20/11/2024
FSG Internacional
On 12 November, a delegation of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities visited Spain. This visit was part of the 6th cycle of monitoring in Spain of the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. A team from Fundación Secretariado Gitano accompanied the delegation on a visit to Cañada Real, the largest segregated settlement in Spain.
The Convention is the first legally binding multilateral instrument concerned with the protection of national minorities in general. Its aim is to protect the existence of national minorities within the respective territories of the Parties. The Convention seeks to promote the full and effective equality of national minorities by creating appropriate conditions enabling them to preserve and develop their culture and to retain their identity. Spain ratified the Framework Convention in 1995. The Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention visits each state party every five years in order to monitor the implementation of the Framework Convention.
The Advisory Committee is authorised to receive information from sources other than State reports, with independent sources. It may make on-site visits to countries to examine their reports, meet with the government, NGOs, minority communities themselves, academia or other interested parties.
The reason for the visit to Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) was to learn about the situation (and evolution since 2019) of the Spanish Roma and migrant population in Spain. FSG shared with the Committee an analysis of the situation, evolution, progress and pending challenges of the Roma population in Spain, with special emphasis on the specific situation of vulnerability suffered by the inhabitants of the Cañada Real in Madrid, with on-site accompaniment by the Fundación Secretariado Gitano team working there.
After its visit, the Advisory Committee will adopt an Opinion (monitoring report), on which the authorities will be invited to comment. The monitoring cycle closes when the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopts a Resolution.
