MINELRES: Bulgaria: Framework Program for Equal Integration of the Roma: First
Important Steps
MINELRES moderator
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Tue Sep 17 14:29:32 2002
Original sender: Emil Cohen <[email protected]>
HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT*
STATEMENT
Bulgaria: Three and Half Years After the Adoption of the �Framework
Program for Equal Integration of the Roma in Bulgarian Society" at
Last the First Important Steps were Done
Sofia, September 13, 02 - On September 09, 2002 an �Instruction for
Integration of Minority Children and Pupils� was issued by the
Ministry of Education of Bulgaria. Yesterday the Council of Ministers
adopted a Draft for an Anti-discrimination Act.
In the instruction for a first time in the history of the Bulgarian
education is written that the Roma children and pupils should be taken
out of the school facilities in the Romani neighborhoods and that the
goal of the Ministry of education will be ensuring equal access to
quality education for all minority children and pupils. Beside this it
is written in the document that the existing practice of routing
normally developed children to schools for students with mental
disability should be eliminated in close future.
It is clear that after the approval of the Council of Ministers the
Anti-discrimination Act will be passed through the National Assembly
in the closest future. As it is well known one of the main tasks of
the new legislation will be the combat against the practice of an
ethnic motivated discrimination that is wide spread. The basic victims
of that discrimination are Roma.
Human Rights Project welcomes these steps of the government of
Bulgaria. In essence they were written in the �Framework Program for
Equal Integration of the Roma in Bulgarian Society�. It was adopted
three and half years ago and unfortunately till now almost anything of
the measures provided for in that document has not carried out.
In April, 1999 as a result of a national campaign �For Equal
Participation of Roma in the Public Life of Bulgaria�, initiated by
Human Rights Project and supported by Roma NGOs in Bulgaria, the
Bulgarian government adopted the �Framework Program for Equal
Integration of the Roma in Bulgarian Society�. The program was drafted
and promoted by Bulgarian Roma activists with the active leadership of
the Human Rights Project. The government committed itself to implement
the �Framework Program for Equal Integration of Roma in Bulgarian
Society� with the active participation of Roma experts and
organizations.
This program highlighted the principles that should be incorporated in
any governmental programs addressing the Roma community: a clear
definition of the Roma problem as a problem of discriminatory
treatment and securing guarantees for the equal treatment of Roma in
all spheres of social life; affirmative action for elimination of the
effects of previous discrimination; and large scale participation of
Roma members in the development and implementation of all kinds of
governmental programs for Roma. The main points in the program are:
1. Protection against discrimination, that includes the measures for a)
changing the existing laws on protection against discrimination and b)
Introduction of state institution for prevention of discrimination;
2.Economic support, that includes measures for encouragement of the
decreasing of the rate of the unemployment of the Roma also for the
increasing of the social relief for the Roma as well as for the
population the allotment.
3. Measures for improvement of the health care for Roma were provided
for.
4. Because the state of the infrastructure and territorial planning of
Roma residential districts is extremely badly the �Framework program��
provides for a number of measures that should be taken in order to
promote the infrastructure and the planning of the Roma neighbors.
5. For the education of the Roma children and pupils the �Framework
program�� provided for complete desegregation of the Romany schools
and also dissolving/abolishing the existing practice of normal healthy
children of Roma origin to be educated in �special� schools for
mentally retired students. Beside these the government took an
obligation to combat against any forms of racism in the classrooms
also to ensure opportunity to study Roma language in school as well as
to introduce Programs for Roma adults in literacy and qualifications.
Furthermore special measures were provided for:
6. Potection of the ethnic specifics and culture of Roma.
7. Roma participation in the national media.
8. The Roma Woman
The draft program �For Equal Participation of Roma in the Public Life
of Bulgaria� was extensively discussed with representatives of the
Roma community. The HRP organized meetings with Roma organizations
throughout the country at which we asked for proposals to the contents
of the Program and critical comments. It was the first document of
this type in the preparation of which Roma had been involved and the
proposals that it contains practically express the will of a large
part of the Roma organizations and activists in the country. The
document was also submitted for discussion to Bulgarian NGOs, which
supported its ideas and principles. The final version of the Program,
containing the amendments made after the discussions with the Roma
organizations, was sent to the Bulgarian government.
The most significant result of this campaign was the appearance of the
first document prepared by the Roma community, which addresses the
government to launch a National Program for the Roma people in
Bulgaria. The act of the creation of this document broke the
stereotype and ill practice of producing programs for Roma behind
closed doors and with no Roma participation. This document has also
the advantage of being in complete coherence with the European
documents tackling the democratic development, the human rights and
minority issues, and the Roma issue in particular. It was respectively
supported by European and other organizations especially by the
European Commission and OSCE.
As it was mentioned above almost anything of the contents of the
program has not executed till now. In particular the social and
economic situation of the Roma has not became better. In contrary
there are a lot of signs that for these years it has became worse. The
cases of rebels of the Roma against their misery have become more
frequently. The rate of unemployment among the Romany population goes
on to be 5-6 times higher than the one among the rest of the people.
According to the data of the statistics the income of the average Roma
family is about ten times lower than the income of the rest of the
families.
No effective measures against the police brutality and discrimination
in the sphere of the criminal justice have been taken. There have been
cases of �ethnic cleansing� and there had not been data about the
punishment of the perpetrators.
The process of desegregation of the Romany schools began two years ago.
But only the NGOs were these that started and go on to carry out this
key for the future of the all Roma population process. Till now any
measures by the state in that directions have not been carried out.
The main reason for these unfavorable developments has been the lack
of the political will of the governments that have managed the country
for these years. They have not understood that the fulfillment of the
provisions of the �Framework program�� is favorable both for the Roma
community and the society.
Human Rights Project hopes that the adopting of the above mentioned
documents is a sign for a decisively change of the policy of the
government. Welcoming these positive steps of the state we calls on
the government:
- to take measures for canceling of the cases of police brutality
against Roma;
- to take an immediate action for carrying out of the provisions of
the �Framework program�� and especially these that are targeted to the
improvement of the economic and social situation of the Roma;
- to improve decisively the level of health care for the Roma;
- to ensure an effective access to the justice for the Roma people;
- to start an educational campaign for disseminating of the positive
attitudes toward the minorities and especially toward the Roma;
That is the only way as for the improvement of the situation of the
Roma in Bulgaria as for reaching of the international human rights
standards, that Bulgaria is obligated to keep.
On the behalf of HRP:
Emil Cohen, Executive Director
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*Human Rights Project was established in the summer of 1992 as a
non-profit organization focusing on monitoring the human rights
situation of the Roma in Bulgaria, and on legal defense in cases of
serious human rights abuses. The HRP monitors the human rights
situation of the Roma community in Bulgaria and reports on the cases
which it had investigated; works with Roma volunteers from all over
the country who report on the human rights observation in their
region; conduct independent extrajudicial investigation into
allegations of human rights violations against Roma; hire lawyers to
take up selected cases and monitors the process of legal defense;
advocates legislative and policy changes in favor of Roma.
Rumian Russinov is Chair of the Board of HRP. Dimitrina Petrova and
Nikolai Gouginski are members of the Board.
Emil Cohen <[email protected]> is Executive Director.
Our address:
23 Solunska St., 6th floor; 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
Tel./fax: (+359 2) 986 35 46 and (+359 2) 981 50 66;
E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]