Posters displayed in Milan during the recent municipal election campaign warned against the risk of the city turning into a “Gypsy town”. Though this was an extreme display of xenophobia, anti-Roma statements by politicians are in fact commonplace in several countries in Europe, says Commissioner Hammarberg in his latest Human Rights Comment published today. Until this stops, no efforts to promote the inclusion of Roma in society can be expected to bear fruit – instead, discrimination and violence will continue to be a part of the daily lives of many Roma.

Politicians have a special responsibility for combating discrimination and building bridges across different parts of society , the Commissioner stresses. They should avoid using stigmatising speech against the Roma and should not feed the age-old prejudices against this minority. An unfortunate example of this was when the expulsions of Roma EU citizens from France last summer were accompanied by sweeping generalisations by high-ranking officials about Roma and Travellers, in particular concerning their involvement in crime (more...)