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Comment by trumbler | Hacker News Reader

Not surprised. To this day respect for human life in Romania is low - human trafficking and rampant racism are part an parcel of life in that country. In Cluj Napoca for instance, a notoriously corrupt city, people of gipsy background are not even allowed in public administration buildings and their children are frequently sold as modern day slaves. Withe the blessing of local police forces of course. Yet Romanians couldnt care less.

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The treatment of Roma people (Gypsies) is a great stain on contemporary Europe. They face massive institutional racism everywhere on the continent, from Finland to Romania to France.

The Roma example is interesting. You have a people who are different based on religion (not really racism unless you consider them a race). The values that make them different are in conflict with the laws in the society they choose to live. Stealing is perceived differently and this conflict results in a higher % of Roma people imprisioned.

How do you deal with stealing being acceptable for one group of people. Do you allow this because not allowing is racist? Because that's where we end up with your comment.

Yeah you have no clue how bad it is in Romania tho. There still is actual slavery with people being bought and sold and public places where they are not allowed in. Including schools and hospitals. There are frequent reports of them being rounded up and beaten and a walk around places where they live - see Cluj pata Rat - will give you a sense of the scale.

Edit: i witnessed all this and recorded it.

Lol, what a troll.

I don't think that he is a troll. I just recently seen a shocking report with people kept in sclavary. It was in a Hungarian gypsy town, but I can inagine that the situation can be very similar here in Romania in some towns.

Unfortunately slavery hasn't totally disappered anywhere in the world. In W. Europe this happens with (illegal) immigrants or other vulnerable group exploited by an organized group.

his reaction is entirely in line with what 99% or romanians will say. it is a constant state of denial. absolutely shocking. i prefer not to tolerate such abuse nor hide it to sugarcoat it.

What you are trying to say is that slavery is systematic in RO, which is not the case nor it's tolerated by the authorities.

Yes there were cases that shocked the public were people were forced, but those are isolated and not tolerated. It's like saying that's a common practice for Austrians to hold in their basement teenage girls.

I'm not gonna respond to any of your replys because it's pointless.

yeah racism human trafficking and slavery are not just tolerated but are actually practiced by Authorities in romania - otherwise it couldn't happen in every county and every city of Romania and there wouldnt be reports about it on a weekly basis. unlike your example about basement teenagers in austria discovered every decade in romania it happens every so often and romania wouldnt be an absolute leader on the topic. there wouldnt be ads for prostitution next to almost every university either. there is no amount of hiding to make that country look good you can do to change facts. i have plenty of acquaintances working both in the police and government to know the scale is far beyond what you delude yourself with. and there are plenty of statistics available to prove my claims but you conveniently ignore. recently an organised clan what not just acquitted but also given back their illegal arsenal of weapons much to the shock of the british authorities whom sent the case to romania. think the judge was stupid? think again. and stop hiding these facts - it doesnt do you a favour it just shows you are happy to protect a culture of crime and corruption so deeply entrenched in every day life that you have either become immune or are part of it even if just by normalising it.

Got evidence? I've been to Cluj and it seemed remarkably uncorrupt and well run, certainly compared to the rest of Romania.

I could give evidence in court if i had the opportunity. Everyone knows it, but in Romania people prefer not to talk about it - apparently thats unpatriotic. Almost every building project in that city is a result of bribery to allow sub par quality. Down town restaurant regularly pay bribe to health and safety inspectors. Public hospital doctors take bribe or they will let you die. And so on. Office workers may be ignorant of these facts but pretty much any honest business owner will tell you this. The city looks good, compared to the rest of Romania. Want to buy a property, Just declare a low value and pay the rest under the table. There are people who meant to recover communist confiscated land - the mayor’s friends have made sure that judges push trials so far in the future that the right to do so expires, and the list goes on. But hey gotta make it look good for foreign investors so they can bring over outsourcing jobs.

I mean, the bribery is common, but wouldn't have expected Cluj to be much worse than any other city (and seems to actually be better than many others). I've also seen plenty of people talking about the corruption, although less about the local companies and more about the ravaging of the forests by Austrian and German logging companies (but not really from a patriotic angle).

I think that this is a very naive view. Corruption is everywhere, at all levels (and not only in RO)

Not sure how it's naive? Literally saying there's corruption everywhere, it's just not worse in one city isn't especially naive...

yeah what happened few years ago is romanians voted in a nationalist government. its infamously corrupt media owning friends started to promote the idea that corruption is not as bad as it seems and not worse than in germany or france. yet i will take anyone posting here on a tour to see corruption on a scale you have never seen before - almost as if it were by design - to support my claims.

I'm not claiming that it's not worse in RO (undoubtedly is), but that Cluj isn't a particular hotspot compared to the rest.

yup - they all say “it happens everywhere” as if that makes it ok. yet corruption in romania js at such a scale i am surprised it is a member of the eu. most west europeans would be amazed at what their money is spent on through eu funding.

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