At the end of War and Genocide, Bergen makes it quite clear that for many, the persecution suffered under the Nazi government did not end with the war but continued throughout the 20th century at the hands of other groups. As one specific case she mentions the Roma who were left homeless by arson attacks in the 1990s in Romania. It should come as no surprise, then, that when plans were announced last summer to build a wall between the Roma neighborhood of the Romanian city of Baia Mare and the rest of the community, many Roma groups and NGOs were quick to call foul play. As many have pointed out, the wall could be a blatant attempt at segregation or ghettoization. Additionally, because the apartments in question have no running water or electricity and the local governments have made little or no effort to improve living conditions in the area, some would claim that it even meets the qualification of "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part" as set in the UN convention on genocide. With this in mind, the Romanian National Council for Combatting Discrimination (NCCD) initiated an investigation, ruled that the wall did qualify as discrimination, and fined Catalain Chereches, the Mayor of Baia Mare, almost $2000.
However, Chereches defends the wall as something of a public service. In a short video about the wall done by the Agence France-Presse (AFP), Chereches says that the wall, which is approximately two meters high and runs for 100 meters along a main thoroughfare, is there to prevent children from the Roma community from running into the street and getting hit by cars. In addition, following the decision of the NCCD, Chereches also contested their findings, and an appeals court later cleared him of the charge altogether.
But the story continues. Following the affair concerning the wall and in response to complaints about the living conditions in the Roma neighborhood, Chereches announced plans to build a new set of apartments, complete with running water, electricity, and central heat; in land purchased across the river from the main town. Almost immediately, this announcement was met with many of the same claims of discrimination as before. NGOs claimed that the decision was made without the consent of the Roma, which would make the movement a forced eviction, while Chereches claimed that he had been working closely with the Roma, that the movement was taking place with their full consent, and that the NGOs in question were deliberately misinforming news agencies, and foreign governments. As far as I know, the situation has not been resolved or, if it has, I couldn't find any information about it in English.
The events in Baia Mare raise several questions in my mind. Specific to the situation, is it possible that the Mayor's actions, which appear to be discriminatory, are actually being misinterpreted? If so, how can we tell the difference? More broadly, how do we determine the intent of an action, and is the willful intent to discriminate against someone (or to commit genocide) necessary for us to label an action as discriminatory (or genocidal)?
For example, if a non-minority group lived in the neighborhood in Baia Mare that the Roma inhabit and the city decided to build a wall, most people would probably accept that the wall was truly intended to protect children. The largest complaint would be that the wall is rather ugly and inconvenient, and there might be efforts to change the speed limit or install a traffic light as an alternative. Instead, many have concluded that because the Roma are on one side of the wall, it is an obvious attempt to build a ghetto around them. The same can be said of the planned development. If a non-minority was offered free or subsidized housing in order to improve their living situation, it would be hailed as the government serving the people, even if it is a bit further from town. However, because they are Roma, and the development will house multiple groups of Roma from different neighborhoods (all of whom are currently living in tenements built during the Soviet occupation), it is assumed that the intent is to remove the Roma from the city.
In this case, I believe that it's entirely possible that Mayor Chereches is acting with the best of intentions as he says. Perhaps the decision to build a wall or ask people to move on short notice was made easier by the fact that those people are Roma, but I think it stops far short of outright discrimination. I also believe that the various NGOs and the NCCD may have acted a bit quickly. While racism and discrimination are still undoubtedly a problem in our world, I think that we should make an attempt to understand a situation, including it's causes and results, before making a value judgement about the character of those taking action. Vigilance is laudable, but we should stop short of jumping at shadows.
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