Introduction

Written sources bearing witness to the Roma population in Europe date back to the 14th and 15th centuries. On the basis of research and comparisons of the Romani language, linguists have identified the Roma migration route and agreed that the Roma came from India in the 14th century and began to settle in large numbers from the 17th century onwards (Hancock 1988). According to Okely (1996), the Roma as a European minority have one common feature, namely being perceived as ‘others’. This ‘otherness’ has been evoked in traditional studies (for example, anthropology, sociology, social work, and so on) to orientalise them by emphasising their Indian origin (Said 1996). The orientalisation of the Roma produces the effect of a double exclusion in their representation as both biological and cultural foreigners. Taking this as a starting point, Okely (1996) rejected the thesis that all Gypsies are Indian by origin, in turn rejecting the notions of ‘true’ Roma and ‘false’ Travellers. According to primordialist conceptualisations, which see ethnos as a universal framework of the existence of human groups, the Romani ethnos along with its constantly emphasised nomadism originates in India.

Data shows that there are between 10 and 15 million Roma in Europe. Countries such as Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania have the highest numbers of Roma, with estimates that there are 700,000–800,000 in Bulgaria, 550,000–600,000 in Hungary, and 1,800,000–2,500,000 in Romani.