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THE ALLEYNIAN 709
OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES
In a survey conducted by the European commission in 2015, 20% of the respondents stated that they would be completely uncomfortable working with a Roma person “
ROMA RIGHTS
was most acute during the 20th century. In Nazi Germany, a supplementary decree to the Nuremberg Laws was issued in November 1935, classifying the Roma as ‘enemies of the race-based state’. As a direct result of this decree, historians estimate that between 220,000 and 500,000 Roma were killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators: between 25% and 50% of the estimated one million Roma in Europe at the time. After 1945, discrimination against Roma continued to be widespread. Many countries across Europe enforced the most horrific measures to stem the growth of the Roma population. As recently as 1987, 36.6% of women who were sterilised in Czechoslovakia were Roma, with Roma representing 2–3% of the entire population. Although widespread forced sterilisation has ended, it would be a misjudgment to claim that Roma people do not have their civil rights violated in our own times. In all walks of life, antiziganism (prejudice, discrimination and racism against the Roma community) has continued into the 21st century. The numerous sterilisation campaigns against Roma have had lasting effects, and cases of forced sterilisation are still reported. In a survey conducted by the European commission in 2015, 20% of the respondents stated that they would be completely uncomfortable working with a Roma person. Anti-Roma discrimination also extends to schools, with the practice of placing Roma students in segregated schools or classes remaining widespread in countries across Europe. Many Roma children are channelled into all-Roma schools whose provision of education is of an inferior quality. According to the latest hate crime survey by Human Rights First, Roma routinely suffer assaults in city streets and other public places as they travel to and from homes and markets.
The widespread patterns of violence are sometimes directed at causing immediate harm to Roma, without distinction between adults, the elderly and small children, and also at physically eradicating the presence of Roma people in towns and cities in several European countries. Despite the continued hatred and violence against Roma people, since 1989 there has been a flowering of public expression of Roma identity in Europe. After the states of Eastern Europe turned away from socialism, and censorship was decreased, Roma culture was allowed to flourish. Roma concerts, festivals and radio broadcasts can now be found all across Eastern Europe. Perhaps music is the biggest indicator of the cultural contributions that Roma make across Europe. Contemporary artists such as Goran Bregovic, who has embraced the rhythms of his native Balkans, continue to remind Europe what Roma culture has given us. I believe we should not take our foot off the pedal and that we should continue fighting inequalities whilst looking towards Roma populations. Through our greater knowledge of not only the ongoing discrimination they suffer but also the cultural values that Roma bring to humanity, we must fight for their civil rights just as we would fight for our own. www.errc.org www.osce.org/odihr/roma-and-sinti Read more
The prejudice, discrimination and racism meted out to the Roma needs to stop, says Emmanuel Del Prete (Year 12)
The break from reality (or, as some would argue, the hard-hitting reality check) that the Covid-19 pandemic has bestowed upon our society has given us ample time to reflect on the social wrongs that are within our power to right. Throughout 2020, protests against injustice garnered the support of millions of people across the globe. However, a demographic that has not received support from much of the Western world is the group of people including Romani, Sinti and travelers. In this article, I shall refer to this demographic as Roma. It is, arguably, innately human to prioritise addressing the problems right in front of our noses, which is perhaps why, just as the UK government has not taken enough notice of what is being done to the Uighur population in China or the Rohingya population in Myanmar, it does not take the lack of civil rights for Roma people around Europe as seriously as it should. While there are only a small number of Roma living in the UK, the Roma community is listed by the EU as the largest ethnic minority in Europe, with a population of over 10 million. Yet, since their arrival into Europe from India, starting in the 8th century, Roma have suffered profusely. Their suffering
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