Manumissio inter amicos - On 5th June 2014, Pope Francis warned Europeans:

“Without integration, Gypsies will become victims of new forms of slavery”

From the Vatican, the Holy Father sees clearly the shameful picture: old and young, whether in Northern Hungary or Eastern Slovakia, rake the gutters of their remote villages the whole year round for just

200 euros a month,

doing so-called ’Public Works Program’, a government scheme administered by village authorities. In exchange for this paltry amount, they are excluded from normal education or job opportunities. They may well live out their whole lives in the same degrading position, mentally reined in for the sake of a sum that does not afford them a living wage. The Public Works program turns people into subjects who are dependent. Work perfomance does not matter: the future belongs only to those who submit. A new caste system is being constructed on the eastern fringes of the European Union.

A strained society naturally affects us all. The

average person

is getting pushed out of more and more quality services because such services are only accessible by the elite. If instead of talent and excellence of character, it is birthright that categorizes us, it harms our quality of life and the efficiency of the economy.