Happy Reunion
I worked closely with Roma communities in Slovakia over a three year period between 2002 and 2004 - as part of a big social inclusion project funded by the World Bank and European Commission - which aimed to improve people's skills, employability and job prospects.
Now there is no doubt that Roma people, with relatively few exceptions, live on the margins of society across Europe - more often or not they are housed in Roma-only camps or ghettos where services are poor and poverty is rife.
But as in any other community, there are individuals who exploit difficult situations - sometimes in a criminal way - which give the Roma people more generally a bad name and a terrible reputation.
And that seems to be what's happened with the little blond girl - Maria - who was removed, quite rightly, by authorities in Greece after they discovered that she was not related to the couple she was living with - who claimed, falsely, to be Maria's parents.
According to the Greek charity - Smile of the Child - Maria was being used to beg in the streets and the BBC reports that Maria's 'mother' claimed to have given birth to no less than 6 children during a 10 month period.
Not all Roma people are such liars and abusers of course - I would go back to Slovakia in a minute given the chance, but I hope this little girl is reunited with her real family although that will not necessarily be an easy task.
Greek police appeal over mystery blonde girl
Police say 'Maria' was likely to have been kidnapped in 2009, as Catharina Moh reports
Greek police are trying to discover the identity of a young blonde girl who was found living on a Roma settlement with a family she did not resemble.
DNA tests revealed the child, called Maria and aged about four, was not related to the couple she lived with.
The little girl is now being looked after by a charity. Her photo has been released to help find her family.
Officials believe she may have been a victim of abduction or child trafficking.
Police are appealing internationally as the girl looks like she might be from northern or eastern Europe.
The charity, Smile of the Child, told the BBC that the girl was frightened and neglected when she arrived in their care but that in overall good health and was now more relaxed.
It said it had received many calls since the appeal was launched.
A spokesman for the British couple Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine went missing in Portugal in 2007, said the case gave them "great hope" that she would one day be found alive.Raid
Police raided the Roma camp, near Farsala in central Greece, to search for drugs and weapons.
The little girl was allegedly being used to beg on the streets
They noticed the lack of resemblance between the blonde-haired, green-eyed, pale-skinned little girl and her parents, and found further discrepancies when they investigated the family's documents.
The couple had registered different numbers of children with different regional family registries.
The woman claimed to have given birth to six children within a 10-month period.
When questioned about how they came to have Maria, the couple gave "constantly changing claims," Thessalia Province Police Director Vassilis Halatsis said.
"The girl might have been abducted from a hospital, or given up by an unmarried mother," the officer said.
"So far we do not have a declared disappearance of a child of this age in Greece. Through Interpol, we will request assistance from the other European countries."
The 39-year-old man and his 40-year-old wife have been arrested on suspicion of abducting a minor.
The president of Smile of the Child, Kostas Yaaopoulos, said the girl was being used to beg on the streets.
They noticed the lack of resemblance between the blonde-haired, green-eyed, pale-skinned little girl and her parents, and found further discrepancies when they investigated the family's documents.
The couple had registered different numbers of children with different regional family registries.
The woman claimed to have given birth to six children within a 10-month period.
When questioned about how they came to have Maria, the couple gave "constantly changing claims," Thessalia Province Police Director Vassilis Halatsis said.
"The girl might have been abducted from a hospital, or given up by an unmarried mother," the officer said.
"So far we do not have a declared disappearance of a child of this age in Greece. Through Interpol, we will request assistance from the other European countries."
The 39-year-old man and his 40-year-old wife have been arrested on suspicion of abducting a minor.
The president of Smile of the Child, Kostas Yaaopoulos, said the girl was being used to beg on the streets.
