![]() Foreigners indirectly became the privileged and Romani peoples (and Romani women, in particular), the victimised. What emerged as problematic were private, illegitimate adoptions that structured a system that situated the Romani within a power hierarchy. Many Romanians viewed the exodus of adopted Gypsy children as a legitimate means to rid the country of them at the expense of foreigners there are others who resented the squandering of Western altruism and resources on Gypsies. Given that prejudice against the Gypsies in Romania is unlikely to be eliminated in the near future, adoption was thought to provide a humanitarian road out for some of these children, whose chances for productive lives would otherwise be slim. 6 Through the 1990s, the growth in international adoption notably and dispropo6rtionately impacted on Romani children. Here, international humanitarian rhetoric, women's rights, and the rights of the child intertwine to address what has been referred to as the "baby trade". The first arose in Romania following the Ceausescu regime in the form of international adoption. Patterns of assimilation and paternalism have, in more recent times, shifted. It is useful, therefore, to examine how more historical events and current realities now shape the issue in changing cultural contexts. What this observation reveals is child protection in the form of institutionalisation runs contrary to the fundamental familial and community values of the Romani peoples. According to these experts, the high numbers of Romani children in institutions indicate an alarming crisis in the traditionally strong Romani family. Roma have historically been noteworthy for refusing to institutionalise their children, even when families had sunk so deep into poverty that children were regularly left without adequate food. The institutionalisation of Romani children has therefore emerged as particularly problematic and is noted by social workers and other experts in Romania: This legacy has resulted in what has been described as a "high level of isolation", a greater "feeling of solidarity and kinship within the group" 4 and the correlating anti-assimilationist attitude towards majority culture and values. 3 Since this period, the historical patterns of forced assimilation and extermination have persisted, from the devastation of the Holocaust to the Swedish Sterilisation Acts of 19. ![]() In addition, an express ban on the use of Roma names and language was accompanied by the forced removal of Roma children into non-Roma peasant families to be "educated". For example, under the Hapsburg monarchy of the 18th century, assimilation took the form of a direct prohibition against the itinerant Roma lifestyle under the 1761 edict of Maria Theresa. ![]() Within this contextual reality is the recognition of the forced removal of Roma children as indicative of the longstanding and widespread implementation of active and aggressive policies of forced assimilation. The historic treatment of Romani people has shaped a people profoundly entangled in a cyclical pattern of survival and oppression. ![]() Nevertheless, the persistence of this phenomenon requires a review of the ways in which the forced removal of Romani children from their families both historically and currently manifest in order to prevent continued patterns of oppression. The current literature surrounding this issue is sporadic and at times inadequate. What has emerged is (1) a recognition of underlying macro causes which contribute to inadequate (sub)standards of living (2) parental, community, and familial rights to raise a child and (3) the role of the state as guardian and the measures and processes that occur before, during, and after a child is forcibly removed. In the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 2 Article 3(1) establishes the "best interests of the child" as the primary consideration. Notably, the intersectionality of oppressions must necessarily recognise the ways in which ethnicity, gender, age, and class integrate, perpetuate, and exacerbate the individualised realities of both parent and child. The interaction between social worker, parent, child, state institution, and what indeed constitutes the "best interests of the child" has become problematic in tilting the precarious balance between what constitutes assimilation or preservation and integration or segregation. The forced removal of children from their Roma families is, in and of itself, inherently symptomatic of wider systemic issues that emanate from the historic and continued victimisation, segregation, and oppression of the Romani peoples. Forced Removal of Romani Children from the Care of their Families ![]()
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