A report on Romas in Romania prepared by a freelance photojournalist based in Timisoara, Romania, states the Roma in Romania are divided up into 40 different clans, that those clans encompass 21 castes and that these clans have their "own traditional costumes superstitions and taboos." (Opris 2000)

A 3 January 2001 report published by the Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe - South East Europe (CEDIME-SE) entitled Minorities in Southeast Europe: Roma in Romania states, citing Helsinki Watch information from 1991, that:

Romanian Roma constitute approximately forty different groups including Caldari (tinsmiths and coppersmiths), Fierari (blacksmiths), Ursari (bear trainers), Grastari (horse dealers) and Lautari (musicians). Many have foregone the more traditional nomadic lifestyle under duress rather than by choice. Cultural amalgamation has also been widespread among the various groups, yet the divisions still exist and are extremely important within the communities themselves.

A 22 April 2000 report on Romas published in The New York Times states that:

Rom are divided into groups and subgroups, by country of origin and profession. Among the Vlax [Romanian Gypsies] are the Kalderash and Machwaya. The Kalderash, once coppersmiths, often work in auto body shops; Machwaya women are usually fortune tellers.

A 16 December 1995 review of Isabel Fonseca's book on Romas entitled Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey in The Economist refers to:

the proud Kalderash of Transylvania, whose men trade second-hand cars and whose women plait their hair with gold Habsburg coins.

A 10 November 1995 ASAP review on the same book states that:

Gypsies identify themselves by their particular group-the heavy-skirted Kalderasha (Romania, Turkey, Germany), the horse-trading Djambas (Macedonia), and the Ursari (Bulgaria) who still train dancing bears.

In her book, Isabel Fonseca also refers to the Rudari clan. She states that:

The Rudari were slave woodworkers (who also did gold-sifting and bear-training), and though they no longer necessarily whittle wooden tools, they still constitute a large Gypsy grouping in Romania. ... But they spoke no Romani, and apparently never had. They shared no customs with the Roma, such as traditional dress or pollution codes (1996, 180).

On the Ursaris, Fonseca states that:

I had since met some Balkan Ursari who still lived with and off their bears, and now, in my diggings in rural Romanian archives, I found mention of Ursari slaves. It seems that the ruling princes of Wallachia and Moldova always possessed a good supply of the families who travelled with their bears and monkeys, collecting for the Crown.

Animal dancing is now dying out from a combination of pressure from animals' rights, ..., and loss of interest among young Ursaris (1996, 181-82).

A 1 March 2000 referenced report on the Romani language published on the Website of the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, provides a table that list Roma family names by country of origin and their associated traditional trades. The lists provides the names of at least 26 Roma families of Romanian origin listed below:

Argintari, silversmiths
Aurari, goldwashers
Chivute, whitewashers
Costorari, tinners
Cutitari, sharpeners
Ferari (Herari), ironworkers
Gabori, made and repaired furnaces and hot-water bottles
Kalderash, coppersmiths
Kantarai, weighers
Kirpachi, basketmakers
Kobzari, goldsmiths
Kotorara, tent-dwellers
Kovachi, blacksmiths
Laieshi, "members of a horde"
Lautari, Musicians, exclusively fiddlers
Lingurari, Spoon-makers
Mestere-Lacatuchi, makers of keys, locks and burglar bars
Netotsi, Runaway slaves in the Carpathians
Padureani, forester
Potcovari, ironworkers and shoers of horses
Rudari, miners, do not speak Romani
Salahori, house-builders
Sfirnari, animal dealers and trainers
Sitari, known today for making strainers, rolling pins and other cooking utensils
Ursari, bear trainers
Vatrashi, slave grooms, coachmen, cooks (Smith 1 Mar. 1998)

An 8 March 2001 Daily Mail article refers to a clan of Romas in Romania called the Corbeni (the Ravens). On this clan the article states that:

In Romania, the clan has a formidable reputation as gangsters. Numbering about 2,000, the Corbeni earn a living by sending organized gangs abroad to commit petty crime. A member of the Romanian community in London explains: 'The men are ruthless, but it is the women who are sent out to commit theft and shoplifting.

Further information on the various Roma clans and description of their traditional occupations, whether these occupations still exist today and distinguishing characteristics of the clans could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

ASAP. 10 November 1995. Dea Birkett. "Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey. Book Reviews." (NEXIS)

Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe - Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE). 3 January 2001. Minorities in Southeast Europe: Roma of Romania. http://w3.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/ (Accessed 20 July 2001]

Daily Mail [London]. 8 March 2001. Natalie Clark. "Asylum Seeker or Gangster Queen." (NEXIS)

The Economist [London]. 16 December 1995. "Europe's Gypsies. Behind the Ears." (NEXIS)

Fonseca, Isabel. 1996. Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

The New York Times. 22 April 2000. Late Edition - Final. Dinitia Smith. "Renegade In a Most Secretive World." (NEXIS)

Opris, Mircea. 2000. "The Gypsy Alternative." http://www.geocities.com/mircea_opris/index.html [Accessed 11 July 2001]

Smith, Fergus. 1 March 1998. "Romani." http://www2.arnes.si/~eusmith/Romany/names.html [Accessed 19 July 2000]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

Internet Sources, including:

Ethnologue

The Patrin Web Journal: Romani Culture and History

Rom Center for Social Intervention Studies (CRISS)

World News Connection (WNC)

Search Engines Including:

Fast

Google

MetaEureka

Oral sources:

One oral source could not provide the requested information within the research time limits.