The Roma in the Hungarian Army

Transcription

1 AARMS Vol. 7, No. 2 (2008) SOCIOLOGY The Roma in the Hungarian Army VERONIKA KARÁCSONY Miklós Zrínyi National Defence University, Budapest, Hungary In Hungary there are 13 national and ethnic minorities, the biggest of which are the Roma. The Roma have their own language, culture, tradition but they don t have their own country. The Roma population of Hungary is about ; it makes up 6% of the country s population, and this proportion is increasing. This leads to a difficult ethnic problem unemployment, prejudice against the Gypsy. The government s policies relating to ethnic minorities attempt to solve this difficult problem. The Roma in the Hungarian Army have to face the same disadvantage, and the Ministry of Defence is to carry out this task by means of a new minority strategy. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of this situation and to take stock of the relationship between this important minority and the Hungarian Defence Forces. Zhanav ke jekh Ungriko them si: le romengo thaj gazhengo them. There is one Hungary: the Gypsy and the Hungarian common country. 1 Introduction Hungary joined the European Union on 1 May This represented the end point of a process of historical change. At the date of its accession, the Hungarian Republic had 13 national and ethnic minorities. In the course of Hungary s history, minority problems have always been a basic issue for politicians. Every time the politicians did not take it seriously and did not pay attention to minority problems, if they violated minority rights, it always led to a catastrophe for the country, like in the case of the revolution and war of independence of , when the Hungarians could have won if the politicians had come to a compromise with the minorities, The 20th century shows a lot of similar conflicts as well. The biggest minority in Hungary are the Roma. The Roma population of Hungary is about ; it makes up 6% of the population, and this proportion is increasing. The Roma have their own language, culture, tradition but they don t have an own country. In the course of their history the Roma lived as an outcast and homeless people but they attempted to adapt themselves to the new surroundings, to the life of the new country where they had the chance to settle down. The Roma have lived in the Carpathian basin since the 14th century but their situation remained unsolved. So the Received: February 15, 2008 Address for correspondence: VERONIKA KARÁCSONY karacsony.veronika@zmne.hu

2 unemployment of the Roma, their underprivileged status and the limited chances they have to access education creates a difficult nationality problem, not to speak about the prejudice against the Roma. The Roma face the same disadvantages in the Hungarian Defence Forces, which is one of the largest organisations of the Hungarian society. The Ministry of Defence attempts to solve this problem by means of a new minority strategy. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of this situation and to take stock of the relationship between this important minority and the Hungarian Defence Forces. Previous researches In the course of my previous researches I tried to present the role and situation of the Roma in the Hungarian military history and to gain an overall picture of who they are, where they came from, where they are going, what role they played in history e.g. in the 1514 Dózsa peasant revolt, the Bocskai s war of independence or during the 1848 Hungarian war of independence. I tried to give a real picture about their situation in the Hungarian armed forces after 1945; I concentrated on questions of recruitment, the restrictions on their accession, and the gipsy companies. I analysed research results on professional soldier s opinion about gipsy soldiers. My point of view is that the professional soldiers thinking relies on stereotypes. Finally I shall describe the present situation, acts, law decrees, resolutions, and edicts after the EU accession. I will refer to the Roma Inter-Ministerial Committee (Cigány Tárcaközi Bizottság), the Roma Social Committee of the Ministry of Defence (HM Romaügyi Társadalmi Bizottság), and the Roma Task Force of the Ministry of Defence (HM Romaügyi Referatúra). I would like to stress that the Hungarian Army has always been and will be very important for the Roma because the army is a place of socialisation. By this, it is also a place to give an overall picture of the relationship this minority and the Hungarian Defence Forces. The most important issues My researches in this project led to many questions.. I would like to introduce only the most important ones. Could the Hungarian army increase the chances of the young Roma on the labour market? 228 AARMS 7(2) (2008)

3 Could it help in reducing the disadvantages? Does the army remain a place of mobilisation? Could all young gipsy people adapt to its hierarchical system? Don t they have mentality problems? Why is this project worth for further research? The increasing Roma population of Hungary is about On the basis of the sociological statistical survey pursued in 2003 by István Kemény, with a 5% margin of error Roma live in Hungary, and with a 10% margin of error. I.e. in early 2003 the Roma population in Hungary was between and and so far by 2006 it counts about people more. 2 On the other hand the population of Hungary has been decreasing since In 2003 Hungary had a population of On basis of the researches of the demographist László Hablicsek, the Roma population could reach in 2050, while the Hungarian population as a whole could decrease to 8 million. So the proportion of the Roma population may increase from 5% to 11%. 3 There is a tendency that the Roma population at the age between years will increase and grow from to Their percentage as to the country s labour resources could increase from 4% to 11%. 4 On basis of the forecasts, the gipsy youth at the age of will become a potential manpower. The survey by István Kemény comes to this conclusion because only 16% of the country s population but 36,8% of the gipsy population is between the age of Moreover, in ,3% of the gipsy population was at the age of and 9,1% was years old. 5 The measures of the Ministry of Defence, the Roma Task Force of the Ministry of Defence and the Roma Social Committee of the Ministry of Defence aim at these young people. The rights, obligations, and dues of the professional soldiers are listed in the Act XCV of 2001 about the legal status of the professional and contractual effective forces of the Hungarian Army. The criteria of joining the army are the following: Voluntary Between 18 and 47 years Hungarian citizenship No criminal record Domicile in Hungary Prescribed qualifications Good physical condition Undertake stipulated charge AARMS 7(2) (2008) 229

4 There is little information on how many gipsies have joined the army. On the basis of a survey conducted in 2004 by Ágnes Gordos and Gyula Gyimesi that currently (as of 2006) the proportion of the Roma in the Hungarian Army is 12%, but I more exactly it is 6 8%. The Roma are under-represented in the military organisations, and this percentage is different in the corps. To get a real and exact picture we have to estimate the number of those young people able to meet the above mentioned requirements. 50% of the children having graduated at primary school continued their studies in trade schools, technical secondary schools or in grammar schools in Still, the question is, how many come to a secondary graduation. About 20% of Roma children finish grammar school. 6 It is clear that young people with a low level of education face great disadvantages on the labour market and those among them who are Roma, face even more. In such a situation, working in the army could be a solution (Figure 1). We have to pay attention to the territorial disparities, because certain parts of the country accommodate more gipsies, and more unemployed people. In the Northern part of Hungary, in the Hungarian Plain, in Southern Transdanubia live many unemployed people, and the unemployment rate is the highest there in the whole country 7 (Figure 2). 230 AARMS 7(2) (2008)

5 Most Roma live in those parts of the country, where unemployment is the highest in Hungary. People living there have little chance to find a job, and gipsies have even smaller. The army offers an opportunity to have a good job to reduce disadvantages, to give a chance for social rise, for integration, and it offer further chances for education. Moreover, soldiers get a good salary, a flat and lot of bonuses and advantages. The most important corps is located in these parts of the country: in Debrecen, Hódmezvásárhely, Szolnok, Szentes, Kecskemét, and Kaposvár. In the past few years there have been a lot of efforts made to help these regions to reduce the disadvantages and especially to help the Roma. So the army takes part in pursuing the minority strategy. Further questions I haven t got any answers for the following questions: Is the Hungarian Army able to reduce the disadvantages? Could it be a channel of mobilization? I think, the future holds the answer. To find a job in the army can be a channel of mobilization for people, and their children would have a better life. However, I have some doubts about the following: Could the applying group of young Roma adapt to the inherent hierarchical system of a military organization? Don t these people have conflicts concerning their mentality? AARMS 7(2) (2008) 231

6 Fundamentally the Roma constitute a subculture in Hungary with their culture, language, traditions, and habits. But we should not be afraid of these problems. The USA succeeded in solving the problems of Afro-Americans and the Spanish speaking minorities and Hungary does not have such a serious problem as it was in the United States. On the other hand we should take into consideration the soldiers relation to the Roma soldiers. As a result of a survey of the Zrínyi Miklós National Defence University Sociology Department we can state that 33% of the soldiers have prejudice against the Roma. It is a very high rate but in the last 10 years it has been decreasing 8 (Figure 3). The relation of NCOs and the COs to the Roma soldiers changed a little in A survey made by Ágnes Gordos and Gyula Gyimesi in 2004 there are 3 major groups among them: 9 (Figure 4). 1. non-committal 2. prejudiced 3. acceptable 232 AARMS 7(2) (2008)

7 58% of the soldiers took a middle course; this is the group that said the Roma aren t others, so they are called non-committal. This group contains mainly women, highranked officers and the low educated soldiers. 29% of the soldiers have prejudice; members of this group are mainly men, NCOs, warrant officers and people with a grammar school degree. The 13% of the soldiers to best accept the Roma are warrant officers, officers, and high graduated people with a university degree. 80% of the third group could accept a Roma comrade, 70% of the second group reject them as a comrade, 62% reject them as a subaltern, and 51% as a commander. However, members of each group were of the opinion and explained that the Roma have very good stamina. Summary In my opinion the army offers a very good chance for the young gipsy people, and the tendencies show this, too. But let s not forget the result of the survey that showed that most of the soldiers are non-committal. The hidden risk factors of non-acceptance could be dangerous and the problems and conflicts can only be solved in the society. Obviously, there is a need of further research of these projects. Notes 1. Address Delivered by Ferenc Gyurcsány in the Debate of the Government Programme, ( ) 2. KEMÉNY JANKY: A 2003 évi cigány felmérésrl, Népesedési, nyelvhasználati és nemzetiségi adatok. Beszél 2003/10, p L. HABLICSEK: Kísérlet a roma népesség elreszámítására 2050-ig, in: HORVÁTH LANDAU SZALAI (Eds), Cigánynak születni. Új Mandátum, Budapest, 2000, p Ibid. p KEMÉNY JANKY: op. cit. p KEMÉNY JANKY: Késésben és lemaradóban, A cigányok és az iskola 2003-ban; Beszél IX/9 (2004), p Zrínyi Miklós National Defence University: The relation of COs and the NCOs to the gipsy soldiers, ZMNDU s survey, Á. GORDOS: The Gypsy in the Army, Conference of the Gipsy Task Force of the Defence Ministry, Göd, 7 October AARMS 7(2) (2008) 233

8 References Demográfiai Évkönyv 2003, (KSH, Budapest, 2004). FRASER, A.: A cigányok, (Osiris, Budapest, 2002). HABLICSEK, L.: Kísérlet a roma népesség elreszámítására 2050-ig, in: HORVÁTH LANDAU SZALAI (Eds), Cigánynak születni. (Új Mandátum, Budapest, 2000) p KEMÉNY JANKY: A 2003 évi cigány felmérésrl, Népesedési, nyelvhasználati és nemzetiségi adatok. Beszél, 2003/10, p. 66. KEMÉNY JANKY: Késésben és lemaradóban, A cigányok és az iskola 2003-ban; Beszél IX/9 (2004), p. 73. KEMÉNY, I.: A magyarországi cigány népesség demográfiája, Demográfia 2004/3 4, p S. KÁLLAI SZ. (Ed.): Társadalom és Honvédelem VIII/12 (2004), Roma Különszám. SZABÓ, J.: Kisebbségek a haderben. (Zrínyi Kiadó, Budapest, 2002). SZUHAI, P.: Amit a cigányokról tudni kell A cigányok etnográfiája in: TÓTH, S. (Ed.): Bevezetés a romológiába. A cigány népismeret kultúrantropológiai, történeti, politológiai és szociológiai aspektusai (Szöveggyjtemény) (Budapest, 2004). ZRÍNYI MIKLÓS NATIONAL DEFENCE UNIVERSITY: The relation of COs and the NCOs to the gipsy soldiers, ZMNDU s surveys, ZRÍNYI MIKLÓS NATIONAL DEFENCE UNIVERSITY: The relation to the gipsy soldiers, ZMNDU s surveys, AARMS 7(2) (2008)