Although living close to other communities, Roma in the Western Balkans have different access to the labor market, education, water supply or electricity, as well as housing conditions, according to a World Bank survey. Roma in Northern Macedonia make up 9.6 percent of the population.
In the Western Balkan countries, even when their neighbors from other communities live at a distance of not more than 300 meters, the Roma have different access to the labor market, education, water supply or electricity, as well as housing conditions. This is shown by a new World Bank research titled "Getting out of the circle of exclusion of Roma in the Western Balkans".
"We suspect that some of the reasons for these differences lie in discrimination, because it is not expected to have such differences when the community lives together. And that's exactly what we discovered - that there is a huge gap between the Roma and the non-Roma population, "says Natalija Mijan, co-author of the research.
