Session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine “State of Human Rights in Ukraine”

As of today, the Roma population remains the most socially vulnerable and socially maladapted compared to other national minorities, and most of their problems remain relevant as before.

According to the 2001 census data, 47,917 individuals were declared as belonging to the Roma ethnic group. Unofficial sources estimate the Roma population to be between 200,000 and 300,000 individuals. This discrepancy is partly due to the lack of documents among the Roma and their fear of persecution based on nationality. This difference should be taken into account when developing the Action Plan for the Roma National Strategy adopted by the Presidential Decree on April 8th.

Starting from 2010, the “Chiricli” Foundation launched a program of Roma social-medical mediators in Roma communities. They found that almost 40% of the Roma out of 49,225 individuals lack identity documents. This is a major obstacle to accessing social-medical services and upholding basic human rights. Many settlements are illegal, making it nearly impossible to register houses built on such territories. Approximately 9,000 people in 5 regions require assistance in registering permanent residency, which limits their access to social-medical services and education.

Currently, the following issues persist:

• Lack of registration by place of residence and household registers.
• Absence of birth certificates.
• Lack of personal or family housing.
• Lack of education and awareness about the importance of obtaining identity documents.
• Lack of funds for obtaining the necessary documents and paying fines.

Education issues:

• Discrimination against Roma children, refusal by the management of kindergartens and schools to admit them due to their nationality (Zakarpattia region).
• Roma parents’ lack of understanding of the importance of sending their children to school.
• Lack of funds to pay for kindergarten/school services and preparation of children for school (children lack appropriate clothing and school supplies), lack of primary documents.

A significant portion of the Roma population suffers from mass unemployment due to a lack of proper education, discrimination, making it difficult to find any job, especially well-paying ones. The problem of providing Roma children access to quality education, discrimination on both domestic and institutional levels, and language-based animosity remains. I would like to mention that the existence and work of the Commission on Protection of Social Morality and its collaboration with NGOs are important for us.

Considering the above, we believe that the implementation of the “Strategy for the Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society until 2020” and the search for a comprehensive approach are essential for the country’s Roma population. Roma organizations are requesting the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine to include 2 representatives from Roma organizations in the interdepartmental working group for the development of the Action Plan for the Strategy’s implementation.

Therefore, an extremely important task for the Ukrainian state, aspiring to become an equal member of the European community, is to create a foundation for the social integration of the Roma population into Ukrainian society. This can be achieved by Ukraine’s participation in the European Roma Inclusion Decade, as well as the experience of Roma civil organizations that are constructively and progressively oriented towards solving the pressing issues of their people.

I would like to thank the Human Rights Commissioner and all Ministries and agencies for their active collaboration with Roma organizations.