Over the last couple of days we have witnessed massive media hysteria about the case of
Maria, a young girl supposedly abducted by a Roma couple in Greece. DNA tests and
Lombroso-style racial profiling [1] have come into action in a case that has stirred the
irrational anxiety that feeds racism and bigotry. Beyond the fact that child abduction is
a serious issue, the "whiteness" and "blondeness" of the alleged victim have been
emphasised together with the "Roma" condition of the alleged culprits. Let us remember
that this is taking place in Greece, a country where blatant racism (as expressed by
Golden Dawn) is on the rise, so there are good reasons to be cautious about this whole
case. ---- Now this hysteria has reached Irish shores. Over the last couple of days we
have seen the Garda?, the Irish police, forcefully taking away two Roma children from
their parents.
On Monday, a 7-year-old girl was removed for 48 hours from her family in Tallaght
(Dublin), and on Tuesday the same thing happened to a 2-year-old boy for 24 hours in
Athlone (County Westmeath). Eventually, the kids were returned to their parents after DNA
tests were carried out, proving they were indeed related to their parents. What evidence
did they have to proceed in the way they did? None, apart from their looks... Sure, they
were too blonde to have Roma parents... suspicious, eh? Can it get any scarier than being
white in a Roma household? As the dark-haired father of a young blonde, I can't help but
feeling that I have become suspicious, too. The lack of evidence to proceed in such a way
has prompted many to talk about the State's responsibility in the abduction of these children.
This has been justified by Minister Alan Shatter by saying that Garda? were only
attempting to protect the children. This is a most sorry excuse, indeed, not only because
the government, through cuts in social services, has been at the frontline of a series of
attacks against the rights of children, but also because the racial profiling at work in
this case is way too evident. Romas have been singled out and the Garda? feel like they
can take the children away from their parents as long as they are Roma. No serious proof
is needed, because, well, Romas are guilty until proved innocent... I wonder if they would
feel they could do the same whenever they see a black or an Asian child with white Irish
parents.
Don't get me wrong; I do think human trafficking is a serious matter. Every year it is
estimated that the appalling figure of 250,000 people are trafficked into Europe: many of
them are children; the vast majority of them are brought for sexual exploitation. When
discussing this heinous crime, the nationality of those pulling the strings of these
trafficking networks is never an issue. But now that we have found one possible case of a
"blonde girl", victim of "dark brutes", hysteria breaks out. This hysteria and the
bullying behaviour of police in the Roma children cases have nothing to do with protecting
children. This is racism at its finest. Children have been traumatised and their families
have been further victimised: now it is emerging that the Roma family in Tallaght has been
subject to years of abuse by their neighbours, which has included physical attacks, verbal
abuse and threats, and even arson! Needless to say, the Garda? have been nowhere nearby to
protect this family and their children when racism has knocked at their door. In fact,
they have only stepped in to demonstrate the institutional dimension of racism in Europe.
This is happening when thousands of desperate migrants drown, victims of "Fortress
Europe", as they try to reach European shores in order to escape the mess left behind by
centuries of European colonialism and neocolonialism. There is a nasty anti-immigrant
hysteria, irresponsibly stoked up by the media and by politicians, which is taking a toll
on the lives of actual people. Silence in the face of racial profiling is just not an
option. Fair play to Pavee Point, an organisation traditionally linked to the struggle for
the rights of another discriminated group, the Travellers [2], for demanding an
independent probe into this whole affair. Travellers know best how entrenched racism is in
Irish society.
There was a time in which the Jews were said to be child robbers (apart from greedy
bankers and the murderers of no other than the Son of the Almighty Lord). Of course, the
bigots said, they were to blame for their bad reputation, just like the Romas today. We
know how that story finished. How little has Europe learnt from its own past!
Jos? Antonio Guti?rrez D.
24th October 2013
* C?ad M?le F?ilte means "A hundred thousands welcomes" in Irish and is an expression used
to describe how welcoming the Irish people are. Well, as long as you are not Roma,
Chinese, Nigerian, Pakistani, Somali, etc. etc. etc.
[1]. Cesare Lombroso, 19th century Italian criminologist who theorized that criminal
behaviour was an inherited trait.
[2]. A mostly nomadic native ethnic group in Ireland.
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