The Budapest-based European Roma Rights Center,or ERRC, suggests that the attacks to which detained suspects are linked are no isolated incidents.

VOA: standard.2009.08.22

The killings were carried out mainly in small countryside villages predominantly settled by Roma.

VOA: standard.2009.08.22

Some human rights groups and Roma leaders say the attacks come at a time when right-wing extremists are searching for scapegoats for Hungary's current economic crisis.

VOA: standard.2009.08.22

But in far-flung villages with a majority Roma population, Roma and non-Roma parents alike are upset when local schools close and children are bussed off each day to towns.

BBC: Roma poverty a major issue for EU

Many members of the Roma community are poorly educated - UN figures quoted by the Open Society Institute indicate that in 2005, 94% of the general Romanian population was in primary education (7 - 15), compared to 76% Roma, 69% in secondary education (16 -19) 17% Roma and 5% in tertiary education (1% Roma).

BBC: NI Romanians face uncertain future

But the Roma are distinct in culture - and this distinction is important, because if the government is unsure how many Roma people live in the UK, then it will not be able to get funds for initiatives to help the Roma out of the tens of billions of euros the European Union has set aside for social inclusion projects.

BBC: Roma children: Britain's hidden care problem