The Living History Forum was commissioned to draw up proposals for a better strategy on how the culture and the language of the Swedish Roma and Sinti population may get a stronger position in society. This work is has been done with reference to the Commission Report to the Ministry of integration in 2010 ((SOU 2010:55) by the special Committee on “Rights for Romas – a Strategy for Romas in Sweden”.
The Living History Forum was requested to do this study in close cooperation with organizations, experts and institutions dealing with these issues. The inquiry was reported to the Government in November 2011.
Read a summary of the report.
Sweden’s minority policy
The objective of Sweden’s minority policy is to protect the national minorities, strengthen their power to influence and support the historical minority languages to keep alive. Following a decision by the Riksdag in 1999 to approve ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (the Framework Convention) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (the Minority Languages Charter), the Roma were recognised as one of Sweden’s five national minorities.
The Roma in Sweden
The history of the Roma in the Nordic area is not fully known. Sweden has had a Romani population since the 16th century. In Stockholm’s Book of Meditation, clergyman Olai Petri described how a large company of Roma visited the city in 1512. A great number of the Roma who originally reached Sweden were deported over the centuries to Finland, which used to be part of the Swedish empire. In Sweden as elsewhere, the secular and ecclesiastical authorities issued various edicts during the 17th century decreeing that the Roma were to be driven out of the country. During the 18th and 19th century many Roma and Sinti were drafted into the army. Others were dispatched to forced labor or forced settlement. A ban on Romani immigration was introduced in Sweden in 1914 and remained in place until 1954. During the period between the two world wars, the ”Gypsy and tattare” issue was the subject of a fierce debate which had racist overtones and frequently drew on racial biology.
Language
The common language of Roma and Sinti, Romani, or É Romani chib/Romani, is related to Sanskrit, and consists of some 60 dialects, one main group of dialects in this area are the Vlax dialects. The Vlax dialects developed among the Roma who were detained in Vlax and Moldova in the 14th to 19th centuries. The non-Vlax dialects developed among the groups who started migrating to other parts of Europe in the 15th century or earlier.
Diversity with a common origin
As a result of migration from the 16th century until today, Sweden has a hetereogenous Romani population with linguistic, religious, and cultural variations. Despite this the Roma view themselves as one people, or one transnational (non-territorial) nation. The Romas still have in common their Romani identity as well as the language, awareness of common origin, similar values, traditions, cultures and experiences, all of which have made the Roma culturally indomitable in the face of all attempts to persecute and in different ways to get rid of them or assimilate them. In matters of faith, the Roma include Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox and Muslim believers as well as others.
Roma and Sinti in Sweden have been domiciled since the 1960’s. Most Roma groups live in metropolitan Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmö or surrounding areas. The Roma still occupy a highly vulnerable position in Swedish society and are exposed to discrimination although this is prohibited by law. Generally speaking, many Roma encounter great difficulties in virtually all spheres of society. This applies to education, the labor market, housing and health care and to possibility of participating in the community on equal terms as the majority population.
