Swiss immigrants’ integration policy as inspiration for the Romanian Roma inclusion strategy

Abstract

While the knowledge on immigrants’ integration consolidated through the last 50 years, the Roma studies and the research on the Roma inclusion seems at the beginning. The purpose of this research was to assess if and to what extent the Swiss experience in immigrants’ integration may inspire an efficient approach to Roma inclusion in the Romanian society. After highlighting conceptual vagueness, resemblance and difference in the overall social status of Romanian Roma and immigrants in Switzerland and official approaches to the integration or inclusion of each, the research concludes that the Romanian policy on Roma inclusion presumably can be better anchored in the integration conceptual framework and benefit from immigrants’ integration experience. The Romanian choice for framing its Roma policy as ‘inclusion’ rather than for ‘integration’ may be appropriate as it applies to a historic minority of citizens needing social justice. The use of an immigration integration policy as model for a Roma inclusion strategy is limited due to the stronger legit-imation of historic minorities for shared-ownership of public decision-making. That is the Swiss example of immigrants’ integration could only serve Romania as a minimum standard for its Roma inclusion strategy. It can benefit from the Swiss experience on immigrant's integration policy in terms of conception, coordination, monitoring and transparency may be beneficial, while the Roma political participation may find inspiration from the Swiss linguistic communities’ participatory mechanisms. The on-going reciprocal learning process connecting academia and public authorities able to transform science into action and experience in knowledge may inspire the Romanian authorities.