MINELRES: ERRC: Roma Rights 2/2004: Ethnic Statistics

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <errc@errc.org>



Roma Rights 2/2004: Ethnic Statistics

Roma Rights 2/2004 takes as its theme "Ethnic Statistics". In 2004, the
complaint that there are no reliable statistics on Roma has become
trivial. So has the call on governments to collect them. Criticism and
recommendations regarding this issue are coming from all quarters,
including governments of countries with significant Romani populations.
Over the last six-seven years, the European Roma Rights Center has been
among the most consistent advocates of collecting ethnic data for
purposes of fighting racism and discrimination and for drafting viable
equality programmes. Our position has been initially developed in the
context of implementing anti-discrimination law to benefit the members
of the most disadvantaged groups in European societies. More recently,
as part of accession obligations, governments of European Union
candidate countries worked with the Employment and Social Affairs
Directorate of the European Commission on Joint Inclusion Memoranda, to
be followed by National Action Plans. In the process, the deficiency of
reliable Roma-related statistics loomed large as a major obstacle to
rights based policy of Roma inclusion. The ERRC addressed the issue in
most of its advocacy interventions in this regard.

This issue of Roma Rights revisits and recapitulates the theme of Roma
statistics from several angles. Andrei Ivanov and Susanne Milcher
present the UNDP experience in assessing the development needs of Roma
in Eastern Europe. Ferenc Babusik reveals the dilemmas that Hungarian
sociology has been trying to solve when collecting data on Roma. Lilla
Farkas looks at the issue from the prism of international law, revealing
the paradoxical epistemological situation of knowing while not knowing
the numbers of Roma. Sasha Barton comments on the British practice of
ethnic monitoring and presents grounds for optimism even as it
transpires that Gypsies and Travellers in the UK have not benefitted
from ethnic monitoring. Claude Cahn notes that the European Union has
not yet provided meaningful guidance on ethnic statistics.

In addition, Roma Rights 2/2004 provides news and developments
concerning the human rights situation of Roma in Europe, and details
ongoing ERRC activities. Direct links to articles in Roma Rights 2/2004
follow:

EDITORIAL
Ethnic Statistics, by Dimitrina Petrova 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1935)

NOTEBOOK
The United Nations Development Programmes Vulnerability Projects, Roma
and 
Ethnic Data, by Susanne Milcher and Andrey Ivanov 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1936)

Legitimacy, Statistics and Research Methodology. Who Is Romani in
Hungary
Today and What Are We (Not) Allowed to Know About Roma, by Ferenc
Babusik 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1937)

The Monkey That Does Not See, by Lilla Farkas 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1940)

Ethnic Monitoring, Gypsies and Travellers, by Sasha Barton 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1941)

Void at the Centre: (The Lack of) European Union Guidance on Ethnic
Data, by
Claude Cahn (http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1942)

WOMENS RIGHTS
No Compromise with the Universality of Human Rights, Interview with Anna 
Karamanou (http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=38)

NEWS ROUNDUP: SNAPSHOTS FROM AROUND EUROPE
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,
Greece, 
Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and
Montenegro, 
Slovakia, Slovenia, United Kingdom, Ukraine 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1996)

ADVOCACY
UN Committee against Torture Urges the Czech Republic to Investigate
Alleged
Coercive Sterilisation of Romani Women, by Cristi Mihalache 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1988)

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION
Romani Women Discuss Women's Rights Action, by Larry Olomoofe 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1994)

LEGAL DEFENCE
Litigating Discrimination in Access to Health Care, by Alan Anstead 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1989)

FIELD RESEARCH
The Culture of Giving and Roma Charity, by Leonid Raihman 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1990)

ROMANI LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS
Stigmata: Segreguime Edukacia e Rromengi ande Centralo thaj Easto Europa
Romani-language translation of the executive summary of the recently 
published ERRC report "Stigmata: Segregated Schooling of Roma in Central 
and Eastern Europe."(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1991)

MEET THE ERRC
Romani Politics as a Profession, by Rumyan Russinov 
(http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1992)

CHRONICLE (http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1993)
_____________________________________________

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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