Pathway to Progress? - DVD-vel [antikvár]

ForewordBack in 2002, eight-year-old Danijel Stepanovic and his mother left Valjevo for Vienna. Danijel's mother saw no prospects for a brighter and better future for herself or for her son if they remained in Serbia. They quickly settled in Vienna; Danijel enrolled in school, and his mother found a job. There they lived for seven years until the time came for Danijel to enroll in secondary school. As his legal status was still unresolved, and although his mother had the right to remain in Austria, Danijel was deported. Both mother and son returned to Valjevo. Stuck in Serbia for a year, Danijel remained out of school, and his mother remained out of work. Immediately following visa liberalisation in January 2010, they made their way back to Vienna.For vast numbers of Roma in Serbia the future is bleak. In addition to higher levels of poverty and unemployment than the rest of the population, they face many forms of direct and indirect discrimination. With little hope of a better future in Serbia, it is a certainty that, just like Danijel and his mother, many thousands of Roma will choose to emigrate. They are tired of waiting for governments to keep their promises, tired of waiting for abstract policy to produce real change. This experience is not a Serbian particularity. It is the stark reality of the situation of Roma right across the Western Balkans.There are about one million of us Roma in the Western Balkans. About 700,000 remain unemployed, and an estimated 300,000 of our youth are illiterate. For all of us, the eventual accession of our countries to the European Union holds forth the chance for a better life and a brighter future. In the meantime we ask ourselves: do we remain at home, or migrate and try to make our homes elsewhere in the European Union? Right now, the choices are: stay at home, face discrimination, poverty and the lack of opportunity; or migrate in search of a better life. There is no doubt that our communities will face discrimination abroad, but many consider it a price worth paying to create a future for their children.5