THE ROMA PRINCESSES

“Once upon a time, there was a princess in the Roma ghetto. Society’s racism and discrimination trapped her in the slum. Nevertheless, a brave prince tried to free her from the clutches of poverty and place the world at her feet.” A dream that many Roma girls probably have.

This fairy tale’s princess lives in Trebišov, one of Slovakia’s largest Roma ghettos. Around 7,000 people live in precarious conditions in cobbled-together barracks or run-down tenements. Most apartments have no sewage system, showers, toilets, or kitchen. There is one single well for all residents. Trebišov is one of around 800 settlements, according to the 2019 Atlas of Roma Communities.

Around 450,000 Roma live in Slovakia; at about ten per cent, they are Slovakia’s largest minority, but their children have a difficult start. According to a European Union study in 2022, two-thirds of Roma children go to Roma-only schools. Since the children often speak Romani, the Roma language at home, their Slovak language is often poor. Roma children learn content over nine years, while Slovakian children learn it in four years, so attending secondary school is almost impossible.

Discrimination and poor access to education prevent young Roma from breaking the vicious cycle of poverty. According to the Slovak Interior Ministry, 48 per cent of Roma are unemployed. They are mostly employed in day labour and have no routine or hope for improvement. Hopelessness has led many young people to alcohol or drug addiction. On average, they die ten years earlier than other Slovaks. No European population group has more inhumane living conditions.

The bitter truth for the Trebišov Roma ghetto ‘princesses’ is that most do not finish high school, they have their first child before they are of age, they never leave the settlement and struggle to survive their entire lives.