Parliamentary Assembly
Assemblée parlementaire |
Recommendation 1557 (2002)1
The legal situation of Roma in Europe2
1.
Nearly ten years ago in its Recommendation 1203 (1993) on Gypsies in Europe, the
Parliamentary Assembly stressed the need for special protection for Gypsies and
condemned the various forms of discrimination suffered by them in the member
states of the Council of Europe. Although international organisations, national
governments, local authorities and non-governmental organisations have made
great efforts, the aims set by this recommendation have been achieved to a
restricted extent.
2.
The Assembly recalls the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms of 1950, the European Convention for the Prevention of
Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 1987, the European
Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1992, the Framework Convention for
the Protection of National Minorities of 1995 and the revised European Social
Charter of 1996.
3.
Today Roma are still subjected to discrimination, marginalisation and
segregation. Discrimination is widespread in every field of public and personal
life, including access to public places, education, employment, health services
and housing, as well as crossing borders and access to asylum procedures.
Marginalisation and the economic and social segregation of Roma are turning into
ethnic discrimination, which usually affects the weakest social groups.
4.
Roma form a special minority group, in so far as they have a double minority
status. They are an ethnic community and most of them belong to the socially
disadvantaged groups of society.
5.
Most Roma are currently faced with a rather severe economic situation in most of
the member countries of the Council of Europe. Despite efforts in the social
field, the market economy, especially the neo-liberal version of it, has
marginalised disadvantaged social groups including Roma even in the most
developed European countries. In central and eastern Europe the economic and
political transition has aggravated their socially disadvantaged situation.
6.
From a legal point of view, the Romany community is still not regarded as an
ethnic or national minority group in every member state, and thus it does not
enjoy the rights pertaining to this status in all of the countries concerned.
Roma must be treated as an ethnic or national minority group in every member
state, and their minority rights must be guaranteed. The Framework Convention
for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional
or Minority Languages exist and must be applied.
7. The nature and direction of
Roma migration has changed recently, as its illegal aspect has grown markedly,
and even former transit countries have become final destinations. Ethnic
conflicts and civil wars over the last ten years in certain parts of Europe have
intensified the phenomenon of Roma migration. This migration is still not higher
than the average migration trend from central and eastern Europe, but it
attracts greater public attention because of its specific nature, as it is
usually not an individual, solitary enterprise, but a family affair for the
smaller or larger Romany families. In the meantime, several states have adopted
formal rules or systematically implemented practices which are clearly aimed at
preventing Roma from entering these countries, and are directly or indirectly
discriminatory with respect to Roma.
8.
It is necessary to adopt a series of confidence-building and advisory measures
aimed at helping Romany migrants from central and eastern Europe already living
in the countries of western Europe, and to prevent their further
marginalisation. At the same time, it is also necessary to provide effective
support for the reintegration of those Romany migrants who return to their
homeland.
9. Roma, as full citizens of
the country in which they reside, have to have the same rights and obligations
as others. The right of Roma to move around must be recognised. The majority
population and Roma share responsibility in society to an asymmetrical measure
in the light of their capacities and their economic, political, cultural and
social resources. The majority population must accept Roma into society without
assimilating them, and support Roma as a disadvantaged social group. Roma have
to accept the rules governing society as a whole, and they can be called upon to
be more active in handling their own problems, but this must be associated with
appropriate conditions, encouragement and incentives provided by the state.
10.
Member states of the Council of Europe should encourage Roma to set up their own
organisations and participate in the political system as voters, candidates or
members in national parliaments. Incentives should be provided to mainstream
political parties to include Roma on their electoral lists, in electable
positions. States are encouraged to devise and implement policies aiming at the
full participation of Roma in public life, and at all levels of administration,
as well as the strengthening of democratic Romany constituencies. Romany
communities, organisations and political parties should be given the full
opportunity to take part in the process of elaborating, implementing and
monitoring programmes and policies aimed at improving their present situation.
11. The situation of Romany
women needs to be improved, because they play a determinant role in improving
the living conditions of Romany families. These women suffer from a triple
discrimination, as Roma, as women and also as persons belonging to a socially
disadvantaged group.
12. The Assembly encourages awareness-raising among media professionals of their
particular responsibility in building dialogue between Roma and the majority
population, fighting against discrimination in society, making the majority
population more familiar with the culture of Roma and the efforts made by them
to improve their situation, and reporting the positive examples concerning the
integration of Roma into society.
13. The Assembly recognises that there is a need to strengthen, clarify and
harmonise the work of:
a. European multilateral
organisations, such as the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security
and Co-operation in Europe, and the European Union, in their activities
concerning Roma;
b. several bodies of the Council of
Europe dealing with elaborating and monitoring initiatives, reports,
recommendations and programmes concerning the situation of Roma in Europe.
14. The convention preparing a common future constitution for the European
Union, has asked civil society to make remarks and proposals. Romany communities
and organisations should not miss the opportunity of expressing their views.
15. The Council of Europe can and must play an important role in improving the
legal status, the level of equality and the living conditions of Roma. The
Assembly calls upon the member states to complete the six general conditions,
which are necessary for the improvement of the situation of Roma in Europe:
a. to resolve the legal status of
Roma:
i. to recognise Romany individuals as members
of an ethnic or national minority group;
ii. to acknowledge the minority group status
of Romany communities;
iii. to guarantee individual and community
minority rights for Roma;
iv. to provide for Roma, legally residing in
the country in which they live, with the full opportunity to obtain an
identity card, in the countries where it exists;
v. to sign, ratify and fully implement the
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages;
vi. to provide Roma with
the social rights protected by the revised European Social Charter;
b. to elaborate and implement
specific programmes to improve the integration of Roma as individuals and
Romany communities as minority groups into society and ensure their
participation in decision-making processes at local, regional, national and
European levels:
i. to elaborate and implement policies
designed to deal with the problems of Roma, which are comprehensive and
related to economic, social and cultural factors;
ii. to strengthen the dialogue between Romany
individuals, Romany communities and other groups in society;
iii. to involve representatives of Roma at all
stages of the decision-making process in developing, implementing and
evaluating programmes aimed at improving the conditions of Romany
individuals and communities. This involvement should not be limited to
consultation only, but should take the shape of a real partnership;
iv. encourage the presence of Romany members
in national parliaments and encourage the participation of elected Romany
representatives in the regional and local legislature process and executive
bodies;
v. to foster interregional co-operation with a
view to handling the problems faced by Roma, with their active
participation;
vi. to strengthen the systematic and regular
monitoring process of the implementation of recommendations and specific
programmes aimed to improve the legal situation and the living conditions of
Romany individuals and communities;
c. to guarantee equal treatment for
the Romany minority as an ethnic or national minority group in the field of
education, employment, housing, health and public services. Member states
should give special attention to:
i. promoting equal opportunities for Roma on
the labour market;
ii. providing the possibility for Romany students to participate in all
levels of education from kindergarten to university;
iii. developing positive measures to recruit Roma in public services of
direct relevance to Roma communities, such as primary and secondary schools,
social welfare centres, local primary health care centres and local
administration;
iv. eradicating all practices of segregated
schooling for Romany children, particularly that of routing Romany children
to schools or classes for the mentally disabled;
d. to develop and implement positive
action and preferential treatment for the socially deprived strata, including
Roma as a socially disadvantaged community, in the field of education,
employment and housing:
i. to ensure long-term budgetary support for developing income-generating
programmes for the socially disadvantaged groups, including Roma;
ii. to ensure that housing programmes announced by governments are available
for all socially disadvantaged families, including Romany families;
iii. to ensure budgetary support and assist Roma communities with technical
training to upgrade the existing Romany settlements;
iv. to make use of the Council of Europe
Development Bank to finance integrated projects, developed in partnership
with the Roma communities concerned, in order to improve their living
conditions and to facilitate their economic independence;
e. to take specific measures and
create special institutions for the protection of the Romany language,
culture, traditions and identity:
i. to help and promote the teaching of the
Romany language;
ii. to encourage Romany parents to send their
children to primary school, secondary school and higher education, including
college or university, and give them adequate information about the
necessity of education;
iii. to make the majority population more
familiar with Roma culture;
iv. to ensure that educational textbooks
include material on the Romany history and culture;
v. to recruit Roma teaching staff,
particularly in areas with a large Romany population;
f. to combat racism, xenophobia and
intolerance and to ensure non-discriminatory treatment of Roma at local,
regional, national and international levels:
i. to enact and enforce comprehensive
anti-discriminatory legislation in the member states with regard to Roma;
ii. to ratify Protocol No. 12 to the European
Convention on Human Rights, if they have not already done so, as a matter of
priority;
iii. to set up conflict prevention and
management bodies at regional and local levels;
iv. to enact and enforce comprehensive
anti-discrimination legislation in the member states, in harmony with
European Council Directive 2000/43/EC “implementing the principle of equal
treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin”, as the
benchmark guidelines on anti-discrimination law in all European states;
v. to give considerable support to
non-governmental organisations protecting individual and Roma community
minority rights;
vi. to pay particular attention to the
phenomenon of the discrimination against Roma, especially in the fields of
education and employment;
vii. based on reliable statistical data, to
fight against racial discrimination and protect Roma against the abusive and
involuntary collection of data;
viii. to strengthen the monitoring system on discrimination against Roma at
local, regional, national and international levels;
ix. to ensure that the full scope of the
rights envisaged in the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the
1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967
Protocol, are applied to Roma without discrimination;
x. to pay particular attention to the problems
faced by Roma in the field of acquisition or loss of citizenship,
border-crossing decisions and policies;
xi. to ensure that the rules applied and
policies implemented in the field of migration control are not
discriminatory towards Roma migrants.
16. The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
i. support the initiative of
setting up a European Roma consultative forum, democratically established,
that can articulate and transmit the voice of Romany individuals and
communities and serve as an advisory body to the Committee of Ministers, the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and institutions of the
European Union;
ii. set up the institution of a European ombudsman for Roma to deal with the
violation of the individual and community minority rights of Roma;
iii. establish a European Roma study and training centre, affiliated to the
European Youth Centre of the Council of Europe, which needs to be set up with
a small staff to facilitate the efficient exchange of positive experiences
concerning the integration of Roma at local, regional and national levels in
the member states and to promote the co-ordination of the training of Romany
and majority specialists;
iv. consider recruiting Roma
staff in the Secretariat of the Organisation;
v. create a European
solidarity fund for Roma financed by voluntary contributions from the member
states of the Council of Europe and other international multilateral
organisations;
vi. draw up an additional
protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights on the rights of persons
belonging to minorities;
vii. strengthen monitoring
mechanisms and support to a greater extent the implementation of the
initiatives and recommendations enumerated by existing international texts.
1. Assembly debate on 25 April
2002 (15th Sitting) (see Doc.
9397, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur:
Mr Tabajdi; Doc.
9417, opinion of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography,
rapporteur: Mr Cilevics; and Doc.
9424, opinion of the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, rapporteur:
Mrs Rupprecht).
Text adopted by the
Assembly on 25 April 2002 (15th Sitting).
2. The term “Roma” used in this report
always refers to the “Gypsy”, “Sinti” and “Traveller” categories.
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