Country: Bulgaria
Group: Roma
Date Finalized: 02/06/2022
Team: Amanda Nelson (lead), Rayna Castillo, Jocelyn Chen, William Nicholson, Ash Pessaran
Content Warning: forced labor, enslavement, human trafficking, and concentration camps.
Approximate Time Period: 800-present
The exact origins of the Roma community are unknown, but there is evidence of their residence in Persia in the 7th century, and in the area now known as Bulgaria as early as the 9th century (Ringold, 2000, p. 4). Fewer than five percent of Bulgaria’s population identifies as Roma due to extensive discrimination, despite the number being closer to ten percent (Minority Rights, 2021). Throughout recorded history, the Roma have faced varying degrees of persecution, as well as forced labor and assimilation, and ethnic cleansing (Ringold, 2000; Stevanovic, 2010).
As an ally of Germany during WWII, the Bulgarian government sent Roma to labor camps, and Roma in Bulgarian territories were deported to Nazi labor camps to work mostly in factories to produce weaponry, but also in building sites, other factories, and agricultural zones (Baumgartner, n.d.). The Bulgarian government subjected the Roma to laws leveled against them (such as encouraging or supporting forced labor), even after the People’s Uprising on September 9, 1944 (Council of Europe, 2022).
During the Communist era, many countries criminalized unemployment and punished offenders with imprisonment and forced labor. Due to their historical inequity and ghettoization in Bulgaria, the Roma face markedly high rates of unemployment causing the authorities to target them at disproportionately high rates (Ringold, 2000, p. 15). The Roma resumed many of their traditional practices after the fall of Communism in 1989, however, this was also the beginning of increased prejudice and widespread marginalization in Bulgaria.
In 1999, Bulgaria began passing laws against discrimination. Bulgaria steadily passed new laws continuing between 2002-2004. In January 2007, the Bulgarian government declared their intent to work towards equality for the Roma. Despite this, the Roma continue to face increased levels of poverty, unemployment, limited education, decreased health, segregation, and severe social stigmatization. In 2014, the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria documented a program that included a chapter entitled “Treatment of Ethnic Communities”. This chapter details how this political party believes that the Roma should be confined to concentration camps to be used as “tourist attractions”, and that for the protection of Bulgarian society, the Roma should be restricted to forced labor. Roma are also disproportionately affected by human trafficking. According to one article, despite Roma only comprising about 10% of Bulgaria’s population, 70% of Roma are trafficked for the sole purposes of forced labor and illegal adoption (RefWorld, 2012).
The most recent state of things for the Roma in Bulgaria began in 2012, and culminated in 2020, with the passing and implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy of the Republic of Bulgaria. According to Minority Rights, more work needs to be done to integrate the Roma people into mainstream society (Minority Rights, 2021). This article goes on to say that Bulgarians blame the Roma for their continued segregation because they prefer to keep themselves separate from Bulgarian society, whereas the other parties place the criticism on the historical seclusion of the Roma by Bulgarians (Minority Rights, 2021)
Data Quality: 3 out of 3, due to ample reputable sources, as well as new articles. Based on the evidence, there is a case of forced labor of the Roma in Bulgaria.
Sources
1. Baumgartner, G. (n.d.). Project education of Roma children in Europe: Concentration camps. United Nations. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/ roma_concentration-camps_coe_.pdf
2. Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. (2014, September 12). Bulgarian parties want concentration camps, forced labor for Roma. Liberties.eu. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/bulgarian-parties-roma/1862
3. Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Bulgaria: Violence against Roma, including by extremist groups; state protection and treatment by police (2008-2012), 16 October 2012, BGR104199.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/50a9ed2f2.html [accessed 6 February 2022]
4. Council of Europe. (2022). Factsheet on the Roma genocide in Bulgaria. Roma Genocide. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.coe.int/en/web/roma-genocide/bulgaria#Recognition
5. Gatenio Gabel, S. (2008). The growing divide: The marginalisation of Young Roma Children in Bulgaria. International Journal of Social Welfare, 18(1), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2397.2008.00562.x
6. Ringold, D. (2000). Roma and the transition in Central and Eastern Europe: Trends and challenges. The World Bank.
7. Roma. Minority Rights Group. (2021, February 5). Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/roma-2/#:~:text=The%20Roma%20Democratic%20Union’s%20attempt,on%20ethnic%20or%20religious%20parties.&text=Despite%20a%20generally%20improved%20situation,continued%20to%20suffer%20widespread%20exclusion.
8. Stevanovic, Z. (2010). P02-39 – admissions of Roma people in psychiatric hospital in Gornja Toponica. European Psychiatry, 25(S1), 657. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0924-9338(10)70652-0