Word: romas
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...despised people living at the margins of society all across the Balkans and the wider European continent from Russia to Spain, their persecution at the hands of returning ethnic Albanians in Kosovo is simply another chapter in a long history of suffering. Originally from Northern India, the Gypsies ? or Roma people ? were nomadic tribesmen skilled in crafts and music who were scattered westward more than a thousand years ago by successive waves of war and occupation. Passing through the Persian, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, they settled throughout Asia Minor, the Arab world, the Balkans and Europe but maintained common threads...
...Kosovar attacks on the Roma aren?t based simply on traditional European stereotyping of Gypsies as a menacing criminal element; they?re a response to the Gypsies? perceived support of Serb savagery against ethnic Albanians. Enraged by tales of Gypsies looting Albanian property or being enlisted by Serb paramilitaries to bury the bodies of massacred Albanians ? and even some accounts of torture and rape at the hands of individual Gypsies ?- returning refugees and the KLA have vowed to rid the province of its Roma population...
...That many Roma people worked for the Serbs ? usually as manual laborers ?- throughout their campaign of violence against ethnic Albanians is not in dispute. "Ever since Serbia withdrew Kosovo?s autonomy in 1989, the authorities have been reluctant to hire ethnic Albanians even as street cleaners," says TIME Central Europe bureau reporter Dejan Anastasijevic. "Because they accepted employment by the Serbs at a time when Albanians were boycotting all Serb institutions, they gained a reputation for siding with the Serbs. But as is the case all over the Balkans and Europe, Gypsies have always been the lowest class of citizen...
...when the Serbs were butchering Kosovar Albanians, they paid Gypsies to clear rubble and dig the graves. The Roma population ? many of whom painted the word "Rom" on their houses ? were also spared by the rampaging Serb paramilitaries. Some individuals are alleged to have played a more actively violent role in the Serb campaign; others to have given the Serbs political support. Other Gypsies actually joined the KLA, although a number have subsequently complained of being forced at gunpoint...
...Milan, launched a $16 billion bid to buy northern rival Banca Commerciale Italiana, perhaps Italy's most prestigious banking brand. Only a few hours later, San Paulo-IMI, which had become the country's largest commercial bank through an earlier merger, announced a $9.7 billion offer for Banca di Roma, which has a strong retail network in Italy's central region...