Ромите в България: блатото се раздвижи
The Roma in Bulgaria: Making Waves in the Swamp

Summary/Abstract: The author notes the differences between the Roma in the Balkans and the ones inhabiting Western Europe and gives the reasons for the permanent settling down in our lands already before the Second World War of a large Roma group. The changes in their way of life determined by the introduction after the war of the new political system - the forced settling down of the roaming Roma, the total substitution of the traditional trades turned the larger part of them into unskilled workers in the industrial plants, public utility cervices, and agriculture. Throughout the decades of communist rule the problems among the Roma community had been accumulating and after the régime's downfall they burst with all their might. The crisis in which the country has been caught up in for the last ten years affected most strongly the most vulnerable part of Bulgarian society. Unemployment, bad living conditions and lack of prospects increased the negative tendencies in the development of the Roma community: theft, prostitution, drug addiction, etc. This affected the attitude of the majority of the population towards the Roma. At the same time in this period the Roma got the possibility of uniting and seeking a way out of the difficult situation they had found themselves in. The author traces the development of the Roma organizations and the growth of their authority which reached its peak with the signing of the government program for the integration of the Roma in Bulgarian society.

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