Roma, the Barometer of Success of the 2022 Serbian Census
Serbia is organizing the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings from October 1 to October 30, 2022. This “statistical operation,” held every ten years, has significant implications for all communities in the country. Historically, we Roma have been underestimated in all official censuses. There are various reasons for this: historical oppression and injustice; fear of ethnic profiling; social stigmatization and assimilation; ethnically biased methodology; and inequality in political power. In addition to all this, the difficult situation surrounding insecure living conditions, evictions, unemployment, dynamic migration, educational disparities and language barriers further contributes to these challenges. The critical question is: Can Roma freely declare their national affiliation in the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in Serbia, and why does this matter?
Serbia has been collecting ethnic and demographic data since 1866. Our number has been recorded and underestimated in every census so far. There were 25,543 Roma recorded in the 1866 census; 34,066 in 1884; 52,181 in 1948; 58,800 in 1953; 9,826 in 1961; 49,894 in 1971; 110,959 in 1981; 138,645 in 1991; 108,193 in 2002; and 147,604 in 2011. Data from official censuses are not accurate, especially because of inconsistencies in demographic trends and when compared with other data from public institutions and Roma representatives.
We know that there are many more of us than the 147,604 recorded in the last census in 2011. There are around 500,000 of us Roma. In the last census, 220,735 people did not declare their ethnicity, and another 99,714 were listed in the “unknown” category. According to estimates in locations where these two categories were counted, a significant number are Roma who were not declared in the census. It is also estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 Roma were identified as belonging to other communities, especially in communities with a significant presence of the dominant majority or other minorities. However, we have understood why the real number of Roma is being hidden. If the census shows that there are fewer of us, others will continue to use our resources, often against us. This also creates greater opportunities for corruption, because funds that should be intended for Roma are dispersed due to statistics that do not show where the real problems are and who needs state support the most.
We face many obstacles to participating freely and declaring our national affiliation. For more than 100 years, our data have been misused rather than used for the progress of our community. There have been no monitoring mechanisms to guarantee the possibility of freely declaring our identity or appropriate data-protection measures. Consultations on drafting and testing census questions, defining classifications, or designing census methodology and instruments have most often been reduced to quasi-consultations for political marketing and for justifying public and EU resources. We do not have an appropriate place in the structures that conduct the census.
Roma are mostly counted by enumerators who are insensitive and use subjective judgment about national affiliation, often avoiding “hard-to-reach” Roma communities or only partially counting Roma. Widespread stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, organized pressure, and violence from other dominant national minorities lead to a significant number of Roma declaring themselves, against their will, as Hungarians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Bosniaks, Slovaks, or Albanians.
We have lived in Serbia for centuries in a spirit of peace and freedom with everyone, unlike others who came to conquer and plunder, spread violence, and wage war. We have always fought for freedom, for the place that belongs to us. We were taxpayers, the best workers in many fields. We fought for our freedom, but also for the freedom of Serbia. Regardless of our painful history, we have never shed another people’s blood through war or terrorism; we have never seceded or declared our own state. We had a vision of humanity at its best, loving life and the freedom to remain who we are: proud and free, defined by no one but ourselves.
We fought for our voice in decision-making in order to change the difficult situation in which we find ourselves. Despite injustice, we are successful, creative, hardworking, talented, and brave; we are proud people, proud Roma, proud Serbs. Thanks to our ancestors, we have become the largest ethnic minority on the continent. If we lived in one country, we would be a more significant population than most individual EU member states. Roma are what Serbia and Europe aspire to be: a diverse and united community that advances with a cosmopolitan vision of cooperation.
Serbia belongs to us too. We are Serbia, and we are here to stay. We share a common struggle for freedom. Those who wanted to take freedom away from Serbia are growing stronger again. We must fight together for freedom in Serbia. We Roma want Serbia to be free. We believe that in Serbia we can be free and be who we are. However, Serbia must and can do much better. This is not only a question of our formally granted rights and freedoms, but also of securing substantive changes for our freedom of thought, speech, and action.
For us, Serbia can be free only if it creates an environment of accountability for proportional representation in public and political life and substantive progress for our community. The great, complex, and developed nations of the world are based on differences, not similarities. In these countries, different groups are presented as equally valuable members of the national family. However, many other nations have been captured by the elites of certain ethnic groups, which have excluded others from political power. This has led to secessionism, civil war, and ethnic cleansing.
It is not wise for Serbia to leave the majority of Roma without jobs, living in poor housing conditions, and with children in schools below standard. It is not responsible for Serbia to tolerate the problems of weak oversight of public institutions and decisions that affect Roma. It is not sustainable for Serbia to tolerate a reality in which elections are competitive, but there are few surprises about which party will win. It is not safe for Serbia to allow neo-Nazi mobs to abuse our community while local authorities build walls to isolate our people and impose forced evictions. None of us can tolerate violent police, the rule of oligarchy, an inefficient and indifferent bureaucracy, inaccessible justice, and an elite that despises the rule of law and is accountable to no one but itself.
However, it is wise for Serbia to recognize that our number, youth, workforce, entrepreneurship, and voting power are essential for our better future, the future of Serbia, and the future of Europe. We are developing in knowledge. The number of Roma students and graduates, journalists, writers, civil servants, doctors, and teachers has been steadily increasing over the past two decades. In addition, we are actors who can significantly change the political situation. If we voted for candidates of one, perhaps predominantly Roma, party, we would have the decisive vote in the National Assembly. We also have a significant presence in many municipalities and cities, where political power is often most important when it comes to basic rights and opportunities, as well as the allocation of public resources and investments. Moreover, Serbia faces serious demographic and economic challenges in the future.
Serbia must recognize that we Roma are the fastest-growing demographic segment in the country, of vital importance to Serbia’s economic future, given its economic growth, growing demand for labor, and aging population. Our economic exclusion is too expensive, creating GDP losses in the billions of euros, fiscal losses, and spending on social assistance. Our strength and potential are the only sources of hope for transforming our future and bringing prosperity to all citizens in Serbia. What is good for Roma is good for the future of Serbia!
That is why, for us Roma, the barometer of the success of this census lies in the level of freedom to declare national affiliation, measured in relation to the real number of Roma in Serbia.
The author is Director for Democracy and Governance at the Open Society Roma Initiatives Office.
Source: Novi Magazin