<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_6042" style="width: 700px;"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Illustration protesting against Dutch policy towards Sinta caravan camps, from the website of the Civil Liberties Union for Europe 2015 (© liberties.eu)</figcaption></figure>

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The people who many of us refer to as “gypsies”, but who call themselves Sinti and Roma, are a small ethnic minority in the Netherlands numbering between five and seven thousand at the time this program was made. In all of Europe they number between seven and ten million.  Since their first arrival in this country, mostly from Germany and France at the end of the 19th century, efforts have been made to integrate them and to bridge the gap between their nomadic traditions and Dutch culture. However, to this day the Sinti and Roma, who have a distinct culture and language, are underrepresented on the job market and in education. In this sympathetic portrait, members of the Dutch Sinti and Roma community tell us how they see themselves. The portrait is embellished with the music of Holland’s own Tata Mirando Royal Gipsy Orchestra.

Produced by Helene Michaud.

First broadcast September 19, 1999.