ERRC: Letter to Prime Minister of Italy on Kosovo Roma
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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 12:51:49 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: ERRC: Letter to Prime Minister of Italy on Kosovo Roma
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <[email protected]>
ERRC: Letter to Prime Minister of Italy on Kosovo Roma
On August 4, 1999, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), an
international public interest law organisation which monitors the
rights of Roma and provides legal defence in cases of human rights
abuse, sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Italy, Mr Massimo
D'Alema, calling his attention to the issue of Romani refugees from
Kosovo in Italy. Copies of the letter were also sent to the Italian
Foreign and Interior Ministers. The text of the letter follows:
Honourable Prime Minister D'Alema,
On behalf of the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), an international
public interest law organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and
provides legal defence in cases of human rights abuse, I am writing to
you today to draw your attention to the issue of Roma/Gypsy refugees
from Kosovo who have been arriving in Italy during the course of the
last six weeks.
In the course of field research in Kosovo in early July, the ERRC
documented serious human rights violations against Roma by ethnic
Albanians, and noted that ethnic Albanians appear to be acting with
disturbing unity to drive Roma out of the province. The ERRC made
public the main results of field research in a press statement on July
9, as well as by releasing the transcripts of ERRC interviews from the
period July 2-18 on August 2. Additionally, the ERRC expressed its
concerns that KFOR troops, including troops under Italian command,
were failing to provide adequate protection to Roma in Kosovo, in a
letter to UN Secretary General H.E. Kofi Annan on July 16. Those three
documents are attached herewith.
The ERRC was subsequently dismayed to learn on July 20 that, according
to international press reports, Italian authorities were intending to
cease regarding persons fleeing Yugoslavia as refugees, but would
instead treat them as illegal immigrants. According to reports of the
Associated Press from July 20, the Italian Interior Ministry intended
to regard the issue as one of human trafficking rather than the flight
of persons persecuted on ethnic grounds. Ministry Spokesperson Daniela
Pugliese reportedly stated that the Ministry did not accept that the
lives of Roma are at risk in Kosovo.
The ERRC notes that in the days prior to and since the Ministry's
statement, according to reports in the Italian and international
press, thousands of Roma from Kosovo have fled to Italy and are
presently in the care of Italian authorities. Their expulsion from
Italy would be, in the present circumstances, both morally repugnant,
and would constitute inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of
Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as well as
Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR).
The European Roma Rights Center strongly urges that Roma who have fled
Kosovo and arrived in Italy be provided international protection in
Italy. Since Roma as a group have been targeted for violent attack by
ethnic Albanians and all Roma from Kosovo can demonstrate a
well-founded fear of persecution in that province, they should be
considered refugees in the sense of the 1951 Convention Relating to
the Status of Refugees. The ERRC additionally appeals to your office
to ensure that Roma presently in Kosovo in areas under Italian KFOR
command be adequately protected.
Respectfully,
Dimitrina Petrova
Executive Director
ERRC documents referred to in the letter to Prime Minister D'Alema can
be found on the internet at: http://errc.org. Persons wishing to
express similar concerns are urged to contact Prime Minister D'Alema
at fax: (39 06) 67 83 838
*****************
The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest
law organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal
defence in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the
European Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at
http://errc.org.
European Roma Rights Center
H-1525 Budapest 114
PO Box 10/24
Hungary
Telephone: (36 1) 42 82 351
Fax: (36 1) 42 82 356
*****************
SUPPORT THE ERRC!
The European Roma Rights Center is dependent upon the generosity of
individual donors for its continued existence. If you believe the ERRC
performs a service valuable to the public, please join in enabling its
future with a contribution. Gifts of all sizes are welcome; bank
tranfers are preferred. Please send your contribution to:
European Roma Rights Center
Budapest Bank Rt.
99P00402686
1054 Budapest
Bathory utca 1
Hungary
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