From Mr D. Carabott

While thanking Mr Naudi for showing interest in my article “The Stateless People” (TMIS, Gallarija 11 January), I wish to clarify some points.

There are various different opinions about the origin of the Roma. Some researchers maintain that the word “gypsies” is a corruption of Egyptians since some thought, incorrectly, that these people originated from Egypt.

Gypsies is the common English word for Sinti and Roma. All these terms are in fact used interchangeably to refer to the same ethnic group.

It is thought that the Roma in fact originated from the Punjabi region in India, arriving in Europe in the Middle Ages.

David Carabott

MQABBA