Shoot-ka
Located at the outskirts of Skopje, Šuto Orizari is known as the biggest Roma municipality in the world. This municipality has a unique identity: here the 80% of inhabitants have Roma origin and Romani is adopted as the official language. Šuto Orizari is possibly unique in Europe as a district run politically and economically by members of the Roma community, but to most Macedonians, it’s known mainly for its market. And a reputation for crime. Despite being considered by many as a ghetto, “Shoot-ka” – as it is badly nicknamed – has welcomed a high amount of refugees during the wars that brought the Yugoslav Federation to collapse. Though cohesive and united, the community faces multiple challenges: only 23% of the population has a regular employment contract and bordering neighborhoods are prone to stigmatize and marginalize the households who live in this district.
Around the district, the celebrated bazaar, overloaded chariots, old-fashioned Mercedes and modern buses compete for space on one of Šuto Orizari's few tarmac roads. Customers move frantically from one stall to another in search of bargains, while elders placidly sip Turkish coffee sitting on small chairs beside the street. The goods on sale range from clearly counterfeited clothing, sunglasses and sports equipment to homemade delicacies. Waiters in white shirts delivering coffee dodge between veiled women, sweets sellers, beggars and smiling bakers.
The future of the community is represented by toothless toddlers wearing creased T-shirts soiled with dust and fashionable teenagers, indistinguishable from those seen in any European city. Without them, the scene could easily be a fragment taken from Emir Kusturica’s Time of the Gypsies. It is no coincidence that the Serbian director's film was partly shot in Šuto Orizari.
Down the road at one of the two elementary schools in the district, Alvin Salimovski is preparing his students to take on and defeat the prejudice that he has experienced and that they, too, will have to confront as they grow up. With his well-kept beard, a love for metal music and a degree in German studies, the headmaster might not fit the stereotype often imposed on his people. But that was no protection from discrimination, he says. "If you are Roma, you have to double your effort. You have to prove you are not backwards, demonstrate that you can actually make it."
Click here to watch the original video reportage for Euronews
