NGO: Roma Exposed to Systemic Discrimination, Anti-Roma Sentiment Normalized in Serbia

(BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)

On the occasion of the International Roma Day, marked on April 8, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Initiative A 11 said that the Roma in Serbia were exposed to systemic institutional discrimination, which had led to negative consequences in all spheres of their lives and had been contributing to social inequality and exclusion.

"Widespread and normalized anti-Roma sentiment and discrimination are some of the key reasons for the extreme poverty they face, as well as for numerous obstacles in realizing their economic and social rights,” it is said in a release. According to A11, unsanctioned discrimination and hate speech against Roma men and women often turn into racially motivated violence.

The NGO also stressed that the Roma had no equal access to health care, largely because they possessed no personal identification documents. Although the number of Roma children enrolling in primary schools has increased in recent years, the number of drop outs is worrying, it is said in the release, adding that the representation of Roma students in higher education “is still worryingly low”.

A large number of Roma still live without basic infrastructure, water and electricity supplies, in poor conditions, and are exposed to constant risk of forced evictions, as more and more of their homes are being removed or demolished as they are treated as municipal waste by communal and inspection services, according to the statement.

The A 11 initiative emphasized that combating the deep-seated anti-Roma sentiment, which is the root of all the mentioned problems faced by the Roma men and women in Serbia, had to be a joint effort, which would have to rely primarily on solidarity and empathy with the most vulnerable members of the society.