[ad_1]
This year's International Roma Day comes just days after a wave of clashes between a Roma community and militiamen in the north of Paris exacerbated by social media.
On March 27, 2019, a group of twenty inhabitants attacked Roma living in a camp in Bobigny. The attack was provoked by a message posted on social media that Roma had kidnapped children.
"The most disturbing is, on the one hand, the fact that these totally unfounded rumors can lead to such attacks – there are almost thirty," says Malik Salemkour, president of the League of Rights of the United States. Man and member of the Romeurope organization "But on the other hand, the reaction of the public and the authorities is that this racism is completely intolerable."
Anti-Roma speech
The European Center for Roma Rights, based in Budapest in the Hungarian capital and recently established in Brussels, is fighting for the members of the Roma community to get the same rights as other European citizens. It's a particularly difficult fight to win, especially in this pre-European election period, during which some politicians tend to have oil on fire to win votes.
"Anti-Roma rhetoric has always led to electoral success, "said Jonathan Lee, spokesman for the European Roma Rights Center. "If we look at countries like Italy, Matteo Salvini talks about cleaning the streets of all Roma. "Acting to get votes for an election, especially on the eve of the Europeans, is the surest way to unite the inhabitants against minorities and s'. seize power. "
Some politicians go beyond words. "Recently, I understood that in Bulgaria a law providing for free abortions for Roma women had been proposed to try to reduce this population," adds Jonathan Lee.
Non nomad
France has also been criticized for its lack of a Roma protection policy. "In 2012, we were informed that the government was planning to reduce slums. But it was not until 2018 that the current government confirmed that with another notification. We do not respect these kinds of notifications that only refer to evictions and not to solutions, "Salemkour said. "And it's this constant precariousness that exacerbates these discourses and the realities of the population that does not want to integrate it."
In France, it is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 Roma live in slums. For Salemkour, the only way out is to fight against prejudice and to help the Roma to integrate in the population.
"As far as I'm concerned, these people are not nomads, they are sedentary who lived in their country in houses and apartments.It is not a question of whether the Roma living in France are nomads or no."
[ad_2]
Source link
