The European Commission Report 2010 said that no matter where they live – Roma people are at great risk of poverty and social exclusion than most European minorities. Last year, EU Agency for Fundamental right survey reported that every second Roma was discriminated against. The Roma world population is estimated to be between 10-12 million and great majority of them live in Central and Eastern Europe. Small Roma communities are also found in Turkey, Egypt, France and the US. Most East European Roma are Christians or Muslims while in Turkey, Egypt and Southern Balkans, they’re predominantly Muslims.

Some historian believe that Roma originated from the low-caste Hindus from Indian sub-continent who migrated to Afghanistan and Persia after the invasion of Muslim rulers from Ghaznavi (present-day Afghanistan) by Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi (971-1030), in order to escape persecution from the upper-class Hindus. However, Dimitrina Petrova in The Roma: Between a Myth and the Future, says that all Gypsies are not necessarily Roma. For example, Jevgjit in Albania; the Ashkaelia and Egyptians in Kosova and Mecedonia; the Travelers in Britain and Ireland; and the Rudari and Beash in Hungary, Romania and other countries. According to Dimitrina speaking Romani language is not a necessary identity characteristic.

In order to monitor discrimination against Roma people – a new organization, European Roma Right Centre has been established recently.

Nazi regime carried the genocide of Roma resulting in the death of approximately one million Roma and Gypsy men, women and children. However, while 150,000 German Jews took part in Nazi Army, there is no historic record of Roma or Gypsies collaborating with the Nazis.

Seyfeddin Kara in his article, titled ‘Plight of the Roma Muslims in Bulgaria’, wrote: “Anti-Islamic sentiment in Bulgarian society dates back to the time of Ottoman rule in the Balkans which lasted 500 years. After independence, the founders of Bulgaria redefined the people and places that comprised the land in an effort to create their nation-state. During this process, Islam came to be regarded as a strong reminder of Ottoman “occupation”, while Muslims became the “others”, to be either expunged or exiled. As acknowledged in the 2001 Durban Conference Declaration, paragraph 2; when racism is combined with “sex, language, religion… victims can suffer multiple or aggravated forms of discrimination.” In this regard, despite the fact that they also suffered discrimination and racism, Christian Roma were better off than Muslim Roma. They had better housing, better living conditions, better job prospects and indeed better reputation. It was clear that due to their common religion, Bulgarians empathize more with the Christian than Muslim Roma.

The feelings of isolation have led Muslim Roma to seek new associations or revive past memories: the influence of Turkish popular culture was impossible to ignore in the Muslim Roma ghettos of Varna. Despite their poverty, Roma make sure they have TVs and satellite receivers which connect them to Turkish people. They believed that they have a common ground with Turkish Muslims with whom they also share a common language. With the help of technology they hope to escape from the effects of brutality and link themselves to an “imagined community” as Benedict Anderson (1983) terms it, in which they have a sense of belonging despite their physical isolation. This connection was so significant that even little kids, whom I met in the streets of the Roma ghetto, after a brief conversation between us, could recognize my Turkish accent and identify me as someone who is from Turkey.

As an alternative to the self-association of Muslim Roma with Turkish popular culture, I also saw a more radical approach to the issue. Some Muslim Roma who seemed to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of ongoing discrimination and poverty, decided to take a radical step and convert to Christianity, thanks to the significant activity of US missionary evangelical organizations. Thus, as a few ex-Muslim converts explained to me, they were given a slightly better but definitely not positive recognition after their conversion.

No organized or long term support has been made available to the Muslim Roma community in Varna, and it was difficult to believe that their tragedy was taking place within the borders of the EU. Instead of improving the plight of Roma, the EU squanders billions of euros of tax payers’ money to support Israeli atrocities and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. The EU recently an-nounced that it had given many lucrative research contracts to Israeli companies, such as Motorola Israel (producer of “virtual fences” around Israeli settlements) and Elbit Systems (responsible for building some parts of the apartheid separation wall).

http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/plight-of-roma-muslims-in-europe/