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Strasbourg, 7
April 2015: We mark this day by celebrating the rich Romani culture and the
diverse contributions of Roma to our societies. On this day, the Roma can stand
up and proudly say “We are Roma: this is what we are.”
It is however,
also on this day that we recall the constant rejection of the Roma in all
countries and in all walks of life. The European Roma and Travellers Forum
(ERTF) expresses its strong solidarity with all those Roma who still experience
extreme poverty, miserable conditions, fear and discrimination in their daily
lives. Current conditions are an affront to human dignity everywhere.
Roma continue
to face wide-ranging discrimination in access to education, employment, housing,
and healthcare. In recent years, the global economic crisis has slowed down
progress in addressing these challenges and led to an increase of anti-Gypsyism,
often expressed through violent attacks of the Roma communities. The walling off
of some Roma villages from neighbouring areas and the eviction of entire
communities of Roma families from their homes vividly illustrates their
exclusion and isolation. We cannot ignore these deeply troubling developments.
No country can meet 21st century challenges with a large segment of its
population discriminated, intimidated and excluded.Europe seems to have
forgotten the central lesson of the past century – Injustice anywhere is a
threat to justice everywhere.
We take this
occasion to pay tribute to those who have fought, and continue to fight –
despite the hardship and sacrifice involved – for equality and the right of all
people to live with respect and dignity. The struggle to break down the
prejudices towards Roma and to eliminate discrimination is essential to the
struggle for social justice and a better world, which is the responsibility of
us all.
The ERTF calls
upon all Council of Europe member states to honour their legally and politically
binding obligations and commitments to secure equal opportunities and support
for the Roma community. We encourage all states which have not yet done so, to
ratify all these legally and politically binding documents as soon as possible
and to resist the appeal of anti-Gypsy ideas and policies.
There are
enormous challenges ahead in the quest for equal opportunities for all – from
achieving more effective coordination and mobilisation of resources at the
international level, to building better capacity at the national and local
levels. All of us can play a part in raising awareness of these challenges; all
of us can play our part in overcoming them.
We call on all
the Roma to express openly their pride in being Roma, pride in their culture,
their language and in their traditions; to stand up fearlessly against
marginalisation and humiliation and claim loudly their right to be treated as
equal citizens in the country they live in.
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