Poland: Conference on national minorities problems

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Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 10:02:58 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: Poland: Conference on national minorities problems

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Felix Corley <[email protected]>

Poland: Conference on national minorities problems


PAP News Wire
 
Conference on national minorities problems
 
Warsaw, Oct. 24: Problems of national minorities in Poland were
discussed by their representatives on Tuesday, the second day of a
conference in the Sejm devoted to the legal status of national
minorities in this country in the light of the Council of Europe's
recommendations on the protection of national minorities.
 
Stanislaw Stankiewicz of the Roma Central Council said that the
authorities often ignore cases of discrimination of Gypsy children at
schools and do not react to cases of setting fire to Gypsy houses. We
are not against integration, we want to feel safe, he said.
 
Jan Syczewski of the Belarussian Social Cultural Society complained
that Polish authorities do not attend Belarussian celebrations held in
Poland.
 
Helena Datner of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities stressed
that the Jewish people in Poland attach great weight to the protection
of the memory of the past and proper social climate.
 
Stanislaw Makowski of the Lithuanian Community in Poland pointed to
the complex character of the Polish-Lithuanian history and its
influence on the present-day relations.
 
According to different data, there are between one million to 1.6
million persons belonging to various national and ethnic minorities.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration estimates that the
minorities account for about 2-3 percent of the Polish citizens.
 
The German minority in Poland numbers about 300-500 thousand persons,
there are also 200 to 300 thousand Ukrainians, and as many
Belarussians. Persons of Armenian origin, Roma people, Russians,
Tartars, Czechs and Slovaks are fewer.

The establishment of the exact number of people of various minorities
will be possible only after the national census.

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