£1 of cover price goes to the vendor.Please buy from badged vendors only.WORKING NOT BEGGING · NO.842 · 20-26 SEPTEMBER 2010 · £2.00

Roma and proudHuman rights for Europe’s persecuted minorityLiterary festivals: Ilkley and moreJoanne Froggatt leaves soaps far behindEthical buying: clothes and fashion

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16 THE BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH · 20-26 SEPTEMBER 2010

‘We are not ashamed, weare proud of being Roma’In the second of our series of campaigning articles onthe Roma, Ciara Leeming meets the community inGorton, Manchester and finds respectful people willingto work hard if given the chance

Stinking Gypsies. Thieving scum. Scroungers,beggars, gangsters, child traffickers.

This is the kind of abuse shouted, scrawled onwalls and posted on online forums since RomanianRoma became a visible community in Manchester.

But the racist slurs are shrugged off by MarcellaUngureanu, 32, who was one of the first Roma tomove to Manchester in search of a better life.

“People sometimes make us feel that we shouldhave shame for being Gypsies but there is no shamein it,” she says. “In Romania the word for Gypsy –tsigan – is a negative thing, an insult. But it is ouridentity – this is what we are. We are not ashamed,we are proud of being Roma and of our culture. Yes,there are some people in Manchester who say bad

things about us but you get that everywhere and mostpeople here are kind.”

Ungureanu is dressed in the typical style of aRomanian Roma woman – with a long patterned skirtand a loose headscarf. She has an open face, sparklingeyes and wears a permanent disarming smile.Speaking partly in English and partly through aninterpreter, she explains that like many Roma fromher country she never got the chance to go to schooland married young, at just 14. She gave birth to herfirst child two years later but life was difficult andjobs hard to come by for anyone, especially Roma.

In 2003, she and her husband Daniel came to theUK and settled in the Gorton neighbourhood ofManchester. Today, two of their four children live inRomania with their grandmother, and the familyshare their home with another Roma woman.

The main challenge for her community is work, shesays, before asking whether we know of any jobs. TheUngureanus make ends meet by selling The Big Issuein the North but she would like to clean or look afterchildren and her husband wants to find work fixingsatellite dishes.

She smiles. “Most of us want to work but theproblem is that we can’t get jobs. I think it’s unfair

Women dancing at theannual Roma gatheringin Costesti, Romania.Around 2 million ofRomania’s 22 millionpeople are thought to beRoma. A new wave ofmigration to the weststarted when Romaniajoined the EU in 2007.Photo: Reuters/BogdanCristel. Cover photo:Reuters/ Rossignol

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England,” says Calin, who lives with his parents,three brothers and sister. “A month’s wage in Englandcould be the same as what someone earns in a year inRomania. We send any spare money back homebecause Roma people have a hard life in Romania.

“What a lot didn’t realise though is that it is notreally possible for them to find jobs in the UKbecause of the law. That’s why so many of them areselling The Big Issue in the North.

“Now the council has started making that difficult.My family used to receive housing benefit but inFebruary that was stopped because they say sellingthe magazine is not self-employment. This happenedto a lot of people. We have appealed. It is verydifficult but we just have to find other ways to get on.A lot of Roma people believe this is happeningbecause they want us to leave Longsight.

“Manchester’s my home though – I’ve grown uphere. If I went to Romania I wouldn’t know how tofind my house. People around here are generally fine.There are some rude people who shout names but weare okay. We try to keep out of trouble. We just wantto get on with our lives.”

Next week: how the Roma are treated in Spain.“These are European citizens. Politicians cannotclose their eyes to this issue.”

that people judge us because a few Romanian Gypsiesdo bad things. British people look at us and arescared because they think we are different. They saywe are criminals but they are wrong. We go to churchand we don’t drink or smoke. We are not fighters. Welike to stay together, we like to be quiet and stay outof trouble. There is no reason to be afraid of usbecause we are good people.”

There are between 10 and 12 million Roma acrossEurope. Linguistic clues suggest they originate fromnorthern India and moved through Persia, Turkey andinto the Balkans, with migrations branching off intoRussia, Scandinavia, France and the Iberianpeninsula, and the British Isles.

Over recent years a new wave of migration has beentaking place, with central and eastern European Romamoving west – first as asylum seekers and morerecently as members of the enlarged European Union.Slovakian Roma have been living in Glasgow for thebest part of a decade, and other UK cities are home to Roma from Poland, Hungary and elsewhere. Acommunity of Czech Roma has formed in Salford.

About two million of Romania’s 22 million peopleare thought to be Roma. Not all are poor but the vastmajority live in poverty and face high levels ofdiscrimination. It is not difficult to understand whyso many have left but the hysterical reporting of therecent crackdowns in France and other countriesrisks turning some into pariahs in their chosen cities.

Standing with his friends on a tightly packedterraced street on the border between Gorton andLongsight – one of the most multicultural areas ofManchester – The Big Issue in the North finds 16-year-old Florin Calin, one of a handful of youngRoma men who speak really fluent English. Athoughtful and articulate young man, he is exactly thekind of Roma that some believe could help hiscommunity thrive in Manchester if offered someencouragement and a helping hand.

For Calin’s family too, life in Gorton – howeverimperfect – is preferable to the alternative back inRomania. They arrived as asylum seekers in 2002 andwere sent to Gorton after an initial stint in London.Once given leave to remain, father Gima found workselling The Big Issue in the North and, as thecommunity mushroomed, became the preacher intheir church. Calin and his brother were the first tocomplete high school. He now hopes to use hislanguage skills working as a Romani interpreter forthe authorities in Manchester.

“Until about two years ago, very few of the childrenwent to school,” he says. “My brother and I were theonly ones for a long time but now about 70 per centare being educated. In many countries you have topay to put children through school so Roma familiescan’t always afford it. There are about five of usyoung people who speak really good English now andtwo of my cousins are working at the school astranslators. So it’s worthwhile. Once I get my papersfrom Romania I hope to find work doing this as well.”

It was partly economics that drew many within thecommunity to the UK, he explains, and culturalpreferences are behind the fact that so manyRomanian Roma moved to one relatively smallneighbourhood. They have links to anothercommunity in London.

“People thought they’d have a better life in

1720-26 SEPTEMBER 2010 · THE BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH

ROMA IN BRITAIN

Eugen Balaz arrived in Leeds from Slovakia speaking minimal English. Six years on, he is employed bythe city council to help Roma youngsters access education.

Balaz, 35, moved with his family to escape the lack of opportunities for Roma in Eastern Europe butnow calls West Yorkshire home. “Last time I visited Slovakia, after three days I couldn’t wait to getback. It felt so good to see the lights of Bradford from the aeroplane because I really felt I was cominghome,” he recalls. “Life is very difficult in Slovakia. The country is an EU member but it doesn’t feel likeit for us. Even if you are educated, you are nothing but a Gypsy.”

Balaz is one of two Roma migrants employed by Leeds Gypsy Roma Traveller Achievement Service,and works with more than 300 children in the city. His job involves persuading families of the value ofeducation, as well as finding school places, paying for uniforms and signposting to other services.

The fact he is Roma and speaks the Romani language is of huge benefit when it comes to engagingthe community, which can be wary of officials and unwilling to open up to outsiders.

There are upwards of 2,000 Roma people living in Leeds and Bradford, mostly from Slovakia and theCzech Republic, plus a few from Poland. In Leeds, a large number have settled in Harehills, amulticultural neighbourood of terraced housing to the east of the city centre.

The council’s early years outreach team started working closely with Roma families several years agoand now runs a weekly advocacy group from a local primary school where families can get advice.

The team also does home sessions – with interpreters – where they help young children learnthrough play and lend them toys. As nursery approaches, staff accompany families on visits.

For Balaz, who works with older children, it is crucial that Roma youngsters go to school and learnEnglish. His own family ensured his first language was Slovakian and not Romani and sent him toschool.

“We Gypsy people often live day to day but when I visit families I tell them that we also need to betalking about the future of our children,” he explains. “In the UK we have more opportunities than inour countries in this respect.”

Balaz and some Roma friends are now setting up a project aimed at celebrating their rich culture andpromoting integration with their wider community. Called the Roma Centre, it is likely to start withsmall events for young people, based on music and dancing, but the idea is to challenge some of thenegative stereotypes around the community.

Balaz says: “We want to promote interest in the Roma in Leeds and Bradford, and improvecommunity cohesion and understanding. We have to celebrate the positive things about Roma cultureand help people learn about us. We also want to provide some advocacy, information and languagesupport for the Roma community, which is very important for new arrivals.

“We would like to set this up now but it’s very difficult. I’m working full time and many of the Romapeople who I know have difficulties making ends meet so don’t have the time to do voluntary things.But they agree that they would like to help me where they can.”

A West Yorkshire home

“They say weare criminalsbut they arewrong. We goto church andwe don’t drinkor smoke.”

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effectively self-employed andtherefore do not qualify forbenefits available to people whowork for themselves. Butsolicitor Francis Howard ofIndependent Legal Advocates,who represented Scarlat,disputed this claim.

Restrictions on employment“We established the principlethat The Big Issue in the Northvendors are not employeesaccording to the law and thatselling the magazine is genuinegainful work for money when itis active and effective.”

People from Bulgaria andRomania, the most recentcountries to join the EuropeanUnion, are allowed to settle in

The north’s most influential people

4 THE BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH · 20-26 SEPTEMBER 2010

LOCAL FEATURE

newsMagazine vendors entitledto benefits, says courtA Big Issue in the North vendorhas won a court case againstManchester City Council for theright to housing benefits.

A Tribunal Judge ruled MirceaScarlat, a member of theManchester Roma community,as being self-employed inaccordance with British andEuropean law as he is a vendorof The Big Issue in the North.

Scarlat, who has a regularpitch on Mosley Street, istherefore entitled to housingbenefit and council tax benefitand will receive full futurepayments of these, in additionto back payments.

The council argued that somevendors of The Big Issue in theNorth are not genuinely or

A politician or a propertydeveloper? A pop star or afootballer? Who’s the mostinfluential person in ourregion?

That’s what The Big Issue inthe North will be attempting toanswer next month when wepublish the 50 Most InfluentialPeople in the North, ourunique ranking of thoseindividuals who have thegreatest bearing on our life.

A respected panel of judgeshas helped draw up our list,which we’ll publish on 25 October.

The people in it may notoriginally be northerners butthey will have a base in theregion from where they exertpolitical clout, economicpower, cultural impact orinfluence at a local andcommunity level.

There will be well knownnames in there – but there isalso sure to be some lesser

the UK but rules restrict theirwork options to little other thanself-employment.

Working not begging“This is great news for Mirceaand for A2 nationals,Romanians and the Romacommunity,” continuedHoward.

Fay Selvan, chief executive ofthe Big Life group, whichpublishes The Big Issue in theNorth, said: “The Big Issue inthe North has supportedvendors to access legal help andwe are really pleased that theprinciple of vendors workingnot begging has been upheld incourt.

“There are very few routes for

Roma people to earn money andget themselves out of poverty –highlighted most recently in theexpulsion of Roma living inFrance.

“We are pleased that The BigIssue in the North can provideRoma with the means to earn anincome and improve theirlives.”

A spokesperson forManchester City Council said:“The council considers allclaims based on the legislationand taking full account of theclaimant’s circumstances.

“The council does not acceptthat Mr Scarlat (who is nothomeless or vulnerably housed)can be classed as self-employedon the basis that he was sellingThe Big Issue in the North.”

Independent Legal Advocatesrepresents people facingwelfare, employment, housingand other legal battles.

ANOUSHKA PERIYAN

More on the Roma in Britain,p16.

known surprise inclusions.We’ll be profiling them andexplaining exactly why webelieve they are so important.

THE JUDGESMohammed Ali OBE is thefounder and chief executive ofhigh profile QED-UK, a minorityethnic economic developmentagency set up in Bradford in1990. He is a member of theDepartment for Work andPension’s ethnic minorityemployment advisory group andmany other boards. He was afinalist in the personality of theyear, lifetimeachievement andprincipal of theyear categoriesof the UKCharityAwards.

Diverse Resources inManchester in 1991 as aninnovative healthcare provider,merging it with The Big Issuein the North in 2002 to createthe Big Life group of socialbusinesses and charities. She ischair of Trafford HealthcareTrust.

Michael Taylor isthe editor of North

West BusinessInsider and

the editorialdirector ofInsider

Media, the Manchester-basedpublishing and eventscompany. The magazine is theholder of six regional andnational awards for its writingand design, while Taylor holdstwo for his journalism. He alsohosts business awards anddinners and is a frequentcommentator on businessissues on radio and television.

Broadcaster AllanBeswick presentsthe Beswick atBreakfast show onBBC Radio

Manchester aswell as otherradio and TVprogrammes.

Before hemoved into radio he held avariety of jobs includingapprentice electrician, soldier,psychiatric nurse, bus driver,driving instructor and CitizensAdvice Bureau manager. He is aboard member of the Big Lifegroup, which publishes The BigIssue in the North.

Fay Selvan is thechief executiveof the Big Lifegroup, whichpublishes TheBig Issue in theNorth. Shefounded

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