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Rising above the Bottom of German Society: Reflections on Interviews with Female Roma Refugees from Former Yugoslavia

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Female Exiles in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Europe
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Abstract

As a peace worker I worked with refugee Roma1 women in Berlin in the summer of 2004. The following essay is the product of my internship that finalized my graduate degree in Peace Studies. From my work with this group of female refugees from former Yugoslavia, I learned of the numerous obstacles that they face on a daily basis (ranging from overt and insidious prejudice, to a precarious immigration status, to the inability to be gainfully employed). The most prominent characteristic that my interviewees made manifest to me was their dogged commitment to forge a better life for themselves and, most importantly, for their families in their new home and host country (Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany). This essay should be viewed as a beginning, a door that is opening in our new millennium to the perception and treatment of refugees within the European Union.

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Authors

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Maureen Tobin Stanley Gesa Zinn

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© 2007 Maureen Tobin Stanley and Gesa Zinn

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Halpaap, M. (2007). Rising above the Bottom of German Society: Reflections on Interviews with Female Roma Refugees from Former Yugoslavia. In: Stanley, M.T., Zinn, G. (eds) Female Exiles in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230607262_13

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