Romas should be provided basic income amid increasing discrimination, says academic

Menekşe Tokyay / DUVAR 

Boğaziçi University Academics Prof. Fikret Adaman, İsa Ali Demir, Baran Alp Uncu and Gökçe Yeniev presented the results of a report entitled “The Socio-Economic Impact Research of Covid-19 on Turkey’s Roma Communities” on Feb. 21.

The report focuses on the problems faced by the Rom, Dom, Lom and Abdal communities in the provinces of Edirne, İzmir, Urfa, Antep and Artvin during the pandemic period and their capacity to access aid provided by both central and local governments.

The research project involved interviews with the communities themselves as well as with opinion leaders and authorities. It was carried out within the scope of the “Strengthening the Roma Dialogue Network” project, which is implemented by the Turkish Zero Discrimination Association with the financial support of the European Union Delegation in Turkey.

According to the report, Turkey's Roma community was hard hit by the pandemic as they predominantly work in the informal sector and hold temporary jobs. What is more, they also faced discrimination whilst seeking aid during the pandemic.

The report showed that many Roma were expelled from state institutions when seeking help. Some were subjected to psychological and physical violence.

Prof. Fikret Adaman said that the effects of pandemics and climate change ought to be taken into account when devising policies with regards to the Roma community. He also said that Romas over the age of 18 ought to be provided with a universal basic income.

“Our research shows how crucial universal income is,” Adaman said.

He emphasized that the Roma community suffered from chronic poverty and hunger and that their average life expectancy was almost 10 years below the national average.

During the pandemic, the municipality of Ankara provided 650 TL in cash to a Roma community involved in paper collection and last year, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism provided aid worth 3,000 TL to Romas through a campaign aimed at helping musicians throughout the country.

Yet Gökçe Yeniev, a graduate student at Boğaziçi University who took part in the research project said that “the aid in question was distributed through patronage links and that the aid did not reach the communities in need.”

Moreover, the Roma’s high illiteracy levels hindered access to aid mechanisms during the pandemic period. And though a recent report by SODEV showed that 68.1 percent of Romas have access to health services, that figure does imply access to treatment.

“Multi-purpose community centres should be opened in all neighbourhoods with the support of district governors and municipalities in order to provide adult education,” Fikret Adaman said. “Literacy and women’s health should be taught in those centres,” he added.

Another finding of the study was that Romas renounce education at an early stage and that many Roma children attend school to have breakfast. Adaman recommended serving breakfast and lunch in schools in order to encourage attendance.

According to Gökçe Yeniev, the fact that Roma children have to work to support their household income, that most of their children do not have access to sufficient technological tools and the Internet, as well as uneven tablet distribution in households has further contributed to their distancing from education.

She also said that the families of children that do not attend compulsory school are not subject to warnings or fines.

(English version by Killian Cogan)

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