News

A research multidisciplinary team, initiated by the State Agency for Child Protection (SACP) was formed on 2-nd July, 2015 to assess the current state of risk in "Kremikovtsi" neighbourhood, the village of Garmen. The assessment was made through fieldwork in the neighborhood, families’ survey and description of their needs. That was done to provide clarity to the situation from the source. The purpose of the received information was to develop an action plan given the crisis situation there - what should be done and which institutions would be involved.

The team was formed by a representative of SACP, social workers from the towns of Gotse Delchev and Blagoevgrad and two community moderators of Center Amalipe- Ivan Todorov (from Community Development Center- Veliko Tarnovo) and Stefan Stefanov (from Community Development Center- Pavlikeni). The moderators of Amalipe were included after an invitation from the SACP.

Fieldwork was conducted from 2 to 5 July, during which all families that were living currently in the neighborhood were interviewed. Part of the families were currently in forests, collecting mushrooms, herbs etc. - seasonal work, which made them living. Those families were not covered in the survey. The information gathered is now summarized by SACP.

Overview of the Kremikovtsi neighbourhood, Municipality of Garmen

• Approximately 800 inhabitants;
• 47 children were born in the period January - June 2015; in comparison, only 7 other children were born in Garmen. 380 children were born in th eneighbourhood for the period 1998 - 2015, making local families some of the larger Roma families nationwide. Part of the children born in the neighbourhood are not currently living there, they have migrated with their families;
• Students from 1-12 grades from Kremikovtsi neighbourhod study in the local highschool "St. Cyril and Methodius"- 170 students; in the primary school, located in the village of Gorno Dryanovo 1-8 grades - 32 students;
• 137 children were prevented from attending school as a result of the protests that erupted in late May and the subsequent blockade of the neighbourhood. Due to absences, the child allowances to their families were stopped;
• The School in Garmen has a very good material base. At the same time the majority of parents think that the educational process is not high leveled and children remain illiterate, although visiting schools;
• 70% of students in Garmen are Roma and 30% of them are of other origin - Bulgarian Christians and Muslims;
• So far, the school has not expressed a desire to join the network of 170 schools, developed within the program to reduce the dropout of Roma children "Every student could be a winner", initiated and implemented by Center Amalipe;
• Lack of dialogue on both sides, relations between the two ethnic groups are strongly exacerbated after the conflict by the end of May, the protests and the destruction of the first houses;
• The municipal government: people in the neighborhood accuse the municipal government and administration in lack of responsibility and disengagement to the problem. After previous government had issued certificates of tolerance to the houses and had sold plots of land to the owners of the houses, the new government has not engaged with the problem and has left residents without alternative. Interdepartmental Commission also failed to meet with the mayor, and the meeting with the Deputy Mayor was short and rather for the protocol.

The houses in Kremikovtsi neighbourhood:

There are 134 houses in th eKremikovtsi neighbourhood, that impress with their poverty. Most are single-room, a small part - with two rooms and only about 10 houses have more than two rooms and good living conditions. Most of the houses are not water supplied, as water comes from several fountains in the neighborhood.

Out of 134 houses, 10 were identified as acceptable and 124 - for destruction. Four have already been demolished, although they were the residence of 15 children. 2 more houses are to be demolished on 13 July, 2015. Two families, including a pregnant woman in the eight month are living in the first one. The other house is recently the residence of a 8-member family, having a boy with 95% disability. The father is playing the role of assistant to his boy and thus earns the only family income; when there is a possibility, in th esummer mostly, they pick up strawberries and herbs.

All houses in the neighborhood have been issued certificates of tolerance in the municipality, in the period November 2010 - July 2011 which means they are practically protected from demolishing. Some of the buildings are listed after the finding of the Directorate for National Construction Control (DNCC) that they are illegal. Basically it did not make those houses legal but it should have protected them from demolition.

If all 124 houses in the list of the State Agency for National and Construction Control are demolished, more than 700 people will remain on the street. The first forced house deconstruction was on 29 June 2015, when 4 houses were demolished, yet another deconstruction of two more houses is expected on 13 July 2015. All other buildings will be removed in an appropriate period, commensurate with construction companies and NCSD.

Roma in Kremikovtsi neighbourhood

It turned out that only one Roma family are Muslims, few are Orthodox Christians and the majority are evangelical in the church of "PHILADELPHIA". Despite severe poverty, morality is on a relatively high level, which is proved by facts, such as:

• There are no alcoholics in the neighbourhood. The fact is also confirmed by the owners of two stores there (ethnic Bulgarians) - "Having so many people, we cannot sell even a single case of beer";
• It is noteworthy that despite the existence of much domestic waste, among them there are no remains of cigarettes - an indicator of the lack of smoking;
• There are not a single one suffering from venereal diseases;
• Any form of addiction is absent;
  

The educational level is extremely low. Much of the inhabitants lack primary education. In recent years there were some cases of people, who completed secondary education but they were very isolated and even the residents of the neighborhood admit that their real education is low.

A good child care even at very poor families is obvious. There are no single parents, the residents of the neighborhood are very strict about marriage / namely: the coexistence/ despite early marriages. Children are well cared for and looked after with attention and love.

The Community Moderators of Center Amalipe express their gratitude to Julian, without whom the fieldwork in the Kremikovtsi neighborhood would not be possible.