Human Rights Here, Roma Rights Now
Transcript of Human Rights Here, Roma Rights Now
Human Rights Here, Roma Rights
Now
Presenting the new Roma campaign by Amnesty International
Some numbers on the situation of Roma
Between 10 and 12 million Roma live in Europe; approximately 6 million Roma
live in EU member states.
9 out of 10 Roma in the EU live below the poverty line
In Romania approximately 60% of Roma live in segregated communities without
access to basic state services
40,000 (out of 60,000) Roma in Italy live in camps
More than 12,000 Roma were evicted in France in 2012
In the Czech Republic, approximately 60,000-80,000 Roma live in excluded
settlements, where unemployment is over 90%
20 -30% of Romani settlements in south-eastern Slovenia have no access to
water
Some numbers (continued)
Romani children comprise 32% of pupils attending schools for pupils with 'mild
mental disabilities' in the Czech Republic.
Over one third (36%) of Roma children are reported to be in Roma-only
classes, and 12% of Roma pupils are reported to be in special schools. In the
space of a generation, the attendance rate of Roma at special schools has more or
less doubled in Slovakia.
At least 90,000 Roma women have been forcibly sterilized in the Czech Republic
and Slovakia
In Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria there have been more than
120 attacks against Roma people and their property in the last four years (until
July 2012)
Amnesty International’s Roma work
Amnesty International has been fighting for the rights of Roma people in Europe
since 2006.
Some of the countries we work on:
Italy
France Hungary Slovenia
Serbia Czech Republic Slovakia
Romania
The right to housing
Hundreds of thousands or Roma in Europe live in ethnically segregated, informal settlements
or camps as a result of policies that deny them other housing options.
They are often targeted with forced evictions and sometimes are relocated to areas where
their health is at risk
Romania
We promote the right to housing (including the right not to be forcibly evicted)
Coastei Street, Cluj-Napoca
76 Roma families were forcibly evicted. They were notified only two days before the
eviction took place, were not consulted or given access to remedies or adequate
alternative housing. They were relocated to the city’s outskirts next to a landfill site and
chemical waste dump.
Two years after the eviction the situation remains unchanged
The right to housing (II)
Italy
For decades the Italian authorities have fostered the residential segregation of
Roma. Local and regional authorities persistently advance “camps” as the only
available and appropriate housing solution for Roma.
2008 “Nomad Emergency” targeted Roma communities for forced evictions and
pursued policies which fostered residential segregation. Such discriminatory
policies persist even after the Council of State struck down the ‘Emergency’ in
November 2011
We see the treatment of Roma in relation to access to housing in Italy as a breach of
the country’s obligations under the Race Equality Directive (2000/43/EC) and call
on the EC to start an infringement procedure against Italy
The right to education
Czech Republic
In a landmark judgment (D.H. and others v the Czech Republic), the European
Court of Human Rights ruled in 2007 that segregated education of Roma children
amounts to indirect discrimination
Five years later the situation has not changed and the discriminatory practices
continue. In the Czech Republic, Roman children account for 35% of the pupils
placed in ‘practical schools’ and classes for people ‘with mild mental
disabilities’, where they are taught a reduced curriculum. Only 3 out of 10 Roma
students complete upper-secondary education compared with 8 non-Roma
We call on the European Commission to start an infringement procedure against
the Czech Republic for breach of the Race Equality Directive (2000/43/EC) in
relation the right to education
The right to education (II)
Slovakia
Roma children are also overrepresented in special schools and classes for
pupils with mild mental disabilities. Only 2 out of 10 Roma students complete
upper-secondary education compared with 8 non-Roma
Greece
Segregation of Romani pupils continues despite 2 rulings by the European
Court of Human Rights (the last one in 2012), which found that segregation of
Roma pupils in separate Roma-only classes was discriminatory (Sampani & others v
Greece)
Anti-Roma violence
In a recently published survey by the FRA 1 in 5 Roma said they had been
targeted with racist hatred and violence
According to reports compiled by the European Roma Rights Centre, more than
120 serious violent attacks against Roma and their property occurred in
Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria between January 2008
and July 2012
Authorities rarely collect specific data on hate crimes against the Roma, and
often fail to investigate such crimes thoroughly
“Human Rights Here. Roma Rights Now”:
the campaign’s aims
The EU influences its member states to end discriminatory policies and
practices against Roma (ie end forced evictions of Roma, residential segregation
and school segregation of Romani children). In particular, the European Commission
actively uses existing tools (robust monitoring, infringement procedure) to ensure
Member States’ compliance with EU antidiscrimination law, i.e. the Race
Equality Directive (2000/43/EC)
Exposes the discrimination and other human rights violations that Roma people
suffer across the EU. It deepens awareness and challenges discriminatory
attitudes towards Roma through research, advocacy, campaigning and activism
How will we achieve this?
Political pressure on the European Institutions the European Parliament, the
Council, but particularly the European Commission
The Race Equality Directive (2000/43/EC)
The Race Equality Directive is a powerful tool in the hands of the EU to
act upon the discriminatory practices Roma people face in EU member
states
An infringement procedure can be initiated by the Commission against a
state whose laws, policies or practices are contrary to EU law (namely the
Race Equality Directive)
We call on the Commission to take action and initiate infringement
procedures where violations are alleged or identified
Infringement proceedings in EU countries –
some data
Overall number of
procedures opened (2011)
Areas with higher number of
procedures opened (2011)
Procedures opened on the
RED (2012)
Italy 135 Environment (33), Internal
Market (18)
0 (1 EU Pilot)
Romania 47 Taxation (9), Energy (8) 1 (transposition)
Slovakia 41 Environment (8), Transport
(7)
0
The Czech Republic 65 Environment(20), Transport
(14)
0
Why the European Commission?
The EC has competence in anti-discrimination in access to goods and
services (including housing), education, employment, and healthcare ((under
the Race Equality Directive) it can therefore exercise robust monitoring and
launch infringement procedures against Member States whose policies or
practices violate the Directive
At present, the EC has not fully used the tools at its disposal to address
failures by EU member states to combat anti-Roma discrimination and racism
The EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS) adopted in
April 2011 is weak on anti-discrimination the EC should push Member States to
develop, review and implement NRIS that include effective measures to combat
discrimination
AI also call on the EC to put pressure on Member States to tackle racist and anti-
Roma violence and effectively monitor the use of EU funds
“Human Rights Here. Roma Rights Now”
- key dates
May 2013: Commission pushes for anti-discrimination measures in NRIS
implementation
October 2013: Commission’s report on implementation of EU Equality
Directives (2000/43/EC, 2000/78/EC) includes proper evaluation and strong
message to Member States
Early 2014: European Parliament calls on the Commission to step in more strongly
to end discrimination against Roma in the EU
Commission open Infringement procedures against specific Member States for
breach of the Race Equality Directives?
Campaign’s launch in Brussels
International Roma Day 2013, 8 April
We set up a small-scale Roma informal settlement in front of the European
Parliament in Brussels
The Roma village
exemplified some of the human
rights violations that Roma
people endure throughout Europe
(e.g. violation of the right to
adequate housing, forced
evictions, segregation in
education) and aimed at raising
awareness (among EU decision-
makers and the public) about the
widespread discrimination that
Roma people face, and break the
negative stereotypes against
Roma
A fake forced eviction
© Sven Dauphin
© Sven Dauphin A Roma woman opposes the
forced eviction and is violently carried
away from the settlement by police
officers
A spokesperson from the
municipality announces the
forced eviction and orders
everyone to leave the premises
Bringing the right-holders’s voices to EU
decision-makers
Front right: Hélène Flautre, MEP
Front left: Claudia Greta, Roma activist from Cluj-
Napoca, Romania
© Sven Dauphin
© Sven Dauphin
Claudia Greta, Roma activist from Cluj-Napoca,
Romania : "What you saw today is not just
theatre. It is something that happens on a daily
basis to the Roma across Europe. EU
institutions should take a stance and hold to
account states that violate the rights of Roma."
Balloons with the colours of the Roma flag
Video of the flashmob: http://youtu.be/PEbN0bYyWME
A public hearing at the European Parliament
At the hearing, jointly
organised with the European
Roma Policy Coalition (ERPC)
and sponsored by the
Greens/EFA Group in the EP,
Roma activists,
representatives of the EU
institutions and member
states, and experts from NGO,
the FRA and the Council of
Europe discussed the
situation of Roma people in
the EU, looked at the
responsibilities of the EU
and its member states, and
explored the way forward to
end discrimination against
Roma in Europe
Help us to spread the message! Take action now and sign our petition!
http://amnesty.org/actions/human-rights-here-roma-rights-now
Spread the word among your contacts and networks
You can follow us on facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/demanddignityglobal?fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fight-Discrimination-in-
Europe/165504950150667?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/events/510598548975957/
Join our interactive platform
http://www.respectmyrights.org
http://respectmyrights.org/scrapbook
Useful links
Campaign petition: http://amnesty.org/actions/human-rights-here-roma-
rights-now
Regional briefing “Human Rights Here, Roma Rights Now”: A wake-up
call to the European Union”
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR01/002/2013/en
HRE interactive platform: http://www.respectmyrights.org
Campaign video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD5QGxYe8_g
Flash-mob video: http://youtu.be/PEbN0bYyWME