Discrimination against the Roma community in the Western Balkans

A report presented at the Western Balkans Roma Regional Summit in Pristina recently by Civil Rights Defenders found that the living conditions of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians continue to be poor due to discrimination, unemployment and lack of access to state services. .

Analyzing the lives of Roma communities in aspects such as security, personal documents, employment, education, housing, access to justice and health, the Anti-Gypsy Wall report encouraged governments to take steps to provide the community with a more dignified life.

Hate speech was a common concern for the six Western Balkan countries, such as Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro, and Bosnia.

Incidents of psychological violence through hate speech, but also cases of physical violence by the police, which violate the right to security and freedom from torture, are an area that the government must fight through the adoption of laws and better training of state employees - it is said in the report.

The report assessed that thanks to the progress made in providing personal documents to the community, the number of stateless Roma who have not benefited from state services in the absence of documents has decreased.

In this regard, where the report assesses that there are still shortcomings and discriminatory practices prevail, he recommends that the state fight statelessness through the registration of all newborns.

Employment in the report remains one of the most difficult areas of life for the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in any country.

In Albania, a UNDP survey is cited according to which only 15% of the Roma community has a stable job, while the figures show that unemployment is higher among the Roma community than among non-Roma citizens (23% versus 18% respectively).

In Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, the law creates quotas that must be maintained in state institutions by minority groups, but the law, according to the report, does not find continuous implementation in practice.

According to the Civil Rights Defenders (CRD), education remains another area where the Roma community does not enjoy equal opportunities from prejudice. Figures for Albania show that at different stages of preschool, primary and secondary education, the Roma community is two to four times less likely to attend school.

Similar percentages are seen in other Balkan countries. However, the report estimates that the number of Roma participating in all levels of education has increased and fewer Roma children are being educated in schools dedicated to them, which affects the phenomenon of segregation.

Access to justice for the Roma community, according to the report, looks good on paper in terms of equality and anti-discrimination laws, but in reality the justice system is seen in many Balkan countries as corrupt.

In Albania in particular, the instrument of legal representation in trials by the Roma community is not widely practiced as the report cites causes such as distrust of equal treatment of people, bureaucracy and corruption.

In Macedonia, distrust in the judiciary is seen in the small number of complaints filed by the Roma community in the ombudsman institution (4.54% in 2016).

The health situation of the Roma community in the Balkans seems to tend to be worse than that of non-Roma, due to discrimination and inequality of access to health, but also due to poverty and social exclusion.

Referring to the most troubling phenomenon for Europe and the Balkans, the departure of the population for asylum, the CRD report notes that individuals who have failed to obtain asylum in desired countries face a host of problems when returning home.

The problems are even more numerous in the implementation of reintegration policies for the Roma community, as according to the report, criteria that make life difficult for the community are not taken into account.

"[Reintegration policies]… do not always take into account the specific situation of Roma returnees, especially the forms of discrimination and anti-Gypsyism they face, or in more concrete terms the lack of adequate housing and limited access to the ethnic labor market" .

Perspectives from the field

Stressing that the populist movement in Europe and beyond has already removed the rights of Roma from the top priorities for many governments, Goran Miletic, from Civil Rights Defenders, said that the solution to the problems should come at the level of communes and municipalities to have more much success.

"Roma activists must lead the fight for more rights," he added.

In the Balkan landscape, activists from different countries offered their experiences from the field in trying to combat discrimination against the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities.

Albanian activist Pranvera Berati of the Roma and Egyptian Youth Movement said Roma in Albania face multiple challenges, from housing to employment and discrimination.

"Housing is the main problem. In Elbasan, out of 80 families who applied for social housing, only 10 of them won, "she said, adding that racial prejudice and discrimination have made it impossible to employ young people, but it is also very widespread in the country's media.

Discrimination is a common element of the Roma community in other Balkan countries, where activists from Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo claimed that as in Albania, it remains a major problem in their own countries.

"Discrimination is present for everyone. He starts from ignorance. In Serbia, we see it more in the central and rural areas, "said Aleksandar Nedeljkovic, Editor of the Roma Language Program - RTV Jagodina in Serbia.

"Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities remain the most marginalized and discriminated," said in the panel discussion, Isak Skënderi, from the Voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo.

Following the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Otaharin activist Sacmir Seferovic said that in his country many members of the community, even when they feel discriminated against, do not know how to report it and often Roma do not recognize their rights.

The exact number of Roma, Egyptians and Ashkali in the Balkans is not clear, for reasons ranging from reluctance to declare themselves to fear of mass deportations. However, the report cites national censuses according to which: 8301 Roma and 3668 Egyptians live in Albania (13,000-150,000 according to the Council of Europe estimate); in Kosovo 8824 Roma, 15436 Ashkali, 11524 Egyptians (40,000-100,000 according to the EC); in Bosnia 12,835 Roma and 12 Egyptians; in Macedonia 53879 Roma and 3843 Egyptians; in Montenegro 6251 Roma and 2054 Egyptians; in Serbia 147,604 Roma, 1,834 Egyptians and 997 Ashkali - figures many times higher according to the Council of Europe.