Report on the situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE Area Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe High Commissioner on National Minorities 1 I. Foreword As will be recalled by OSCE participating States, my initial attention to the overall situation of Roma and Sinti in the OSCE region followed an April 1993 request from the CSCE Committee of Senior Officials that I conduct a study and issue a report, which I did in September 1993. At that time, I recommended, and OSCE participating States subsequently endorsed, creation of the Contact Point on Roma and Sinti Issues as part of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. As time passed, I noted in many parts of Europe the persistent plight of the Roma and Sinti. While improvements could be observed in the situations of many other groups as part of the on-going transitions in Central and Eastern Europe or amid the general prosperity of Western Europe, by contrast Roma and Sinti were generally left outside the scope and beyond the reach of progressive developments. Moreover, the persistence of racially-motivated hatred and violence directed against the Roma and Sinti can only be considered a blight on the records of individual participating States and of European society in general. On the basis of these considerations, I felt that the situation of Roma and Sinti – often the worst off of all groups – merited fuller study and analysis than I had done in the past, with a view to offering OSCE participating States some recommendations for practical and effective action in overcoming particular aspects of the general problem. To this end, I thought it important to examine specific issues and certain cases in some detail, including through direct contacts with representatives of Roma and Sinti communities. With the generous assistance of the United States Government, I was able to embark upon such a project at the beginning of 1999. Specifically, a financial contribution from the United States Government allowed Professor Diane Orentlicher of the Washington College of Law at the American University in Washington, D.C., to assist me for two-thirds of a year in collecting information, visiting communities in a variety of countries, and drafting substantial portions of this report. I wish to thank Professor Orentlicher for her most valuable assistance. Rachel Guglielmo, of the Project Unit of my office, also contributed substantially to the study and report. In addition, I wish to thank my legal adviser, John Packer, and assistant, Sally Holt, for the care they took in finalizing the text and bringing this report to publication. My intention in embarking upon this study was and remains principally to raise the awareness of policy makers to the particular situation and needs of Roma and Sinti, to focus debate on their conditions, and to offer some general recommendations. By doing so, I hope to stimulate concrete action leading to real improvements in the nearest future. The result of my study, as reflected in this report, indicates the main fields in which action is needed: 1) combating discrimination and racial violence; 2) improving access to and quality of education; 3) improving general living conditions; and 4) increasing the effective participation of Roma and Sinti in public life, especially with regard to matters affecting them. My recommendations, while generic in nature, are directed to the governments of all OSCE participating States, as appropriate, as well as to the OSCE as a whole. I hope that in the new millennium all OSCE participating States will prove fully responsive to the needs of Roma and Sinti and wholly respectful of their rights. As a community of values, the OSCE must assure this for all. Max van der Stoel The Hague, 10 March 2000 OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 3 A. OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................. 3 B. CSCE/OSCE COMMITMENTS AND INITIATIVES RELATING TO ROMA AND SINTI ....................... 10 C. SITUATING THE ROMA IN EUROPEAN HISTORY; A NOTE ......................................................... 19 II. DISCRIMINATION AND RACIAL VIOLENCE................................................................. 25 A. OSCE AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ................................................................... 25 B. DISCRIMINATION ................................................................................................................... 33 C. RACIAL VIOLENCE................................................................................................................. 38 D. RACIAL STEREOTYPING ......................................................................................................... 45 E. COMBATING DISCRIMINATION AND RACIAL VIOLENCE ........................................................... 49 III. EDUCATION...................................................................................................................... 63 A. OSCE AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ................................................................... 63 B. ILLITERACY, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND PERFORMANCE........................................................ 67 C. RACIALLY-SEGREGATED SCHOOLS AND CLASSES .................................................................. 72 D. EXCLUSION FROM ENROLLMENT ............................................................................................ 75 E. “SPECIAL SCHOOLS”.............................................................................................................. 76 F. PROGRAMS AIMED AT IMPROVING ROMANI EDUCATION ......................................................... 83 G. HIGHER EDUCATION .............................................................................................................. 94 H. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................ 95 IV. LIVING CONDITIONS...................................................................................................... 97 A. OSCE AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ................................................................... 97 B. HOUSING............................................................................................................................. 100 C. HEALTH .............................................................................................................................. 119 D. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................................. 128 V. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION.......................................................................................... 130 A. OSCE AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ................................................................. 131 B. PATTERNS OF ROMA POLITICAL PARTICIPATION ................................................................... 134 C. PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPING ROMA POLICIES: MODELS IN OSCE PARTICIPATING STATES 137 D. CITIZENSHIP ........................................................................................................................ 156 VI. RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 162 A. DISCRIMINATION AND RACIAL VIOLENCE............................................................................. 162 B. EDUCATION......................................................................................................................... 163 C. LIVING CONDITIONS ............................................................................................................ 163 D. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION................................................................................................... 164 E. ENHANCEMENT OF THE MANDATE OF THE OSCE CONTACT POINT FOR ROMA AND SINTI ISSUES ............................................................................................... 165 APPENDIX I: EXCERPTS FROM CSCE/OSCE DOCUMENTS REFERRING TO ROMA . 167 APPENDIX II: MANDATE OF THE ODIHR CONTACT POINT FOR ROMA AND SINTI ISSUES ......................................................................................................................................... 169 APPENDIX III: COUNCIL OF EUROPE RECOMMENDATIONS......................................... 171 3 II. INTRODUCTION A. Overview The extraordinary complexity of challenges confronting Romani communities1 is manifest, as the range of issues in this report attests. By equal measure, the rich diversity among Roma within the OSCE makes all but a few general conclusions inappropriate. One, however, is plainly warranted: discrimination and exclusion are fundamental features of the Roma experience. Ten years after the iron curtain fell, Europe is at risk of being divided by new walls. Front and center among those persons being left outside Europe’s new security and prosperity are the Roma. In many countries, Roma have been decreed illegal residents on their own property, banished beyond municipal boundaries, and left outside the community of common concern. These are not isolated incidents, but widespread practices - sometimes systematic and on occasion systemic. To redress the long and hard experience of Roma requires, therefore, considerable attention, careful analysis, development of specific policies and