Report on the Condition of the Roma in
Europe
With
special attention to the historical and contemporary situation of refugees and
asy lum-seekers and the causes of
migration
Report commissioned
by the OSCE for presentation October, 2000
UNHCR
Roma-Refugee Camp Macedonia September 2000
This report was commissioned by the
OSCE to be prepared by rapporteur Rudko Kawczynski. Kawczynski has served as an
expert on refugees, immigration, and minority issues for numerous German
organizations and for the German Green Party. He has been elected to European
Parliament as a candidate of this same party. He has published a book entitled
“Roma und Deutschland”: Kawczynski has been a consultant in the past for
the Open Society Network and was a founding board member of the European Roma
Rights Center. He was the designer and worked as director of the Open Society
Institute’s Roma Participation Program. Sins 1986 he is a Board member of the Hamburg based “Foundation for needy Victims of the Nazi
Regime”. At present he is a board member of the Roma National Congress, and
umbrella organization/federation of
Romani NGOs across Europe and world-wide.
Table of contend:
Anti-Gypsim or Economic Problem
Current Problems of the Roma in the OSCE Region
A European Romani Rights Charter
Why a European Charter on Romani Rights?
A European Charter on Romani Rights should include the
following points:
A process of rethinking is required
Introduction
In the 21st-century
Europe, the treatment of Roma will be the most important factor in gauging
human rights conditions and the treatment of minorities. A united, democratic
Europe which respects the rights of minorities inevitably presupposes respect
for Roma and their claim to equal rights. Without the Roma’s inclusion in
democratic process there can be no peaceful, normal relationship between them
and the majority population.
Over 12 million Roma currently live in Europe, the majority in the countries of
the former Eastern bloc. The ongoing break-up of nations into ethnicity-based
states leads irrevocably to the isolation of Roma as outside the ethnic
majority, and often deprives them of their citizenship. Ex-Yugoslavia,
ex-Czechoslovakia and the former USSR are but a few examples of places where
the status of Roma is unstable. Despite constitutions assuring citizenship to
all, these states are created around a ethno-national character and the public
very predictably perceives belonging to these states as being tied to
ethnicity. Being foreign in their own land is a situation Roma experience over
and over again.
Violence
against Roma, marginalisation in all sectors of society, inadequate and unequal
education opportunities, illiteracy, high child mortality rates, discrimination
and unemployment: these do not cause the problems, rather they are the symptoms
of the majority's obsessive antigypsism, or Anti-ciganism; its discriminatory
attitude towards Roma.
Antigypsism and prejudices
Antigypsism is a basic social consensus in European societies: whoever makes a serious effort to explain this phenomenon has to first describe the world-view of the majority population. In regard to so-called Gypsies, this means describing the origins of prejudices and their transmission from generation to generation. This is a difficult undertaking, because prejudices are fundamentally at odds with rational thought. Every attempt to discuss them rationally or objectively brings with it the unavoidable danger that these prejudices will manifest themselves in the very discussion. For example, does "Gypsy" fortune-telling belong to their culture or is it a means by which they can profit financially from the prejudices of the majority? Do Roma migrate because they enjoy it and feel ´free´ when uprooted or because they need safety? There is an ingrained belief among the majority that Roma like to wander, just as there was for many centuries in Europe a stereotype of the ´wandering Jew´ which seems absurd today. Do Roma, then, like to migrate? Any answer to this question will undoubtedly reveal more about the cultural background of the respondent than about "Gypsy" culture. Many "Gypsy" stereotypes may seem absurd but they are nonetheless an indelible feature of European culture. They help explain things and aid our intellectual orientation like a kind of map. People stand by them as if they were an article of faith, an indisputable dogma. That they function as norms and obvious truths goes unquestioned in the same way that other basic social tenants, i.e. the value placed on liberty or a sovereign state's right to defend itself, go unquestioned. Though history is full of examples of absurd assumptions being at the foundations of a society's world-view, many people, especially forward-thinking people, think that such conditions surely can't be dominant in this day and age. If most are prepared to accept that some tribes believe in evil spirits, that Jews were in the Middle Ages held to be servants of the devil, that the Spanish Inquisition burned witches, that German Nazis gassed children, why is it so hard to believe that prejudices and stereotyping manifest themselves in the form of antigypsism?
Because antigypsism is so deeply rooted in western culture, it is those who are at the receiving end who must set about proving its existence. It becomes clear what magnitude of problems face the person who tries to explain antigypsism or influence social convictions, and they meet with defensive and hostile reactions when "everyday truths" are questioned
According to a survey, every fifth person in Europe has anti-Semitic views; two thirds of the population are hostile to Roma. There are many similarities between anti-Semitism and antigypsism, not the least the interchangeable bias about "thieving Gypsies" and "rapacious Jews" which not only crops up in casual conversations in Budapest or Rostock but have their historical origins in medieval edicts. Martin Luther, a well-known anti-Semite, exhorted Christians to treat Jews "like Gypsies".
Antigypsism has, unlike anti-Semitism, never been questioned and therefore still remains part of the "cultural code" of the majority population.
Prejudices reveal a lot about antigypsism but nothing about so-called "Gypsies". Suggestions for solutions and strategies can tell us a lot about prejudices and antigypsism, or about those who came up with them. Someone who is utterly unsympathetic to Roma, an Antiziganist, will cast the very "Gypsy-ness" of the Roma as responsible for problems; a teacher sympathetic to Roma will blame their "inadequate" education. A basic feature of antigypsism is the manner in which Roma are reduced to their supposed "Gypsy-ness". Roma are not seen as individuals, as personalities or as involved and engaged, but as "Gypsies": this label becomes the deciding characteristic in how they are perceived – instead of perceiving them as compatriots with the same rights, they become "Gypsies" with all the stereotypes and "related characteristics".
The omnipresence of antigypsism extends, unfortunately, even to those well-disposed towards Roma. Well-meaning liberals in the 18th century maintained that the Jews' future lay in their own "political and moral" rebirth, renewal, by which these liberals meant that Jews should make use of the potential offered by education as outlined in their wide-ranging schemes for "improvement". In a similar manner, well-meaning supporters have for centuries trying to "civilize" "the Gypsy".
"If the repression which he
(the Jew) has suffered has made his habits crude, so fair treatment will
improve him" [1]
If we take stock of present situations, certain patterns of explanation become evident, patterns which have so far been overlooked. If we take the problem as a whole, we can begin to analyze it in terms of antigypsism and we come to a new and realistic understanding in our search for a solution.
Roma
as an Indicator of Political Stability; Five waves of
East-West Migration
Modern research suggests that the arrival of the Roma in Europe was connected to the Islamic raids of northern India. It is possible that the first Roma arrived in Europe as captives. Slavery in the Balkans continued until the second half of the 19th century, and may have begun already before the collapse of the Byzantine Empire. It has certainly influenced the destiny of the Roma in Europe, and still provides a key to understanding their current social and political situation in much the same way as understanding slavery is crucial to an understanding of the history and problems of African Americans.
Since the arrival of the Roma in Europe, migration from (south) East to the West was an attempt to escape enslavement and harassment and to attain freedom.
The first migrations westwards in the late 14th century followed the increasing decline of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman conquests.
The second wave of migration followed the abolition of slavery in the Rumanian principalities after 1864.
To a large extent, displaced persons and survivors of Nazi occupation and persecution left eastern Europe and settled in the West in the years following World War II, as did many Jewish survivors. Many persons belonging to this third "migration" still lack permanent resident status or citizenship of the countries they have settled in.
Pressure on the Romani populations in the communist countries -to assimilate, to avoid the urban centers, to be excluded from vocational training and decision making processes, as well as overt racism – led to emigration from those few countries which allowed relative freedom of travel: Yugoslavia, and later Poland. In the former, the situation of the Romani population prior to the collapse of the Federative Republic was an indication of the growing ethnic tension leading to overt acts of hostility and aggression. During this fourth wave of migration, the Roma were early victims of events which were later to affect the entire population of the region. Following restrictions on immigration in the West, these migrants had no other choice but to apply for political asylum in their countries of refuge. Their applications having been rejected, they now lack a secure status after living in the West for as long as twenty years, and are threatened by deportation to what has become a conflict region. Beside being equally affected by the threats of civil war, the Roma have lost any formal status they had possessed as one of the many ethnic groups in multinational former Yugoslavia. Romani families whose members were born in various different regions of the country are especially affected by ethnic evacuation measures.
A
fifth migration began after the collapse of communist rule in eastern Europe.
Increasing ethnic tension in Rumania and repeated assaultsagainst Romani
communities led to panic in many areas. Romani refugees from Rumania are often
direct victims of such assaults. Others fear attacks against their own
families, having witnessed that state institutions are not capable of granting
protection and security, often refuse to intervene, or even take active part in
abusing the Romani population.
Problems
The main feature of the Roma’s history in Europe has always been their continuous expulsion. In Germany, Croatia and Czechoslovakia, this policy of “fighting the gypsy problem” developed into genocide in the National Socialism. This inhuman, horrible escalation by the national-socialist way of “solving the gypsy question” was silently disregarded after the Second World War. The state mostly continued the special treatment of the survivors to solve the supposed “gypsy problem” this way.
Traditionally, the Roma are regarded by Western societies as a social problem, which is to be taken care of by stately repression and education. Roma are not accepted as a minority according to international law. Until now, This discriminating point of view usually led to problem solutions concentrating on treating the Roma as a “social fringe group problem” [2]. But the situation of the Roma in Europe has unambiguously shown that the problems of the Roma originate in the antigypsism of the majority.
A real intention to increase the living conditions of the Roma is not in sight, if not the opposite. Since the former East bloc came down, the situation of the Roma is continuously getting worse. Discrimination, missing education and violence against Roma are put down to their “habits”. Victims are made perpetrators, the behavior of the majority appears to be some kind of self-defense.
In spite of millions of financial aid to states of the former East bloc, violence and expulsion against Roma rise in these countries. There seems to be a direct causality between “aid programs” and migration of Roma. Those states which received the greatest financial aids are, paradoxically, also those from which the most asylum-seeking Roma come from.
In the meantime, systematical exclusion, unemployment, discrimination and terror by the police have become part of the everyday life for Roma in the states of the former East bloc, as well as murder, arson attacks and expulsion.
At this point, a detailed account of single events is abstained from and referred to further reports[3].
The RNC receives news from new incursions on a daily basis. Between 1990 and 1998 alone, the RNC registered 4,500 violent riots against Roma in the states of the former East bloc and 5,800 in the states of the EU. Included were only cases reported to the RNC. The actual number of victims supposedly is much higher. 1,756 Roma were killed and 3,500 injured during these incidents[4]. These numbers do not include those who suffered during the conflicts and wars in former Yugoslavia.
This horrible account should not, though, deceive about the fact that the majority of Roma names the everyday discrimination and the growing expulsion pressure as the main reason for the decision to leave their home[5].
The RNC already pointed at these tendencies as soon
as 1995. In the report on the situation of the Roma in the Czech Republic and
Slovakia, the RNC, together with the Soros Foundation, had ascertained in 1995
that the majority of Roma in these countries[6]:
·
Call their situation unbearable
and very dangerous
·
Have no longer trust in the state
·
Consider themselves excluded
·
Are systematically excluded from
all parts of social life
·
Are in fear of violence
·
See no future perspective for
themselves
Roma women reported that they were regularly victims of violence and rapes by the majority of the population. Alarmingly high was the percentage of women who reported to being raped and ill-treated by policemen.
Many of the questioned persons mentioned, even in 1995, that they were planning their escape to the West.
In the meantime, more than one million Roma in Europe were expelled from their homes. Many have fled from discrimination and violence. Numerous have escaped the Anti-gypsism in Eastern Europe[7]
The situation of the Roma in former Yugoslavia, the Kosovo and in the Czech Republic has proven to be especially dangerous. At the same time, the receiving states react with growing helplessness and aggressions against Roma refugees and refuse them protection.
In place of fighting the causes of refuge has moved the fighting of the victims – the refugee[8]. In place of partnership and participation came neo-colonialism and manipulation.
Specifically in the Czech Republic and Hungary exists the tendency to suppress and manipulate the independent Roma movement. The Roma civil rights movement is systematically persecuted and politically suppressed. Civil rights campaigners are criminalized and their families put under pressure[9].
These
tendencies are even increased by the attitude of some Western countries
(especially Germany, England and Belgium) that on the one hand play down and
hush up the reasons for escape, on the other hand put pressure on the
originating countries to make the escape impossible for the Roma.
Roma as Refugees
Especially terrifying is the fact that even in Western traditional democracies the standards for human and civil rights for Roma refugees are, de facto, put out of commission.
Roma asylum-seekers and refugees are set out to a principal suspect of “criminality”. Although all serious international institutions unanimously confirm the persecution of the Roma, these realizations are ignored by the responsible national authorities.
· Economical escape reasons are imputed to the refugees on principle[10].
· Often, the Roma refugees are given characteristics which were put on the Eastern Jews during the time of the Nazis[11]:
That they would mainly nourish themselves by small-time criminality, that they would not care much about hygiene, that they would be a potential source for epidemics, that they would make whole quarters uninhabitable, and the like.
· They do not receive any help in bureaucratic application formalities.
· Official letters are not delivered in Romanes, hence many are incapable to behave properly in a judicial procedure.
· Translators in Romanes are generally not made available, whereby communication is made impossible. As a result, Roma refugees are not given the opportunity to explain their fate.
· Families are torn apart by distributional measures.
· Traumatized Roma refugees are not offered help, in fact the opposite is often the case: Due to the steady threat of deportation the people are put out to mental pains which almost resemble psychic torture.
· International reports on the Roma’s situation and escape reasons are ignored.
· Legal representation is not offered.
The
German historian Professor Dr. Klaus J. Bade describes the treatment of Roma
refugees in his newest book “Europe in
motion: Migration from the late 18th century till present time” as follows[12]:
Citation
start:
“ (…) in partly latent, partly openly racist descriptions `the gypsies´ became the asocial counterpart to the orderly common world. Threats of physical violence against the migrants from the East alarmed the security interests.
(…) for the unwanted immigration of `gypsies´ from Eastern Europe the opposite was true [as for the Jews] – exclusion and repatriation. What had been enough for the collective acknowledgement of Jews from the Union of Independent States as contingent refugees in Germany, should not be valid for `gypsies´. It could not even be enforced by political pressure, as powerful support in the West was missing. There were only aid organizations as the “Central committee of Sinti and Roma”, the “Rom & Cinti Union”, the “Society of endangered people”, some supporting initiatives and well-sounding declarations on a European level. This situation already became clear in connection with the German compensation or reparation payments, when the population group which was, besides the Jews, mostly affected by the Holocaust (with about 500,000 victims) was neglected. The memory of National-Socialist violent crimes did not help the `gypsies´ from South-Eastern Europe as refugees or asylum-seekers in Germany, either. (…) They were living in collective tent camps between expulsion, deportation threats and deportation stops. Meanwhile, hectic treaty negotiations with East European origin and transit countries took place. Their first outcome was the German-Rumanian “repatriation settlement” of November 1992. It was followed by similar agreements with other East and South-East European countries, usually connected with millions of subsidies for the “repatriation”. The chain of migrations from East to West, stopped by defensive measures of the “fortress Europe”, was replaced by a chain of deportations from West to East: Roma who were expelled or picked up close to the border got deported to their origin countries, where they again became victims of enraged nationalists now and then. What remained for the Roma from East or South-East Europe heading for the West was the illegal immigration, steadily growing with the increasing closure of the “fortress Europe”. That also hold true recently for the Roma in Kosovo, who were expelled as alleged “collaborators” of the Serbs by the returning Albanians after the war had ended.
The “fortress Europe” shall expand to the East. It will have to prepare itself that in Eastern Europe it is not only about – rather controllable – employment migrations. In the long term, a precarious overlapping of employment-, minority- and escape migrations will also always be a topic, which will not be “manageable” solely by regional economic promotion.”
Citation End
Anti-Gypsim or Economic Problem
It is a short-sighted and dangerous behavior of numerous Western countries to classify the Antigypsist tendencies of the Eastern European states as economical problems and reward them with generous financial programs, at the same time ignoring that Anti-gypsism solid part of these cultures since centuries, a kind of cultural codex, similar only to anti-Semitism[13].
This financial bearing of the European Union has brought a regular contribution to the rehabilitation of the treasury of numerous countries, at the expense of human rights. It certainly did not contribute to the battle against racism and Anti-gypsism in Europe.
· The EU must not be misused by countries as a “substitute social security office” as they like
· The Roma are citizens of the countries they are living in, and it is this fact that obliges these countries to let Roma participate equally in the community
· It must not be tolerated to shirk one’s responsibilities for the Roma as a state
· Not the countries need help, but the Roma need support by the union of states to achieve their rights as citizens – their civil rights
· States who are not capable or even willing to protect their minorities must not be rewarded with generous financial aids for this
Although the EU supports “Roma projects” with millions of EURO, almost non of these aids reaches the affected persons[14].
Projects submitted by Roma organizations are regularly declined, while at the same time projects by Non-Roma are just as regularly financed.
Specifically
the PHARE program plays a quite inglorious role here. Numerous of these
so-called aid programs have become a solid part of the problem and certainly
did not help to solve it. Instead, a paternalistic “Gypsy aid” was created,
which distracts from the original causes.
Millions of EURO disappear year after year in the pockets of “gypsy helpers” and so-called “good practices” programs. Instead of fighting discrimination and violence of the minority population and support Roma civil rights movements, programs are financed that degrade the victims to objects of a care-taking industry, which fights the Roma as a problem, and not the problems faced by the Roma.
A new version of the missionary strategy has evolved. These are.strategies which already failed decades ago in the so-called “Third World”, and which led to corruption and dictatorships, but not to the stabilization of civil and human rights.
· Instead of talking with the Roma, there is talk about Roma.
· Instead of viewing the accepted representatives of the Roma as partners, they are fought as rivals.
· Instead of taking the demands of independent Roma NGOs seriously, an aiding industry was created that does not care about the Roma’s right of self-determination.
· Undemocratic and corrupt structures among the Roma are systematically supported and financed, Roma leaders are appointed and courted just the way the state likes.
· The independent civil rights movement of the Roma is regarded as a threat and fought against.
A primitive “Share and Rule” policy dominates the events more and more.
That the present “aid programs” of the EU have failed is no small part to be blamed on this “gypsy policy”.
·
In spite of all these “aids”, new ethnically clean ghettos
are continually created, in which Roma are forced to live.
- Hundreds of thousands must subsist
on the cities’ garbage dumps.
·
Meanwhile, violence and expulsion are part of Roma’s
everyday life in Europe.
·
Roma are expelled by the likes of the countries, or displaced
by force, as for example in Greece.
· In spite of the stability pact for the Balkan, some hundreds of thousands Roma from Kosovo are unable to return to their homes, since their houses are either destroyed or confiscated by the UCK.
Unnoticed by the majority of
Europeans, the greatest genocide in recent history is taking place.
The key positions of this “social policy” are maintained by self-declared “gypsy experts”. They are discussing the problems in endless seminars and workshops on an “expert level” and make careers at the expense of the Roma’s suffering. By “describing the Roma problem” and creating statistics and “kilometers” of reports, they are monopolizing the discussion. The results of their “research and experiences” are always the same:
They need more money for their further research to examine the “gypsy problem” even “more carefully”.
An unutterable vicious circle of arrogance, prejudices and unprofessionalism is leading to a continuously new generation of well-loved programs and research assignments, which again and again are missing the needs of the people. These projects are part of the problem and certainly not part of the solution.
More and more Roma are made uncertain by this policy and lose trust in the state and the majority. The hopelessness, the persecution of their elected civil rights organizations, the power of the stately appointed Roma leaders, violence and exclusion have become daily routine for many.
That numerous people are no
longer able to stand firm against this pressure of expulsion leads thousands to
leave their homes.
Current Problems of the Roma in the OSCE Region
Centuries of discrimination have deprived the Roma of the educational and vocational opportunities and so of the social and economic benefits of modern societies.
The most urgent problem facing the Roma today is, however, mere survival in a society which has always felt free to treat them as scapegoats, to marginalize them by preventing access to jobs, housing, and other necessities, to incite and to use violence against them.
Anti-gypsism
and human rights violations against Roma are generally not sanctioned in
Europe. This concerns especially the newly established political systems in
eastern Europe. But also western governments have failed to guarantee the Roma
the special protection against Antigypsism and discrimination which their
situation demands. A full catalogue of human rights violations against Roma
cannot be provided here; a number of reports by human rights agencies have
dealt with specific measures and incident.
Government-directed
human rights violation acts range from active measures such as:
·
“ethnic cleansing”, as in the Kosovo, and the new states of
the former Yugoslavia,
·
enforced sterilization, as in the former CSFR,
·
enforced resettlement, as in Hungary, Greece, Spain and
Germany,
·
systematic police surveillance, as in Germany and France,
·
withdrawal of citizen and resident rights, as in the new
Republics of former Yugoslavia, the Baltic states and the Czech Republic,
·
segregation of Roma children in public schools, as in the
Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria
·
Mass deportations of Romani refugees as in Germany and
England,
and on to passive measures, such as:
·
Refusal to grant protection against Antigypsism and violent
attacks on the part of racist groups.
·
Refusal to prosecute persons and groups responsible for such
attacks or to take measures against Antigypsy incitement in press, publications
or political propaganda, which is the case all over Europe.
·
Refusal to acknowledge the Romani population as an national
minority entitled to recognized political representation.
·
Refusal to grant Romani refugees a protective status in
accordance with the 1951 Geneva Convention, and refusal to implement the series
of recommendations and resolutions adapted by the European Parliament, the
Committee of Ministers and the Council of Europe, as in Germany and a number of
other member states, and many more.
Facing historic responsibility: Germany's role in preventing an improvement of the human rights situation of Roma
More
than any other country, Germany incorporates the continuity of the persecution
of the Romani people through history. Nothing is comparable with the Nazi
genocide on Roma, and no current policy is comparable with the power Germany
exerts in today's Europe.
Germany has a special role in coordinating Romani
East-West migrations, characterized by two main factors;
·
It is strongly affected by events in eastern Europe,
including migration, due to its geographic position and to its expanded contact
network with central-eastern Europe;
·
Since reunification, it has begun to redefine its political
role in both domestic and international affairs, often using foreign policy as
an instrument for securing public support on the short-term domestic political
front. Fighting immigration and immigrants has proven to be such an issue, with
the Roma as the traditional scapegoat on the top of the list of unwanted
foreigners "flooding" Germany.
In
its passivity toward the Romani situation, Germany already falls behind its
obligations as a member of the international community and the EU. It refuses
to acknowledge the Roma as a national minority, it refuses to implement
European and international resolutions and recommendations, it refuses to allow
naturalization of Roma born in Germany. German authorities also continuously
refuse to take part in round table discussions with Romani representatives,
other than hose appointed and directed by the Federal Government itself. German
police has been repeatedly criticized by international organizations – recently
by the UN-Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in its session
in Geneva on 11-12 August, 1993 – for its passive role in violent attacks by
right-wing radicals against minority groups.
Germany
also refuses to implement the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees: Its Asylum
and Aliens Acts include no administrative regulations for applying the
Convention, a fact that has often been criticized by UNHCR and refugee
organizations. Some 200 applications in accordance with the Geneva Convention
were filed by Romani families in May 1990, and have never been processed
according to procedure, despite repeating petitions by Romani organizations,
lawyers and members of the Bundestag.
The
unique quality of Germany's active measures are recognizable in its efforts to
tie economic aid to restrictions on migrations: Germany has signed treaties
with a number of eastern European governments (Poland, Czech Republic, Romania,
Slovakia, Croatia), allowing indiscriminate deportation of stateless refugees
(eg. from former Yugoslavia) to the partner countries. The partners are
expected to prevent potential refugees from leaving or crossing their territory
without necessary visa.
By
declaring its neighbors "secure third states", (transit through which
does not entitle refugees to file an asylum application), while at the same
time refusing international cooperation on support for refugees and on
eliminating human rights violation, Germany has provoked a chain reaction
across Europe: No state can allow itself to confront the problems of the Romani
refugees constructively, for fear of carrying the burden of granting protection
and security alone. Thus, European governments have followed the model
introduced by Germany with each of the parties and have signed bilateral
treaties among themselves, aiming to restrict the movement of potential
refugees.
Despite
the fact that the treaties are an instrument to restrict Romani migration, the
economic aid granted by Germany in return for cooperation in preventing
migration is not specified in terms of development aid intended for the benefit
of the Romani community. Thus, Germany has succeeded in establishing a
precedence for using western economic aid as a tool for restricting freedom of
movement, rather than controlling the protection of human rights. By doing so,
it not only fails to assume responsibility towards minority rights in a
changing eastern European society, but it also encourages restrictions imposed
on minorities.
Summary
Traditional
policies directed at the Roma have failed. Those who have suffered most through
this failure are the Roma themselves: While the process of European unification
is advancing, the human rights standard for Roma has been deteriorating. This
paradox development can only be resolved by regulating a firm legal status for
the Roma in Europe.
1. Antigypsism vs. the social factor
Roma have traditionally been regarded by administrations as a "social problem", and programs aiming at improving their situation have traditionally addressed social issues (see e.g. reports by J.-P. Liegeois on Council of Europe and other expert activities). The current development in Europe however clearly shows that Roma, regardless of their social status, are confronted with overt, Antigypsy hostility[15]. Such hostility cannot be abolished through welfare or development projects. In order for social development projects to succeed, Roma must be granted guarantees for the protection of civil liberties. This means a change in the political status of the Roma toward political, social and cultural self-determination.
2. National interests
Across Europe, national governments fear an overt discussion on the status of the Roma. In many countries, the racism/nationalism-discussion has encouraged the growth of radical right-wing movements and an increase in racist violence. Administrations therefore fear that concrete measures against racism may cost them loss of popularity and electoral power. National policies have thus concentrated lately on increasing restrictions, rather than enabling political participation. Moreover, even occasional measures aiming at an improvement of the civil liberty's situation of the Roma are subject to short-term political considerations: like for Example in the countries of the former east- block.
In redefining the status granted to Roma, national governments also redefine their attitude toward Romani representatives and organizations operating on the national level. Recognition (and often freedom of activity) is withdrawn from those whose analyses do not align with the national administration's own short-term political considerations.
3. The interests of Romani organizations
Traditionally, Romani representatives
have been those accepted by national and regional administrations as speakers
on behalf of the Roma. Their interests thus reflect only in part the interests
of the Romani communities. In many cases, their interests are deliberately not
made transparent in order to ensure political flexibility and political
survival in the non-Romani environment. There is thus no commitment to a
political platform that can be shared with a constituency of members, no
responsibility toward such a public, and decision-making processes are not
regulated through democratic procedures.
4. The role of multilateral organizations
Multilateral organizations have been confronted with pressure on the part of national administrations, which have accused Romani refugee movements of blocking the process of Europe's unification. At the same time they have become aware of the fact that the most serious problem facing the Roma is that of ensuring the protection of human rights and civil liberties, rather than just community oriented social work.
Thus, there are two serious obstacles
facing multilateral organizations in their attempt to implement recommendations
and resolutions pertaining to Roma: First, to resolve the conflict between the
spirit of these recommendations and the political considerations of national
administrations. Second, to create a serious, effective, and partnership with
politically legitimate representative Romani bodies.
A European Romani Rights Charter
The idea of a binding Romani Rights Charter, as put forth by the RNC and supported by the Seville Congress in May 1994 as well as in the follow-up consultations in Tarnów in June 1994, suggests a catalog of political and cultural rights to be included in an accord with binding legal character. The Charter defines the legal position of the Roma in Europe and is intended to prevent the legal gaps which in the past have led to the displacement of Romani persons across Europe.
National
governments, elected Romani representations, and multilateral organizations
will thus have a regular forum in which problems can be resolved, and whose
work is based on fixed guidelines outlined in the Charter. It will compensate
for the non-binding character which international recommendations have had up
to now with regard to national policies.
Why a European Charter on Romani Rights?
The
Romani civil rights movement has succeeded in forwarding a number of
international resolutions and recommendations, many of which have been adopted
by multilateral organizations. However, resolutions and recommendations need to
be implemented. Those adopted by the multilateral organizations are usually not
binding; they may be ignored by government executives as well as by national
legislation, and usually they are. If improvements are to be made in pursuit of
protection of Romani human rights, a binding European Charter on Romani Rights
needs to be drafted and ratified by the legislatives of European states, this
would enable Roma and their representatives to use all legal means to assure
the implementation of measures.
A European Charter on Romani Rights should include the following points:
· The right to receive protection specifically against Antigypsy and racist incitement, discrimination and violence;
· Freedom of movement within communities, states and member states of the European Community; whereas intergovernmental organizations Europe once held the view that people should have the right to leave their countries and live elsewhere if they choose and this view was a basic criticism of non-democratic regime, we now see a reversal of policy as governments collaborate to keep Roma in countries where they feel unsafe. This policy must be ended, allowing Roma to travel and live where they want.
· Freedom of cultural and political organization,
· The right to voting political representation as Roma in the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the United Nations,
· The right to elect a political representation to these bodies and the right to veto, via this representation, projects and measures that concern the fate of the Roma community,
· The right to practice and receive native language instruction and vocational training, and the right to run an autonomous school system.
In the Charter on Romani Rights, special reference must be made to government policy:
· Rather than encourage human rights violation by demanding restrictions on the freedom of movement, as has been the case recently, western governments should tie economic aid to control mechanisms for ensuring the safety and protection of the Romani population, as well as to development programs aimed at granting equal opportunities.
Government policies must include:
· immediate protection for refugees threatened by antigypsism;
- intervention, including political and economic pressure, to ensure protection in the countries of origin. Such measures, including political recognition of the Roma as an national minority, should be made conditions for admitting applicants into European organizations and for granting economic and development aid;
- an end to segregated school systems that are based on the claim that a majority of Romani children are either mentally retarded or otherwise incapable of fitting into schools with “whites”,
· continuous monitoring of the human rights situation of Roma in eastern and central Europe,
· development projects must be run within the Romani communities if they are to serve as an instrument for long-term emancipation and integration.
The role of multilateral organizations
Three
main tasks face multilateral organizations:
· monitoring the human rights situation of Romani communities;
· drafting and implementing resolutions and programs for protection and development;
· ensuring active political participation on the part of the Romani population.
In
monitoring the human rights situation, reports have until now been too
unsystematic, irregular and indecisive. In the case of representative bodies,
such as the OSCE, The UN- Commission on Human Rights, or the Council of Europe,
reports and resolutions have too often been subject to coalitions, and have
thus failed to address the essential problems facing the Romani population.
This may be resolved by autonomous institutions assuming the tasks of
reporting, drafting and implementing on behalf of the member states, as well as
by incorporating representatives on behalf of the Romani community into the
work of the multilateral organizations.
A process of rethinking is required
Without the respect of the Roma as subjects of the international law, as partners, there cannot be a normal coexistence of the Roma and the majority.
Fleeing from violence, poverty, despair and misery by migration, the traditional reaction of the Roma, this possibility of securing survival is made more and more impossible. Violence and antigypsy Apartheid policy on the one hand, deportation and down playing on the other hand, this hopeless situation has led to an ever growing radicalism of the young Roma generation, and will lead to aggression and the willingness to fight violently for the own rights if necessary.
· Instead of taking the problem of growing anti-cyganism seriously, it is played down and healed through prayers. Instead of fighting the Anti-gypsism in the majority societies, the victims are made the perpetrators.
- The federation of the RNC is anxiously watching the reactions of the Western states to play down the anti-cyganism in the candidate countries, fearing that the hopelessness of the Roma youth in the states of the former East bloc will unload in violence.
· The RNC has been trying for years to enter a constructive dialogue with the responsible states. Unfortunately, these invitations are still ignored on a regular basis.
· The RNC warns of continuing this form of arrogance and still turning Roma into scapegoats for social problems. More than twelve million Roma are currently living in Europe. In not long a time, the percentage of the population in countries like Slovakia will be 50% and higher. A destabilization of these states, due to their continuing Anti-cyganism, is foreseen.
· A restriction of civil rights in the Western democracies as a result of “refugee fighting measures” against Roma is already reality. Numerous Roma understand this refugee policy as a continuation of the “National-Socialist Roma policy by different means”.
· The RNC fears the beginning of a race for deterrence against Roma in Europe.
· The agreement between the Czech Republic and the U.K. to identify Roma at the Czech airports for English officials to prevent them from leaving the country is the first step to a new form of the “Nuremberg laws” against Roma. It is certainly hard to understand why Austria is outlawed because of the participation of right-wing parties in the government, while England and the Czech Republic, which are obviously translating into action what Austria is warned against, do not have to fear any sanctions.
· It is these double moral standards because of which the Roma in Europe have to suffer again and again.
- The RNC appeals to the Western union of states to connect further aid for the former East bloc with security guarantees for the Roma living there.
Proposals and demands
The
RNC demands from the states of the OSCE region a rethinking of their Roma
policy.
1. To stabilize and improve the situation of the Roma with lasting effect and to fight the reasons behind migration and violence, the RNC demands: The passing of a binding charter on the rights and the safety of Roma in Europe.
- Strengthening of the civil rights movement of the Roma. Problems must be solved on-site, by a powerful and independent European Roma civil rights representation. Problems like in Usti nad Labem can only be solved in Usti nad Labem and certainly not by the way of the asylum in London. A powerful and independent representation of Roma on-site is the only guarantee for growing trust and fighting escape reasons.
- Acceptance of the Anti-cyganism, like the anti-Semitism, as a special reason for asylum. As long as no possibility exists to successfully fight escape reasons, and as long as Roma are helplessly at the mercy of Anti-cyganism and violence, so long must the Roma asylum-seekers be guaranteed a secure refugee status. That Roma are systematically and collectively persecuted in the states of the former East bloc cannot be denied by anyone.
- The translation into action of the previous recommendations and decisions of the European Council, the EU commission, the EU parliament as well as the UN for the security of the Roma, with the obligation of the OSCE states to yearly submit reports on equal treatment.
- A decisive participation of elected Roma representatives in national decision processes has to be secured.
6. Admission of the Roma refugees from former Yugoslavia, especially from Kosovo, as contingent refugees in the states they are currently staying in.
- Acknowledgment of elected representative of the Roma nation and an unrestricted freedom of travel for Roma officials.
- A steady observation of the human rights situation of the Roma by a permanent and close cooperation between the OSCE and the RNC. A close cooperation between the RNC, the EU and the OSCE in the preparation of recommendations, strategies and aid programs for Roma.
9. Acknowledgement of Romanes as an equally treated language in Europe. Apart from that, every Roma or Sinto must be given the opportunity to articulate himself orally and written in his own language, including in court and in front of authorities.
- Granting of the self-fulfillment right of the Roma in the distribution of financial aids on projects for Roma. For this it must be granted that representatives of the RNC and other internationally operating Roma organizations decisively participate in the decision-making.
- Informing programs, among others for politicians and the civil service, about the background of anti-cyganism in Europe, as well as inclusion of the history of the Roma in the common classes in schools.
- Confidence-building programs, e.g. employment of Roma in the common civil service should place Roma in genuine and pre-existing civil functions and not create special ´Roma bureaucratic offices´ in which they may be placed, often without any true mandate. A quota system at the universities for Roma students, as well as in the civil service. State-run scholarship programs to acknowledge the Romanes as equally treated language in Europe.
13. Immediately appoint an international commission. This commission shall examine the human rights situation of the Roma in the candidate countries of the EU, as well as the treatment of Roma refugees by the EU states and the financial practice of the EU, especially the effectiveness of so-called “good practice” programs.