The Plight of the Roma: Europe's Unwanted People

The Plight of the Roma: Europe's Unwanted People - Over 10 million Roma live in Europe. Tens of thousands of them are fleeing westwards from poverty & discrimination. But EU member states aren't helping them.

The cupboard door sails out of an upper floor window and lands on a heap of rubbish on a lawn in the Duisburg suburb of Rheinhausen. Half a dozen men in thick jackets and woolen hats stand just two meters (six feet) away. The door could have injured someone but Marian, Nico and the others don't move a muscle. "They're renovating," says Marian. The men laugh. "There are no problems." Marian, who comes from the northeast of Romania, has lived in the eight-story brick building for the past three years. It has become known across Germany as a "problem house," "house of horror" or just as "Roma house." As if that said it all. Here's a brief history of the building:

A few years ago, Roma came from Romania and moved into it. More of them came, until the building almost exclusively housed Roma immigrants, more than the structure could accommodate. They held barbecue parties in the back yard, which led to complaints from neighbors. Rubbish piled up around the building and the garbage disposal service refused to remove it. That attracted rats. Window panes broke and no one replaced them. The stairwells began to smell of urine. Some inhabitants stole, tricked people or robbed them, which led to frequent visits from the police. In the first nine months of last year, a total of 277 crimes were attributed to people living in the building. Then far-right activists came. They demonstrated in front of the building and railed against it in Internet forums. On a Facebook page named after the address of the house, "In den Peschen 3-5," Stefan K. wrote: "Chuck a bomb in, that'll sort it." Marian D. demanded: "Burn those wankers down." The page had 1,690 likes until it was shut down last August. That month, the building's occupants armed themselves with clubs. Left-wing activists mounted a guard at night. When the police tried to enter the building one night in August, the people inside kept them out with iron bars and pepper spray.

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