Iraq's gypsies seen as outcasts in new community
Al-Zuhoor,IRAQ: Squeezed between a rubbish dump and a dry riverbed, al-Zuhoor has no clean water or electricity and the gypsies who live here are at the margins of the new, ultra-conservative Iraq.
In smelly alleys bordered by brick hovels, without glass windows or doors, men wander without work, a young girl plays on a squeaky swing and women return from a day's begging in Diwaniyah, 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Baghdad.
In the distance, smoke from burning rubbish blackens the sky and, when the wind turns, the nauseous odor is overwhelming.
Before 2003, under the Baathist regime of toppled president Saddam Hussein, the situation was much better. The dictator's iron fist did not weigh on the gypsies or Roma.
The men were professional singers or musicians and the women were invited to dance at feasts, weddings and parties in Iraq, having migrated to the Middle East from India centuries ago.
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