Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Interaction, migration and change
From East to West: The Roma migration from Slovakia 199 nication when they call each other names or steal something from each other or do some other similar mischief. (Scheffel 2001: 71) Another burden, in addition to the oppressive unemployment, is the fact that Roma, as rent dodgers, are often being moved from the so-called "dispersion” to “low-category flats for rent dodgers”. This happens mainly in east-Slovak cities where Roma colonies isolated from both the territorial and social point of view are coming into existence. Together with the aggravating social conditions in the nineties it is even possible to see the return of the impoverished urban Roma back to the settlements. Because of the desperate social/economic situation, frustrated Roma from the former Roma middle class felt they had no prospect in Slovakia whatsoever. Slovak Roma started to spontaneously or in an organized way emigrate to the West- European states including the Czech Republic. The spontaneous emigration concerns above all the urban Roma, those who lost their original social status of the socalled Roma middle class. This type of emigration is more and more often interpreted in the non-governmental spheres (Klfmová 2000: 4) as a developed strategy of Roma individuals who are motivated first of all economically. In our research we also encountered persons whose life was under threat (most often these are persons persecuted by an unspecified mafia or usurers) who are looking for asylum, if only a temporary one. Usury The managed emigration of Slovak Roma is usually organized by so-called “Roma usurers”, called "úžerníci" in Slovakia. They started to abuse the unbearable social situation of their Roma fellow citizens, especially in the settlements but also in the cities, exploiting them in an illegal way.10 According to the information provided by the Slovak press11, Roma usurers in Slovakia lend money to impoverished Roma for 50% monthly interest. The debts grow to exor-
