Roma in Norway

Murska Sobota 2013

Roma in Norway Three different migrations of roma to Norway;

• A group of Lovara roma that came to Norway in the late 1800- century

• Roma that came to Norway during the Balkan-wars i the 1990’s

• Roma coming to Norway from mainly Romania and Bulgaria the last few years

The Lovara Roma group

• About 500-700 persons today mainly settled in the Oslo area

• From late 1800- Century until 1934 they were living a nomadic life due to legislation in Norway which gave them only «on and off» permit to be in Norway, even if they were born there.

The Lovara Roma group

• In 1934 a group of 68 persons tried to enter Norway from Denmark, but were not allowed and sent to internment camps in Germany

• Only ten persons of this group survived holocoust

The Lovara Roma group

• In 1956 they came back to Norway and was now gradually given permanent residency permit or citizenship

• Until about 1968 the government did nothing to improve the living-conditions for the Lovara group and they were living mainly in tents and caravans in the Oslo area

The Lovara Roma group

• In the 1970 ‘s Oslo municipality startet a housebuliding-project in Oslo and all extended families were assigned their own houses in various parts of Oslo

• There was also a big focus on life skills training, education and employment

The Lovara Roma group

• Due to various circumstanses most families left their new houses in the 1990's and moved to other Europeian countries

• When they came back their houses were vandalized or given to other Norweigan families

• Today most Lovara roma are living with the nuclear family in rented or owned flats in Oslo or in the Oslo area

The Lovara Roma group

Challenges in the house marked are:

• Discrimination against roma in the rental and private marked

• Over-priced or not legal rental contracts

• Many Lovara families are semi-nomadic and travelling from May to October each year, making it expensive to keep a flat in Oslo

The Balkan group of Roma

• About 5000 persons came to Norway in the 1990’s as refugees, mainly from Bosnia

• Today they have permanent recidency-permit, or Norweigan citizenship

• Living in various cities in Norway in rented or owned flats

• Most of them are hiding their roma origin and are not involved in etno- or cultural politics

Roma from Romania and Bulgaria

• The last years many roma from Romania and Bulgaria has been coming to Norway

• Only very few have managed to get permanent or random jobs. Most of them are begging in the streets of Oslo and other cities in Norway

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Roma from Romania and Bulgaria

• The first years most of them were forced to camp in the forest or sleep in parks due to the high cost of living in Norway

• Others have been sleeping in their cars or rented a madrass in overpriced appartments

Roma from Romania and Bulgaria

• Today the Norweigan Salvation Army and other organisations have opened cheap accommodation(about 2 euros per night)

• Some organisations have started job projects(selling their own papers, sewing and other handicraft jobs)

Roma from Romania and Bulgaria

• Various measures are taken in order to stop the growing prejudice among the majority population against roma coming from eastern Europa

Roma in Norway

• Questions ?