Acceptable European Racism Anti-Gypsyism VIOLENCE ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
AKNOWLEDGMENTS In its resolution from 24th of May 1984 (C172/153) the European Parliament acknowledged the fact that "gypsies still suffer discrimination in law and practice" and called on the governments of the Member States to eliminate discrimination against Roma “Yet the social exclusion and discrimination of Roma communities are well documented and despite all available legislative and financial instruments remain often extreme…[B]but Roma communities continue to face serious problems. Not only in the acceding countries but also in the existing Member States. This is not surprising, since we are trying to reverse the effects of centuries of prejudice and exclusion.” ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
Per-Country- AKNOWLEDGEMENTS “Racial attacks and harassment have also been reported as well as, in some cases, incidents of maltreatment of Roma/Gypsies by police officers.” ECRI Austria “Roma and Sinti have also continued to be the victims of racist attacks and harassment, and the subject of racist propaganda on the Internet. Desecration of monuments and activities of extreme-right wing group around Roma and Sinti memorial sites have also been registered. ” ECRI Germany ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
Per-Country- AKNOWLEDGEMENTS “ECRI expresses concern over serious allegations of ill-treatment of members of minority groups, such as Roma and both authorised and unauthorized immigrants. The ill-treatment in question ranges from racist insults to physical violence and is inflicted either at the time of arrest or during custody. ECRI is particularly concerned over the existence of widespread allegations of improper use of firearms, sometimes resulting in death. ” ECRI Greece There have been numerous reports of evictions of Roma/Gypsy families from unauthorised camps, usually carried out late at night or early in the morning, during which law enforcement officials have acted in a violent and abusive way. Alleged misconduct includes abusive use of firearms, ill-treatment, humiliating treatment, arbitrary destruction of property and confiscation or destruction of papers. In cases where Roma/Gypsies have been victims of racial attacks, there are reports that the response by law enforcement officials has sometimes been inadequate. (ECRI Italy) ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
Per-Country - AKNOWLEDGEMENTS “The incidence of racial violence and harassment has increased and the authorities acknowledge that more explicit and aggressive forms of racism and xenophobia have emerged. These have manifested themselves in acts of violence and harassment of a racist or antisemitic nature and have targeted immigrants (eg attacks on refugee centres, shops, cafés and homes owned by persons of immigrant origin), Jewish people and Roma, active anti-racists, and journalists, polemicists, police officers and politicians…significant numbers of racist crimes still go unreported, perhaps due to a lack of confidence in the police response to such crimes ” ECRI -Sweden ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
Legislation “Article 3- Right to the integrity of the person 1. Everyone has the right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity.” (Charter of Fundamental Rights) “Article 1 Protocol 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 2. No one shall be discriminated against by any public authority on any ground such as those mentioned in paragraph 1 .” Article 34 -Social security and social assistance “3. In order to combat social exclusion and poverty, the Union recognises and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources, in accordance with the rules laid down by Community law and national laws and practices. “ ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
FACTS “In the EU Accession Countries(the 10 new EU countries) , the Roma Minority is the group most vulnerable to racism, xenophobia, and discrimination in education. Roma face marginalisation in society in all Accession Countries, except for Malta , where the existence of a Roma Community is not reported”(EUMC 2004) Italy France Romania Slovakia ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
Bla-Bla ‘ fighting against discrimination (including within the public administration), fostering employment opportunities, increasing access to education , improving housing conditions; and providing adequate financial support ’ . EU: Accession Partnership 1999 ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
COMBATING DISCRIMINATION- FACTS 5.3 Million Euros(governmental and Phare funding) were spent in public and mass media campaigns against discrimination including anti-Gypsyism in two years in the 5 European countries with a population estimated of over 6.000.000 Roma .Less than 500.000 Euros per year /per country. The European Commission spends twice that much every year for one single NGO meant to combat discrimination who did up to this point close to nothing on Roma. Only the anti-discrimination program pays to NGOs in Brussels 20 times more. On 1 st of October 2004 UNICEF published a poll showing that 93.4% of the Romanians would refuse to have a Roma as a member of the family. Almost half of the Romanians (45.7%) wouldn’t like Roma in their cities or villages and 36% thought that Roma should be forced to live separately, at the limits of the cities.One in two Romanians would agree with measures of stopping the growth of Roma population. On 19 th of January 2005 during a conference on Human Rights and migrants in Brussels the Slovak Ambassador said that Slovak Roma are the exploiters of the welfare system. ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
COMBATING DISCRIMINATION- FACTS A survey of European media, conducted by “On-line/More colour in the media”, proves accordingly that, “[i]n terms of groups with different national or ethnic origin, Sinti and Roma/Travelers are the group most often portrayed negatively“ Anti-gypsism as a social phenomenon affecting all Europe is still largely ignored as a social problem of the same size and importance as Anti-Semitism or racism in general. There is hardly any monitoring and reporting of discrimination and violence against Roma which is essential to measure and understand the nature of the prejudices and resentments against Roma and develop appropriate policy actions to counteract it. ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
Valeriu Nicolae Facts ERIO 2005
Valeriu Nicolae INVEST IN US ERIO 2005
WHAT CAN BE DONE • Invest in us –positive action • Close the gap between acknowledgement and actions. • Include Roma in European Institutions- Roma Unit • Take a stand against Anti-Gypsyism • Make sure Lisbon Strategy has also Roma as a target group • Work with us and not just for us • Multistake holder approach • Use Roma Decade as a tool to work better with National Governments ERIO 2005 Valeriu Nicolae
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