Escaping from gunshots and perpetual fear. Living in the forest, at the train station, in the suburbs. Struggling for a piece of bread to fight against poverty… Only to experience double discrimination in a “safe” territory – for being a displaced person and for being Roma.
According to the monitoring of the International Charitable Fund “Chirikli,” around 9,000 Roma people were forced to leave their homes in Eastern Ukraine and relocate to other regions. However, upon arrival in these new areas while fleeing from the war, they encountered fear and often hostility from local communities.
“The local population wasn’t prepared to see such a large number of Roma families. This evoked fear and amplified all the negative stereotypes that were already present,” explains Zemfira Kondur, Vice President of the “Chirikli” fund.
According to the monitoring data, around 5,000 Roma were not registered as internally displaced persons. The reasons varied, from lack of documentation to the absence of a permanent residence stamp in their passports (2,500 Roma from Eastern Ukraine). Additionally, people were afraid of being detained by law enforcement agencies due to the lack of documents.
Even those who had documents were afraid to register to avoid potential persecution or harsh treatment when returning home.
More than 55% of Roma do not register as internally displaced persons due to the fear of having their property confiscated by the police or other authorities.
About 1.5 thousand people had no information about where they could register or how to receive any assistance as displaced persons.
“Roma cannot find jobs, rent housing not only because they are displaced, but also because they are Roma. Many of them lack proper education and work experience. Many children didn’t go to school because Roma parents were told that schools were overcrowded. 130 Roma women shared that they couldn’t re-register their documents to receive social assistance. This was almost their only chance to get any funds. I know families that, with this social assistance, rent housing but don’t have money to buy food or medicine for their child…” Kondur explains.
To avoid discrimination, some Roma even hide their ethnicity.
In August of last year, Miroslav Horvat, a Roma community leader in Uzhhorod and a journalist, shared on his Facebook page how local Roma joined voluntary fundraising for the needs of Transcarpathian soldiers in the conflict zone.
“I’m pleased that the city’s Roma responded to this idea – everyone who wants and can, contributes. We walked along several ‘Roma’ streets in Uzhhorod and collected the first monetary donations. People of all ages contributed to our army, from children to the elderly,” noted Horvat.
More often, Roma IDPs face discrimination when searching for housing and jobs, says Nikolay Burlutsky, head of the public organization “Chachimo.”
“There was a situation in Kharkiv where housing was provided for a Roma community that had moved from Sloviansk. An old clinic that had been abandoned for 10-15 years. The building has no windows, no doors. Everything is completely destroyed. Even families with infants were given this space, without electricity and water. We asked why this housing was given to Roma specifically. The answer was, ‘You can repair it and leave it for the Roma,'” Burlutsky recalls.
Similar situations occurred when a Kharkiv hotel, where housing was temporarily provided for mothers with small children, refused Romani mothers. Only the intervention of Roma communities and volunteer organizations resolved the issue.
The situation is similar with employment. There have been cases where even skilled and qualified Roma were denied jobs when it became evident that they were Roma.
The monitoring also recorded cases in the Kharkiv region where a Romani family was extorted money under the threat of being sent back to the conflict zone.
Some families had to return without support or the means to settle. However, returning home did not make things easier. For instance, in Sverdlovka in Luhansk region, where Roma families returned, there is no water, bread, or money. Humanitarian aid does not reach such small towns…
There have been instances of violence by local residents. Burlutsky recalled an incident where a Romani family from Sloviansk had their windows broken, firecrackers were thrown with shouts of “Get out of here, Gypsies!”
A closed cycle of fear…
To break it, there’s a need to overcome the overall lack of education among Roma (around 60% of those surveyed lack basic education and cannot read or write) and to dispel stereotypes and prejudices against them.
The first attempt at the state level occurred two years ago when the Strategy for the Protection and Integration of the Roma Minority into Ukrainian Society was approved.
By adopting this strategy, Ukraine’s leadership acknowledged that there were issues that needed addressing in the Roma community. However, the effectiveness of implementing the action plan of the strategy remains low.
The situation regarding the observance of Roma rights leaves much to be desired. Ukraine lacks a unified body that would adequately implement the state policy towards Roma, as declared in the Strategy for Social Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society.
“Formally, the Ministry of Culture is responsible for everything, but its scope of competence is much broader than the range of problems facing the Roma national community. The needs of Roma primarily revolve around access to social services, education, healthcare, and legal assistance,” says Olga Zhmurko, Director of the Roma Program Initiative of the International Renaissance Foundation.
She explains that while a government commissioner for ethnic policy has been introduced in Ukraine, creating another institution doesn’t solve the issue systematically – it doesn’t change the state’s approaches toward vulnerable groups, including the Roma national minority.
In the meantime, Roma communities are urging the authorities to at least simplify the procedure for obtaining identification documents for Romani IDPs. They also call for monitoring the needs of the Romani population more closely and closer cooperation with Roma organizations. Will the authorities listen?
“Den'”
