Indicator history

In southern Poland there are some Roma clusters separated from the remainder of the locality. Most Roma are dispersed throughout towns with populations of more than 10 000. This is the result of government policy in communist Poland, which quartered Roma in ways that would facilitate their assimilation. This was not always successful, as counties did not always have sufficient housing resources in various parts of a given locality. As a result, and also due to their own preferences – as the Roma sometimes desired an appropriate location for their horses – it happened that the Roma were settled near each other at the outskirts of towns. Over the years, some moved to other parts of the city, while the cities themselves expanded. Consequently, there are some large Roma communities/neighbourhoods, though clusters of several Roma homes are far more frequent.

Dorota Hall, Agnieszka Mikulska, Thematic Study. Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Warsaw 2009.