Roma Inclusion Programs in Europe Appear Ineffective

Despite four years into the “Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015” initiative, Roma people of Europe still reportedly live in apartheid-like conditions.

Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman and president of Universal Society of Hinduism; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a joint statement in Nevada yesterday, said that almost everybody involved in Roma upliftment programs would agree that Roma continued to face deeply embedded institutional discrimination and social exclusion. Concrete steps were immediately needed to improve their plight, who mostly migrated from Indian subcontinent to Europe starting ninth century AD.

Zed and Rabbi Freirich say that in spite of this much publicized “Inclusion” initiative involving political commitment by governments of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of Roma, they unfortunately reportedly continue to suffer from human rights violations and brazen structural discrimination.

Zed and Rabbi Freirich further say that on paper, Roma are fully covered by European Union legislation, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin in employment, social protection and education as well as access to goods and services, including housing. But in reality, Roma reportedly regularly face racism, substandard education, hostility, social exclusion, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, etc.

Zed and Rabbi Freirich urged Czech Republic, which will reportedly preside over “Roma Decade” initiative starting July one, to deliver effective implementation, firm commitment and strong political will to improve the Roma plight. In the past, policies on paper to tackle Roma discrimination and exclusion had proved very weak to deal with their day-to-day sufferings. It is simply immoral to let this around 15 million population of Europe continually suffer and face human rights violations.

*Information provided by Rajan Zed

I hope that the Cxech Republic does step up to the plate. In this short article here written by ROMEA, ČTK, and translated by Gwendolyn Albert, Gabriela Hrabaňová, director of the Czech Government Office for Roma Community Affairs, told ČTK that the vision is to focus on Romani women and children. However, when asked for details she said "We do not yet have specific plans." However, she expects that by May the project will become more focused.

If you would like to read more about the Decade of Roma Inclusion, you can check out their website: http://www.romadecade.org/ . It's a great website with a lot of information!