EU's new fundamental rights agency urges end to bias against Gypsies

VIENNA, Austria: The European Union's new rights agency called for a quick end to discrimination against Gypsies, urging governments Wednesday to take more rigorous steps to stamp out what it called entrenched bias. "What we need now is more action on the ground," Beate Winkler, interim director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, said in a statement issued before Sunday's observances of International Roma Day. Winkler urged EU member states to take "specific measures that tackle deep-rooted discrimination and negative stereotypes" of Gypsies, also known as Roma.
Unemployment among Gypsies runs as high as 70 to 90 percent in some countries, and they frequently are victims of racially motivated violence, the Vienna-based agency said.
"They face systemic discrimination in education, public health care, services and employment. Romani women and children often fall victim to multiple discrimination on the grounds of age, ethnicity and gender," it said. Among the disadvantages the agency said Europe's Gypsies routinely suffer: - Many young Gypsies tend to drop out of school early because of language or cultural obstacles, depriving them of the basic qualifications they need to land a decent job, and others are subject to segregation. "Education systems across the EU are failing Roma pupils," it said. - Gypsies have trouble getting suitable housing, and surveys repeatedly show they are the "least-wanted" neighbors. As a result, many live in substandard conditions that lack basic sanitary facilities such as toilets or running water, and some are subject to eviction or forced relocation. - Gypsies who need health care "are subjected to discriminatory treatment, ranging from segregation in maternity wards to discriminatory treatment by medical professionals," the agency said. - An estimated 6.2 million Gypsies live in Europe - about 4.6 million of them in central and eastern Europe - according to estimates by the U.N.-affiliated International Organization for Migration. The Council of Europe puts the number even higher, at somewhere between 8 million and 10 million. Winkler urged EU governments to take active, "positive" steps to close the gap, such as encouraging employers to recruit Gypsies or offer them special vocational training so they can compete on equal terms with other job applicants.
The Associated Press

Helsinki Commissioners to PM on sterilization

Letter recently sent by several Members of the US Helsinki Commission to Slovak Prime Minister Fico regarding the issue of sterilization without informed consent. Dear Prime Minister Fico, We write regarding the recent decision of Slovakia s Constitutional Court in the case of three Romani women who alleged that they were sterilized without informed consent. We write today to urge your government to acknowledge unequivocally that wrongful sterilizations of Romani women occurred before and after the fall of communism. On December 13, 2006, Slovakia s highest court ruled that the regional prosecution had improperly closed its investigation into the claims of these three women and that the investigation had been so faulty that it violated both the Slovak Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr. Prime Minister, Members of this Commission welcomed the changes to Slovakia laws which came into effect in 2005 and were designed to ensure that sterilizations would only be performed with truly informed consent. At the same time we believe that the Slovak Government's 2003 investigation into this matter was seriously deficient: conflicts of interest were not adequately addressed; human rights activists and sterilization victims were threatened with criminal charges for speaking out; investigators failed to evaluate whether, when consent was given, it was truly informed; and to this very day some Romani women continue to be denied access to their own medical records. Moreover, while the 2003 investigation did find that some wrongful sterilizations had been performed and that at least six cases warranted further investigation, these grave abuses were dismissed as merely the result of "procedural shortcomings." To add insult to injury, subsequent Slovak Government statements have mischaracterized the results of that investigation, stating that illegal sterilizations occurred. Most shockingly, a Slovak Government 2005 submission to a U. Committee states that sterilizations "had no influence on the reproductive ability of the Roma ethnic minority. Mr. Prime Minister, the Slovak Government's failure to conduct a forthright investigation into this matter, coupled with its misleading assertions that that illegal sterilizations did not occur contributes to the chasm of mistrust that divides Slovakia s Romani and non-Romani citizens. Non-Roma have been misled by their government to believe that Roma falsely made accusations of egregious wrongs, and government institutions established to defend human rights have utterly failed to protect the rights of Roma. If the Slovak Government is to counter the endemic prejudice faced by its most marginalized minority, it must demonstrate compassion for the victims of this past abuse and acknowledge -publicly and unequivocally - that wrongful sterilizations of Romani women did occur.

Supplex Libellus - document promoting Roma nomadic communities` rights

BUCHAREST - Many Roma civic and political organizations initiated a memorandum asking for a relevant public policy for traditional semi-nomadic Roma communities.
'This Memorandum is the result of the public central and local institution ignorant stance, in the past 18 years since the fall of the communist regime, of the options of traditional Roma communities and of professional Roma groups and aims to arise the interest of the public communities for these communities / groups and to stimulate public policies in that respect', shows a press release. The initiators of this memorandum ask for the legal enactment of the norms targeting the traditional semi-nomadic population and the itinerant professions, according to the European legislation; they also ask the Government of Romania to explicitly enforce public policies targeting traditional semi-nomadic communities and the Roma professional associations as a part of the Government of Romania's Strategy to Improve Romas' Status; last but not least, the political parties and the Romanian civil society should take as a priority the stipulations in the present Memorandum and should improve the cooperation in implementing them in the Roma communities and associations.
DIVERS - http://www.divers.ro/

Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma, Volume 1: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia

Roma schoolchildren are often segregated from non-Roma children and face disadvantage in every aspect of their education. The governments participating in the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005- 2015 have set an ambitious course for themselves towards changing this situation. Yet in the first two years of the Decade they have scarcely found their bearings on the enormous task lying ahead. While policies and programs remain unfulfilled, Roma children continue to face discrimination, isolation, and exclusion. These are the main findings included in this collection of monitoring reports by OSI's EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP), in cooperation with the Education Support Program and Roma Participation Program. The countries reviewed in this volume are Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia. More on http://www.soros.org/initiatives/roma/articles_publications/publications/equal_20070329

Web site explores Roma community in Latvia

The web site examining the Roma community in Latvia has been launched in March, 2007, by the Roma Culture Development Centre. The site, www.Romi.lv, claims to be the first such medium in the Baltic states. Romi.lv reports news and covers issues about the Roma community, and also provides background on the history, traditions and role of Roma in Latvia. A total of 8,512 Roma lived in Latvia at the beginning of 2006, according to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Information on the site is presented in Latvian, English and Russian. The site is supported by the British Embassy in Latvia and the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration. Latvians Online

Blogging Roma issues around Central and Eastern Europe

Transitions Online (http://www.tol.org ) have launched a new blog on Roma in Europe (in English). http://blogs.tol.org/roma/

New round of strategic grants for the Minority Rights in Practice Project

Launched in 2004, the Minority Rights in Practice project (MRP) aims to increase opportunities for the inclusion and participation of ethnic minorities in the countries of South-East Europe in view of their European integration objectives. Strategic grants amounting to a total of 285.000 euros have been approved for Phase II of the programme (2006-2008).
Partner NGO's in Albania (Human Development Promotion Center), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Centres for Civic Initiatives), Bulgaria (Interethnic Initiatives for Human Rights Foundation), Croatia (Coalition for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights), Kosovo (Humanitarian Law Center), Romania (Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Centre) and Serbia (Civic Initiatives) were invited to build on the results of their activities during the first phase and submit plans for Phase II of the programme which will run from 2006-2008. Macedonia will follow in the spring while a coalition of four NGO's has been created for the launching of the project in Montenegro. The action plans will focus on three key aspects:
- The local level: there is a need for a policy that would reconcile local self-governance with the principles of multi-ethnicity. Minorities should indeed be recognised not only at national but also at local level, this especially in the context of the new policy of decentralisation, and their position should be strengthened through the effective implementation of existing institutional mechanisms; - EU accession/integration has proven to be a powerful driving force for reforms throughout the region and particularly in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania; - The need for training and capacity building, particularly for public institutions and representative bodies such as minority councils.
More at: http://www.kbs-frb.be/code/page.cfm?id_page=125&id=751〈=EN&frommail=1

Minority Rights in Practice Permanent Open Call

In addition to strategic grants, the Foundation occasionally supports proposals for advocacy and policy initiatives to be implemented at the regional and European level (public awareness campaigns, conferences, policy events, cross-border projects�?�). In 2006, three projects have been approved with grants totalling 35.000 euros.
The MRP in SEE Small Grants scheme supports projects submitted by NGO's from Southeast Europe or international NGO's active in South Eastern Europe that
- provide a forum for the exchange of views and experience at cross-border regional and European level to voice issues and promote good practice in relation to minority rights in SEE; - increase public understanding of minority rights and inclusion at SEE regional and European levels; - provide for engaging collaboration between various actors and creating a broader base for civic dialogue on minority rights implementation.
It is a permanent open call. A letter of enquiry, including a brief description of the project and the range of needed funding, is acceptable for initial contact. An application form is sent to applicants of shortlisted project ideas in case of approval. The following three projects have been supported in 2006 for a total of 35.000 euros:
- Journalist educational seminars on minority issues (STINA agency, Split, Croatia) - Documentary on Decentralisation: a solution for Kosovo minorities? (Southeast Europe TV Exchanges, Brussels-Belgrade) - Minorities in transition: a force forward rather than backward (The International Centre for Democratic Transition, Budapest, Hungary)
More at: http://www.kbs-frb.be/code/page.cfm?id_page=125&id=751〈=EN&frommail=1


Call for Scholarship Applications - Conference on HIV/AIDS treatment rights for ethnic minorities

The Roma Health Project (RHP) of the Open Society Institute is soliciting applications from Roma activists and civil society members interested to attend the European AIDS Treatment Group Conference "The right to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support for migrants and ethnic minorities in Europe: The Community perspective" in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 7-8, 2007. RHP will fund three scholarships supporting participation costs. The full call for applications can be downloaded at right. Interested individuals should submit their applications in English to efoldes@osi.hu no later than Monday, April 23, 2007.
Source: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/roma/news/eatg_20070405