Roma Refugees

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Roma RefugeesChristine A. Walsh PhD, RSW a & Brigette Krieg MSW, PhD aa Faculty of Social Work , University of Calgary , 2500 UniversityDrive, NW Calgary, Alberta, Canada , T2N 1N4Published online: 17 Oct 2008.

To cite this article: Christine A. Walsh PhD, RSW & Brigette Krieg MSW, PhD (2007) Roma Refugees,Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 5:1, 5-27, DOI: 10.1300/J500v05n01_02

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ARTICLES

Roma Refugees:A Profile of Health

and Social Service Needs

Christine A. WalshBrigette Krieg

ABSTRACT. Since 1999, there has been increasing settlement in Hamil-ton, Ontario, Canada, of large numbers of Roma families from Hungary,seeking refugee status. A number of agencies across health, social welfareservices, education, immigration, child welfare, and justice sectors wereconcerned about the apparent difficulties members of the Roma commu-nity were experiencing within these systems and the ability of these sys-tems to provide effective services to the Roma community. The goal of theRoma Project was to identify the needs of the Roma community acrosshealth and social service domains and to promote a deeper understandingof Roma people and their culture in addressing those needs of the Roma

Christine A. Walsh, PhD, RSW, is Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Work,University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, NW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4(E-mail: [email protected]).

Brigette Krieg, MSW, PhD Candidate, is affiliated with Faculty of Social Work,University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, NW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4(E-mail: [email protected]).

Research funding was provided by the Community Mobilization Program of theNational Strategy on Community Safety and Crime Prevention, Correctional ServiceCanada.

Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Vol. 5(1) 2007Available online at http://jirst.haworthpress.com

© 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1300/J500v05n01_02 5

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population. Focus group and key informant interviews were conductedwith members of the Roma community (n = 24) and service providers (n =62) in order to develop recommendations for effective and culturally ap-propriate services. doi:10.1300/J500v05n01_02 [Article copies available fora fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH.E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Roma, needs assessment, health and social welfareservices

Canada is a leading refugee resettlement country (United NationsHigh Commissioner for Refugees, 2002). Approximately 5.4 millionCanadians (18.4 percent of the total population) are foreign-born (Sta-tistics Canada, 2002) with most immigrants and refugees, hereafter re-ferred to as newcomers, settling in the major urban centres. Immigrationis a fundamental aspect of Canadian identity (Hiebert, 2005). Findingsfrom two international surveys show that Canadians have much morefavourable opinion of immigration than residents of other countries(IPSOS, 2004; PGAP, 2002). Within Canada, Hamilton, Ontario has thethird highest proportion of foreign-born (23.6%) (Statistics Canada,2002), comparable with the New York metropolitan area (22.8%) (U.S.Census Bureau, 2001). However, a recent study of Canadian serviceproviders and policymakers in three major cities identified “fundamen-tal challenges to providing supportive services to newcomers” (Simich,Beiser, Stewart, & Mwakarimba, 2005, p. 265). The authors linked thesechallenges to the marginalization of immigrants, government policiesand funding cuts, and the discrepancy between migrants’ expectationsand the reality of life in Canada. The increasing settlement in Hamiltonsince 1999 of large numbers of Roma families from Hungary, seekingrefugee status provides an example of such a “fundamental challenge”to service delivery.

Roma are identified as a “continuum of more or less related sub-groups with complex, flexible, and multilevel identities with sometimesstrangely overlapping and confusing subgroup names” (Petrova, 2003,p. 114). The collective term “Roma” has been increasingly used to em-brace, not only the Romani ethnic group found primarily in the Balkansand Central and Eastern Europe, but other diverse groups such as the“Gitanos” of Spain, the “Travelers” of England and Ireland, and the

6 JOURNAL OF IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE STUDIES

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“Sinti” of Germany and Italy (Goldston, 2002). It is difficult to establishto what extent there is a shared consciousness between groups who areexternally labelled as Gypsies. In fact, many groups see themselvesas ethnically distinct and harbour negative attitudes towards others(Marushiakova & Vesselin, 2004; Petrova, 2003).

The influx of Roma refugees from Hungary led to concern amongagencies across health, social services, education, immigration, childwelfare, and justice sectors. Specifically, service providers identifiedthat the Roma population appeared to have increased difficulties withinthese systems compared with other immigrant or refugee-seeking popu-lations. They also questioned the ability of these systems to provideeffective services to the Roma.

Funding was secured to conduct an exploratory study to assess needsof the Roma from their own perspective and from the viewpoint of thecommunity agencies providing services to them. The goal of Roma Proj-ect was to promote deeper understanding of Roma people and their cul-ture in order to recommend culturally appropriate service delivery. Thespecific aims of the research study were to identify the following: (1) in-dividuals who may be able to speak for the local Roma community orwho may be developed as leaders of the Roma community; (2) agencieswho are mandated to provide services to meet the diverse needs of theRoma community; (3) more effective approaches or means of providingservices to the Romani from the perspective of the Roma communityand relevant service providers. This information was necessary to in-form the development of specific programmes or services that may ben-efit Roma children, families, and the community.

The focus of this paper is to examine the delivery of health and socialwelfare services from the perspective of the Hungarian Roma commu-nity and those service providers who work closely with the Roma.A brief summary examines the historical and current factors impactingon the Roma in Central and Eastern Europe to more fully understand theneeds of the Romani seeking settlement in Canada.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Roma in Central and Eastern Europe

Reliable demographic and social statistics on the Roma are non-existent (Petrova, 2003). Governments have been reluctant to collect

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Roma-related statistics; those that are collected contribute to stereo-types and police statistics. Roma are reluctant to provide information toauthorities and many are reluctant to reveal their identity in the face ofprejudice (Csepeli & Simon, 2004). Despite the lack of accurate censusdata, Roma are Europe’s largest minority, estimated at 7 to 12 million(Brearley, 2001; Tanner, 2005). They reside in areas from Finlandto Greece and from Ireland to Russia, with the greatest number in Cen-tral and Eastern Europe (Romania, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, Hun-gary, and the former Yugoslavia) (Tanner, 2005). Roma have enduredunparalleled rates of racially based discrimination, marginalization, andexclusion from many aspects of mainstream life in Europe (Petrova,2003). Compared with non-Roma, they have low levels of educationalattainment, high rates of unemployment, impoverished and inadequateliving conditions, lower health statuses, and are over-represented withinand harshly treated by the criminal justice sector. The long-standingprejudice and stereotypes of the Roma have contributed not only to cur-rent health and social conditions, but also to the ineffective delivery ofservices.

A recent survey by the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP, 2005) examined the situation of Roma in 10 countries (Albania,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hun-gary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, andKosovo). Using face-to-face interviews, a total of 36,428 individualsor 9,346 households was surveyed (4,345 non-Roma households and5,001 Roma households). In this survey, the non-Roma comparisonhouseholds were not drawn from the majority population of the countrysurveyed but were sampled from communities living in close proximityto Roma. These communities were also vulnerable for various reasonsand their status also differs from the national average. This study foundthat five times more Roma live below the poverty line than do the ma-jority populations surveyed in Bulgaria and Serbia; three times more inMacedonia and Romania. Roma also have higher rates of poverty asmeasured by other indicators including the amount of unpaid householdexpenses as a proportion of monthly income (UNDP, 2005).

A survey of more than 5,000 Roma found rates of unemploymentin excess of 40 percent of Roma in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia (UNDP, 2002). Available employ-ment was often in the informal sector. Roma reported discrimination,economic depression in the country, and inadequate skills as the pri-mary reasons for their unemployment. The authors concluded that la-bour market discrimination in combination with low skill and education


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levels are detrimental for Roma employment and reflect “discrimina-tory practices and limited access to education in the past” (UNDP,2002, p. 3).

In violation of international anti-discriminatory laws, Roma are rou-tinely denied access to housing or live in segregated housing (Petrova,2003). Compared with non-Roma, housing conditions are inadequateand unsafe; they have less living space, are less likely to have wastewater treatment (UNDP, 2005), are at greater risk of natural disasters(floods, fires) (Czene as cited in Petrova, 2003), and have greater expo-sure to environmental contaminants (Zeamon, Depken, & Senchina,2003).

Surveillance and population health indices for the Roma are scarceto lacking (Zeman, Depken, & Senchina, 2003). Koupilova and col-leagues (2000) propose that the lack of information on the health needsof Roma arises not only because of lack of surveillance, but also as a re-sult of insufficient advocacy on their behalf. Despite this deficiency, itis clear that the health needs of the Roma are considerable. They have alower health status than that of the non-Roma population, with few ex-ceptions (Hajioff & McKee, 2000; Koupilova et al., 2000.

Roma are at risk for racially motivated violence (ERRC, 1997). Fewperpetrators of violence are ever brought to justice because of the preju-dices held by police and the majority population (Brearley, 2001). Po-lice abuses of Roma through bribes, identity checks, harassment, orconfiscation of property are well documented (Helsinki Human RightsWatch Report, 1996a,b; Petrova, 2003). Roma are over-represented incrimes associated with poverty (petty theft) and are especially likely toreceive discriminatory treatment in the judicial process, with longerperiods of pre-trial detention and higher sentences when convicted(Helsinki Human Rights Watch Report, 1996a).

ROMA IN CANADA

It is difficult to determine precise estimates of the current populationof Roma in Canada, as no reliable published figures are available. It isestimated that 80,000 Roma reside in Canada resulting from three majorwaves of migration, the most recent occurring in the late 1990s (Lee,1998; Tanner, 2005). Canada is purportedly, the easiest country in thedeveloped world in which to secure Convention Refugee status and fora Convention Refugee to gain permanent residence and citizenship(Gallagher, 2003). In 1977 Canada began requiring visas for all visitors


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from the Czech Republic leaving Hungarian, Norwegian, and SlovenianRoma as the only European Union (EU) nationals able to make claimsin Canada. Roma migration has somewhat decreased in recent years,partly due to improvements in their home countries, strict asylum regu-lations, and the “safe countries” principle.

Canada receives a large number of refugee claimants from Hungary,most of whom are members of the Roma community (InternationalCentre for Migration Policy Development; ICMPD, 2001); they justifytheir request by referring to persecution and discrimination suffered inthe countries they come from (Kováts, 2002). From 1995 to 2004, refu-gee claimants from Hungary increased, peaking in 2001 with 2,960claimants (Canadian Immigration and Citizenship; CIC, 2005).

The determination of refugee status is a complex decision-makingprocess (Rousseau, Crépeau, Foxen, & Houle, 2002). The majority ofclaims made by Hungarian nationals in Canada are rejected. In 2000,the acceptance rate for Hungarian Roma was approximately 15 percentof all claims filed (ICMPD, 2001). This rate, however, is much higherthan in European Union countries, which have a recognition rate offrom zero to one percent.

Although thousands of Roma have migrated to Canada from Hungary,“very little is known about the about the actual circumstances of migra-tion, the reasons of the migrants, or the later course of the emigrants’lives” (Kováts, 2002, p. 19). Using 10 case studies based on individualand group interviews, conversations, and experiences of participatingobservers Kováts (2002) concludes that Hungarian Roma cannot be re-garded as a homogeneous group in terms of migration, suggesting thatinclination to migrate varies greatly from group to group and is a resultof complex economic and social reasons. Economic factors reported byparticipants include the potential migrants’ perception of “businessopportunities, a more favourable taxation system, and the low prices ofbasic commodities” (p. 24) in Canada. Others see the economic disad-vantage as a direct result of discrimination. “They speak of a permanentsense of being threatened and socially excluded as reasons for emigra-tion” (Kováts, 2002, p. 25).

Specific data on the health and social welfare needs of HungarianRoma newcomers in Canada are nonexistent and few studies have in-vestigated the utilization of social services among Canadian newcomers(Ma & Chi, 2005). An examination of the health profile of a randomsample of Czech Roma asylum seekers in Hamilton, Ontario (n = 76)revealed similar ratings of poor or fair self-reported satisfaction withhealth, less life stress, and a lower number of chronic health conditions


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compared with the Ontario population (Redwood-Campbell et al., 2003).In general, newcomers, particularly recent newcomers, exhibit healthadvantages compared with long-term immigrant or Canadian-born indi-viduals (Ali, 2004; Hyman, 2004). The need for health services amongCanadian newcomers is likely a consequence of their disproportionaterates of poverty and unemployment and experiences of social exclusionand discrimination, buffered by supportive personal and social resources(Beiser, 2005).

Available information from their country of origin, however, sug-gests that a high level of health and social need exists among Roma.This need, coupled with a lack of knowledge about the Roma, may im-pede effective service provision for refugee-seeking Roma. This ex-ploratory study describes the experience of Roma refugees in accessinghealth and social services. Roma community members and communityagency personnel who provide service to the Roma community wereconsulted about what were that needs and how best to meet them. Thisinformation is critical in developing best practices in providing cultur-ally appropriate service delivery to the Roma and may be applicable forother newcomers.

METHODOLOGY

The study received ethics approval from the Institutional ReviewBoard at Sheridan College for Applied Arts and Technology in Febru-ary 2004.

Purposeful sample selection was used to target two major groups:(1) self-identified members of the Roma community who were refugeesfrom Hungary including self-identified leaders and (2) providers of ser-vice to the Roma in health, child welfare, immigration, education, socialservices, religious, and policing sectors. Multiple strategies were em-ployed to identify and recruit the target populations. Roma leaders wereidentified through contacts and snowball techniques were used to findcommunity members. In addition, all self-identified Roma clients of thechild protection agency were sent recruitment letters on behalf of theagency. Subsequently, child protection case workers contacted familiesto determine their willingness to participate. A comprehensive list ofagencies providing service to the Roma across sectors was compiled bythe researchers with additional agencies added, as information becameavailable. Administrators from the targeted agencies were contacted by


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telephone and informed about the study. Agency personnel assisted inselecting participants for the focus group.

All participants were volunteers who signed consent forms. Romamembers were given $10.00 in food vouchers for their participation.Focus groups and the key informant interviews were conducted betweenApril and September 2004 within each participating agency, homes ofthe Roma members, or another community agency. Roma participantscompleted a brief demographic questionnaire. A trained moderator ledthe focus group (or individual interview) using a field guide developedfor the study. The field guide consisted of general and broad questionsconcerning the needs of the Roma community. The interview guidecovered four key questions. Who are the Roma community? What arethe needs of the Roma community across health, education, and socialservice domains? What are the gaps or problems in current services?How can services be more effective for the Roma community?

Focus group interviews, which lasted approximately 1.5 hours, wereaudiotaped and subsequently transcribed verbatim. Consent forms, infor-mation handouts, and demographic questionnaires were translated intoHungarian for Roma participants; back translations to English were com-pleted independently to verify translation accuracy. Hungarian/Englishtranslation was provided for the focus groups with Roma participants.

The data were independently analysed and classified by two re-searchers. The following major themes emerged: identity, oppression,immigration, child welfare, health, education, social welfare, and crimi-nal justice. Within each theme, the views of the Roma community mem-bers were summarized and compared with the perspectives of serviceproviders. This study presents the findings related to health and socialwelfare needs of the Roma.

RESULTS

Sample Characteristics

Three key informant interviews with self-identified Roma leaders aswell as one focus group with men (n = 4), one with women (n = 4), amixed focus group (five men and three women), and a sample of Romafrom clients of the child protection agency (two men and three women)were interviewed for a total of 24 Roma participants.


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All participants were recent immigrants from Hungary seeking refu-gee status. The majority of the sample were male (56%) with a mean ageof 33.3 years (SD = 5.2). Most participants reported being single(45.5%) followed by divorced (36.4%), married (9.1%), or separated(9.1%). All respondents had children with an average of two children(SD = 1.1). They described their ethnicity and their first language as ei-ther Hungarian or Roma. The majority of the sample reported havingsome or completed elementary school (72.7%) with difficulties inspeaking and writing English (72.7%). Respondents reported the majorsource of income as through full-time work (54.5%), government assis-tance (36.4%), or part-time work (9.1%). The total annual incomereported ranged from $10,000 to $69,999; 54.5% of the sample reportedearning between $10,000 and $19,999. None of the respondents repo-rted having any physical or mental health problems.

One community-based nonprofit agency providing primary healthcare education and advocacy and a targeted informant from the religioussector refused to participate in the study. All other selected agenciesagreed to participate representing the following sectors: child welfare(n = 8); education (Catholic, n = 8; public, n = 6; heritage language, n = 1);health (public health, n = 3; community health, n = 2; hospital maternityward, n = 3); immigration (government, n = 3; community, n = 11; lawyers,n = 2); police (n = 5); and social assistance (n = 10). In total 62 individualsrepresenting 12 service agencies from diverse sectors were interviewed.

Health Care

Roma

Roma expressed problems with accessing health care services. ARoma leader provided the following scenario. “I think that there is noproblem with health care for those on [social] assistance. People whodon’t receive welfare, they don’t have the drug card and they are notable to see the doctor.” He further explained, “I can go to the doctor’s.I have all kinds of illnesses, but I have no money for the medication. Thedoctor will give me the prescription, but I can’t fill it. The medication isvery expensive here.”

Roma participants stated that their inability to communicate in Englishwas an impediment within the health care setting suggesting, “In termsof health care, we need a permanent interpreter who is there all the time.Because without an interpreter it’s very hard to explain to the doctor


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what’s wrong through hand gestures and facial expressions.” Roma lead-ers stated that Roma people experienced discrimination in the health caresetting “Because we don’t speak English, so they ask what language wespeak, we say Hungarian, and then they just have that look.” He elabo-rated that the Roma had distrust of the medical system, particularly thehospital system and it was their belief that the health care services pro-vided in Canada were not competent.

Service Providers

Service providers also identified that the Roma experienced barriersaccessing health care. Lack of understanding of the health care systemby the Roma was identified as prohibitive to effective access. Otherconcerns regarding continuity and consistency of care were highlighted.A service provider stated, “It’s very difficult; because they might comeonce in while and maybe come for one appointment and when they needvaccination they don’t show up.” Problems in access were thought to berelated to language or cultural barriers. Health care providers suggestedthat it was difficult to provide effective services because of the highlevel of urgent need and the transience of the community and missinghealth care documentation.

Service care providers in the health sectors described the complexinterconnectedness of problems for refugees, with the presence of consid-erable health care needs across a number of domains. It was recom-mended that comprehensive, coordinated, innovative, and integratedservices were critical in addressing these concerns. It was also identifiedthat Roma should be actively involved in service delivery and servicesshould be provided in appropriate language and culturally relevant formats.

Social Welfare

Roma

According to Roma focus group participants, language and culturalbarriers impacted on their ability to access welfare services.

I know more than one family who couldn’t get their welfare be-cause of the language difficulties, missed deadlines, or didn’t gettheir monthly assistance. And at the welfare office the worker didn’ttalk to them, try to tell them to bring an interpreter with them,but they didn’t even understand that. So these poor souls went


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home empty-handed and had no money for eight to ten days more.And it was a very simple problem. Only to sign something, or sub-mit the receipt of the rent, to show that it’s been paid, but unfortu-nately they didn’t understand.

Roma respondents commented on the cultural factors and harsh con-sequences faced by women who were not able to locate their husbands.

And now I know four families and the husbands left their wives along time ago and the welfare took their money saying the womenare not looking for their husbands. They [the women] don’t under-stand what’s happening. This happened like last summer. Mostfamilies got evicted because their cheques were suspended andthey couldn’t pay the rent. I spoke with one of the welfare workersand she said that the worker couldn’t take the money away fromthe family for food and shelter. And that was a worker, but theothers still pull the money off. It’s just not fair.

A mother of four, for example, in the Roma culture it is quite com-mon to have four children, some have more, some have less, buthow would a mother of four be able to look for her estranged hus-band? Where would she start? Where would she leave her childrenin the meantime? This woman can’t go look for her husband, andher assistance is being suspended. It’s just not right.

Roma participants opined that they were subjected to racism in thesocial services section. One participant stated that, “the person [at thewelfare office] shouldn’t have the authority to decide that somebodywon’t get the money because of his skin color or origin.”

Many Roma participants noted inadequate levels of income support.One woman stated that amount of “welfare is not enough to support afamily. Rent is high, utilities are expensive, and we have to make up thedifference from the food money.” Another informant added that crimi-nal activities of the Roma were a result of their inability to effectivelyaccess the welfare system.

They commit crimes because the Welfare for no reasons take the wel-fare away, and they are not working, not everybody has a job andthose who don’t have jobs if their little welfare is suspended, whatelse from should they feed their families. I have been at the HamiltonCourt several times, and other nationalities commit the same crimes


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for the same reasons. That’s why people steal. And the Welfareshouldn’t employ people who don’t know what they are doing.

Service Providers

Service providers identified that upon immigration Roma had accessto a range of welfare supports.

Right from the very beginning when they first arrived they hadhousing. Sometimes they were in subsidized housing, and theyhave started up with Ontario Works [income support]. They hadthose things. I think the City of Hamilton went out of their way forthem providing them adequate shelter and food for their children.

Cultural and language differences were also identified by serviceproviders as barriers to effective service. One informant indicated that itwas her opinion that the Roma did not understand the system. Others in-dicated that language and cultural barriers posed difficulties for provid-ing effective services to the Roma. A member of the health care sectorstated, “They [the social assistance agency staff] are having these prob-lems with these families, you know, [because of] the language barrier.”Another informant identified that the already complex documents andprocedures required for social assistance was exacerbated for non-English-speaking applicants.

I remember so many times looking at these letters. I could barelyunderstand what they were asking for, much less somebody whodoesn’t speak English from a different country trying to read thisOntario Works [social assistance] letter asking for certain things.

One service provider indicated that some Roma clients appeared tobe unwilling to work and it was his opinion that the Roma had been so-cialized by their previous experiences to use welfare as a long-termsource of income.

I saw a person a month ago. He wants to work, is trying to get offof the system. However, he has been here about three years. No,longer than that actually, four to five years being here, with fourchildren. While he has been on Ontario Works [social assistance]he has never worked in this country. So I find him some basic job,something, because from what he was telling me, he has no real


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skills, and that’s fine. I mean there is a janitorial position available,if nothing else. I found about six positions and for every positionhe came up with a reason why he couldn’t be referred to that posi-tion. The bottom line is, even if I found one that he could, becauseif he got an interview he knows that it is (1) not going to help, or(2) [he will] flunk the interview. Because the bottom line is–thisguy really doesn’t want to work too much. He is quite happy to sitand collect his cheque, have his children, and that’ll be like that.

Service providers in the social welfare sector stated that Roma clientshave difficulty attending English as a Second Language (ESL) classes,a requirement of participation to receive social assistance. A memberfrom the health care sector noted that, “they are getting cut off quite of-ten because they are not meeting the requirements. They are not meet-ing the participation requirements at all.”

Service providers in the welfare sector expressed frustration that theRoma posed unrealistic demands and were not “buying into the sys-tem.” Another participant from the welfare sector added, “we havesome difficulty to gain that trust and having them buy into the pro-gramme per se. So trying to fulfill their needs, and try to make them un-derstand that it does fit into the legislation and there are certain rules.”They offered the following examples.

In a shelter we have different people, because we may get phonecalls, because of the transient nature. Sometimes it’s a large familythat is approaching us stating that they are homeless and needingimmediate help. We are able to offer them basic needs. We canplace them in a bed, make sure that their meals are provided, givethem the opportunity to make some contacts and just get some sup-port. And often if it’s not on their terms, when they want it andother people they want to include, what services they believe theyshould get immediately as opposed to what is needed to start theprocess, that they can have a bed and meal they wouldn’t use theentire package. As opposed to taking something that could be anemergency situation to get them into a safe environment and startfrom there to reorganize. We had the mom on the other end of thescreen saying, “I don’t want any of it.”

Maybe not necessarily to fulfill the requirements, but to just buyinto it, just to come to us, a common ground, you know, when youtry to work with them to meet their needs, and take those under


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consideration, just sometimes it’s not a two-way street. I can helpyou out with this, and we can do this instead of this–the kind ofthings to fulfill our obligations but we are still helping you out andthen they are still not willing. . . . They are not buying into theprogram.

Lack of trust was noted by a number of service providers as a barrierto providing service. One informant stated that it was her opinion thatthe Roma “mistrust the government so much that they take advantage ofit.” It was the opinion of the immigration lawyers that the Roma were“economic refugees” and had taken “advantage of the system.”

Immigration lawyers suggested that the Roma had been promisedjobs or welfare status as refugees. They stated that the Roma were dis-appointed, as these promises did not materialize. They added that whenasked to appear in Toronto for a pre-removal risk assessment, Roma failto appear out of fear of being deported. Consequently, they are cut offfrom all benefits including health care, education, and welfare. Accord-ing to the informants, lawyers term this process “starving them out ofthe country.” They added that in this desperate situation the Roma oftenresort to illegal activities.

Service providers suggested that support from friends and families aswell as involvement in criminal activities was a source of income whenwelfare was not accessed. An informant suggested that, “what they aredoing is staying with friends and family, so there is a strong support, andI think sometimes that’s where we have the biased conflict, how do youlive, you’ve got support from other community member.”

Recommendations from the welfare sector included the developmentof strategies to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers. The use of cul-tural interpreters was identified as important to reduce the difficultiesRoma experienced in meeting the requirements for the programme andto assist in the provision of a consistent stable income. Further educa-tion for the Roma was necessary concerning the requirements of partici-pation in the welfare system and the development of effective skills toreduce welfare dependency.

DISCUSSION

This exploratory qualitative study exploring barriers to effectivehealth and social service delivery among Roma refugees in Hamilton,Ontario, Canada had two major limitations. First, in the absence of a


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sampling frame with the names of Roma refugees, it was impossible todraw a scientific random sample. Therefore, the small purposive sampleobtained for the study placed limits on generalizations beyond the sam-ple. Second, the use of a semi-structured field guide did not capture richnarratives about the life and experiences of these newcomers.

Although numerous attempts were made and different approacheswere used to increase the sample size of Roma participants, participantswere difficult to locate and recruit for several reasons including (1) largenumbers of Roma had been deported or gone underground during thecourse of the study as a consequence of the refugee determination pro-cess; (2) the high levels of transience of the Roma community; (3) reluc-tance on the part of many community members to identify as Roma; and(4) the Romani high levels of distrust of the research process.

In a research study examining the migration experiences of Roma inCanada, Hajnal (2002) reported relying on participant observation andinterviews with a single Roma family living in a small town south ofHamilton, which he describes as having “known for years” (p. 43). Heexplains some of the difficulties he encountered in conducting thisresearch.

I was faced, to an even greater extent, with the difficulties familiarfrom Hungary. Regardless of any former acquaintance, and espe-cially in the beginning, my enquiries were met with distrust andsuspicion even more intense than what I had come up against inHungary. They feared that the findings of my work might beturned against them by the Canadian immigration bureau if, asthey thought could happen, the Hungarian authorities misused theinformation I was to obtain. That was why I refrained from using atape recorder or a notebook during the interviews, recording what Ihad heard and experienced in my field journal at the end of the dayinstead. (p. 44)

Mounting evidence supports differential patterns of health and so-cial service utilization among newcomer populations compared withCanadian-born residents citing barriers related to language, culture, lackof awareness and acceptability of available supports, and financial hard-ship (Chen & Kazanjian, 2005; Dunn & Dyck, 2000; Lai, 2004; Leduc &Proulx, 2004; Ma & Chi, 2005; McDonald & Kennedy, 2004; Neufeld,Harrison, Stewart, Hughes, & Spitzer, 2002; Newbold & Patel, 2006;Wu, Penning, & Schimmele, 2005). The limited information available onRoma health and social service utilization in Central or Eastern European


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countries supports that they have poorer access to health and social ser-vices and decreased uptake of preventative care (Haijoff & Martin,2000; Morrison Puckett, 2005). Respondents in the current study also in-dicated that financial difficulties impeded Roma respondents’ access tomedication consistent with UNDP (2005) findings that the majority ofRoma cannot afford prescription drugs.

Service providers indicate that the Roma appear to have increaseddifficulty in accessing service compared with other newcomer popula-tions. These reported difficulties may be exacerbated by a number offactors. Roma, in general, and in this refugee-seeking population haverelatively low levels of education. In most countries fewer than two outof 10 Roma have completed primary education (UNDP, 2005). In thissample the reported low levels of education and literacy in either of theofficial languages, French or English, would impact negatively onaccess to services.

In their counties of origins, Roma face labour market discriminationand are primarily reliant on state support for their survival. If pensionsare included as part of state benefits, the level of dependency reachesfrom 24 to 55 percent of the households (UNDP, 2002). It may be that inthe face of high levels of poverty, limited employment skills, labourmarket discrimination, low levels of education, and reliance on statesupport, Roma have developed a dependency on government assistancethat is reflected in their reliance on social assistance in Canada. Indeed,a number of service providers opined that the Roma were highly de-pendent on state support and evidence was needed to determine the ve-racity of these ideas. Most of the Roma interviewed in this study,however, were employed full-time, although a considerable number re-lied on social assistance. Even among those Roma who were working,the reported annual incomes were relatively low.

Examining unemployment insurance claims of immigrants from the1980s to 1995, Marr and Siklos (2001) report that immigrants, particu-larly refugees, experience relatively high claims rates in the first fewyears in Canada which may result from the difficulty in adjustmentfollowing settlement precluding full-time employment or taking advan-tage of the unemployment insurance scheme by making a claim early inthe settlement process. The low income and the earning gap for immi-grants, particularly recent immigrants compared with the Canadian-bornpeople have also increased during this time (Picot, 2004). The observedincreasing poverty rates of recent immigrants may foster welfare de-pendency which may, in turn, foster the belief by service providersin the welfare sector that the Roma are not adequately motivated in


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achieving financial self-sufficiency. As a result, the Roma’s experienceof discrimination in Hungary may continue in their emigrant country.

A study of service system utilization of Roma in Poland using inter-views with social work faculty and social service personnel found thatfew social service agencies had any Roma clients (Morrison Puckett,2005), concluding that the “disconnection between social services andthe Roma population is the result of deep-seated societal barriers”(p. 629). Plausible explanations included “fear of and actual discrimina-tion, alternative sources of support (particularly in-group assistance)and cultural reasons, such as a preference for separation from non-Roma” (p. 629). The historical and current levels of oppression experi-enced by the Roma is implicated in the observed disjuncture betweenhigh levels of health and social need and low levels of service uptake.

Cultural barriers to accessing services are further explicated byMarushiakova and Vesselin (2004) who suggest that the typical “Gypsy”community is characterized by, among others, strict observance of grouprules and norms, restriction of friendly contacts outside the boundariesof the group, mutual solidarity and obligation to lend support, mainte-nance of group authenticity and isolation (the rule of noninterferencein other groups’ affairs), and strict observance of group prohibitions.Participants in this study provided examples of distrust of non-Romaexhibited by members of the Roma community, particularly towardsrepresentatives of the state. They also described relying on informalsupports and in-group forms of assistance, predominantly when statesupports were unavailable or insufficient.

The uncertainty in immigration status was highlighted as a criticalimpediment to accessing services. Lacrois (2006) asserts that this is par-ticularly problematic for refugees. It is only after being accepted as ref-ugees that the settlement process begins (p. 19).

Roma people do not have a national homeland and identify primarilywithin their cultural family rather than as residents of their home coun-try or as newcomers to Canada. Roma participants often spoke of livingin the absence of or personal commitment to a homeland or theirresident country. Roma refugee-seeking populations share similar char-acteristics with other transnational communities in that they can be“generally defined as communities living or belonging to more than one‘national’ space.’” (Cheran, 2006, p. 4).

According to Sherrell and Hyndman (2006), the settlement experi-ences of refugees are best understood through a transnational analysis inwhich refugees “retain and develop multiple relationships both betweenand within the sending and receiving countries” (p. 16). The uncertain


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immigration status of the Roma and their multiple and complex “na-tional” identities shape transnational relations as well as settlement andintegration. Far from abandoning all ties with their home country, theRoma interviewed have established a multitude of relationships andidentities that extend beyond Canadian borders. Transnationalism is ev-ident in the reluctance of Roma adults to take ESL and in their expresseddesire to have their children continue to be educated in Hungarian.

A Hungarian-speaking teacher within a Roma-controlled schoolsystem to educate children [is needed] until their status was de-cided. These children adapted to this society, had been here four tofive years, when they go home, they have to start school all overagain, eight to ten years old in grade one . . . if it turns out that wehave to leave, to go back to Hungary again, for example these kidsdon’t speak Hungarian as well anymore they going to be laughingstocks, and it’s going to be another handicap to face.

Transnationalism and uncertain immigrant status influence settle-ment and integration and impair effective utilization of health and socialservices within the receiving country. These barriers may persist for aslong as Roma populations in Canada live in a state of cultural ambiguity.Recommendations for improved delivery of services have been proposedby Roma and service providers to best meet the needs of newcomers toCanada.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations for enhancing service provisionwere developed from the emerging themes about how best to increasethe effectiveness of service to Romani and other newcomer populations.The recommendations support the development of meaningful relation-ships between service providers and newcomer communities.

1. Service providers need to develop comprehensive, community-based, coordinated, consistent, and integrated services (includinghealth and social services) to support settlement and integrationof newcomers. Newcomers need orientation to local services,culture, and norms delivered in a linguistic and culturally rele-vant manner in partnership with newcomer community members.Whenever possible, agencies should have dedicated workers to


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provide support for specific newcomer communities and opportu-nities for meaningful representation/collaboration of the immi-grant/refugee population within the service sectors should bemade supported.

2. Specialized needs of specific newcomer communities should beidentified and should be developed through enhanced advocacyprogrammes, policies, and services to address these needs in ef-fective and culturally appropriate ways.

3. Increased education for service providers about the history, cul-ture, diversity, and unique needs of the newcomers is needed. Ed-ucational activities should provide information about stereotypesand biases and be delivered in partnership with newcomer com-munity members.

4. Service providers should assist in developing cohesion within new-comer communities by determining or developing leadership withinthe newcomer community, and assisting in establishing or con-necting newcomers with culturally specific community associa-tions.

CONCLUSIONS

There are obvious challenges when working with disadvantagednewcomers such as the Romani. Responses from Roma and service pro-viders reveal a disjuncture between health and social problems andeffective access to services. This disjuncture contextualized Roma ex-perience including the real and perceived experiences of discrimination,uncertain immigrant status, and transnational identity. Service provid-ers readily admit a lack of knowledge of the Roma culture and traditionsand the presence of stereotypes and biases. The influence of these atti-tudes is reflected in the recommendations for culturally informed ser-vice delivery, which focuses on the need for service providers to beeducated on Roma culture and to employ front-line staff familiar withRoma cultural practice and language.

Basic settlement needs of newcomers: “general orientation to Cana-dian life, establishing community connections, housing, employment,language training and information on available services” (George, 2002,p. 475) should provide the “means to overcome the language, culturaland information services barriers that prevent new immigrants and refu-gees from using health and social services” (Fowler, 2003, p. 388). Thisis not likely to be accomplished by immigrant serving agencies alone


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(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, 2003) as munic-ipal agencies are unlikely to devote many resources to helping the im-migrant settlement process without financial and legislative supportfrom central government (Frisken & Wallace, 2003).

This project described the needs of the Roma people; however, manyof the recommendations outlined can be used to increase the effective-ness of service for immigrant and refugee populations within our com-munities. The current Canadian population is rich in cultural diversity.With that comes the responsibility on the part of service providers to ac-commodate the cultural values of the populations that are becoming partof Canada’s mosaic. The lengthy and complex process of immigrant ad-aptation process (CIC, 2001) warrants a longer-term, holistic perspec-tive to improve supportive policies and programmes (Simich, Beiser,Stewart, & Mwakarimba, 2005). The disadvantage of immigrant andrefugee populations is not unique to the Roma and it is important forthose in helping professions to provide culturally responsive and sensi-tive services to address this need. Effective service provision by healthcare providers and social service workers is predicated on the develop-ment of further understanding of the needs of asylum seekers and ques-tions about their assumptions about them. Weaver (2005) identifies “thecontinual need to question assumptions, especially about what we ex-pect people from a particular culture to think, believe, and do. We mustmove beyond giving lip service to our principles and truly implementthem in our work” (p. 224). Lacroix (2006) adds that, understandingpolicies and practices in Canada that have a direct impact on the lives ofasylum seekers both as a marginalized group and as individuals seekinghelp (p. 20) is critical.

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Received: December 11, 2005Revised: April 28, 2006Accepted: July 17, 2006

doi:10.1300/J500v05n01_02


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Roma Refugees

Documents

Transcript of Roma Refugees