By Ivan Ivanov, ERIO s Executive Director

Transcription

1 European Roma Information Office Newsletter 3 July, August and September 2012 ERIO NEWSLETTER In this issue... Our Editorial Roma between France, Brussels and Romania By Ivan Ivanov, ERIO s Executive Director ERIO chairs the European Roma Policy Coalition ERIO s activities under the ERPC s chairmanship ERIO s seminar on EU Structural Funds and Advocacy for Roma Inclusion ERIO met with its European partners in Prague for the Keyroma project ERIO strongly condemns the latest France s forced evictions of Roma The European Roma Information Office (ERIO) is an international advocacy organization, which promotes political and public discussion on Roma issues by providing factual and in-depth information on a range of policy issues to the European Union institutions, Roma civil organizations, governmental authorities and intergovernmental bodies. ERIO cooperates with a network of a large number of organizations and acts to combat racial discrimination and social exclusion through awareness raising, lobbying and policy development. ERIO Av. Edouard Lacomblé 17 Brussels 1040 Belgium Tel: 0032(0) Fax: 0032(0) For more information: press@erionet.eu / Human rights activists have accused the new French government of continuing the arbitrary expulsions of Roma from Bulgaria and Romania, a practice that started two years ago under the former President Nicolas Sarkozy. At the time the European Commission threatened France with legal action for dismantling Roma camps, and for profiling Roma for deportation in breach of EU legal standards. The Commission promised to monitor the situation of the Roma in France closely. However in August, over a period of two weeks, François Hollande s government evicted more than 250 Roma to Romania from the camps in Lille, Lyon and Marseille. A French government spokesperson said the Romanian citizens that had returned to Romania had done so voluntarily and that their return was not linked to the dismantling of the camps, which she referred to as "illegal settlements". French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that France will request the next European Council meeting to make decisions on the Roma - many of whom are from Romania and settled in illegal camps in France and other countries. Ayrault's intention was to discuss the Roma issue at a special meeting at the highest European level and to hold talks with the governments of Romania and Bulgaria as he said, it s their governments that are concerned, he added that his cabinet was not burying its head in the sand over the problem. France also asked the Cypriot EU Presidency to put the Roma question on the agenda at the next European summit. However Cyprus did not give the requisite importance to the issue, in the hope that the Roma migration issue would be solved bilaterally between France and Romania. Continues on page 2

2 From page 1 As a partial solution to the problem, France decided to examine the possibility of opening its labour market to the nationals of Bulgaria and Romania. But what is the reaction of the Romania government? When the French authorities deported the Roma, the Romanian government criticized France for taking full responsibility for the issue instead of considering the issue at EU level. The Romanian government however issued a statement welcoming the French decision to simplify Romanian and Bulgarian citizens access to the French labour market. The Bulgarian government provided no official reaction. Apparently Bulgaria wants to play down the issue of illegal Roma camps in France as the number of Bulgarian Roma there is relatively small compared to the number from Romania. Bulgaria and Romania had different reactions to the deportations of the Roma which took place in 2010 under the then-government of President Nicolas Sarkozy. While Romania heavily criticised the actions of the French government, which were also strongly condemned by the European Commission, Bulgaria kept silent. ERIO is the new Chair of the European Roma Policy Coalition From June to November 2012 ERIO is taking over the rotating chairmanship of the European Roma Policy Coalition (ERPC). The ERPC is an informal gathering of non-governmental organisations operating at EU level on issues of human rights, anti-discrimination, anti-racism, social inclusion, and Roma and Travellers rights. Its members are Amnesty International, the European Roma Rights Centre, the European Roma Information Office, the Open Society Foundations, European Network Against Racism, Minority Rights Group International, the European Roma Grassroots Organizations Network, Policy Center for Roma and Minorities, the Roma Education Fund, and Fundación Secretariado Gitano. The ERPC is the winner of Campaign of the Year: ERPC Campaign for an EU Roma Strategy - European Public Affairs Awards To find out more, visit the ERPC website: Page 2

3 ERIO s activities under the ERPC s chairmanship ERIO, as the current Chair of the ERPC, has been actively involved in its activities. This article provides the main actions performed so far under ERIO s chairmanship. Meeting with the European Commission On the 9th July 2012, a meeting was held between members of the ERPC and the representatives of the European Commission to discuss the involvement of civil society in the implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS). All parties aimed to discuss the best method(s) through which to ensure and maintain a continuous dialogue between civil society and the Commission. Throughout the meeting there was a sense of consensus regarding the importance of the involvement of civil society especially during the phase of implementation. The officials of the Commission re-emphasized throughout the course of the meeting, their reliance and need for civil society to notify and inform them of the happenings on the ground. Members of the ERPC also enquired and discussed with the officials of the Commission the best mechanisms with which to exchange information. Some suggestions were put forward, which included establishing national platforms within each member state to enable various layers of civil society to exchange information with other layers within their own member states as well as with their national governments. Another suggestion was the establishment of a platform to enable the Commission to have a dialogue with civil society. EC officials stated that they were in the process of working on this. Regarding the assessment of the strategies, the EC officials stated that they had requested progress reports from all member states. However, they also emphasized that they had no mandate to oblige member states into submitting neither strategies nor reports. They therefore reiterated the need for civil society to continuously put pressure on their states to maintain a push from below. A brief discussion regarding the management of funds and the capacity of civil society as well as that of local authorities also took place. Some of the participants suggested that the Technical Assistance Funds could be used for capacity building. However, others suggested that in terms of capacity building the Commission should be responsible for civil society alone, and that local authorities be the responsibility of their national governments. The general tone of the meeting was that of a constructive dialogue between EC officials and those of the ERPC. The Commission in particular expressed their acknowledgement of the necessity of a powerful civil society. Page 3

4 ERIO s activities under the ERPC s chairmanship Key Messages to the European Commission Following the meeting with the Commission on 9 July, the ERPC developed a paper which contains its main priorities and concerns to the European Commission and foresees structured forms of regular communication. Some of the key messages included were the need to: a) tackle discrimination against Roma, b) ensure participation of Roma civil society in the EU Framework policy process, c) ensure an effective use of the structural funds for Roma inclusion and d) set up better and efficient coordination mechanisms. To access the full document visit: /ERPC%20Key%20Messages%20to%20EC_July % pdf An executive summary is also available: /ERPC%20Key%20Messages%20to%20EC_Exec utive%20summary_august% pdf Call for Action to the European Commission, French and Italian Authorities The ERPC also highlighted the fact that not only France, but also Italy has been breaching international human rights standards targeting Roma in expulsion procedures and discriminatory national legislation. For this reason the Coalition gave to the European institutions, particularly the Commission, some recommendations to improve the situation of Roma, such as: to encourage members to successfully implement their National Roma Integration Strategies publicly; to firmly condemn human rights abuse; to make an effective use of European legislation and to ensure that the Structural Funds , in particular the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF), are effectively used to combat racism and xenophobia in the EU territory, particularly addressing the 4 pillars of the EU Framework Strategy (i.e. education, employment, healthcare and housing). Specifically referring to the French and Italian governments, ERPC asked them to stop the logic of voluntary returns to the country of origin, giving money to Roma to leave the country during coercive state responses; to implement an effective National Strategy and revise it towards Roma inclusion; to create programs on inter-cultural awareness to different actors such as the police forces, lawyers, judges, media, civil society and school teachers; to gather disaggregated statistical data in relation to employment, education, housing and health, to better evaluate the actual conditions and to actively respond to their needs. To access the full document visit: ropean-commission-french-and-italian-authorities Page 4

5 ERIO s activities under the ERPC s chairmanship Press statement Time for France to stop forced evictions and expulsions of Roma The ERPC has firmly criticised the forced evictions of Roma from France in a press statement, expressing its deep concern on the events. ERPC Chair and Executive Director of ERIO, Ivan Ivanov, declared: These actions are in clear breach of international human rights standards and of the European fundamental rights to equal treatment and free movement. It is unacceptable that Roma people s rights as EU citizens are completely ignored. In this press statement, the ERPC has positively welcomed the French decision to ease limitations on employment for citizens of Bulgaria and Romania. On the other hand, it also underlined the fact that these evictions should not take place without sufficient notice and without provisions for long-term quality alternative housing. Roma Education at a Glance 2012: Europe s Failure is Europe s Shame Following the launch by the OECD and the European Commission s annual report Education at a Glance 2012, the ERPC published a statement on Roma education. The statement aims to highlight some still-critical issues in the field of Roma education. It underlines that, when it comes to delivery to Roma children, policy makers have failed abysmally. In this statement, EU member states were strongly urged to address school and pre-school segregation, fully enforce compulsory education and promote vocational training. This is clearly important since social inclusion and integration is meaningless without the concrete enjoyment of the right to quality education, also contained as one of the four cornerstones of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to To read the full statement: -evictions-and-expulsions-of-roma To access the full document visit: europes-failure-is-europes-shame Page 5

6 Seminar on EU Structural Funds and Advocacy for Roma Inclusion On 13 July, ERIO hosted a seminar on EU Structural Funds and Advocacy for Roma Inclusion in Brussels. The purpose of the seminar was to introduce and familiarize the participants with the EU Structural Funds and with advocating for Roma inclusion. People from various fields, ranging from EU officials to Roma activists and representatives of civil society and local authorities, participated in the event. Oszkar Ökrös, (European Parliament, Assistant to MEP Lívia Járóka) highlighted the significance of bilateral meetings between the Commission and the member states in order to secure better use of the funds. Roma inclusion is not some kind of charity, he affirmed, but a long term investment for future growth in Europe. Therefore, he pointed out, EU funds should be made more accessible so the available money can be effectively put to use. Ivan Ivanov (ERIO, Executive Director) opened the seminar s first panel by welcoming the participants and setting the context. He was followed by Katalin Brenner (European Commission, DG Regio, Policy Analyst), who elaborated on the shared responsibility between the European Commission and member states for tackling the situation of Roma. However, she stressed that the primary responsibility lies with each member state, as they are the ones managing the money received from the EU Structural Funds. Therefore, organizations who aim at contributing to Roma inclusion should present their project proposals to their national governments in order to benefit from EU funds. During the second panel, Ronald Lucardie (Dutch Consortium of Migrant Organizations, the Netherlands) introduced the audience to the concepts of advocacy, lobbying and networking. He explained that good lobbying is based on empirical evidence and good research and called for finding allies and for synchronization of lobbying efforts. Page 6

7 Marta Pinto (ERIO, Policy Officer) gave an informative presentation on the general advocacy process, instructing the audience on some general terms and the framework for an adequate advocacy strategy. Orhan Galjus (Radio Patrin, Netherlands) shared his experiences in Roma advocacy through the media and urged participants to use the existing media instruments for their lobbying activities. As the last speaker of the day, Hristo Kyuchukov (Roma Centre for Intercultural Dialogue, Germany) talked about his advocacy work in Germany through his recently established organization. and establish programmes for Roma inclusion. Participants and speakers shared their opinions on how to enable Roma activists and organisations to improve the situation of Roma in the whole of Europe. The event was closed with a stimulating discussion on the difficulties Roma activists and organisations face when trying to obtain funds ERIO s meeting in Prague for the KEYROMA project On September, ERIO met with its European partners in Prague for a peer review and partner s meeting. The KEYROMA project is funded by the European Commission s Life Long Learning Programme and is implemented in five different countries: Spain, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Belgium. The main aim of the project is to address a problem that is very common among Roma women, namely their lack of integration in the labour market as a consequence of poor education. By involving them in a learning module, we aim at increasing their participation in adult education and at further strengthening their key skills and competences to access the labour market and in particular the service sector. The content of the learning modules was addressed during this meeting in a workshop with Roma women. To find out more about this project, visit the project website: Page 7

8 France must protect the rights of Roma and turn their inclusion into reality The European Roma Information Office (ERIO) strongly condemns the latest France s forced evictions of Roma across the country. These acts reveal the continuous human rights violations Roma face in France. Similar acts were carried out in 2010 by former President Nicolas Sarkozy. ERIO urges the French government to comply with international human rights law when evictions occur and ensure alternative decent housing. We welcome the French government plan to ease work restrictions for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens. This plan should be complemented with strong measures to tackle the discrimination Roma face in employment and housing. ERIO s statement Brussels, 28 August 2012 It is very worrying to see that these forced evictions and expulsions are happening again in France. These acts fuel anti-gypsyism in France and mirror the rising trends in anti-roma sentiment, racism, xenophobia and far-right extremism across Europe, said Ivan Ivanov, ERIO s Executive Director. These actions come at a time when member states have to implement their National Roma Integration Strategies. The aim of such strategies is to improve the socio-economic situation of Roma in Europe. Given the current incidents, how can the French government guarantee the inclusion of Roma communities in France? We call on French authorities to make real commitments in improving the lives of Roma in France and to comply with EU rules. The European Commission should take the necessary measures and a strong position against discriminatory acts. The European Roma Information Office (ERIO) is supported by the European Community program for Employment and Social solidarity PROGRESS ( ). The sole responsibility lies with ERIO and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. Page 8