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Rights, citizenship and recognition
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Statement by Fundación Secretariado Gitano on International Roma Day

08/04/2018
Internacional

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Rights, citizenship and recognition<br>As every April 8, Fundación Secretariado Gitano, joins in the celebration of the International Roma Day. A day that serves to recall the adoption of the Roma flag and hymn during the 1stRoma Congress in 1971 as symbols of a common history and culture. A date to remember the Roma victims of a long history of exclusion, rejection and persecution; a good moment to remind our societies that Roma people continue living as second-class citizens, both in Spain and in Europe.

Because in spite of social advances in the last decades, and despite the steps taken more recently towards the institutional recognition of the Roma community, a considerable part of Roma continue to experience persistent inequalities, social exclusion and segregation; they continue to be the most rejected and discriminated minority, both in Spain and in the European Union; and they continue to be excluded from the processes of social participation enjoyed by the rest of citizens in societies such as ours. Public authorities have many times offered partial, sectoral and short-term responses to a reality that does not take into account the value of cultural diversity and that does not recognize it as a factor contributing to the development of society. 


The Roma issue must be addressed from an integrated approach that combines upholding the rights of Roma, their citizenship and the recognition of their cultural identity.  

In the face of the persistent inequalities that many Roma experience in accessing and enjoying basic social rights, such as the right to decent housing, the right to education, or a job and fair and satisfactory working conditions, policies are needed that really protect, promote and defend the rights of people, also of minorities and disadvantaged groups. In the face of the growing rejection of the different and exclusive discourses that promote negative stereotypes and prejudices, and fuel discrimination and hate speech towards certain groups, such as Roma, more education, more awareness and a firm enforcement of the existing legislation on equality and non-discrimination. Faced with social dynamics that systematically exclude or invisibilize Roma people from processes of citizen participation and cultural recognition, policies are needed that favor spaces and channels for the participation of people and groups with diverse cultural identities. 

In order to guarantee Roma´s exercise of their full citizenship from the recognition of their cultural identity, it is necessary, therefore, to advance in parallel in three directions: access and enjoyment in equal conditions of social rights; protection against the violation of the right to non-discrimination; and the institutional recognition of the gypsy cultural identity and the promotion of their participation in the different spheres of society, as citizens, as gypsies and gypsies, placing value on cultural identity and the numerous contributions to the whole of Spanish society. throughout history. 

The International Roma Day, even without being officially recognized in Spain, is increasingly celebrated in towns and cities thanks to the involvement and commitment of many people, public administrations, entities and institutions, which recognize the Roma as an inherent part of our society. It is a good moment, therefore, to claim the cultural diversity and the value that the different cultural, plural, diverse and dynamic identities bring, that, like the Roma, shape our society.

It is therefore a good time to ask for the support of public authorities and the solidarity of the whole society to advance, as are other groups or groups more active or with greater support in society, towards the recognition of economic rights, social and cultural rights that allow Roma not only to improve their living conditions, but also to be an active part of citizenship, of a first class citizenship.

For more information

Statement by First Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Commissioners Marianne Thyssen, Vĕra Jourová, Corina Creţu and Johannes Hahn

uropean Union Agency for Fundamental Rights' report: A persisting concern: anti-Gypsyism as a barrier to Roma inclusion.

Press Release on the number of Roma facing life like people in the world's poorer countries

Infographic on barriers to Roma inclusion

Press release on the evaluation of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020

The European Platform for Roma Inclusion

 

 

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