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