The Roma National Congress is an autonomous body, established and run by Roma.

It has been active in recent years in the domains of

• human and political rights for Roma

• protection and humanitarian aid for refugees

• schooling programs and cultural activities

• media documentation, historic and linguistic research

• * The political department of the RNC has concentrated its efforts lately on issues of representation in European and international bodies. The RNC participated in the CSCE parallel conferences in Copenhagen (1990) and Helsinki (1992), as well as in draft i ng a statement on the Situation of the Roma by the CSCE/OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, in 1993. In August 1993, the RNC petitioned the EP on behalf of a group of several thousand Roma refugees threatened by deportation to Ex-Yugoslavia. T he Petition is now on the agenda of the EP- committees for external and internal affairs.

• * In the past years, activities also centered around attaining a permanent legal status for Romani refugees. A campaign 1989 made it possible for over 2000 de facto stateless Roma to settle in Hamburg, and campaigns in 1990 and 1991 prevented mass deported ions in Bremen, Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg.

• *Since its establishment, the RNC has been running a legal counseling service for Romani refugees across Europe, in cooperation with attorneys and lawyers experienced in the domain of human rights, asylum and immigration.

• *A refugee children relief program by the RNC was launched in 1993, and has successfully supported dozens of families in finding accommodation and acquiring legal status, medical care, clothing and schooling facilities.

• *A mobile counseling service operates to give immediate assistance to Romani children who are forced to beg for alms on the streets of western European metropolitan centers.

• *In the domain of education, a schooling project established by the RNC now operates three all-Romani school classes, and provides training facilities for seven Romani teachers, The project is accompanied by specialists for education and linguistics, trained by the RNC for work with Romani children. Research for a literacy program in the Romani language, as part of the project, has now been completed and serves as a basis for text materials.

• *The Roma-Kulturverein e.V., a cultural federation, is associated with the RNC, its main task is providing opportunities for training in music and theater, through its own band and theater group.

• *RomNews-Network, an electronic instant-report and documentation System available on fax and Internet, produced its first issue on 4 May 1994.