The first Humanitarian Aid Award given by the Council of Europe in honor of Swedish diplomat Raul Wallenberg will be presented to Elmas Arus (34) for her fight against discrimination against Roma. So, who is Elmas Arus?
Born in Amasya as one of the five children of a semi-nomadic family, Arus's Roma-origin mother worked as a domestic worker, and her Abdal-origin father supported the family by selling woven baskets and doing temporary factory work. "I was the first girl from my 30,000-strong clan to attend school," Elmas begins to tell her story: "In our community, it was forbidden for girls to go out, meaning to attend school. Boys could only go up to the third grade, but my father saw illiteracy as blindness."
Despite the neighborhood's reactions, Elmas's father sent her to school. After five years, Elmas graduated successfully, but the family moved to Istanbul, and the pressure of "You are 12 years old now, it's time to get married!" started again. Elmas stayed at home for four years, learning housework and lace making. However, she never gave up on the idea of education: "I knew that education was the only way out. I thought, 'Why should I live my mother's fate?' I told my family I would not get married. It wasn't easy, but I managed to convince them to let me complete middle school externally." She finished middle school in a short time and enrolled in high school: "Going to high school was a turning point in my life. They didn't call me 'Gypsy,' but I always felt the social and class difference in their behavior."
Other Roma in Edirne
She got into the Radio and Television Department of Trakya University. In Edirne, she encountered other Roma groups outside her own: "The traditions and customs of the groups vary regionally. Everyone knows a small part of the story. I started questioning, 'Who am I, where did I come from?' To find the answer, I decided to make a documentary by traveling around Turkey." However, realizing her project was not easy due to financial and technical deficiencies. She worked in various jobs for a while and met her husband Haluk Arus. They started filming with their small team.
Roms, Doms, and Loms
Elmas Arus and her team spent nine years in the field. "Every year, we would select 10 cities and enter 30-40 neighborhoods for a month," she says. "There was no comprehensive research done until then. We didn't know which group belonged to which. We filmed all the different groups referred to as 'Gypsies' in 400 neighborhoods in 38 provinces." After piecing it together, three main groups emerged: Roms (Roma), Doms, and Loms. Arus documented her nine years of fieldwork in the documentary titled 'Buçuk' and founded the Zero Discrimination Association in 2009 to find solutions to the deep poverty and exclusion they witnessed. The association lobbies for government policy development regarding Roma. Arus says, "We are just at the beginning of the road. Urgent permanent policies must be made. Previously, Roma were ignored. Therefore, no one touched them. Now they exist, but they are weak, poor, and can't explain themselves to society."
Tent Exit Ban in Yalova
The people of Yalova impressed the young activist the most during her fieldwork: "The locals denied the existence of the Roma. Later, we noticed tents hidden among the bushes. The municipality didn't allow Roma to go outside during the day because they caused 'visual pollution.' They collected garbage at night and retreated to their tents during the day. Another thing that impressed me was the Dom groups in Gaziantep. The marriage age was 9-10. In a group of 350 people, only one person was literate. The biggest demand of the children was not to study but to get circumcised. They couldn't afford it because it was expensive."
Must It Be Roma?
Is the correct term 'Roma' or 'Gypsy'? Elmas Arus answers: "Until the Roma Opening three years ago, the term 'Gypsy' was used for all the marginal members of society. After the opening, 'Roma' is now perceived as a more popular and clean concept. However, the word 'Gypsy' is not to blame. The prejudices and discriminatory policies that fill it with negativity need to be eliminated. Since there is a mixed dynamic within the groups, the confusion of identity and concepts continues. But if you express yourself under other identities, you can't solve the problems."
Zeynep BİLGEHAN
Date: 08.12.2013
Source: Hürriyet Newspaper
