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 203 with migrants fleeing extortion, debt collection or closer nonspecified mafias. Even though respondents did not speak directly about usury, from their reactions it was noticeable that they fell into the clutches of cruel extortionists who would not hesitate to use gross physical pressure on persons who refused to fulfill their financial demands. Usurers enrich themselves mostly due to the lack of information and helplessness of their victims. When deciding whether or not to migrate, our respondents were often under the pressure of such persons. The motives of Slovak Roma to migrate are generally a combination of reasons. Social economic factors and racial discrimination are combined with acts of compulsion from the various speculators who take advantage of the unsatisfying life situations of Slovak Roma. In such cases, Slovak Roma migration takes on for the outside observer the character of so-called ethnotourism, as the Slovak media has infamously dubbed this tendency. The real causes of Slovak Roma migration, however, are more complicated, and it is necessary to analyze them carefully. Studies performed by Imrich and Michal Vašecka have brought a detailed analysis of the motivation of Slovak Roma to migrate (Vašecka I. 2000; Vašecka M. 2000). Emigration of Slovak Roma into the Czech Republic The Czech Republic is one of the countries that can be classified both as a country of origin and as a receiving state. In the period between 1 January 2000 and 15 December 2000 there was a total of 723 Slovak asylum seekers registered (Pluim 2001: 28-29). Slovak asylum seekers started to arrive as early as in 1994 but until 31 December 1999 these mostly involved claims by Slovak asylum seekers already living in the Czech Republic. The turning point in the numbers of Roma refugees from Slovakia to the Czech lands was the year 1999. The explanation seems to be the fact that most of the west-European countries (Great Britain, Ireland, Finland, Norway, and
