Greek Roma Seek Their Way Warily

SOFADES, Greece - Sitting in his sparsely furnished living room, Panagiotis Polizos, a 40-year-old clarinet player, watches Greek TV news and is horrified at how he says his Roma community has been vilified over the alleged abduction of a small girl. ?A couple of years ago, I was asked to bring my band to a local festival near Sofades,? said Polizos, a father of four children. ?We were not given food, wine, or water, just because we are 'gypsies.'? ?Things are going to get worse now,? he added. ?They will put the blame on the entire Roma community.?Gypsies arrived in Europe from India centuries ago, and the suspicion and discrimination with which they were met kept them on the move in an itinerant lifestyle that remains part of their culture to this day in some places like Ireland.

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