American MDs Hold Roma Vaccination Campaign
GALATI -A team of American medical doctors from Alabama village distributed Monday, June 25, to Roma communities in Ivesti and Liesti communes in the county of Galati, eastern Romania, some 800 doses of vaccine against rubella-measles and mumps for suckers and preschool children. "We came to help the disadvantaged children. This is not our first mission but we chose Galati at the suggestion of the Public Health Watchdog in Romania. These children need our vaccine for body immunity. We brought enough doses of vaccines," lt. col. Sharon Pardue with the US Army told the press. "Our sanitary military staff in the state of Alabama helps our county as we could not afford buying this vaccine against rubella-measles and mumps," the head of Galati Preventive Medicine Unit dr. Mihaela Ghiurca said. The team of American military medics will continue this vaccination campaign in Bucharest, in the disadvantaged communes at the city's outskirts. DIVERS - http://www.divers.ro/
Most Roma In Botosani Have No Dwelling Ownership Documents
BOTOSANI - Some 60% of the ethnic Roma in the county of Botosani, eastern Romania, do not have any document certifying the ownership right upon the dwellings they are living in, the head of the Romas Office with the Prefect Department Semiramida Balan said June 26, during the session of the Prefecture College. The session approached "the stage of implementing the national strategy for improving ethnic Roma status at a local level," and Roma representatives complain of the lack of ownership documents in their actual dwellings. Semiramida Balan said the lack of such documents questions the legitimacy of the persons living in those dwellings and affects the social rights of the Roma members. "Without ownership documents upon the dwelling, they could not benefit from legal aids of education or medical assistance," Balan said. The head of ethnic Roma also said that 10% of the 15,000 ethnic Roma in the county have no identity document, birth certificates or identity cards. DIVERS - www.divers.ro
Council of Europe publication on national minority standards
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe, guided by the same values and with similar goals and sharing similar challenges, have co-operated to produce this compilation of texts addressing national minority issues. The vigorous endeavours of the OSCE and the Council of Europe to achieve a new peaceful European order after 1989 have resulted also in developing new instruments and strengthening their engagement in national minority issues, although this was not always enough to prevent wars and interethnic conflicts. The aim of this book is to highlight the standards developed for national minorities and to make them known to everyone, including civil society and the authorities directly concerned.
Read more on http://book.coe.int/sysmodules/RBS_page/admin/redirect.php?id=36&lang=EN&produit_aliasid=2203
European Court of Human Rights rules on Greek Roma case
Greek Helsinki Monitor expressed great satisfaction on 21 June 2007 regarding the European Court of Human Rights' (ECHR) unanimous conviction of Greece in the Case of Karagiannopoulos. According to the ECHR, Greece violated twice Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, both in its substantive part (a police officer shot then 17-year old Rom Ioannis Karagiannopoulos who has since remained 100% invalid) and in its procedural part (there was no effective investigation into the near fatal shooting), and must award the victim 120,000 euros for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage. Read more on http://www.dzeno.cz/?c_id=14746
Czech municipalities say Agency for Roma issues is unnecessary
Representatives of Czech municipalities think that the establishment of a government agency to deal with Romany issues would be an unnecessary step that would bring no fundamental changes. They are also opposed to the issues of Romanies living in regions being tackled by clerks in the remote capital of Prague. Minorities and Human Rights Minister Dzamila Stehlikova (Green Party) who counts with the launch of the agency beginning of 2008 explains the mayors' stand as a misunderstanding. She said the agency would mainly play a methodological role and that it would provide know-how for those who would seek it. The agency would by no means dictate anything to anyone, Stehlikova said, adding that its members already work within the Government Council for Romany Community Affairs. The agency should coordinate the steps taken to integrate the socially excluded people back into society.
Read more on http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_363
Commissioner for Human Rights voices concern about the status of Kosovo refugees in Bosnia
Strasbourg, 28.06.2007 - The security situation in Kosovo does not allow for the safe return of all refugees, said Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights. The Commissioner urges the Bosnia and Herzegovina government not to withdraw temporary admission permits for Kosovo refugees at the set deadline of 30 June. He also says the authorities should continue to provide protection for those refugees who cannot return, including the Roma refugees. "Kosovo's future still holds a lot of uncertainties and the security situation remains fragile," the Commissioner said. "I strongly believe that for those refugees who cannot return, a lasting solution should be found within Bosnia and Herzegovina." According to the Commissioner, this could mean either the granting of asylum, a permanent residence permit or even citizenship, which some of the refugees would be entitled to after years of living in Bosnia. Thomas Hammarberg, who supports the similar view of the UN refugee agency, says that there continues to be a need for the international protection of the 3,000 strong Kosovar refugee community in Bosnia, and most notably the Roma who are still in collective centres. The Commissioner said he would closely follow the situation of these refugees after the 30 June deadline. Council of Europe Press Division
Czech Republic lacks long-term plan for resolving problems in Roma ghettos
A long-term, focused concept according to which towns and communities might address the situations and problems in so-called "Roma ghettos" is missing in the Czech Republic, according to a report on the state of Romani communities last year which the government has received. According to expert analyses, there are more than 300 impoverished residential buildings and quarters in which primarily Roma reside; estimates range as high as 80 000 people total. Most adults in these areas are unemployed and families are dependent on social welfare. Their children frequently end up in special schools, practically closing off their path to further education. According to Czech Education Minister Kuchtová, the report for last year shows that a "local-level, comprehensive, long-term strategy" for resolving the problem of excluded Romani communities is missing in the Czech Republic; such materials should be based on specific situations, in her opinion. She said the report does also mention many measures which have proven successful in including Roma into society, such as assistant teachers at elementary schools, preparatory classes, field social workers in communities, and Romani advisors and coordinators working with local authorities. "I will use this report when planning educational programs," she said, adding that in the area of education she is preparing a "targeted development program." The issue is being handled by Czech Minister for Minorities and Human Rights Stehlíková. According to Stehlíková's previous statements, she intended to submit a draft Concept for Roma Integration for the future by mid-year to the cabinet. Stehlíková was not present at this particular cabinet session, as she was abroad. Source: CTK
Italy tells Romania: We don't want your Roma
1,000 migrants a month arrive in Italian capital. £20-a-week wages mean few are likely to go back Tourists gazing down from Rome's third-century BC Milvian bridge get a glimpse of an idyllic, tree-lined stretch of the Tiber winding its way into the heart of the city. But if they look closer, they can make out a cluster of well-hidden shacks on the river bank built by homeless Roma migrants - many from Romania, a new EU member. Desperate families sleep under elevated roads that ring the capital, in suburban woods and even, in the case of 14 Romanians discovered by police last month, in a Roman cistern along the Appian Way. Now, however, amid the surge in immigration - 1,000 Roma arrive from Romania every month - Italy's politicians are starting to take decisive, but controversial, action. Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni flew to Bucharest yesterday to urge the government to discourage its people from leaving in the first place. He has also announced the construction of four huge new camps in the suburbs of the Italian capital to house the arrivals. Full article on http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,2111620,00.html
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: new reports on application in Hungary and Slovenia
The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has made public the second report on the situation of minority languages in Slovenia and the third report on the situation in Hungary, and adopted a series of recommendations for the attention of the respective authorities. Link to the press release and text of the report and recommendations on Slovenia: http://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=PR438(2007)&Language=lanEnglish&Ver=original&BackColorInternet Link to the press release and text of the report and recommendations on Hungary: http://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=PR439(2007)&Language=lanEnglish&Ver=original&BackColorInternet More information on the Charter can be found on the following website: http://www.coe.int/minlang Council of Europe
Roma children in Bulgaria face extensive barriers to quality education, new report reveals
Sofia and Budapest, 27 June 2007 - Many of Bulgaria's Roma children continue to face discrimination, isolation or exclusion from education, concludes the "Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma in Bulgaria" released today. The report produced by the EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program of the Open Society Institute is a comprehensive analysis of basic educational indicators and major barriers and constraints that prevent from Roma in Bulgaria to enjoy equal access to quality education. It is the first comprehensive report on Roma education ever produced in Bulgaria. The dire situation of education for Roma in Bulgaria is documented in the report. The importance of pre-school (kindergarten) attendance for future schooling success is generally acknowledged. It is particularly important for the many Roma children whose first language is not Bulgarian. In Bulgaria, however, 35 per cent of Roma children do not attend pre-school, compared with less than 7 per cent of ethnic Bulgarian children. The drop-out rate among Roma in Bulgaria stands at 20 per cent compared to just 2 per cent of ethnic Bulgarians. However, considering the low rates of actual school attendance among Roma, for which there is no official data, the overall number of Roma who in fact receive an education in school is very low. Less than ten per cent of Roma in Bulgaria have even partial secondary education. Many Roma communities are isolated from majority society, in segregated settlements and urban ghettoes. Schools serving these communities generally have close to 100 per cent Roma enrolment, and the OSI report documents the low quality of education available in these schools. The report highlights that no comprehensive plan for school desegregation has been elaborated in Bulgaria. According to Krassimir Kanev, Chair of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and author of the report, "until the government gets its act together things are unlikely to change and Roma kids are paying the price". In mainstream schools Roma children are frequently placed in remedial classes where they are given lower quality education and as a result hardly any opportunity for future employment. The report also reveals that, despite widespread international condemnation, and even after new placement procedures were introduced in 2002, the number of Roma children who are inappropriately placed in special schools for children with disabilities remains disproportionately high. In some special schools up to 95 per cent of the students are Roma. Roma placed in special schools do not have the opportunity to earn a diploma that would give them real employment prospects. The OSI report includes 49 concrete recommendations to the Bulgarian government on how to change the situation. It also contains original material gathered in three case study locations: Nikolaevo, Veliko Turnovo, and Vidin. Research conducted in these three communities demonstrate the serious inequalities that persist in education in Bulgaria. In Vidin Municipality the report documents an appalling practice of village schools which enroll Roma children at the beginning of the school year, transport them for a month or so from distant neighbourhoods to the village schools and then, when the school files the appropriate documentation and receives a subsidy, it immediately stops transporting the children, who are later reported as drop-outs. The case study material also present examples where change was made possible through active participation in desegregation initiatives and efforts to introduce more material on Roma history and culture in the classroom. These positive initiatives, however, were carried out mainly by local civil society organisations and by their nature can only have limited scope. Lack of implementation, follow-through, and political will have blocked the way towards achieving the goals set out over the last eight years of public policy. Education is one of the priorities of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015, and Bulgaria, which currently hold the presidency of the Decade, will need to show that its commitment to this international initiative will result in concrete efforts to overcome the barriers to equal access to education in the country.
Notes to the editors
The monitoring of Equal Access to Quality Education for Roma is a multi country project covering the nine countries participating in the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015. The monitoring is carried out by the EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) of the Open Society Institute (OSI), in cooperation with OSI's Education Support Program (ESP) and Roma Participation Program (RPP). Local partner NGOs and experts conduct the research in each country. The full text of the reports in English and in translation is available online at http://www.eumap.org/. More information on OSI is available at http://www.soros.org/. The Bulgarian report was prepared in cooperation with the Open Society Institute, Sofia. It was researched and drafted by Krassimir Kanev, Reporter, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, together with Iossif Nounev, Consultant, State Expert at the Ministry of Education and Science; Evgeni Evgeniev, Researcher; and Teodora Krumova, Researcher, Amalipe Centre for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance. The report and this press release are available online at http://www.eumap.org/ For further information: Kamelia Dimitrova, tel. (+359 2) 930 66 27, kdimitrova@osf.bg
Living behind the cirque du soleil
Some 4,000 people live in poor conditions in shanty towns on the outskirts of Paris. But an integration programme plans to lift 30 Roma families out of misery SOURCE: http://www.cafebabel.com/en/article.asp?T=T&Id=11328
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