Appeal for banishing Roma from village

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STEZHEROVO, 20 August 2001 - Most Roma from the village of Stezherovo, near Pleven, have left their homes after protests from local Bulgarians, reports the Sega daily.

Nearly 500 people have signed an open letter to the president, the Council of Ministers and the Interior Ministry requesting that the Roma be banished from their village by September 1. Otherwise they threaten with civil disobedince.

The protests were sparked by the murder of a local man, Todor Yankov by two women of Roma origin on 1 August. The tragedy occured after Todor Yankov returned home where he supposedly found the two women looking for money. The next day at the identification organised in the municipality, witnesses identified the two women, who were immediately detained and handed over to the investigation authorities.

The Stezherovo inhabitants claim that their problems started four years ago when a group of 50 Roma from the nearby village of Podem were settled in their village. All Roma inhabitants of Podem left the village back in 1991 after their homes were burnt in a pogrom over their neighbourhood.

The fury of the Stezherovo locals, however, is directed to all Roma in the village, and they want the entire Roma population banished. The few Roma families that remain are uncertain what to do next - they say they have nothing to do with the thefts in the village, but fear they houses will also be set on fire.

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