Romani people in Serbia

Romani people in Serbia

Total population
(147,604 (2011))
Languages
Romani, Serbian, Romanian, Hungarian, Albanian
Religion
Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Sunni Islam, Roman Catholic

Romani people (Serbian: Роми/Romi) in Serbia, are the third largest ethnic group in Serbia, numbering 147,604 (2.1%) according to the 2011 census. Another name used for Roma in Serbia, often with a negative connotation, is Cigani (Цигани). Several migration waves of Romani to Serbia are recorded from Hungary, Romania, Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Romani people are divided into numerous subgroups, with different, although related, Romani dialects and history. The community has produced several notable musicians.

Subgroups

Main sub-groups include "Turkish Gypsies" (Turski Cigani), "White Gypsies" (Beli Cigani), "Wallachian Gypsies" (Vlaški Cigani) and "Hungarian Gypsies" (Mađarski Cigani), as studied by scholar Tihomir Đorđević (1868–1944).

• Wallachian Roma. Migrated from Romania, through Banat. They have converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and mostly speak Serbian fluently. They are assumed to be the largest Romani group in the country. They are related to the Turkish Roma. T. Đorđević noted several sub-groups.
• Turkish Roma, also known as Arlia. Migrated from Turkey. At the beginning of the 19th century the Turkish Roma lived mainly in southeastern Serbia, in what was the Sanjak of Niš. The Serbian government attempted to force Orthodoxy on them after the conquest of the sanjak (1878), but without particular success. They are mainly Muslims. T. Đorđević noted an internal division between old settlers and new settlers, who had differing traditions, speech, family organization and occupations.
  • "White Gypsies", arrived later than other Romani groups, at the end of the 19th century, from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Permanently settled mostly in towns. Serbian-speakers. Sub-group of Turkish Roma. T. Đorđević noted them as living in Podrinje and Mačva, being Muslim, and that they had lost their language.
• Hungarian Roma.

History

Roma family in Serbia, 1905

Romani, or "gypsies", arrived in Serbia in several waves. The first reference to gypsies in Serbia is found in a 1348 document, by which Serbian emperor Stefan Dušan donated some gypsy slaves to a monastery in Prizren (now in Kosovo). In the 15th century, Romani migrations from Hungary are mentioned.

In 1927, a Serbian-Romani humanitarian organization was founded. In 1928, a Romani singing society was founded in Niš. In 1932, a Romani football club was founded. In 1935, a Belgrade student established the first Romani magazine, Romani Lil, and in the same year a Belgrade Romani association was founded. In 1938, an educational organization of Yugoslav Romani was founded.

Culture

The Romani people in Central Serbia are predominantly Serbian Orthodox but a minority of Muslim Roma exists (mostly Roma refugees from Kosovo), mainly in the southern Serbia.

Romani people in multi-ethnic Vojvodina are integrated with other ethnic groups, especially with Serbs, Romanians and Hungarians. For this reason, depending of the group with which they are integrated, Romani are usually referred to as Serbian Romani, Romanian Romani, Hungarian Romani, etc.

The majority of Romani people are Christian and a minority are Muslim. Đurđevdan or Ederlezi is a traditional festivity of Roma in Serbia. They speak mainly Romani and Serbian. Some also speak the language of other people they have been influenced by: Romanian, Hungarian or Albanian. In October 2005 the first text on the grammar of the Romani language in Serbia was published by linguist Rajko Đurić, titled "Gramatika e Rromane čhibaki - Граматика ромског језика".

Discrimination

A large number of Serbian Roma people live in slums, and so-called "cardboard cities". Many Roma children never go to school. Instead they are often used as beggars, occasionally even mutilated in order to earn more money. On 3 April 2009, a group of Romani people who had been living in an unlawful settlement in Novi Beograd were evicted on the orders of the mayor of Belgrade. According to the press, bulldozers accompanied by police officers arrived to clear the site early in the morning before the formal eviction notice was presented to the community. The makeshift dwellings were torn apart while their former occupants watched. The site was cleared in order to make way for an access road to the site of the 2009 Student Games, to be held in Belgrade later this year. Temporary alternative accommodation in the form of containers had apparently been provided by the Mayor of Belgrade, but some 50 residents of the suburb where they had been located attempted to set fire to three of the containers. Many of the evicted Roma have spent five nights sleeping in the open in the absence of any alternative accommodation.

There has been incidents of FK Rad hooligan (and skinhead) attacks on Roma, such as the death of thirteen-year-old Dušan Jovanović (1997), and also the death of actor Dragan Maksimović, who was assumed to be Romani (2001).

Demographics

Romani minority in Serbia (2002 census).

There are 147,604 Romani people in Serbia, but unofficial estimates put the figure up to 450,000-500,000. Between 23,000-50,000 Serbian Roma are internally displaced persons from Kosovo.

Census	Population	Notes
1866	24,607
1895	46,000
1921	34,919	Analysis of census (including SR Serbia and SR Macedonia).
1948	52,181
1953	58,800
1961	9,826
1971	49,894
1981	110,959
1991	94,492
2002	108,193
2011	147,604

Political parties

• Roma Union of Serbia
• Roma Party

Notable people

Main article: Category:Serbian Romani people

Janika Balaž

File:Saban bajramovic.jpg Šaban Bajramović

Džej Ramadanovski

• Trifun Dimić, romologist.
• Rajko Đurić, professor, journalist, and politician.
• Srđan Šajn, politician.
• Bakija Bakić, trumpeter
• Janika Balaž, tamburitza musician.
• Džej Ramadanovski, folk singer.
• Boban Marković, trumpeter.
• Boža Nikolić, folk singer.
• Sinan Sakić, folk singer.
• Ljuba Aličić, folk singer.
• Šaban Bajramović, folk and jazz singer.
• Usnija Redžepova, folk singer.
• Predrag Luka, footballer.
• Dejan Osmanović, footballer.

External links

• Romani people in Vojvodina
• Participation of Romani in the government in Vojvodina