MINELRES: Roma Rights 2/2002: Fortress Europe

[ERRC]

Roma Rights 2/2002: Fortress Europe

Issue 2/2002 of Roma Rights, the quarterly journal of the European Roma 
Rights Center (ERRC)  addresses the theme of "Fortress Europe" -- 
restrictive laws, policies and practices in Europe aimed at or resulting in 
the exclusion of non-citizens. It is widely held that one area in which 
states have wide discretionary powers is in the field of decisions on whom 
to admit onto the territory of the state and whom to refuse -- broadly the 
field of immigration and individual establishment. However, central 
concepts of international human rights law -- the right of persecuted 
persons to asylum and arguably also the ban on discrimination -- 
significantly limit that discretion. In addition, a number of European 
states have in recent years voluntarily agreed to renounce discretion in 
this area, as immigration and asylum issues have passed into the competence 
of the European Union, as well as through a number of other interstate 
agreements. As a direct result of restrictive immigration policies in the 
countries of the European Union and now ever more frequently in candidate 
states for accession to the European Union -- policies commonly referred to 
as "Fortress Europe" -- individual rights -- including but not limited to 
the right to life, the right to freedom from torture and humiliating, cruel 
or degrading treatment, the right to liberty and security of person, and 
the right of refugees to asylum, have been repeatedly violated in recent 
years. Moreover, a number of these policies have had a discriminatory 
impact on certain groups, or have been explicitly discriminatory. Due to 
anti-Romani racism in Europe, Roma have been particularly affected.

Exclusion of Roma is significantly facilitated by the policies of many 
European states of blocking individuals from access to establishment and 
the progressive accrual of real rights in practice -- as well as by 
anti-Romani racism. It is the position of the ERRC that Article 8 of the 
European Convention of Human Rights, guaranteeing respect for private and 
family life, ensures a degree of security of residence greater than that 
presently provided in many European countries. In principle, rights should 
accrue incrementally to all persons factually in a given country, and 
within five years of factual residence in a country, the possibility of 
citizenship and/or permanent residence status should come clearly into 
view. All domestic legal provisions stipulating forms of protection, as 
well as those pertaining to forms of residence status, should include an 
augmentation of rights over time, including in the short term the right to 
work, and ultimately participation in local decision-making and access to 
citizenship. Policies and practices rendering residence status difficult or 
impossible to secure due to bureaucratic obfuscation should be eschewed.

Copies of Roma Rights 2/2002: Fortress Europe may be obtained by contacting 
the offices of the ERRC at: office@errc.org.

The full text of Roma Rights 2/2002: Fortress Europe, is available on the 
Internet at: http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/index.shtml

Links to individual articles follow:

Editorial
Fortress Europe
Claude Cahn
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/editori.shtml

Advocacy
Migration, Asylum and Roma Rights Policy: A 3-Part Basis for Good Governance
ERRC Concerns: Fortress Europe
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/advocacy.shtml

Notebook
Forced Exit: ERRC Legal Action in Italian Expulsion Case
Esther Farkas
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/noteb1.shtml

Expelled Roma in Former Yugoslavia Testify
Tatjana Peric
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/noteb2.shtml

The Borders of Legal Orders: Challenging Exclusion of Foreigners
Elspeth Guild
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/noteb3.shtml

Roma Under Hungary�s �Status Law�
Lilla Farkas
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/noteb4.shtml

News Roundup: Snapshots from around Europe
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/snapshots.shtml
Bulgaria * Croatia * Czech Republic * France * Germany * Greece * Hungary *
Italy * Kosovo * Lithuania * Macedonia * Moldova * Portugal * Romania * 
Russia *
Serbia and Montenegro * Slovakia

Legal Defence
European Court Finds Bulgarian Authorities Responsible for Roma Death
Nikolai Gouginski
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/legalde1.shtml

Workshop Establishing an Inter-Ukrainian Association of Roma Rights Activists
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/legalde1.shtml

Grants
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/grants.shtml

Grants Awarded
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/grants_awarded.shtml

Grants Guidelines
http://errc.org/grants/index.shtml

Informacia Andai Stipendia (Grant Guidelines in Romani)
http://errc.org/grants/index.shtml

Human Rights Education
Memorandum on Human Rights Education Department Prepared for the ERRC Board 
of Directors Meeting on May 25-26, 2002
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/hre.shtml

Romani Language Publication
Konvencia pala O Statuso Na�alde Manu�engo
Romani language translation of the substantive paragraphs of the 1951 
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (�1951 Geneva Convention�) 
and its 1967 New York Protocol
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/romani.shtml

Testimony
The First Romani Mayor in the United Kingdom: Inaugural Speech of Mr 
Charles Smith
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/testimony.shtml

Reaction
A Note on the Meaning of �Underclass�
Gail Kligman, J�nos Ladanyi, and Iv�n Szel�nyi
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/react1.shtml

Inequality and the Struggle for Roma Rights
James Whooley
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/react2.shtml

Meet the ERRC
Fortress Italy
Kathryn D. Carlisle
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/chronicle.shtml

Chronicle
http://errc.org/rr_nr2_2002/chronicle.shtml


_____________________________________________
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://www.errc.org.
European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary

Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax: +36 1 4132201
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