No deportation of Roma from the European Union!
Stop discrimination! - Solidarity!
10.Aug.02 - At the no border camp in Strasbourg an international supportgroup for the Roma has been formed. People from different countries who arein contact with Roma, met a few times during the camp and now want to make a short summery of the workshop:
The situation of Roma people is difficult through out Europe.They arecontinuosly discriminated and confronted with unsure or no right to stay. (Infos about the general situation of Roma people in Europe: http://errc.org)
Italy: most of the Roma who come from Romania are forced tolive in container camps with more than 1000 people. They are regularlyattacked by police, discriminated against and are threated of deportationto Romania. An italian network has been formed to gather experiences and to fightagainst discrimination and prejudices in civil society.
Belgium: in 1998 300 Roma people were collectively deported to Sloveniawithout checking individual cases.This type of collective deportation wasbrought to the European Human Right Court and was declared as unconformingwith human rights. The deported Roma from Slovenia received a financial ensurens.
Finland: in the spring 2002 Finland received 500 Romarefugees from Romania. They applied for asylum in Finland. Authorities stated immediately in mediathat the applications of these people won't be accepted and they would bedeported. They were kept in open reception centres and when the firstnegative decision came, at least one group of 50 people escaped the centre in order to avoid deportation back toRomania.There were massive deportations by airplane while authorities keptthis whole process a quiet secret.This is the first time that somethinglike this happened in Finland. None of the established organizations, like NGO's, have reacted to thesedeportations. (for more infos: fi.noborder.org)
France: since the beginning of july there is a new law onsecurity. The french minister of securtity said in connection to this law,that Roma (including french "gitans", which are Roma without a fixed place where they live) take a big part inthe danger of security. According to him they take private property throughsquating houses and land in doing so they endanger security. After evictions there were no new place proposed. Hundreds of Roma have been deportatedto Romania, while holding a valid tourist visa.
Germany: More and more Roma from Ex-Yugoslavia are deported, many of thesefamilys have lived in Germany for more than ten years. On the 6th of june2002 the state interior ministries conference (IMK) decided not to continuewith the deportation-stop of"ethnic minorities" (like the Roma from the Kosovo)that had existed till then.
Since 27.4.2002 650 Roma caravan protested against theirimmanent deportation.Following visits in different cities they are stayingin Düsseldorf since four weeks. They urgently need political and materialsupport. (Further information about the caravan: www.krit.de/roma)
They originaly planned to come to strasbourg in order to raise theirdemands to the European Parliament and the European Human Rights Court.Because of their insecure status they chose not to come.
There are thoughts about integrating the issue of deportationof Roma into the campaign against IOM (International Organisation of Migration), which arranges forexample the deportation journey out of countries. (Further information: iom@noborder.org or www.noborder.org/iom)
The first thing to do as an international group of supporters is exchangeinformation about the situation of Roma in different countries, distributecontacts among the Roma communities and create political pressure for therights of Roma to stay and move within europe. We are discussing, how far it is possible to connect theprotest of the Roma in different countries. Everywhere, even in the "left scene" thisissue is mostly ignored. This is the reason why we regard it as veryimportant to realize a Roma workshop in the no border camp.
If you want to contact us, please send a mail to: r-echtfuer-oma@gmx.de