MINELRES: ERRC: Personal Documents and Threats to the Exercise of Fundamental Rights among Roma in the Former Yugoslavia

[European Roma Rights Center]

European Roma Rights Center Press Release
Conclusions: Personal Documents and Threats to the Exercise of Fundamental 
Rights among Roma in the Former Yugoslavia -- Workshop in Igalo, 
Montenegro, September 6-8, 2002

On September 6-8, 2002, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) held a 
workshop in Igalo, Montenegro, addressing the theme of Personal Documents 
and Threats to the Exercise of Fundamental Rights among Roma in the Former 
Yugoslavia. The workshop brought together government officials from around 
the former Yugoslavia, Romani activists and other civil society actors, and 
staff of intergovernmental organisations and other relevant experts, to 
discuss problems related the widespread problems of statelessness among 
Roma from the former Yugoslavia and a lack of basic documents necessary to 
realise fundamental rights. The focus of the meeting was on generating 
sound documentation, as well as on advocacy strategies for change.

A serious obstacle to the exercise of basic rights by Roma in the countries 
of the former Yugoslavia is a lack of basic documents, including but not 
limited to birth certificates, personal identity documents, local residence 
permits, documents related to (in most cases, state-provided) health 
insurance, marriage certificates, work booklets, death certificates, 
passports, IDP and refugee registration documents and, in extreme cases, a 
lack of citizenship in countries of birth or to which the individual at 
issue has real and effective ties. In a disturbing number of cases, this 
has given rise to the anathema phenomenon of statelessness among Roma. 
Exclusionary obstacles created by a lack of documents can be daunting and 
in many instances, the lack of one document can lead to a "chain reaction", 
in which the individual at issue is unable to secure a number of such 
documents. In the extreme case, a Romani child without a birth certificate 
may wind up in a situation of complete paralysis with respect to the 
exercise of basic rights: precluded access to basic health care, 
effectively hindered freedom of movement (including the right to leave 
one's own country), denial of the right to vote, exclusion from state 
housing provided to persons from socially weak groups, as well as the 
inability to have real access to other rights and services crucial for 
basic human dignity. This problem has only been vaguely sketched (primarily 
by some non-governmental organisations), and has not to date been addressed 
in any systematic way by authorities in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

The ERRC therefore convened the Igalo workshop with the following goals:
�       To invigorate and inform debate in the countries of former 
Yugoslavia, with the aim of bringing an end to Romani statelessness in 
countries where it exists.
�       To ensure that just compensation be provided to Roma made stateless 
as a result of laws and practices on citizenship adopted by successor 
states to the former Yugoslavia.
�       To raise awareness of, improve documentation about, and discuss 
action in relation to problems of Roma in securing other important 
documents such as birth certificates, identity cards, etc.

Participants at the workshop included:
�       ERRC staff and consultants
�       Romani activists from all of the successor states of the former 
Yugoslavia
�       Other civil society actors and journalists from around the former 
Yugoslavia
�       Government officials from around former Yugoslavia
�       Staff of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for 
Human Rights and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
�       Activists from the Czech Republic who had been involved in the 
struggle to amend the 1992 Czech Act on Citizenship (for more information 
on this theme, please see
  http://errc.org/publications/legal/cerd_mar98.pdf)
�       Civil society actors from Western Europe (because statelessness 
among Roma in Yugoslavia has repercussions abroad)
�       Civil society actors from the Baltics (where Roma may face similar 
issues)
�       Experts on statelessness and international law issues.

Conclusions and follow-up

Conference participants explored a number of ideas as recommendations and 
conclusions, based on local conditions in the various countries at issue. 
General recommendations include:
�       Successor states of the former Yugoslavia which have not yet done 
so should, without delay, sign and ratify the European Convention on 
Nationality;
�       Persons who had real and effective ties with a successor state of 
the former Yugoslavia as of the date of its independence or succession 
should be provided with access to the citizenship of that state by 
declaration, in accordance in particular with Article 18 of the European 
Convention on Nationality, on nationality in the context of state succession;
�       All former Yugoslav countries should, without delay, sign and 
ratify the International Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (no 
successor states to the former Yugoslavia have as yet done so);
�       Successor states of the former Yugoslavia which have not yet done 
so should, without delay, sign and ratify the International Convention 
relating to the Status of Stateless Persons;
�       Successor states of the former Yugoslavia which have not yet done 
so should, without delay, sign and ratify, the International Convention on 
the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their 
Families;
�       All states of the former Yugoslavia should work proactively to 
design and implement strategies to end statelessness among Roma on their 
territories, as well as to alleviate the crisis of rights deprivation 
generated by a widespread lack of basic documents among Roma.

Conference participants additionally agreed upon next steps in the form of 
an action phase for documentation and advocacy work, followed by a 
follow-up workshop.

Further information on the issues raised herein is available by contacting 
the offices of the ERRC.


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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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