Ubb participatory assessment para rat, cluj research report (undp, 2012)

RESEARCH REPORT PARTICIPATORY ASSESSMENT OF THE SOCIAL SITUATION OF THE PATA-RÂT AND CANTONULUI AREA, CLUJ-NAPOCA December 2012

PARTICIPATORY ASSESSENT OF THE SOCIAL SITUATION OF THE PATA-RÂT AND CANTONULUI AREA, CLUJ-NAPOCA

The research was carried out in October 2012 by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca within the project Preparatory Phase for Model Project: Making the Most of EU Funds for Sustainable Housing and Inclusion of Disadvantaged Roma (explicitly but not exclusively targeted) in Cluj Metropolitan Area financed by the Open Society Foundations, Making Most of EU Funds for the Roma.

Chief technical adviser: Marta Marczis, UNDP Bratislava Regional Center Research coordinator: Cristina Raţ, Sociology Department, Babeş-Bolyai University Research assistants: Csaba Farkas and Andrada Tobias, Sociology Department, Babeş-Bolyai University

Acknowledgements. We thank the inhabitants of the four settlements in Pata-Rât and Cantonului for their collaboration throughout the research and their valuable insights at earlier presentations of the survey results, indispensable for an accurate interpretation. The fieldwork was performed by 15 students of the Babeş-Bolyai University, whose commitment and qualified work was highly appreciated.

The pictures from this publication belong to the UNDP or have been used with the permission of their owners.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations, including UNDP, or their Member States.

Rational The purpose of the survey was to evaluate the needs and resources of inhabitants of the four segregated settlements from the Pata-Rât and Cantonului area, most of whom belong to the Roma ethnic minority. The results are expected to inform the design and formulation of development projects to help meet their housing, employment, health, education and social services needs, supported by the Cluj-Napoca Municipality and the North-West Regional Development Agency, and financed partly from European Union structural funds.

Methodology The inquiry aimed to be comprehensive in terms of population coverage and to explore all relevant factors from the point of view of human development and the sustainability of future integrated housing projects.

The aims and methodology of the survey were discussed in advance in each settlement by the community facilitators, and the survey results were presented on two different occasions in the community centre built by an NGO in Pata-Rât.

Survey instruments Anonymous questionnaires filled in by trained enumerators at respondents’ homes, composed of: household questionnaire, containing also detailed questions for each household member; individual questionnaire to be addressed to each person aged 14 or above.

Fieldwork period: 5-15 October 2012 Coverage: 273 households and 542 persons aged 14 or above were interviewed.

Number of adult inhabitants (14 or above) in the surveyed households Women Men Total number of adults above 14 Number of children (below 14) Girls Boys Total number of children below 14 Persons in the surveyed households Number of surveyed households INDIVIDUAL QUESTIONNAIRES Respondents to the individual questionnaires Adults above 14 (data from the households' survey) Coverage (% of respondents)

Cantonului

Dallas

53% 47% 242

50% 50% 196

54% 46% 157 399

45% 55% 125 321

111

65

Cantonului

Colina (Coastei) 53% 48% 120

Garbage dump 47% 53% 133

TOTAL 51% 49% 691

45% 55% 66 186 HOUSEHOLDS 47

47% 53% 117 250

48% 52% 465 1156

50

273

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

TOTAL

195

126

93

128

542

242

196

120

133

691

80.6%

64.3%

77.5%

95.5%

78.3%

THE PLACE AND ITS HISTORY The life narratives of people from Pata-Rât and Cantonului incorporate historical processes of political, economic and social change that put at disadvantage the Roma and deepened the divide between mainstream society and those living at the margins. Against a background of large scale unemployment, weak state support for vulnerable categories and persistent prejudices blaming “the Gypsies”, their struggles to ensure a decent living and a home for their children become utterly evident at a closer sight.

The “Old Pata Rat”, known as “Dallas” in the local folklore, was formed around the landfill at the beginning of the 1990s when selective waste collection provided some earnings for those facing unemployment after the regime change in 1989. For more than 15 years, two international NGOs offered help for these families, but the problems of segregation and the social stigma of living near the waste dump persisted. The land is now partly owned by the ProRoma foundation, who inaugurated in October 2012 a modern community centre for cultural and educational purposes. Our survey counted around 65 homes in Dallas.

Morning in “Dallas” near a wooden barrack built by ProRoma October 2012

The approximately 50 barracks on the hill near the landfill (known as “rampa” in Romanian) accommodate partly migrant Roma families from Transylvanian villages, partly traditional Roma who had a seminomadic lifestyle before being settled there, allegedly by the local authorities. Whereas the former were constrained by the lack of work opportunities in their home villages, where most of them have houses or at least better-built barracks, the latter lack any kind of assets that could provide a viable alternative to working on the waste dump.

They face directly all possible dangers coming from the waste dump, and several people died or were injured by the trucks of cleaning companies.

Barracks near the landfill October 2012 ,

The slum-area of Cantonului was formed following periodic evictions from the city after 2000, providing last-resort charity housing or improvised barracks for those unable to pay a rent in the increasingly elitist Cluj-Napoca. A large share of the population suffers from chronic, activitylimiting illness, disability or invalidity. As the territory belongs to the National Railway Company, they were several times sued for illegal occupancy and threatened with eviction. There are around 110 barracks there, and only a few have electricity.

Cantonului street October 2012

On “Colina” (“hill” in Romanian), 56 extended families from the former Coastei street were relocated in December 2010 almost overnight by the authorities in substandard social housing. The people report about the relocation as a collective trauma. They established a dweller's association and asked for the legal and political support of national and international civil society organizations. As some of the families did not receive social housing, they built barracks on the nearby public land. A quarter of the adults are employed in Cluj, and school-aged children commute daily to the city on a special school-bus.

Colina, The furniture of families relocated from Coastei did not fit in the provided modular houses February 2011

How did you move to this area/which were the reasons of your moving here?

Open-ended question, answers categorized for the analysis.

The municipality moved us here, but without providing us social housing.

The Municipality moved us here in social housing.

Evicted from the city of Cluj-Napoca.

We were in need, and moved here to work on the dump.

My partner was living here.

My relatives were living here.

We could not afford paying a rent in the city.

I was born and/or raised in the Pata-Rat area.

My parents/relatives sold our house.

I got a job at a nearby company.

Other Don't know/Refuse Total Birthplace: County Percentages computed from the individual questionnaires of those above 14 years old Cluj Sălaj Mureș Harghita Bistrița-Năsăud Alba Other county Total Since when have you been living here?

Percentages computed from the individual questionnaires of those above 14 years old I was born here Before 1990 Between 1990-1999 Between 2000-2010 After 2010 Don’t know/Refuse Total

Cantonului 86.2% 2.6% 1.0% 2.1% 4.1% 4.1% 100%

Cantonului

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

38 17 9 4 25 1 10 1 5 1 111

1 2 12 9 13 9 8 3 3 2 3 65

12 31 1 3 47

13 30 1 2 1 1 2 50

Garbage dump 37.5% 21.1% 1.6% 24.2% 6.3% .8% 8.6% 100%

Total

Location Colina Dallas (Coastei) 86.4% 89.2% 4.2% 2.2% 1.7% 2.2% .8% 1.1% 6.8% 5.4% 100% 100%

75.1% 7.3% 1.1% 5.8% 2.6% 2.1% 6.0% 100%

Location Cantonului

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

Total

2.1% 6.7% 79.0% 12.3% 100%

17.9% 9.4% 31.6% 29.9% 10.3% .9% 100%

1.1% 4.3% 93.5% 1.1% 100%

4.8% 1.6% 15.2% 48.0% 30.4% 100%

5.3% 3.2% 13.0% 47.7% 30.4% .4% 100%

FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS Age distribution in Pata Rat and Cantonului areas 200 180 160 140 120

Garbage dump Colina (Coastei)

100

Dallas Cantonului

80 60 40 20 0

0-2

3-6

7-10

11-13 14-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

65+

Age category (years) 0-2 3-6 7-10 11-13 14-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Total

Cantonului

Dallas

30 46 44 29 33 45 60 54 33 16 8 398

31 34 37 21 28 40 57 34 16 20 2 320

54 6 2

Garbage dump 43 4 2

62

47

49

264

Garbage dump 2 2 9 6 11 5 5 2 2 5 49

Total

Dallas

1 2 3

103 3 -

No. of valid answers

106

Number of persons in the household 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 or more No. of valid answers Number of children below 14 years old in the household No child 1 child 2 3 4 5 or more children No. of valid answers

Canton 3 20 32 16 12 11 6 2 2 2 106

Garbage dump 31 32 33 20 25 35 30 22 17 3 248

Colina (Coastei) 41 6 -

Cantonului Number of families in the households

Colina (Coastei) 10 16 19 18 22 22 26 33 7 7 3 183

Location Colina Dallas (Coastei) 3 7 8 12 10 15 13 8 7 4 7 2 5 1 3 1 3 62 47

Distribution of households by the number of children below 14 years old Colina Garbage Cantonului Dallas (Coastei) dump 28 11 13 4 34 17 14 16 16 14 11 8 15 9 3 5 7 4 5 5 5 7 1 10 105 62 47 48

Total 241 19 4

8 37 63 50 38 27 13 10 8 10 264

Total 56 81 49 32 21 23 262

HOUSING Who built your house?

9 3 49 1

Colina (Coastei) 31 10 3 1 45 Colina (Coastei) 33 2 1 8 3 47 Colina (Coastei) 8 1 30 3 2 3 47 Colina (Coastei) 34 1 -

Garbage dump 48 1 1 50 Garbage dump 1 49 50 Garbage dump 8 42 50 Garbage dump 14 -

-

1

-

36

110

1 1 65

Cantonului

Dallas

22 68 8 7 1 5 110

26 35 4 65

1 11 47 Colina (Coastei) 6 40 1 47

50 Garbage dump 24 3 20 2 1 50

Cantonului

Dallas

5 33 13 1 23 27 8 110

30 2 20 7 2 3 64

Cantonului

Dallas

Brick house, with foundation Bricks and mud, without foundation Wooden house (built by ProRoma) Plastic container-house Van Improvised barrack, wood and timber Wooden house built by the family Total number of valid answers

2 5 20 32 3 45 4 111

5 5 21 33 1 65

The toilet that you regularly use is…

Cantonului

Dallas

2 12 4 27 66 111

3 15 5 35 7 65

Cantonului

Dallas

2 5 103 -

The municipality Our family, by ourselves Our family, with the help of neighbours NGO ProRoma NGO Foundation for the Help of Pata-Rât Families NGO Ecce Homo We bought it from another family Total number of valid answers Type of construction and main materials

Private toilet in the house Private, outside Shared with the neighbours, inside Shared with the neighbours, outside Don't have a toilet Using the toilet from the modular houses Total number of valid answers Which is the main source of potable water your household uses?

Piped water in the dwelling Piped water in the courtyard/garden Public tap (existing only in Dallas and Cantonului) Covered well or borehole Surface water from spring (existing only on the hill near the garbage dump, not potable) Buy bottled water Other (e.g. taking water from the modular houses) Total number of valid answers Where does your family usually cook? separate kitchen, inside one of the rooms is both kitchen and dormitory separate kitchen, outside fireplace outside we don't cook Other Total number of valid answers

IDENTITY PAPERS Identity papers of inhabitants above 14 years old (Percentages) Identity card with address from Cluj Identity card with address in another county Temporary identity document, without domicile None, but remembers having CNP and birth certificate Never had identity papers Total Children’s birth certificates (Percentages)

Cantonului

Dallas

62.3% 3.4% 28.8% 4.7% 0.8% 100%

64.1% 6.0% 11.4% 14.1% 4.3% 100%

Cantonului

Dallas

92.0% 2.5% 3.1% 2.5% 100%

87.8% 12.2 100%

Cantonului

“Dallas”

Total number of children aged 7-14 Attending school

95 56

Out of those attending school, those in special school

38

Yes No, but the child has CNP Neither birth certificate, nor CNP Don't know/Refuse Total

Colina (Coastei) 87.2% 2.6% 6.8% 3.4% 100%

Colina (Coastei) 100% 100%

Garbage dump 19.1% 45.8% 18.3% 6.9% 9.9% 100% Garbage dump 79.6% 1.8% 18.6% 100%

EDUCATION

Educational qualifications (last graduated school) Percentages no schooling primary school (1-4) gymnasium (5-8) vocational school incomplete secondary (9-10) high school post-secondary technical no schooling Total Do you hold a certificate for graduating a professional training course?

Yes No Total

68 31

Colina (Coastei) 44 37

Garbage dump 61 7

-

11

1

Total 268 131 50

Location Cantonului

Dallas

25.8% 22.7% 41.2% 6.7% 1.5% 2.1% 25.8% 100%

31.0% 27.0% 34.1% 6.3% 1.6% 31.0% 100%

Colina (Coastei) 7.5% 25.8% 52.7% 8.6% 2.2% 3.2% 7.5% 100%

Garbage dump 52.3% 17.2% 24.2% 3.1% 0.8% 2.3% 52.3% 100%

Total 30.1% 22.9% 37.5% 6.1% 1.1% 1.7% 0.6% 30.1% 100%

Location Cantonului

Dallas

11.3% 88.7% 100%

4.8% 95.2% 100%

Colina (Coastei) 22.6% 77.4% 100%

Garbage dump 2.4% 97.6% 100%

Total 9.6% 90.4% 100%

EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND WORK EXPERIENCE Employment status Multiple options. Percentages from those aged 18-64 Employed, with contract Self-employed (PFA) Employer Occasional worker, with or without a contract Worker on the garbage dump Registered unemployed Pensioner

% of employees and self-employed (contractual labour) % of those working informally on the garbage dump

Colina (Coastei) 21.5% 1.1% 19.4% 1.1% 2.2% 10.8%

Garbage dump 0.8% 0.8% 7.8% 90.6% 0.8%

Cantonului

Dallas

11.9% 1.5% 0.5% 20.7% 12.4% 1.6% 8.3%

3.2% 2.4% 8.7% 74.6% 0.8% 2.4%

Canton

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

15.6%

1.2%

33.3%

-

17%

65%

0.2%

90%

Note: There are only three self-employed persons and two small-scale employers, as compared to sixty employees working in the city of Cluj-Napoca.

Occasional work in Cluj-Napoca October 2012 Have you ever worked abroad?

Percentages of those above 14 years old Yes No Total

Working on the landfill in selective waste collection October 2012

Cantonului 12.3% 87.7% 100%

Location Colina (Coastei) 5.6% 16.5% 94.4% 83.5% 100% 100%

Dallas

Garbage dump 7.0% 93.0% 100%

Total 10.2% 89.8% 100%

HEALTH STATUS Health status of children below 14 years old Healthy Acute disease Chronic disease Disabled or invalid Total number of valid answers Health status of young adults aged 14-17 Healthy Acute disease Chronic disease Disabled or invalid Total number of valid answers Health status of working age population aged 18-64 Healthy Acute disease Chronic disease Disabled or invalid Total number of valid answers Health status of elderly persons aged 65 or above Healthy Acute disease Chronic disease Disabled or invalid Total number of valid answers

Cantonului

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

140 6 10 1 157

107 8 5 2 122

55 6 3 2 66

86 16 13 1 116

Cantonului

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

19 2 2 23

23 2 25

13 4 1 18

18 1 1 20

Cantonului

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

139 8 45 11 203

120 6 22 4 152

65 1 23 4 93

92 1 12 1 106

Cantonului

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

1 5 2 8

2 2

1 2 3

4 7 2 13

HEALTH CARE SERVICES Do you have health insurance?

Percentages from adults aged 18 or above Yes No Don't know/ Refuse Total Are you registered at a family doctor (GP)? Percentages from adults aged 18 or above Yes, at a family doctor from the city Yes, at the doctor from Pata Rat Yes, at a doctor from another locality No Don't know/Refuse Total

Location Colina Dallas (Coastei) 20.8% 61.9% 77.6% 35.9% 1.6% 2.2% 100% 100%

Garbage dump 28.6% 71.4% 100%

53.4%

Location Dallas Colina (Coastei) 19.3% 69.0%

Garbage dump 5.7%

37.4%

2.8% 0.6% 42.6% 0.6% 100%

13.4% 7.6% 58.0% 1.7% 100%

1.0% 49.5% 41.9% 1.9% 100%

4.5% 13.0% 43.8% 1.3% 100%

Cantonului 51.0% 49.0% 100%

Cantonului

1.2% 28.6% 1.2% 100%

Total 40.2% 59.0% 0.8% 100%

Total

Registration at a family doctor for children below 14 years old Data from the household survey Yes, at the doctor from Pata Rat Yes, at a doctor from the city Yes, at a doctor from another locality No Don't know/Refuse Total number of children below 14

Cantonului

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

18 118 1 10 10 157

38 46 7 23 11 125

1 63 1 1 66

5 26 45 35 6 117

Garbage dump 47%

EXPERIENCES OF DISCRIMINATION Have you ever felt treated unfairly when you were…(Percentage of those answering “yes”) Applying for a job.

Registering your children to the school or kindergarten.

Going to school yourself, as a student.

Applying for social benefits.

Going to the doctor.

Trying to issue your identity papers.

Cantonului

Dallas

47%

28%

Colina (Coastei) 45%

16%

18%

24%

25%

14% 11% 13% 10%

24% 13% 24% 22%

15% 8% 18% 10%

23% 29% 46% 43%

DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS What do you think would be best for you, in the situation that the garbage dump is closed?

Number of respondents who declared that….

To move into social housing in the city of Cluj-Napoca.

To receive some land in concession in the nearby villages, and built yourself a home with your family.

To move to your relatives.

To return to the house you used to live before.

To stay in Pata Rat, where you are living now.

You have a house/apartment at another location, to move there.

Other situation.

Don't care, does not affect you.

I don't know Refuse

Canton

Dallas

Colina (Coastei)

Garbage dump

Total

126

55

69

28

278

31

23

6

28

88

3 17

6 1 36

5 9 7

4 23 8

15 36 68

-

1

-

1

2

1 1 20 1

4 18 1

3 -

1 36 -

9 1 74 2

Note: Given that there were maximum two options, the sum of respondents per column is more than the number of total respondents.

Percentage of respondents asserting to have skills and competences in… (Percentages) Repairing electric equipment, cell phones, computers Repairing cars, motorbikes Taking care of children Hairdressing, cosmetics Cooking and baking Construction work* Raising farm animals Fine arts: painting, drawing, playing a musical instr.

Manual crafts: sewing, goblin, basket-making Photography, filming Commerce, services Selective waste collection Sport or coaching

Canton

Dallas

14.9% 11.8% 69.7% 12.3% 63.6% 35.4% 50.3% 19.5% 23.6% 8.7% 20.0% 52.8% 26.2%

8.7% 13.5% 69.8% 11.1% 63.5% 36.5% 69.8% 15.1% 15.9% 10.3% 25.4% 77.0% 24.6%

Colina (Coastei) 9.7% 10.8% 69.9% 20.4% 57.0% 36.6% 50.5% 12.9% 24.7% 12.9% 36.6% 32.3% 26.9%

Garbage dump 10.2% 18.1% 79.5% 13.4% 44.9% 46.5% 75.6% 17.3% 26.8% 6.3% 28.3% 66.9% 13.4%

Note: The percentage of those with competence in construction work is underestimated in the case of inhabitants from Colina (moved from Coastei), given that the enumerators reported that there were three adult men whom they could not interview, as they were working until late in the evening in construction.