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THE SOCIALLY EXCLUDEDCHAPTER 3The housing fund available to the Roma mostlyconsists of houses (74.5%), shacks (9.5%), abandonedcabins on construction sites (9%), and apartments(6%). 63 However, most houses do not meet even theminimum building codes: 11% of households with anaverage of five members live in 10m 2 , and at least 54%of persons live in overcrowded housing spaces. 64If the-above mentioned data were viewed cumulativelyin accordance with the FEANTSE typology (Europeantypology on homelessness and housing), it canbe said that most members of the Roma minority livean insecure existence. Although the exclusion of housinghas been recognised, it is primarily viewed fromtwo standpoints. The first is “wild construction” as anexpression of the “Roma cultural code”. The second isfrom the general measures regarding housing, wherethere is a tendency to find a solution within the narrowcontext of the Roma, leading to further ghettoisation.Examples of where the Roma themselves are consultedabout the process and where the social dimension ofhousing is taken into account are few and far between.Some representatives of the Roma have proposed theintroduction of a system which would provide specificloans, and investments in kind, including free work bythose Roma who decide to participate in the proposedprogramme.The entire area liberated in the Operation Storm in 1995was devastated, and even the most basic infrastructureis destroyed there. The reconstruction of houses is relativelyslow, due partly to certain administrative hurdles.For example, only the houses of Serb returnees builtwith building permits and which were entered in theproperty registers are being reconstructed. However,in the 1970s and the 1980s, which is when most of thehousing in the area was built, it was quite common tobuild houses without permits, and not to keep propertyregisters up to date. The absence of even the basic municipalinfrastructure, which existed before the war, is anadditional obstacle preventing returning families fromleading a normal life in these sparsely settled areas.3.2.9 Social Ties“We are all for one and one for all. We have learnedto stick together, because that is the only way wecan survive.”(Participant of the focus group, Sisak, UNDP, 2006b)The social interaction between the Roma and thenon-Roma seems to be based on a fundamental lackof mutual understanding. The majority populationhas the impression that the Roma have internalisedtheir way of life over the centuries and that they donot want to do anything to change it; consequently,any integration attempts, the majority thinks, wouldbe unsuccessful. The Roma express their concerns regardingthe integration process, because the majoritypopulation is not sufficiently informed about theirsituation or their identity. Voices that communicatethe reality of different Roma communities mostlycome from the non-governmental sector, which havevested interests in the topics they promote. A lack ofconsensus on certain topics amongst representativesof the Roma is frequently mentioned as an exampleof the Roma “irrationality” in their fight for greaterresources, but this is not much different from theparticipation of other marginalized groups.Serb returnees in the Knin and Glina region have returnedto what are extremely sparsely-settled areas.Before the war, the area was sparse, while during thewar it was demographically devastated. It is difficultto make social contact in demographically devastatedareas. There are three closed communities living nextto each other within the same area: the autochthonousCroats, Serb returnees, and Croats who movedfrom Bosnia and Herzegovina. Members of thesethree communities do not have much contact witheach other, however the recent period has seen theappearance of some form of “political correctness”and meta-language trying to conceal the gap.63 Geran-Marko Miletić, (2005): Uvjeti stanovanja i stambene aspiracije Roma, p. 163, u Kako žive hrvatski Romi64 Ibid.51