By Madhu Kumari, EuAsiaNews,
Brussels : The European Union feels proud of its anti-discrimination laws and equality for all its citizens through treaties and legislation.
That is all except the Roma people, better known as Gypsies or travellers, are fast becoming the “untouchables” of Europe.
Roma people originally migrated from Northern India some 700 years ago to mainly Eastern Europe, and from there now exist in almost all of the EU 27 member states.
They are Europe’s oldest migrant community, now acknowledged as “people” of Europe, with cultural and language rights, but are not necessarily accepted by all as “citizens”.
They have suffered persecution under both the Nazis and Communist Eastern Europe. However, even today these people are still victimised in modern democratic Europe.
Many Roma are discriminated against from birth often being unable to register and therefore not receive identity papers; either receive no, very little or segregated education; are often unemployed due to prejudice or lack of qualifications, and often live in “camps” or ghettos without utility services or amenities.
Recent events have seen the removal by force of Roma from nomadic camps in Naples, Italy and further moves by the Italian Government to discriminate against the Roma people.
The Czech National Party wants to succeed in the general elections in 2010 with radical anti-Romany rhetoric formulated in a 150-page study called “The Final Solution to the Gipsy Issue in the Czech Lands” that it will present in a month which outlines a solution by buying land in India and to relocate Romanies to India.
Lidové noviny, a Czech daily, wrote recently that “the name evokes Nazi Germany and its final solution to the Jewish issue, but the nationalists claim they do no want to kill Romanies, but that they want to buy land in India and to relocate Romanies there.”
The Czech Republic is to hold the next EU presidency for six months from 1 January.
The fact that Italy is being blatantly discriminatory and getting away with it, should raise questions as to the legitimacy of Europe’s discrimination and equality laws, not to mentions its human rights agenda.
However, that debate is not an open discussion in the corridors of Europe.
Meanwhile, the international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International , has criticised the EU’s Social Agenda announced on 2 July saying it fails to propose any long term strategy aimed at Roma inclusion.
“At a time when the scale of abuses committed against Roma is increasing, for example in Italy, it is more important than ever to have a sound, comprehensive and long-term EU Roma strategy and commitment” said Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty International, EU Office in Brussels.
Instead, the European Commission once again chose to defer responsibility to member states rather than focusing on forward-looking initiatives to empower Europe’s largest minority group, he added.