MINELRES: Conference Declaration: "Roma and the Stability Pact in Southeastern Europe", Bucharest, February 6-9, 2003

[European Roma Rights Center]

Conference Declaration: "Roma and the Stability Pact in Southeastern
Europe, Evaluation Meeting of the OHIHR Project "Mainstreaming,
Empowering and Networking Roma Communities as Full Participants in Post
Crisis Management, Good Governance and Development of a Sustainable
Civil Society in South Eastern Europe"

February 6-9, 2003

The undersigned Romani and non-Romani participants of a conference
including representatives of:

The Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia; The Ministry of Public
Information of Romania; The Presidency of the Kosovo Assembly; The
Municipality of Suto Orizari, Macedonia; The Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe; The European Roma Rights Center; Catholic Relief
Services; Roma Heart; Roma National Congress; Association of Young Roma
Researchers; Roma Center "ARKA"; Rroma Women's Association "For Our
Children"; Roma Association "Esma"; International Romani Union;
Amaralis; Balkan Union of Egyptians; Aven Amentza; Romani CRISS; Roma
Community Center "Drom -- Kumanovo"; as well as other representatives of
governmental and inter-governmental agencies, and other domestic and
international non-governmental organisations;

Have resolved as follows:

With deep concern at the fact that, in recent months,
- Germany has expelled reportedly over 10,000 Roma to Serbia and
Montenegro, including Roma from Kosovo, ethnically cleansed from the
province from 1999 onwards;

- In an atmosphere thick with anti-Romani sentiment, France and Romania
have entered into close cooperation to assist in the so-called
"voluntary repatriation" of Roma to Romania from France; at the same
time Romanian authorities have stopped Roma from leaving Romania, in
violation of their fundamental human rights;

- The United Kingdom has expelled groups of Czech Roma on camera and for
the media, apparently in an attempt to humiliate them, and to scare off
more Rome from coming to Britain;

- And other, similar events, all part of anti-migrant Fortress Europe
policies deeply infected by anti-Romani sentiment.

Conference participants:
- Affirm the principle that migration is a fact; policies defining
migration as a problem lead directly to the humiliation of millions of
people and insult the ancestors of everyone;

- Condemn unequivocally as fundamentally degrading to all Roma on-going
policies and actions by European governments aimed at forcing Roma to go
to Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, infected as they are with
anti-Romani sentiment;

- Express grave concern that government policies aimed at forcing Roma
to go to the countries of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe
corrode and corrupt with the anathema phenomenon of racism the societies
of Europe, as well as deliberately and senselessly give rise to the
threat of serious human rights abuse of Roma, in contravention of
international law and basic European values;

- Call upon Western European governments to cease immediately the
systematic expulsion of Roma from Western Europe and to provide: (i) the
surrogate protection guaranteed by the 1951 Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees ("1951 Geneva Convention") to any and all Roma who
are determined to be refugees; (ii) comprehensive policies to integrate
Roma into the societies in which they live.

1. Rudko Kawczynski (Roma National Congress)
2. Florin Cioaba (International Romani Union)
3. Letitia Mark (Gypsy Women's Association "For Our Children")
4. Nadica Balog (Roma Heart -- Croatia)
5. Radmila Zecirovic (U.R. Amarilis)
6. Tom Wilson (Romani CRISS)
7. Rud Fenk
8. Brahim Music (Terninano Berno -- France)
9. Viktor Famulson (International Romani Union)
10. Vasile Burtea
11. Ciprian Meale
12. Zenelj Berisha
13. Rubin Zemon (Balkan Union of Egyptians)
14. Haxhi Zulfi Merxha (Presidency of the Kosovo Assembly)
15. Sejdo Jasarov
16. Asmet Elezovski (Roma National Congress)
17. Zeljko Jovanovic
18. Nadire Selman (Roma Association "Esma")
19. Claude Cahn (European Roma Rights Center)
20. Martin Demirovski
21. Nezdet Mustafa (Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia)
22. Zivoin Mitrovic (Roma Heart)
23. Costel Bercus (Romani CRISS)
24. Nora Costache
25. Jelena Jovanovic
26. Pellumb Fortuna
27. Ferhat Hasan
28. Erduan Iseni (Municipality of Suto Orizari, Macedonia)
29. Danijela Antonisevic (Romani Women's Center "Heart")
30. Magda Matache (Romani CRISS)
31. Ragalie Florea
32. Loghin Dina
33. Zainea Stefan
34. Ivan Gheorghe (Partida Rromilor)
35. Nicolae Gheorghe

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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.

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