From the time they entered Europe from India a thousand years ago, the Roma were targets of discrimination. Countries passed laws to suppress their culture and keep them out of the mainstream -- and sometimes went much further. Roma were enslaved in Hungary and Romania in the 15th century and targeted for extermination by Nazi Germany 500 years later. Opinion: Europe's Roma discrimination shame Estimates of Romani deaths in the Holocaust range from 25% to 70% of the Roma population in Europe. Many Roma remain on the fringes of mainstream European society -- a fact underscored in the current case of a Romani couple accused of child abduction in Greece. The fair-skinned child caught the eyes of authorities when they visited a Roma community. The couple's attorney says they adopted the child from the biological mother but didn't go through a legal process.
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EU agency: 90% of Roma live below poverty line
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Roma are Europe's largest minority
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Roma arrived from India about 1,000 years ago, usually unwelcome in Europe
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School segregation, forced evictions are among issues
Europe
Europe
Europe
Europe
Europe
Most live in southern and eastern @placeholder, although they can be found throughout the continent.
European
Some advocates say many @placeholder wrongly assume all Roma still want to be nomads -- and use that belief to justify authorities' failure to provide housing when they evict Roma from camps.
Hungary
In the beginning of the 15th century, many Roma were forced into slavery by @placeholder and Romanian nobles who needed laborers for their large estates, according to the university.
European
Amnesty International says @placeholder governments continue to actively discriminate against the Roma.