Balkan Egyptians

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Balkan Egyptians form a majority Albanian-speaking minority of the Southeast European Roma . In addition to the main settlement area of Kosovo , smaller groups can also be found in other areas of the Balkans , for example in Albania and the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains .

Origin and name

The overall minority of the Roma in Kosovo is divided into three categories - assuming the self - image of a part of their relatives who are indeterminate in size and importance: Roma, Ashkali and “Egyptians” ( Albanian  Egjiptian , Evgjitë or Jevg for short , Serbo-Croatian  Egipćani or Đupci / Египћани or Ђупци , Macedonian Египќани or Ѓупци , Bulgarian Агупти ). In the language of international organizations they are summarized under the abbreviation “RAE” and assigned to the European minority. With the growth of nationalistic tendencies in the former Yugoslavia, the need for demarcation according to ethnic criteria increased. Since the Roma were subject to general exclusion by the respective majority population and, especially in Kosovo, were confronted with a strong ethnic nationalism and with aggressive persecution and displacement, the RAE community also developed a willingness to differentiate and self-profiling as non-Roma.

As a differentiator to other groups, the representatives of "Egyptian" independence use fictitious origin myths by which they descendants of Egyptians are or as part of a migration to the time of Alexander the Great from the Nile had come to the Balkans. The Egyptian myth of origin has been part of the self-definition of the Roma minority since the end of the Middle Ages. It was not until the scientific study of the novel at the end of the 18th century that the real origin of the Roma came from the Indian subcontinent, a finding that has since been adopted by the minority themselves. With the term "Egyptians" the speakers use an old common European term for Roma, as it still lives in gypsies , gitans and gitanos and has also been preserved in the Balkans, and they return to the Egyptian myth. Serious historiographical evidence for this origin has never been and does not exist.

In 1990 an association of the "Egyptians" was founded in Ohrid (Macedonia). Later that year, associations of Kosovar Egyptians were established in Pristina and Metohia . Representatives of the Roma community viewed these foundations as “divisions” - for example the well-known writer Ali Krasniqi - and “invention” of an ethnic group. Others justified the transition from the ascription “Roma” to the ascription “Egyptians” with improved access to “jobs for my family” and “more rights”.

distribution

Most of the Balkan Egyptians live in Kosovo , but there are also smaller groups in Serbia , North Macedonia , Montenegro , Bulgaria , Greece and Albania .

The Yugoslav census of 1991 allowed Egyptians for the first time as ethnic self-designation, after this was requested in 1990 in a petition by citizens from Macedonia and Kosovo to the Federal Assembly of the SFR Yugoslavia and to the parliaments of the sub-republics of Macedonia and Serbia.

6355 people declared themselves as “Egyptians” (Egipćani) in Serbia in 1991 , 5881 of them in Kosovo , 3307 people in Macedonia and 35 in Montenegro . According to an internal, unverifiable statement by the "Association of Egyptians", around 87,000 people in Kosovo are said to be assigned to the group.

In Macedonia, 3713 people assigned to the group of "Egyptians" in the 2002 census.

In the 2002 census in Serbia (excluding Kosovo), 814 people declared themselves “Egyptians”, the majority of them in Belgrade (597) and Novi Sad (102). Some families who have fled Kosovo also live in central Serbia and Montenegro .

Like other members of the Roma minority, “Egyptians” also fled or were expelled from Kosovo during and after the Kosovo war in 1999, because, contrary to their self-constitution as a separate ethnic minority, they were still viewed and rejected as Roma. The constitution of Kosovo of 2008 lists the population group as an explicit minority who have reserved a seat in parliament .

In Albania, in the 2011 census, 3,368 people (0.12% of the population) declared themselves “Egyptians”.

In the 2011 census in Kosovo, 11,524 people declared themselves “Egyptians”, which corresponds to 0.66% of the recorded population. In contrast, there are 15,436 Ashkali and 8,824 Roma. The Egyptians live almost exclusively in the west of the country, for example in the municipalities of Gjakova (5117 people or 5.41%), Istog (1544 or 3.93%), Peja (2700 or 2.80%) and Klina ( 934 or 2.43%). In the remaining communities of Kosovo there are very few or no people who call themselves Egyptians.

literature

  • Adam Andrzej Balcer: The development of identities among the population of Gypsy origin in Kosovo: Ashkali, Egyptians and Roma . In: Nationalities Affairs (Sprawy Narodowościowe) , Vol. 31, 2007, pp. 247-262
  • Ger Duijzings: Religion and the politics of identity in Kosovo. London: Hurst, 2000. pp. 132-156: The Making of Egyptians in Kosovo and Macedonia.
  • Ger Duijzings: The Creation of Egyptians in Kosovo and Macedonia. In: Ulf Brunnbauer (ed.): Controversial identities. Ethnicity and Nationality in Southeastern Europe. Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 2002, ISBN 3-631-38199-9 , pp. 123-148
  • Ger Duijzings: De Egyptaren in Kosovo en Macedonie , in: Amsterdams Sociologischer Tijdschrift , 18 (1992), pp. 24-38.
  • Claudia Lichnofsky: Identification processes of Muslim non-Albanians in Kosovo and their strategies of political and social positioning since 1999. The example of the Ashkali. in: Südosteuropean Hefte, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2012), pp. 57–71
  • Claudia Lichnofsky: Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo new ethnic identifications as a result of exclusion during nationalist violence from 1990 till 2010. in: Romani Studies, 5th series, vol. 23 (2013) (1), pp. 29-59
  • Norbert Mappes-Niediek : The ethno trap. The Balkans conflict and what Europe can learn from it. Links, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-86153-367-7
  • Marushiakova, Elena et al .: Identity Formation among Minorities in the Balkans: The cases of Roms, and Ashkali in Kosovo. Sofia: Minority Studies Society "Studii Romani" , 2001 ( article as PDF (405 kB), accessed on February 2, 2015)
  • Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov: New Ethnic Identities in the Balkans: the Case of the Egyptians. In: Facta Universitatis. Series: Philosophy and Sociology , Vol. 2, No 8, 2001, pp. 465-477. ( Article as PDF (195 kB), accessed on February 2, 2015)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kosovo Roma. In: Chachipe. Retrieved February 2, 2015 .
  2. ^ The situation of Roma in the Western Balkans: summary of the 2011 Progress Reports. (PDF; 70 kB) In: European Parliament. Retrieved February 2, 2015 .
  3. ^ Minority and Roma. In: Kosovo Foundation for Open Society. Retrieved February 2, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Reference to the medieval authority in Ragusa, which spoke of the Roma as "Egyptians", which is taken up today as evidence that the myth reflects real history - cf. Kosovo Roma. In: Chachipe. Retrieved February 2, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Martin Kistner: You just want to live in peace. In: Association of Egyptians from Kosovo Radolfzell-Konstanz. Albstadt-Bote, January 30, 2000, accessed February 2, 2015 .
  6. ↑ In the context of the topics Kosovo-Egyptians and Ashkali cf. Elena Marushiakov, Vesselin Popov: New Ethnic Identities in the Balkans: The Case of the Egyptians . In: Philosophy and Sociology . Vol. 2, No. 8 , 2001, p. 465–477 ( article as PDF (199 kB) [accessed on February 2, 2015]).
  7. ^ The Balkan Egyptians - Essay on the Macedonia Excursion (2013) by the Chair for the History of Southeast and Eastern Europe at the University of Regensburg
  8. ↑ a b Orhan Galjus: Roma of Kosovo: the Forgotten Victims. In: Patrin. April 7, 1999, accessed February 2, 2015 .
  9. ↑ a b Ger Duijzings: religion and the politics of identity in Kosovo. Hurst, London 2000, pp. 139-140 .
  10. ↑ a b c Saša Nedeljković: Čast, krv i suze (Ogledi iz antropologije etniciteta i nacionalizma) . Zuhra, Belgrade 2007, p. 180 .
  11. ^ A b Non-Discrimination Review under the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe - Kosovo - Premilinary Assessment Report. (PDF; 253 kB) Council of Europa, Directorate General of Human Rights, Secretariat of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, April 2003, p. 14 , archived from the original on November 21, 2008 ; accessed on September 27, 2019 (original website no longer available).
  12. ^ OSCE Mission to Serbia: Ethnic Minorities in Serbia. An overview . (PDF) February 2008, accessed on February 2, 2015 (English, pp. 13-14).
  13. ^ Constitution (PDF) , Article 64
  14. ↑ Instat (Ed.): Population and Housing Census in Albania 2011: Main Results (Part 1) . Tirana December 2012 ( online version (PDF) [accessed February 2, 2015]). Online version (PDF) ( Memento from April 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ Ethnic composition of Kosovo 2011. In: pop-stat.mashke.org. Retrieved January 16, 2018 .