{"id":90,"date":"2016-03-14T17:31:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T17:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zentralrat.sintiundroma.de\/en\/?page_id=90"},"modified":"2018-03-22T14:21:47","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T14:21:47","slug":"international-issues","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/zentralrat.sintiundroma.de\/en\/work-areas\/international-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"International issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

International Work<\/h1>\n
\"B\u00fcrgerrechtspreis\"
On 13 April 2016 the European Civil Rights Prize of Sinti and Roma was awarded to Amnesty International and Hungarian director Eszter Hajdu at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Also pictured: MEP Ulrike Lunacek, Vice-President of the European Parliament, Thorbj\u00f6rn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Manfred Lautenschl\u00e4ger, the founder of the award, and and Romani Rose, Chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma \u00a9 Central Council of German Sinti and Roma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Acting at the national and international level, the Central Council seeks to achieve the following goals: to continuously raise awareness of the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma; to see Antigypsyism acknowledged as a specific form of racism and condemned in all of Europe, given Europe\u2019s responsibility to history. And in doing so, to safeguard the rights of minorities, to assure anti-discrimination protection, and to ensure the participation of the minority. <\/strong><\/p>\n

In view of the crime against civilisation that is the Holocaust of the Sinti and Roma and the Jews, we must take the dangers of Antigypsyism as seriously as the dangers of anti-Semitism, and we must adopt appropriate measures in order to deal with them. Antigypsyist ways of thinking are deeply rooted in European cultural history. To this day, they continue to influence the actions of people and institutions \u2013 and it will take a long time to change this. Germany and many other European countries have been consequent in outlawing Anti-Semitism. Antigypsyism, however, receives little attention or sensitivity from policy makers and the media.<\/p>\n

The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) of the Council of Europe, and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages are international milestones of the civil rights movement. As a consequence of the FCNM, Sinti and Roma were officially recognised as a national minority in Germany in 1997. Another important achievement is the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 15 April 2015, recognizing the genocide of the Sinti and Roma and acknowledging Antigypsyism as a specific form of racism.<\/p>\n

The Central Council has joined forces with other civil society organisations (Amnesty International, ENAR, ERGO, FSG, OSF, ERRC) and formed a stronger advocacy coalition with the goal of deepening the substantial understanding and further strengthening the institutional recognition of Antigypsyism. The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma co-founded the international \u201cAlliance against Antigypsyism\u201d and published the \u201cReference Paper on Antigypsyism\u201d<\/a> with that goal in mind.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the Central Council works closely together with the European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup<\/a> (ARDI), which was established for the first time in January 2016. ARDI also has formed an Antigypsyism Working Group under the leadership of Swedish MEP Soraya Post<\/a>. Beyond that, the Central Council continuously strengthens international civil society alliances with (pro) Sinti\/Roma organisations that advocate the same interests and political goals.<\/p>\n

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Current international projects and priorities<\/h2>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tCondemning and combating Antigypsyism\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma is the co-founder of the international \u201cAlliance against Antigypsyism\u201d and co-publisher of the \u201cReference Paper on Antigypsyism\u201d<\/a>.
\nIn September 2016, the German OSCE Chairmanship hosted a high-level event, co-organised with ODIHR, the Council of Europe and the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma. The focus of the conference \u201cConfronting Antigypsyism: The Role of Political Leaders in Countering Discrimination, Racism, Hate Crimes and Violence Against Roma and Sinti Communities\u201d was to address the question of how to tackle the increasing manifestations of racism and xenophobia against Sinti and Roma and how strengthen the cooperation between senior politicians to counter discrimination.<\/p>\n

At the European level, the Central Council promotes the establishment of a parliamentary coalition against Antigypsyism that will condemn Antigypsyism at all political levels and call on political decision-makers to assume responsibility.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tMonitoring the EU framework strategy\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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The Central Council closely observes and scrutinises the work done by the European Commission and the implementation of the EU framework for National Roma integration strategies. The Commission had regularly hosts consultation meetings with the Central Council and (pro) Sinti and Roma organisations. At the meetings, the Central Council had criticised the hitherto bad monitoring and evaluation of the way strategies have been implemented and had called for specific measures against Antigypsyism. In the future, Antigypsyism should be taken into account as a horizontal cross-cutting issue across all sectors (education, housing, employment, etc.). There has also been a positive development in the Directorate-General for Justice: the new High Level Group on combating anti-Semitism and racism has included Antigypsyism on its agenda. Furthermore, the Commission is to launch infringement proceedings against Hungary – as it did against the Czech Republic in 2014 and Slovakia in 2015 – on the grounds of segregation of Roma children in education.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tInitiatives to combat the causes of flight\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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The Central Council has launched numerous other initiatives to combat the causes of flight and the stigmatisation of Sinti and Roma in the media in the context of the refugee debate. In collaboration with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (short BMZ), the Central Council organised a meeting at the BMZ in Berlin in February 2016. Invited were numerous German organisations that support or implement projects and initiatives of and for the Roma in the countries of the Western Balkans. The aim was to facilitate exchange between different actors, to provide a platform for analysing the successes and challenges of current projects, and to discuss future opportunities for action. The Central Council also conducted a survey on this subject among Roma organisations active in the countries of the Western Balkans, German implementing organisations, and public institutions of the Federal Government (e.g. the GIZ, embassies, the Federal Foreign Office). The report is now available online, and the page “Western Balkans<\/a>” provides an insight into the activities of the Central Council in this field.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tStopping the unlawful forced evictions and displacement by government agencies\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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In view of the current situation in Europe, the Central Council criticises the dramatic developments – violent evictions and human rights violations against Roma – in many countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. This policy of displacement at the local level forces the families concerned into hopelessness, into a situation without prospects. It is also one of the main reasons for the present Roma migration from Central and South-Eastern Europe to Western Europe. This situation is immensely dangerous, as shown by the almost daily attacks on refugee accommodations in Germany and the current refugee debate carried out in part completely irresponsibly by politicians and the media at the expense of the minority.<\/p>\n

The Central Council has initiated and supported various initiatives in order to stop forced evictions (Belgrade, Garmen), and has reached out to federal ministries, the European Commission and the United Nations.  In October 2015, eight MEPs had hosted a hearing in the European Parliament with the aim of reviewing and discussing recent cases and studies from several countries. On this matter, the Central Council works closely together with Amnesty International, the European Roma Rights Centre, the Open Society European Policy Institute, the ENAR, and the ERGO Network.<\/p>\n

The right to housing is one of the fundamental human rights. It is long overdue that a body be established at the European level to improve the situation of Roma through its own on-sight interventions and independently of the respective bureaucracies of the individual states. This body would need to implement programmes especially in the housing construction sector, but not isolated from income-generating programmes. Such programs must be long-term programmes, and they must be developed directly by and with the Roma in local communities. In addition to facilitating participation in society, this also has the advantage of providing opportunities for members of the minority to earn income and acquire other valuable skills for the labour market. If that does not happen, the situation in the countries of origin will continue to worsen. With this in mind, it will be necessary to set up dedicated structures that will be able to use the available resources without directly involving the respective member states. For example, the Roma Education Fund in the education sector. Financed by a small percentage of unused resources of the European Commission, a similarly structured housing fund could programmatically intervene directly on the ground. In principle, most Roma organisations agree that the responsibility for improving the lives of large portions of the Roma population must rest with the governments concerned. However, it has become clear that neither the political will nor the real ability of each country is sufficient to implement the initiatives stipulated in various strategies. That is why the Central Council the German Sinti and Roma welcomed the initiative of the European Commission to set national strategies for Roma integration. This initiative is particularly important for the national Roma minorities in the new EU member states. However, when it comes to improving local housing and income-earning opportunities, financial resources are long overdue to replace paper-laden strategies.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tRacist election campaigns\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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In September 2015, as part of the OSCE conference, the Central Council had hosted an event on the use of racism against Sinti and Roma in election campaigns. Relying on German documents, a report has been published covering the 2013 Bundestag election campaign of the German National Democratic Party (NPD). In addition to looking at the NPD election campaign, it will also present case studies of election campaigns in Hungary, Slovakia, Spain, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. The purpose of the publication is to raise the issue of Antigypsyism in political and public life at the European level, particularly taking into account the commitments of the Council of Europe, the European Union, and the OSCE.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tCultural participation: the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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Romani Rose, Chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, is a member in the Alliance for the European Roma Institute. The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC)<\/a> was launched in June 2017 and its purpose is to overcome the prejudice directed against the Sinti and Roma through projects in all of Europe.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tAward ceremony of the European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma in the European Parliament<\/strong>\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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The Central Council together with the Documentation Centre and the Manfred Lautenschl\u00e4ger Stiftung awarded the European Civil Rights Prize of Sinti and Roma<\/a> for the first time in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. MEP Ulrike Lunacek, Vice-President of the European Parliament, and Thorbj\u00f6rn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, attended the ceremony. The European Civil Rights Prize was awarded to Amnesty International, and Hungarian director Eszter Hajd\u00fa received the special prize for her documentary film \u201cJudgment in Hungary\u201d about the murders of six members of the Roma minority in 2008 and 2009.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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Cooperation with international organisations<\/h2>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tThe European Commission\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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\"European-Commission-logo\"The Central Council calls on the European Commission to combat the deep-seated Antigypsyism \u2013 in particular the institutional discrimination against Sinti and Roma in the education and housing sectors \u2013 and social injustice in Europe, in order to ensure that all people can live in dignity in a society defined by democratic values and the rule of law. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Numerous Directorates-General (DGs) of the European Commission cover EU policy on and for Roma, in particular the DG Justice and Consumers, DG Employment, DG EAC, DG NEAR, DG AGRI, and DG HOME. The coordination centre for the implementation of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies operates within DG Justice and Consumers, in the directorate D.1 “Non-discrimination and Roma coordination”.<\/p>\n

The Central Council continuously observes and scrutinises the implementation of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies, which was adopted by the European Commission and the EU member states in 2011. It also regularly attends consultation meetings with civil society organised by the EU Commission. Furthermore, the Central Council is committed to combating Antigypsyism as a cross-cutting issue and structural cause for the exclusion and discrimination of Sinti and Roma. The Central Council notes that there has been little progress after the adoption of EU framework strategy and the national integration strategies more than six years ago. At the same time, however, right-wing extremism, discrimination, Antigypsyism, racism, and nationalism have become commonplace and even acceptable in the political centre of society in all of Europe.<\/p>\n

Demands and political strategies for action:<\/strong><\/p>\n