Romanian gypsies

About 150,000 people live in the city of Baia Mare in northwestern Romania. It is located near the border with Hungary and Ukraine. According to the 2012 census, the ethnic composition of the city is 84% Romanians, 12% Hungarians and 2% Roma.

(Total 19 photos)

1. About 10-12 million Roma live throughout Europe, making them one of the largest ethnic minorities in the EU. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

2. About 1,500 Roma live in the poor area of Kraika on the outskirts of the city. The main source of income is the sale of scrap metal found in local abandoned mines. There is no clean water and limited access to electricity. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

3. Since 2011, local authorities have been demolishing slums and relocating Roma to buildings ranging from disused factories to old government offices. The authorities consider Roma to be illegal immigrants. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

4. Another part of the gypsy community lives in the slums on Horea Street. In 2012, the mayor of the city, Catalin Cereches, ordered the construction of a wall around the area. While this idea was supported by non-Romani residents of the city, a Romani rights group called it a modern form of segregation. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

5. The authorities claim that they are trying to lift the Roma out of poverty by giving them better housing and better education and jobs. As of February 2013, it was planned to build a modern residential complex for Roma with 500 houses. However, the search for a suitable location is still ongoing. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

6. A woman in front of her hut in the Kraika district in the city of Baia Mare. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

7. Children in the window of their house. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

8. Girl at the house on Horea Street. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

9. Family in the apartment in the smoke from the stove. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

10. Slums on Horea Street. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

11. Boy and dog on abandoned railroad tracks. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

12. A woman with a broom in front of her hut. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

13. An abandoned apartment building where gypsies live. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

14. Daily life in the gypsy slums. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

15. A woman in an apartment building on Horea Street. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

16. Romanian gypsy. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

17. Children play in the slums in the Kraika district in the city of Baia Mare. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

18. Woman in the window of one of the apartments. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)

19. A rickety house in a gypsy slum. (EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI)