Vice-President of the “Chirikli” Foundation participated in a press briefing titled “Approximately 200,000 citizens of Ukraine do not have the opportunity to send their children to school.” The press briefing took place on June 24th in Kyiv at the Office of the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada’s Commissioner for Human Rights. Following the briefing, during the presentation of the monitoring report on the implementation of the Action Plan of the Strategy for Social Protection and Integration of Roma into Ukrainian Society, participants discussed various issues faced by the Roma community.
According to official state statistics, there are slightly more than 47,000 individuals of Roma ethnicity in the country. However, according to data from civil society organizations, the number is significantly higher, ranging from 250,000 to 400,000. In 2013, the state officially committed to integrating Roma into Ukrainian society. Is there any progress in this regard? It’s time to assess the results.
Why do Roma children lack the opportunity to attend school? Which government agencies do Roma trust, and which ones do they fear? Why do over 200,000 Ukrainian citizens belonging to the Roma community still lack proper access to healthcare, education, and employment? How is work being conducted with Roma internally displaced persons from the ATO zone?
Representatives of Roma civil society organizations raised these and other questions during the event, as they conducted thorough monitoring of the state’s policy towards Roma and developed specific recommendations to improve the situation.
The event was attended by representatives from the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada’s Commissioner for Human Rights, ministries and agencies of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the U.S. Embassy, the International Renaissance Foundation, the European Roma Rights Centre, leaders of Roma non-governmental organizations, and journalists.
The Strategy exists, but no changes have occurred.
It was discussed that the Roma in Ukraine remain one of the most vulnerable and discriminated groups. They are not integrated into Ukrainian society and face oppression in almost all spheres. Although the ‘Strategy for the Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society’ has existed since 2013, unfortunately, no changes have taken place.
Throughout 20 years of Ukraine’s independence, the issue of Roma rights has never been brought to the state level. Therefore, paying special attention to the problems faced by a part of the population is very important, according to Aksana Filipishyna, a representative of the Office of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights.
Unfortunately, at this time, the government has not listened to the proposals of the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner and civil organizations regarding the measures that should be included in this plan. Since 2013, a clear position has been expressed that this action plan appeared to be formal, unpromising, and did not correspond to its ultimate goal – solving the problems. The authorities did not analyze the state of the problems from which these measures were supposed to be derived. They did not determine the state in which the Roma are and what needs to be done to improve the situation,” states Aksana Filipishyna.
Human rights are always relevant
Olha Zhmurko, the Director of the Roma Program Initiative at the International Renaissance Foundation, emphasized that the issue of the Roma minority is primarily a matter of human rights, which should always be relevant.
“Roma people in Ukraine face problems with access to registration documents, social protection, and discrimination. To a large extent, these problems resemble those faced by typical national minorities. The issue of the Roma national minority contains components of social and human rights protection. In my work, I often hear that during difficult times, times of socio-political transformation, everyone in Ukraine feels the crisis, and distinguishing citizens by any criteria is inappropriate. However, the questions and problems related to the Roma national minority are human rights issues. And human rights are always relevant,” said Olha Zhmurko.
The issue of lack of passports remains relevant
Volodymyr Kondur, the head of the Odessa Human Rights Center, presenting the results of public monitoring of the implementation of the Action Plan of the Strategy in the Odessa region, mentioned that the issue of lack of passports remains relevant among Roma people.
“Among the surveyed citizens of Roma origin, only 83% have passports, while 17% do not have them,” said Volodymyr Kondur. “Registration of their place of residence was completed by 67%, while the remaining 33% did not complete it. Recently, the situation with obtaining passports has improved. This is mainly due to the work of civil organizations, legal consultations, and the improvement of cooperation with the migration service in various regions of Ukraine.”
Low level of education among Roma
The educational level of Roma people is currently very low. A significant portion of people have no education at all (24%). Meanwhile, the percentage of those who have obtained or are obtaining higher education is extremely low – 1%.
31% of Roma children do not attend school. The main reasons for this include a lack of documents required for school enrollment. Additionally, Roma families cannot afford the cost of textbooks, supplies, and unofficial payments.
Only 5% of surveyed Roma do not face financial difficulties. Others are struggling to make ends meet, and sometimes they don’t even have enough money for food.
Government officials view the lack of education among the Roma population (illiteracy) as one of the main barriers to their integration into society. These problems significantly complicate obtaining documents, getting necessary information, and finding employment. They also have an overall negative impact on the quality of life for Roma in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Bambula, the head of the Cherkasy Regional Organization “Romani Rota,” provided data on the low educational indicators among Roma in the Cherkasy region:
– 40.3% have elementary education, incomplete secondary – 25%, secondary education – 10%. 5% have received specialized secondary education, 2% have unfinished higher education, and only 7% have a higher education degree.
A representative of the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner provided an example of an appeal to the Ministry of Education in 2013: On September 1, 2013, children came to school. However, the class was disbanded on September 4:
“Parents of non-Roma children said that they did not want Roma children to study with their children. They asked parents of Roma children to transfer their children to another school. People had spent money on the September 1 celebration, etc.,” clarified Olha Zhmurko. “12% of respondents openly indicated discrimination (oppression from both school staff and students and their parents). Discriminatory treatment is one of the reasons why children stop going to school, without even completing primary classes.”
State authorities refuse to acknowledge Roma issues
Natalia Kozir, a representative of the charitable foundation “Rozvytok,” asserts that state authorities falsify reports and statistics. They want to convey to the public that there are no Roma-related problems in Ukraine:
“We conducted monitoring of the Zakarpattia region together with the Coalition of Roma Organizations. Over 200 information requests were sent, and we received 160 wonderful responses. Judging from the responses, one could conclude that there are absolutely no problems faced by the Roma population in the region. The Strategy was signed from the very beginning, and an action plan was created. All officials rushed to provide employment, education, etc. I won’t go into detail about how reports are copied and statistics are created. It’s all copied from year to year,” said Natalia Kozir.
The most problematic issue for Zakarpattia, according to Natalia Kozir, is the increase in the number of Roma students completing their education in general schools. Experts in the education field who create plans are not well-versed in Roma integration matters.
“How can we increase the number of students who complete school? You can issue certificates, but you won’t increase the number of educated children. We work with such children. Children come to us from boarding schools with certificates. They can’t read or write. In Mukachevo, we have a segregated school. Education is conducted in Hungarian, and Roma children also learn in that language. They become isolated in their camp. Because outside the camp, they speak Ukrainian,” said Natalia Kozir, suggesting that state authorities should simply stop creating virtual plans and focus on solving the problems that can actually be resolved.
Real implementation of the strategy and concrete proposals
All stakeholders in Ukraine need to come together and focus on solving Roma issues. A concrete and realistic plan must be developed to ensure Roma integration by 2020. This is the belief of Kiran O’Reilly, a representative of the European Roma Rights Centre from Hungary.
Miroslav Horvat, representative of the NGO “Romaní Čerhime” (pictured on the right), insists on the actual implementation of the strategy. Discrimination against Roma has transformed into open racism in Ukraine today.
“What Europe can we talk about in such a situation? We must work together with the state to address Roma issues, actively involving Roma,” said Miroslav Horvat.
Mykola Burlutskyi from the NGO “Chachimo” mentioned that Roma resettlers from occupied territories are now facing double discrimination.
“There are complaints about the work of police officers on the ground. There are misunderstandings to some extent, and in some cases, there’s a biased attitude towards this category of people. I can say that a representative from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) will be appointed to conduct visits. A representation and contact group with the OSCE will also be established to combat prejudice (towards Roma – Ed.) among MIA personnel,” said Tetiana Sirenko, a representative of the Passportization and Citizen Relations Department of the State Migration Service of Ukraine.
One proposal for the actual implementation of the Roma Strategy, as suggested during the meeting, is to establish a permanent working group under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine that would consistently address Roma community problems in Ukraine, including the development of provisions and recommendations regarding the state’s ethno-national policy towards Roma.
It’s time to raise and address Roma issues at the national level and actively involve Roma community leaders in this process.
