Riot police expel 130 Roma asylum seekers from refugee camp in Bron, France. serge mouraret/Demotix. All rights reserved.Ten years ago at the launch of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015, the heads of the World Bank and Open Society Foundations, James Wolfensohn and George Soros described the Decade as an opportunity “to turn the tide of history, signaling ‘a sea change’ ” in Roma policy.
The launch of the Decade raised a lot of hope, promised much and, in time, disillusioned many. Recalling the sense of optimism at the time, one Roma activist I interviewed described his high hopes and ambitions for change: “We thought that we as Roma were beginning to matter to other people ... that we were part of something that would ensure our political participation...”.
