Six million Roma people live in the European Union and the largest community is in Romania. Many live in exclusion and poverty.



But one local mayor says he has a radical solution for dealing with the community's issues. His policy has brought enormous political dividend, as 85 percent of the town voted for him.

He sends them to the offices of an abandoned copper plant. It is an uncompromising message in economic hard times when radical quick fixes to complex problems have great appeal.

Al Jazeera's Simon McGregor-Wood reports from northern Romania.