[TomOnTheRun]

In the Czech Republic the picture is similar: the country's 300,000 Roma, about 2.5 percent of the country's population, have a 70 percent unemployment rate.

in Hungary, where Roma make up an estimated 8 to 10 percent of the population, their unemployment now tops 80 percent; the national unemployment average is 7.7 percent.

And this is why I think it's vital to avoid statements like some that I see in here. No distinction is made between a few criminals and the overwhelming majority of the Roma population. I believe that this is shameful and dangerous. Especially given that the rhetoric against them in some countries is approaching that used by the Nazi's before they started killing them.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

this is why I think it's vital to avoid statements like some that I see in here

Part of the problem IMHO, is that gypsies who do not want to live in their traditional lifestyle tend to disassociate themselves from other gypsies, to avoid the stigma. As a result, nearly all folks known to be gypsies take part in that activity

[kabar]

When you have 70 to 80 percent unemployment and no education, it is difficult to survive. Hence their involvement in crime. I don't agree with your generalization that only a "few" are involved in crime. We can discuss the reasons why they are, but to deny that there is a widespread problem is not the answer.

I wonder how hard the Roma have tried to assimilate into the various countries where they live. Do they want to assimilate? Are they allowed to assimilate? It is a complex problem in much the same way as trying to explain why black on white crime is so much higher in the US than white on black even when accounting for the population differences.