26/04/2024
FSG
On 23 April, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved an agreement to create a Working Group on Memory and Reconciliation with the Roma People in Spain. This initiative was included in Law 20/2022, of 19 October, on Democratic Memory and was announced by the Minister for Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, on 8 April, during the celebration of the International Roma Day.
As stated in the Law of Democratic Memory, the objective of the Commission will be to draw up a report that must include "measures to apply the principles of truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition in relation to the historical situation of the Roma people in Spain".
For Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG), the creation of this Working Group means, in the words of its director general, Sara Giménez, that the Spanish state "recognises the historical situation" of Roma.
A situation that is defined by historical discrimination and which, although in recent decades there have been significant advances in rights and opportunities, means that to date 86% of Roma people still live in poverty, 18 000 live in slums and 6 out of every 10 Roma children do not finish Compulsory Secondary Education.
2025 will mark the 600th anniversary of the arrival of the Roma people to the Iberian Peninsula, a historic date that could be an excellent time for Spanish society to get closer to the Roma community and learn about its "history, culture and the reality of the Roma", and to do so with respect and social and institutional recognition.
For Sara Giménez, there is a "great lack of knowledge about how hard the history of our people is", a lack of knowledge that is at the root of the prejudices that the Roma population suffers from. She therefore hopes that this Working Group can serve as a "reconciliation between Roma and non-Roma" and, at the same time, become a fundamental tool to raise awareness and sensitise Spanish society.
As stipulated in the Law, the task of the Working Group must be completed within one year and, although it will be made up mainly of institutional agents, the participation in the work of the associations and organisations representing the Roma people at the state level will be guaranteed through the Consejo Estatal del Pueblo Gitano (Roma People's State Council).
In the words of Sara Giménez, "we at FSG hope that the report produced as a result of this work will not remain a mere declaration of intentions, but will represent a real turning point, a real road map that includes the necessary measures to apply the principles of truth, justice and reparation in relation to the historical situation of the Roma people in our country and that as a result it will bring about a real reconciliation between the Roma community and Spanish society".
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