factors determining the city’s development in the past 20 years are diverse. The city itself is one of the knowledge centres of Hungary, it hosts one of the largest universities of the country, with over 30 thousand students. As a major city with a concentration of public institutions, universities as well as economic power the general socio-economic indicators of the city are good.[23] With its rich cultural heritage (the number of buildings under monument protection is among the highest in the country, the cultural heritage ranges from Roman through Turkish times till the 20th century) it is also a touristic attraction. In 2010, together with Essen and Istanbul, Pécs held the title European Capital of Culture (ECC), which had a strong impact on recent urban development. To host events of the ECC programme, major construction projects took place (centre of culture and music, Zsolnay Cultural District, regional knowledge centre, exhibition area, public space rehabilitations), since 2005 most of the city’s available development resources were concentrated at the ECC project. The ECC investments also affected the spatial structure of the city: development of a new axis began to the east from the traditional city centre which re-emphasizes neighboring areas.
However, prior to the 1989/90 political and economic transition Pécs and its agglomeration was one of the most significant industrial centres of the country, with a strong emphasis on coal mining industry, thus the current economic situation of the city is also strongly influenced by the economic crisis of the coal mining industry since the ‘80s, deepening in the ’90s which led to massive losses in industrial – especially coal mining and related machinery, processing, construction industry – employments. A rapid rise of unemployment began, the effect of which was more significant for population groups formerly employed in low-status, low skilled employments.[24] Closing down of industry also affected the agglomeration of the city; the surrounding area of Pécs, characterized by small villages, belongs (with a few exceptions affected by middle class suburbanization) to the crisis areas of the country, with prevalent slumming, ghettoisation processes (ghettoized villages, microregions). The Balkan war also had a negative effect on the city’s economy by preventing capital investment. Until very recently the traffic connections of the city also put a constraint to development, Pécs was only linked to the highway network of the country in 2010. By now, with the establishment of new service sector employments the employment situation of the city generally improved, however for poorly educated population groups, such as former industry workers, chances of (re)entering the labor market remained poor.
As a city of county rank Pécs has a well-developed institutional structure of social services, however capacity problems are present e.g. regarding services for the elderly, disabled and homeless. In such areas NGOs such as the local organization of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service and Támasz Foundation play an important role in service provision.[25]
Main socio-spatial processes affecting Roma in the past decades
Coal mining industry used to be a significant settlement development force in the city. Along with industry development several miner’s colonies (housing units constructed in a single project, with uniform, small houses and minimal services close to the workplaces) were founded, the most significant of which were Pécsbánya, Szabolcs, Pécsújhely, Meszes, Somogy, Vasas, Erzsébet and Borbála colonies. Some of these colonies already became a concentration point of low status population before 1989/90 since the housing conditions they offered became inferior compared to other areas of the city, however their current situation is primarily determined by the closure of mining sites from the ‘80s: the residents of former miner colonies lost their employments, resulting social problems were worsened by selective migration processes which led to the concentration of excluded population groups in the Eastern areas of the city. By now, many of the former miner colonies are subject to ghettoisation (e.g. István-akna, Györgytelep, Somogy-bányatelep, Vasas-bányatelep, Pécsbányatelep, Rücker-akna). Such processes may affect the neighboring areas as it happened in case of Györgytelep where negative socio-spatial processes spread out to the Meszes housing estate.[26]
The other typical process leading to segregation was the spread of industrial areas since the 1900s in former residential areas, leaving small, badly accessible, low quality residential inclusions between industrial sites, the low maintenance costs of which attracted low status population groups.