Slovakian Troops Sent In To Stop Gipsy Riots

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 2-26-2004 | Francis Harris

[blam]

Slovakian troops sent in to stop gipsy riots

By Francis Harris in Prague
(Filed: 26/02/2004)

Slovakian troops were deployed on the streets yesterday for the first time since the fall of communism to stop looting by Roma gipsies protesting against welfare cuts.

Thousands of police backed by 2,000 soldiers in the ghetto towns of eastern Slovakia appeared to have temporarily ended attacks by mobs forcing their way into food shops.

Near 100 per cent unemployment has brought thousands of Roma gypsies out on the streets

The rioting was the most serious social disturbance in the young democracy, forcing the authorities to use water cannon for the first time since the 1989 revolution. Special police units in balaclavas were deployed and were filmed beating gipsy males, some of them very young.

At least 70 gipsies have been arrested and some were injured, most in the town of Trebisov.

Demonstrators in one town gathered peacefully, shouting: "We want to eat." Others said their families were starving since the cuts, meant to prepare the country for European Union entry, were implemented on Jan 1.

Tibor Tutak, 39, said: "We know stealing isn't a solution but I cannot let my children go hungry. What has happened so far is nothing compared with what will happen if the government doesn't do anything."

Roma leaders threatened further trouble unless the Bratislava government rescinded dramatic welfare reductions which have halved the incomes of many families. Unemployment among some gipsy communities is close to 100 per cent.

Border guards in the neighbouring Czech Republic were put on increased alert in case the unrest encouraged gipsies to flee but there were no signs of an exodus.

On Monday David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, tightened benefit rules to ensure that people from the region did not arrive as welfare tourists once Slovakia and other countries join the European Union on May 1.

Bratislava says the reforms are a necessary part of its economic programme to prepare for joining the euro and increasing Slovakia's appeal to foreign investors.

Mikulas Dzurinda, the conservative prime minister, flew to the eastern city of Kosice, where he described the welfare system as a legacy of communism.

"For 30 years, there was not enough courage to consider whether it was normal and sustainable for those who don't want to work to make more money than those who want to work."

Meeting later, ministers promised to offer community work to the unemployed which would go some way to making up the loss of income.

[anniegetyourgun]

I hate it when gypsies riot.

[anniegetyourgun]

But, gipsies, on the other hand.....

[blam]

"I hate it when gypsies riot."

My mother says they steal babies.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Tibor Tutak, 39, said: "We know stealing isn't a solution but I cannot let my children go hungry. What has happened so far is nothing compared with what will happen if the government doesn't do anything."

Being an itinerant gypsy must suck. You impose hunger on yourself as you refuse to settle down and farm. Screw'em.

[small voice in the wilderness]

Nothing worse than an angry gypsy. They will CUT you, then steal your baby.

[Tailback]

Gypsies suck. I dealt with them a lot when I worked as a garbage man in Portland, OR. They waste more time and effort avoiding work than if they would just get off their butts and got a job. They're like postal workers.

[speedy]

One hundred percent unemployment is quite an accomplishment. They must not count begging and thievery as jobs, I guess. As one who has seen them in action in Rome, Budapest and Madrid, I am perfectly willing to believe any bad story I hear about them. To quote Cher, "Gypsies, tramps and thieves -- we'd hear it from the people of the town -- they'd call us -- gypsies, tramps and thieves -- but every night the men would come around -- and lay their money down." Sorry.

[Consort]

[BikerNYC]

The troops will then be sent in to end the riots by the tramps and the thieves.

[Leo Carpathian]

They are clever, they would "work" just enough days to get welfare payments, next two days they would party, drink, spent all their money and then don't show up for work. They would make lotsa babies, in order to collect child support. Kids would be running naked, barefoot in the snow, while "parents" spent their support. They are masters in stealing and smuggling. They might actually steal appart the Eurounion.

[speedy]

You could actually see the mothers sending the kids out to beg and steal in Rome. Part of the culture. Pretty sad.

[Capriole]

My family are from Slovakia (on my father's side) and I had the opportunity to see gypsies up close and personal on my last visit to Slovakia (to Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, Kosice, and the Tatras, mostly). It was dismaying to see that the government of Slovakia gave these people brand-new, handsome, fully-outfitted apartments to live in, and within days they had pulled up the carpeting, built fires on the concrete floor, and burned all the interior appointments. They crapped out in the hallways instead of using the toilets, threw dirty dishes out the window instead of washing them, and adamantly refused to work. The rest of the world is supposed to support them and clean up their messes. Presumably there are good, honest, hard-working gypsies in this country but they sure don't exist in Slovakia, that I saw.

[Cowboy Bob]

Unemployment among some gipsy communities is close to 100 per cent.

Since Gypsies beg and steal for a living, how can they ever be considered "unemployed?"

[It's me]

Remember the gypsy woman who was caught on tape smacking her kid in her car in teh parking lot of a store? There was an all out hunt for the woman. She was angry that her young daughter didn't steal something.

She was an Irish gypsy. They're everywhere!!!

[Cronos]

Not quite that. Gipsies are openly discriminated against and don't get jobs -- because they are gipsies.

[Cronos]

Gipsies were supposedly thrown out of their lands in Asia because they were deemed to be theives. So, the first political refugees.

[blam]

"Gipsies were supposedly thrown out of their lands in Asia because they were deemed to be theives. So, the first political refugees."

The Gypsies are originally from the Indus Valley. There are a couple of different accounts there of the 'king' giving the 'king' of Iran 10k of his subjects, on a couple of different ocassions. When the Gypsies began to make their way into Europe, they did so through Egypt. They were thought (at that time) to be Egyptians and were called Gypsies by the Europeans.

[rogue yam]

Not quite that. Gipsies are openly discriminated against and don't get jobs -- because they are gipsies.

Hmmmm... Have much direct experience with gypsies, Cronos?

There is certainly a chicken-and-egg quality to the situation. (That is, do Gypsies act as they do because of the way they are treated, or are they treated as they are because of the way that they act?) But having spent a not-trivial amount of time in Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, I can say from first-hand observation that Gypsies are a mess! Further, I have never once met a non-Gypsy in any of these countries who didn't think that Gypsies brought their troubles onto themselves. Not once. Fact is, Gypsies are, for the most part, scum. Lying, thieving, cheating, unproductive, mooching, viscious separatist scum. Blame it on the non-Gypsies if you want, just like you might blame whitey for the actions of raping, murdering, crack-dealing ghetto scum in this country. But don't expect this guilt-mongering to save you if they catch you out.