I think his point is that the travelling people used to fill in labour shortages... imagine tomato harvest in Italy in June, Swiss farms in July, Bordeaux grapes in September... I just dont think thats the reality of the past.

If I remember correctly were the Romas kicked out of the larger cities already in the middle ages and mostly served the many different European powers in the military as cheap mercenaries... till the industrialized armies of the 20th century made them redundant. That means they had by now about a century of time - or three generations - to come up with a new idea what to do. For many that has worked. For many it did not.

Maybe in some years we will have robots that are sufficiently tactile to handle many farm tasks but right now a surprising amount of work in food production is still done the old fashioned way.

Bottom line is> aggressive, organised/"professional" begging should be banned. Bans function. As Treverus pointed out, that won't stop the local junkies or the odd guy here and there or whatever, but it would stop the gangs.

Ah, you mean by abusing African slaves "illegal immigrants" to produce at ridiculously low costs in Spain, southern Italy or Greece? True.

There are a lot of discussions about seasonal workers lately and how to protect their rights. A lot of countries "discovered" how dependent on them they are in some sectors. I think I've read somewhere that Spain is making some steps toward granting workers from Africa same rights re.social contributions, health insurance etc as EU.
But we digress.

Digress for sure. This thread is about the ethics of paying plane tickets to get rid. Would be interesting to discuss this.

Amen. The maximum beggars get out of me is food. (Four donuts, last time... huh?!)

Roma-ish-looking families with kids, this spring, one at Central, one at Europaallee (at the end of the new pedestrian bridge). Again and again, beggars with crutches etc. on their own in trams, despite a clear ban in there. It does seem to be taking off in Zurich, too.

As for the one-way ticket back... tbh, if someone accepts, why not? Wouldn’t it be a case of a gift horse?

Greens and Jobbik, amogles: which Greens? German or Hungarian? If German: source, please? If Hungarian: I didn’t know they even existed. But of course there is such a thing as a greenish-brown niche, famously occupied by James Schwarzenbach in Switzerland, and recently discussed in Balthasar Glättli‘s „Die unheimlichen Ökologen“. (Paraphrasing the legendary „Die unheimlichen Patrioten“.) My blasé Western prejudices tempt me to speculate that niche might garner more votes in Hungary than classic red-green politics. Those who know more about it: please correct me if I‘m wrong.

As mentioned, one problem was that Strasbourg upheld a banned beggar‘s objection to a fine in Geneva: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politic...ggar-/46299040 The verdict seems to have left open the question of whether bans can be upheld even from a legal POV, let alone a practical one. If you cannot sanction a practice, how can you deter people from doing it? Then again, as the Romans said and as law students are still taught today: nulla poena sine lege, nulla lex sine iniuria. No punishment without a law, no law without an injustice (or injury). It is hard to argue that beggars are committing a particularly grave iniuria to the likes of us. Confronting the privileged with their privileges was widely acceptable in religious societies, see court jesters. What they‘re doing to their children: different question. But full of staggering pitfalls, as Kinder der Landstrasse shows. Speaking of which, anyone remember Ceaucescu‘s orphanages? I met a deeply damaged survivor once. Brrr.

I've never been in favour of that.

We discussed it on other threads and you know it.

Good point.

Nobody is obliged to give anything to a beggar. Those who chose to do so are (in some cases) perpetuating an abusive system.

It's fine to want to the strong arm of the law to stretch out on our behalf and ban that.

But how many of the people who want that have no qualms buying stuff made by abusive slave labour in China.

Is it because its OK if we don't see it but wrong if we see it?

It's perfectly OK to be part of the system and criticize some parts of it. It's not a quest for purity or innocence. Putting attention to 1 wrong when there are 1 million other wrongs is not foolish. It's the only way to improve, one thing at a time.

No, you're right and that's why this sort of discussions are always weird especially here and the internet is not the best place to debate it. On internet dehumanising entire categories of people is usually very quickly done. One case and then boom, all of them.

Anyway, I don't even know what the topic was about anymore because it started with the homeless in Basel being offered a voucher and a travel fare to any European destination and then the topic of gypsies and gypsy beggars popped up and the groups in Basel, so I don't know, if it's a recurrent problem there maybe it's not a bad thing they were offered this possibility instead of being fined for instance.

Bans function (I think) because the police has a legal backup to keep an eye on some street dynamics. As agreed, odd cases here and there but not gangs, not groups. Not a street or a park. It's possible in ZH so why not elsewhere.
More than that I literally have nothing to add, debating old cases might be useful in general but not in particular. Not for this specific issue or phenomenon. I see solutions only on long term tbh.

Btw, I don't think I've seen anywhere in Europe the homeless problem as in USA. And that was years ago. Not covid-19, not nothing. But backhome is an issue too lately because it's very easy to go down that route. One loses their job, then their home, families are broken and voila. It's not only the Roma, mind. It's normal people who used to have a normal life and life just hit them on the head. So if that happens where one wouldn't expect, what's to comment about marginalised categories. Nothing. I don't have any solutions.

One solution would be to make it illegal to approach people for money (which is often aggressive), or to call out while sitting at a beggars' pitch.

If the beggars - even the professional ones - were just sitting passively with their signs, it wouldn't be such a problem.

It doesn't take aggressiveness to cause significant pressure.

Back in the day there used to be what looked like Andean/Indio bands in Zürich's tram. They'd hop on, play a tune or two, then one would walk the tram's length with an hat upside down in hand, asking for donations without speaking. The hat would only be moved towards the passengers (and enter their personal space) if they showed willingness to donate. In such a situation it's often very difficult for anybody with company to refuse to contribute even though there was zero aggressiveness.

Every time I've been to Irchel Park or Josefwiese, I have been approached by beggars who look very similar to the gypsy types in other countries. Recently while bbq/picknicking at Josefwiese a friend offered our left overs, and the old lady graciously accepted and chowed down on everything we would offer. I honestly thought it was organized beggars.

As for the Swiss travellers, looks like they are moving on..mostly of them campers are gone now. I highly doubt they beg though. All brands new, gorgeous RVs, and amazing cars....they definitely live better than I do.

Looks like the Basel police are taking some action

Basel: 52 beggars checked (German)

https://www.polizei-schweiz.ch/basel...-kontrolliert/

Basel offers homeless free one-way ticket to European destinations...


Make me believe last time I have been interested in was "Paris offers homeless free one-way TVG non-stop service ticket and consular advise on Swiss border"

In two months we may get "Paris offers one way ticket to district of French Guinea - sea adventure for homeless - with cooperation of city of Basel " or ...

Here's a translation, with the help of deepl.

Während einer Kontrollaktion hat die Kantonspolizei Basel-Stadt gemeinsam mit mehreren Partnerbehörden in der Nacht auf Dienstag 52 mutmassliche Bettlerinnen und Bettler kontrolliert. 21 dieser Personen hat sie dem Migrationsamt Basel-Stadt für vertiefte Abklärungen zugeführt. In 19 Fällen erliess das Amt eine ausländerrechtliche Massnahme.
During a control operation, the Cantonal Police of Basel-City, together with several partner authorities, checked 52 suspected beggars on the night of Monday to Tuesday. Twenty-one of these people were brought to the Basel-Stadt Migration Office for further investigation. In 19 cases, the office issued a measure under immigration law.


Kantonspolizei und Migrationsamt richteten ihr Augenmerk namentlich darauf, ob sich die kontrollierten Personen rechtmässig in der Schweiz aufhalten und ob sie die für EU-Staatsangehörige geltende Maximaldauer von neunzig Tagen pro Kalenderjahr für einen Kurzzeitaufenthalt einhalten.
The cantonal police and the Migration Office focused their attention on whether the persons checked were in Switzerland legally and whether they were complying with the maximum duration of ninety days per calendar year for a short-term stay applicable to EU nationals.

Sodann müssen sich EU-Staatsangehörige, die während eines solchen Kurzzeitaufenthaltes Sozialhilfe – etwa in Form einer Übernachtung in der Notschlafstelle – beziehen, beim Migrationsamt wegen der Ausreise melden. Personen, die dies nicht tun oder nach einer Ausreise kurzfristig wieder einreisen, riskieren eine sofortige Wegweisung.
EU nationals who receive social assistance during such a short-term stay – for example in the form of an overnight stay in an emergency shelter – must report to the migration office to do with leaving the country. People who do not do this or who re-enter the country shortly after having left, risk immediate deportation.

Genau aus diesem Grund hat das Migrationsamt während der Kontrolle gegen elf Personen eine Wegweisung verfügt. In vier weiteren Fällen erging die gleiche Massnahme, weil die Betroffenen die maximale Dauer des Kurzzeitaufenthaltes überschritten hatten, und in zwei Fällen, weil die Quarantänemassnahmen des Bundes nicht eingehalten wurden. Diese beiden Personen werden zudem dem Gesundheitsdepartement rapportiert.
It was precisely for this reason that the Migration Office issued deportation orders against eleven people during the inspection. In four other cases, the same measure was taken because the persons concerned had exceeded the maximum duration of short-term stay, and in two cases because the federal quarantine measures had not been complied with. These two persons are also reported to the Department of Health.

Eine Ausgrenzung sprach das Migrationsamt gegen eine Person aus, weil sie in einem anderen Kanton gegen die öffentliche Sicherheit und Ordnung verstossen hat. Eine Ausreiseaufforderung erging wegen eines Minderjährigen, der in Begleitung seines erwachsenen Cousins unterwegs war. Bei den kontrollierten Personen handelte es sich um rumänisch Staatsangehörige im Alter von 17 bis 65 Jahren.
The Migration Office issued an exclusion order against one person because he had violated public security and order in another canton. An order to leave the country was issued to a minor who was travelling with his adult cousin. The persons checked were Romanian nationals aged between 17 and 65.

An der rund 5,5 Stunden dauernden Kontrolle standen Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter der Kantonspolizei Basel-Stadt, des Migrationsamtes Basel-Stadt und der Kindes- und Erwachsenenschutzbehörde Basel-Stadt im Einsatz.
During the check, which lasted about 5.5 hours, staff of the Cantonal Police Basel-Stadt, the Migration Office Basel-Stadt and the Child and Adult Protection Authority Basel-Stadt were on duty.

Actually they still exist in Basel .... same 4 gypsies over the years that I guess don’t move. Sometimes the tram driver will stop the tram & throw them off. One of the ladies actually has a very angelic voice & I have given her a few coins now and then. One day I saw her out in public and she was yelling at & punching her husband and was anything but angelic.

We have a hobo here in Bern who does it on the bus with his dog - he’s a like-able guy & he’s too drunk to properly sing or ask for money. He just gets on and sings and gets off. Once hubs and I were sitting at an outdoor cafe & he came up sober and sang & was actually very talented. We gave him some money and I threw the ball for his dog, was a nice day.