Nikola Taragoš in Ukraine: We're doing our best to meet the basic needs of local Roma who are hungry and living in poverty because of the Russian occupation
The Romodrom organization from the Czech Republic has just made a third trip to Ukraine to aid local Romani people who are facing great poverty and hunger as a result of the Russian occupation. In the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion, these Romani people fled Ukraine and came into contact with the nonprofit organization in Prague.
Director of Romodrom Nikola Taragoš has given an exclusive interview to ROMEA TV in the Czech Republic. “Our activity is limited to stabilizing basic needs. We are concentrating on a humanitarian program so they can at least eat regularly at certain times of day. Currently, with the onset of winter, we’re taking care of making sure they have a way to heat their homes,” Taragoš told ROMEA TV from Mukachevo, Ukraine, where between 14,000 and 17,000 Romani people are living.
The groceries are purchased by Romodrom right in Ukraine in order to support the local economy. “Naturally that is also connected to logistics, it would be demanding to transport everything from the Czech Republic. We buy clothes and groceries here,” Taragoš said.
According to the director, it is important to mind how aid is disteibuted directly on the spot. “We don’t have so many resources, so we have to be as effective as possible in our operations. What is happening is that as much as 70 % of aid here in Ukraine is lost because of clientelism and corruption,” he explained, adding that for the time being the financing of this assistance is happening just from private sources.
“In the Czech Republic, many Romani people from Ukraine encountered racism and rejection. For that reason, quite a few returned to these conditions. We are doing our best to make sure emigration to the Czech Republic will be limited somewhat through our aid directly in Ukraine,” said Taragoš.
In Mukachevo, the part of town where the Roma live is currently just inhabited by children and women, for all practical purposes. “The men are at war,” Taragoš explained.
“Here in Mukachevo and in the rest of Ukraine the Roma are quite hard-working, unfortunately the natural cycle of their labor migration has been disrupted. Currently that can’t happen, they lack the money they made in the past through occasional work as cleaners, or in construction, or in the fields. They actually are hungry here. The children, for example, had nothing for several days but very sweet tea,” Taragoš told ROMEA TV.
“Our plan is not to bring humanitarian aid here until the end of time – as they say, not to give people fish, but to teach them to fish,” the Romodrom director said, adding that they are doing their best to find both fuel and jobs for the Roma there so their prospects will improve. According to him, in the Czech Republic there are currently 2,500 Romani Ukrainians.
“We are currently working with 600 Romani people all over the Czech Republic. We are sharing that work with other organizations, both pro-Roma and Romani. The situation in the Czech Republic has calmed down somewhat because nobody is able to cross the border without valid documents now,” Taragoš said in this exclusive interview direct from Mukachevo.
