Why people of Roma matter to Europe

George Soros, Chairman, Open Society Institute, Project Syndicate

Too often in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Roma teens and children spend their days at the garbage dump. Unable to afford school, they scavenge for paper and other scraps for recycling, earning just enough to eat. Too often Roma families live in tiny cramped wooden or tin shacks with no power or running water and dim prospects for the future. A similar picture, though on a smaller scale, exists in many European Union member countries that are home to Roma minorities.

A wide socioeconomic disparity exists between Europe's majority population and Roma, or "Gypsies", many of whom live in extreme poverty. Left unchanged, this persistent poverty threatens to become a permanent drag on European prosperity, which would be a tragedy for Roma and non-Roma alike.

The situation of the 7 million to 9 million Roma living on the continent deserves the urgent attention of government leaders as they shape the policies of an enlarged EU. Roma are the continent's fastest growing and most vulnerable minority. Boosting their prospects will be crucial to sustained prosperity on the continent, and will require implementing inclusive policies to ensure that Roma enjoy the post-transition benefits of open, free-market economies.

Indeed, Roma have been among the biggest losers in the transition from communism since 1989. They were often the first to lose their jobs in the early 1990's, and they have been persistently blocked from reentering the labor force due to their often inadequate skills and pervasive discrimination.

Even in the more prosperous countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Roma poverty is strikingly high -- sometimes more than ten times that of non-Roma. While accession countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have made impressive progress in economic and political transformation during the 1990's, dealing with the plight of the Roma remains one of the most critical issues on their path to EU membership next year and over the next decade.

In 2000, nearly 80 percent of Roma in Bulgaria and Rumania were living on less than US$4.30 per day, in comparison with 37 percent of the total population of Bulgaria and 30 percent in Rumania. In better-off Hungary, 40 percent of Roma were living on incomes below this level, compared with 7 percent of the non-Roma population.

Poverty, combined with higher birth rates, means that the magnitude of Roma hardship will grow in coming years. Roughly 25- 30 percent of Roma are under 15 years of age, in contrast with 10 percent of the majority population.

High unemployment, particularly among young people, locks Roma in a vicious cycle of impoverishment and exclusion, further driving down living standards and leaving many in marginalized settlements without access to electricity, clean water, or other basic utilities.

Lack of education keeps Roma out of work and limits their future opportunities. An estimated 600,000 Roma children of primary school age living in the EU accession countries are not attending school at all.

Of those that go, most do not complete primary school, and less than 1 percent across Central and Eastern Europe go on to higher education. Many students who are in class are stuck in inferior segregated schools. Others are wrongly placed in schools for the mentally and physically disabled, merely because they had no access to preschool, or because they do not speak the majority language.

Nonetheless, there is reason for optimism. Over the past decade, a range of initiatives have been launched to keep Roma children in school, expand access to jobs, and overcome discrimination. While such interventions by governments, non- government groups and international agencies have helped, the time has now come to scale up the effort.

Most importantly, a small but growing core of experienced and dedicated young Roma leaders is emerging who can work both within their communities and with governments to overcome poverty and discrimination.

At the end of this month, many of these young people will join us in Budapest, along with Prime Ministers and other senior officials from Central and Eastern European countries and EU member states. For the first time, government and Roma leaders will tackle the Roma issue as a core social and economic concern. Such an integrated policy approach is needed to ensure that the basic rights of Roma are truly realized in an expanded Europe. We cannot afford to leave the Roma behind.

The World Bank, the Open Society Institute, and the European Commission are co-sponsoring a conference, Roma in an Expanding Europe: Challenges for the Future, from June 30-July 1 in Budapest, with the government of Hungary as host.