Building a home: New life for Roma in Serbia

Bora Alesanovic, like many Roma in Serbia, went abroad to seek work and asylum in Germany, hoping for a better life. But after six months, he and his wife were forced to return to Serbia.

Their story is not unusual. Serbian citizens continue to apply for asylum in the EU, despite the fact that few requests are accepted. Of those who are returned to Serbia, 80 percent are Roma.

The Roma community already faces challenges in Serbia – lack of documentation, education or training,  employment and  suitable housing conditions – that limit their stability and success.

They seek new opportunities abroad, but with just as much difficulty. If they return, it is to an already challenging landscape, now complicated further by a longer absence. They find it hard to re-adapt, they lack a sense of belonging and purpose.

When Bora returned, he struggled to find work. His home needed repairs, but he could not make the money to fix it.

Ferhad Saiti one of the founders of Mahala 1, a Roma construction cooperative, developed his business specifically with this problem in mind.

“I was interested in doing this because there were many other NGOs that secured humanitarian help, but we wanted to work, to secure jobs, for myself and also for my people,” he says. “It is difficult when you are Roma, there is discrimination against you, and it’s difficult to earn someone’s trust.”

The cooperative began in Nis in 2014 with one truck, and now has grown to eight branches in south/southeast Serbia with fifty members.

Many of Mahala 1’s employees are asylum seeker returnees, and the company trains them with market-demanding construction skills, supports them to repair their houses and provides them with jobs. And these jobs are not just on refurbishing homes in the Roma community, but also diverse jobs for municipal Public Utility Companies.

Ferhad wishes to register the cooperative as a social enterprise, but it’s already doing the work of one.

The association ensures its workers are qualified and certified, which means they can work anywhere and are no longer vulnerable to job insecurity. In 2018, the cooperative secured work for nineteen people.

The cooperative pitches in to help refurbish houses in the Roma community. “So far we have renovated fifty houses, Roma people from all over call us to help them, and when we have the means from donations, we help them,” Ferhat explains.

This link between housing and employment is one of the keys to finding stability for Roma returnees. Beyond giving them stable jobs, refurbishing and repairing their own houses ensures their motivation and affordable and quality housing solutions. Those skills then are applied to even more established construction jobs within the municipality. In fact, Mahala 1 recently signed several contracts for public works in the local municipalities.

Bora has worked for the cooperative for two years, and his experience with Mahala 1 has helped smooth his reentry back into the community. “This is a good organization. Whenever they find work for us, they call us. They really care about Roma, so that we have enough to survive.”

Creating a stable environment for his family is important to him. “I want my child to finish school, so he can get a job, to work in a company, to be his own person.”

UNDP Serbia works on the reintegration of Roma returnees by supporting education, housing and employment opportunities. This work is supported by the Government of Turkey, Austrian Development Agency and Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.