Human
rights news: May 2004
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21 May 2004 |
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Human Rights Project
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Sofia, May 21 - On May 13 and 14, 2004 in Sofia, Human Rights Project (HRP) organized a large national conference devoted to the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Framework Program for Equal Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society (Framework Program). The Framework Program was adopted by the Government on April 22, 1999. It is a comprehensive anti-discrimination document that outlines the main directions of the policy of the Government for achieving real equality of rights of the Roma minority. (The full text of the Framework Program is available at: http://www.ncedi.government.bg/en/index.html). HRP initiated the adoption of the Framework Program and for this reason our intention was to organize a meeting between the Roma public officials in charge for the implementation of the Framework Program (the so-called ‘experts on ethnic and demographic issues’) and the government officials members of the National Council on Ethnic and Demographic Issues (NCEDI). The mission of NCEDI is to implement the goals of Framework Program. Thirteen senior government officials (deputy ministers) are members of this body. Over 140 Roma public officials, who are in charge for the implementation of the Framework Program as well as representatives of the leading Roma NGOs took part in the event. Mr. Metin Kazak, Chief of the Political Cabinet of Ms. Filiz Husmenova, who is Minister Without Portfolio and Chairperson of the NCEDI, and Mr. Mihail Ivanov, Secretary of NCEDI participated in the conference. Other participants included Mr. Lubomir Koumanov, Deputy Minister of Public Health, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Culture, and the National Institute of Statistics. Mr. Rumian Russinov, Director of Roma Participation Program of Open Society Institute – Budapest, and the special guest Ms. Elena Piscopo from the Council of Europe, delivered key-note speeches at the conference. Representatives of the biggest Roma coalition of NGOs – the so-called Parliament Roma – handed in their Plan for Further Implementation of the Framework Program to the Secretary of the NCEDI Mr. Mihail Ivanov.
The first HRP report generalized the opinion of the Roma public officials who are obliged to implement at the local and district level the provisions of the Framework Program: - The Roma experts do not have a stable status within the local and district administrations. There is no official document setting their duties and responsibilities. They have no right to impose sanctions on the local and district authorities when the authorities fail to implement their obligations related to the improvement of the Roma situation. Because of the lack of a stable position these Roma public officials often become victims of political dismissals. - The Roma experts as well as the local authorities do not have funds to execute their duties. The funds for the implementation of the Program are allocated centrally and there is no financial assistance by the central budget for the development of local projects. The Roma experts have to secure the implementation of the Framework Program at the local level, but they do not have neither money at their disposal, nor the power to exercise control on the local authorities. On the other hand, the central government does not have any obligation to ensure funds for the further implementation of the Program. Because of the lack of any legislation the central government is not obliged to invest money for the improvement of the Roma situation. All speakers (more than 20) at the conference supported the above view. The second report delivered by HRP dealt with the data of a survey carried out by HRP especially for the conference. The survey is not representative, but the data received by it can be used in order to acquire a general idea about the results of the implementation of the Framework Program. HRP interviewed 116 Roma activists (public officials, leaders of Roma NGOs, etc.). The survey covered 50 settlements inhabited, according to estimates of the interviewees, by around 483,000 Roma. (According to the data of the last census the total number of Roma in Bulgaria is 370,000). Here are some of the findings of the survey: - The level of unemployment among the Roma living in these settlements, according to the opinion of our respondents, is 70%. - According to the data of our respondents around 2,300 people were vocationally trained for the five years of the Program on the background of tens of thousands unemployed Roma. Regarding the implementation of the Program, according to the data of our survey, only around 1,000 people underwent literacy courses when according to the different data of many surveys around 18% of all Roma aged between 18 and 60 are illiterate. This means that at least 60,000 adult Roma are illiterate. Now the part of illiterate Roma should be higher. (Source of this information is the special research made by the Bulgarian NGO, International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. The full text of the survey is available in Bulgarian at http://www.ncedi.government.bg/. - Around half of the Roma, according to the opinion of the respondents, are deprived of health insurance. - Only four settlements were reported as places in which the local authorities have given local financial support to local projects.
The participants agreed that some positive steps in the implementation of the Program have been done. The most important among them are in the sphere of legislation: the adoption in September 2003 of the Protection from Discrimination Act, the approval by the Council of Ministers of the draft Act for Creation of a Fund for Educational Integration of Minority Children (now the draft is passing through different parliamentary commissions), and also the approval of an Action Plan for the Implementation of the Framework Program in 2004 by the Council of Ministers. (For more information about the Action Plan see the special press release of HRP available at: http://lists.delfi.lv/pipermail/minelres/2003-October/003011.html). On the other hand, the funds that the Government invests in order to secure the reaching of the aims of the Framework Program are more than modest; there are no data for 1999–2001 on the funds allocated for its implementation. According to our estimates, the Government spent about 30 EUR per Roma capita for all Roma problems: elimination of unemployment, improvement of the living conditions, improvement of the health status, securing equal access to qualitative education, etc. For 2004 the government provides to spent about 35 EUR per Roma capita for the same goals. (The calculation was made according to official census results. According to expert opinions, however, the actual number of Roma is twice as high.) It is clear that on the background of the needs of the Roma, the amount of this money is extremely small. Furthermore, the Bulgarian State does not spend its own money for achieving the aims of the Framework Program. It is a well-known fact that almost all the funds, which the state spends, come from foreign sources. For political reasons the state avoids to take money directly from its own domestic incomes. And this has been the sustainable policy of all Bulgarian governments after 1989. Furthermore, almost all of the speakers in the conference stressed on the structural weakness of the state agency on ethnic issues. It does not have any power to impose on the branches of government any policy on Roma issues. The conclusion of the participants about the process of implementation of the Framework Program was not positive. This conclusion was expressed in the Open Letter that 142 Roma public officials wrote and sent to the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Mr. Simeon Saxe-Coburg Cotha. The letter was given to the office of the Prime Minister and was published in the two Roma newspapers Drom Dromendar and Akana. The full text of the Open letter is enclosed below. Besides a group of participants wrote and sent a Proposal to the Prime Minister concerning the situation of the first Roma Channel ‘TV Roma’, that works in Vidin (a town situated at the Northeastern part of the country on the Danube river). In the Proposal the authors ask the Prime Minister to promote the development of the Roma electronic media and especially TV Roma. Open Letter by the participants in the National Roma Conference ‘The Framework Program – Five Years Later’To Mr. Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha Sofia, May 14, 2004 Honorable Mr. Prime Minister: On May 13 and 14 in Sofia a National Roma Conference devoted to the fifth anniversary of the approval of the Framework Program for Equal Integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society took place. It was organized by Human Rights Project in cooperation with other Roma NGOs. Roma who take offices of experts on ethnic and demographic issues, Roma who are members of municipal councils, as well as Roma activists from all over the country took part in the event. We, the participants in the conference welcome the succession in the steps made until now by your government and believe that you will pay attention to the concrete suggestions for the actualization of the work connected to the Program that were made at the national meeting. We sincerely hope that all together – the Government and ourselves – will continue the joint commitments about the integration of the Roma community by its direct participation in all structures and levels of the state power. We are convinced that the commitments you took and which were expressed at the conference ‘Roma in the Expanding Europe’ held on June 30 and July 01, 2003 in Budapest are in conformity with the policy your Government leads for the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union.
We use this possibility to inform you about the real problems that accompany the execution of the Program. Our conclusions are the result of a profound analysis of the implementation of the Framework Program made by the conference participants. 1. The Roma who are approved in the local and district administrations have no status and authority for the implementation of the Framework Program. 2. These people do not have any technical means for communication and coordination with the local authorities, with the NGOs as well as with other institutions. 3. Roma experts who have obtained appropriate administrative abilities within the framework of their term of office are often dismissed from their jobs for political reasons. Often they are put under political pressure Honorable Mr. Prime Minister: The national policy for the improvement of the state of the Roma community does not reach the local communities and settlements. There is a complete vagueness about the acts of the Council of Ministers connected with the distribution of the money for improvement of the situation of the Roma. Our demand is to promote the integral realization of the Framework Program approved by the Government at the local and district levels through direct participation of public officials of Romani origin. In this connection in order to improve our joint work we insist on the following points: 1. That the distribution of the money from the PHARE Program and the World Bank is adequate to the needs of the extremely poor local municipalities. That distribution must correspond to the parameters and requirements of the respective grants related to the Roma community; 2. Complete transparency and accountancy should exist in the process of defining the different conditions of the grants. Such a transparency should exist during the selection of the municipalities who will participate in the grants. 3. A representative of the National Association of Roma Experts in the State Institutions has to take part with a full vote (not deliberative vote) when the different conditions and aims of grants for Roma are being defined. 4. Roma experts have to take part during the defining of the tasks and technical conditions of the grants. 5. Roma experts have to be hired in the different ministries in order to implement the Framework Program. We believe that the described in this letter anxieties and proposals related to the process of solving of the problems will be taken under consideration by you and your government in your future work for implementation of the Framework Program. Respectfully yours, /signed by 142 participants in the national conference/ On behalf of HRP: ____________
Emil Cohen |