April 8 is International Roma
\nDay. This year ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d organized two events to mark the
\noccasion: firstly, a long-standing tradition \u2013 a festival of children\u2019s
\ncreativity with the participation of Roma children, and secondly, a
\npress conference devoted to the problems of the Roma people.<\/p>\n
The press conference, which
\ntook place on April 7, 2008, focused on the rights of Roma children
\nliving in compact villages. The head of the program \u201cThe Defense of
\nRoma Rights in the Russian Federation,\u201d Stephania Kulaeva, spoke of
\nsystematic discrimination against Roma children in many specific spheres
\nas well as of their general social exclusion. The conference touched
\non the poor state of health of Roma children and on the difficulties
\nthey face in attaining a formal education in the absence of the necessary
\nidentification documentation. People rarely consider these important
\nquestions from the children\u2019s own point of view. Monitoring reveals
\nthat in comparison with other children, the Roma lack many opportunities
\nfrom the earliest stages of their lives, a fact which naturally has
\na strong impact on their future.<\/p>\n
ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d employees
\ncovered the issue of discrimination against Roma children in greater
\ndetail. Il\u2019ya Berdyshev, a doctor and expert in children\u2019s rights,
\noutlined the extremely difficult conditions in which Roma children live:
\nin particular, they often suffer from malnourishment and lack access
\nto basic water, electricity, and gas supplies, factors which clearly
\npose a risk to the children\u2019s health. He further noted inadequate
\nprogress in the establishment of health care for these children, particularly
\nin the sphere of disease prevention. Finally, there is the issue of
\nearly marriages within the Roma community, which Berdyshev, as a doctor,
\nrecognizes as threatening the health not only of those children born
\ninto such marriages, but also of the young parents themselves. Moreover,
\nas a psychologist and educator, Berdyshev pointed out the incompatibility
\nof this tradition with children\u2019s ability to receive secondary and
\nhigher education. At the same time, however, it is understood that
\nthe age-old traditions of the Roma people are to be treated with the
\nutmost respect and sensitivity.<\/p>\n
Olga Abramenko discussed discrimination
\nagainst Roma children with respect to elementary-level education.
\n\u201cFor Roma children, especially those living in compact Roma communities,
\naccess to education is extremely limited. Roma children are often separated
\nfrom other children and taught in what are known as \u201cRoma classes,\u201d
\nor even in entirely separate schools. In cases in which this segregation
\nis not educationally-motivated, i.e., when there is no specially-tailored
\nprogram in which the Roma children are to be taught or when no medical
\nor pedagogical expertise has been sought (that recommends separate classes
\nfor the children for their own benefit), then the Roma children are
\nseparated purely because they are members of a national minority. Often,
\nthese \u201cRoma classes\u201d are composed of children of different age groups
\nwho have different levels of schooling\u2014and they end up in the same
\nclass for years on end. Furthermore, the conditions in such classes
\nor schools are often worse than those that other children experience.
\nThey are taught in ancient, poorly equipped buildings with no water
\nor sewage system, where the power supply is in disrepair, and where
\nthe few teachers who work there are forced to work two or three shifts
\nin a row. Compact settlements are often far from any school, and there
\nare no school buses that the children might use. Roma families, particularly
\nthose in compact settlements, often have many children and are, in the
\nmajority of cases, poverty-stricken. The parents usually cannot afford
\nto send their children on public transport and are unable to pay for
\ntextbooks and school uniforms. Taken together, all of these factors
\nmean that the majority of Roma children fall out of the education system
\nwhen they finish primary school. Indeed, it is rarely suggested, even
\nto those children who successfully complete primary school, to continue
\non to secondary school and finish their education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe educational segregation
\nof Roma children should be officially proclaimed unacceptable, as should
\nbe the automatic relegation of Roma children to classes for the mentally
\nhandicapped in instances in which the children do not know Russian or
\nspeak the language poorly. There is currently no special system in
\nplace for the education of Roma children (no special primer for the
\ninstruction of the alphabet, no other similar textbooks or learning
\naids), and this situation is at variance with a number of international
\nnorms, and in particular, with the Framework Convention for the Protection
\nof National Minorities, which recommends teaching children in their
\nnative language, if only at a primary level. The native Roma language
\nis not taught in any form, although rubrics for teaching the Roma language,
\nfor familiarizing teachers with the Roma language, and also for teaching
\nRussian to Roma children, are now being created. But these are grassroots
\ninitiatives. It is essential that measures also be implemented to improve
\nRoma children\u2019s access to education at the governmental level: financing
\npreschool teaching, additional hours of Russian teaching, and additional
\nhours for those teachers who work with Roma children. Finally, it is
\nvital to further motivate Roma parents to make their children\u2019s schooling
\na priority. This will require financial assistance, free school meals,
\nand free transportation for Roma children to and from school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Legal expert Marina Arefieva
\nspoke about legal problems encountered by the inhabitants of compact
\nsettlements:
\n\u201cIn every village, more than half of the members of the community
\nare young people, and all of the problems suffered by the adults have
\nan effect on the lives and the futures of their children. We have monitored
\nmore than fifteen villages in various regions of Russia, and in each
\ninstance we have found the same problems. Firstly, there is the problem
\nof access to suitable housing and the problem of housing registration.
\nHomelessness or a lack of formal registration of one\u2019s home often
\nallows for the violation of educational rights, the right to the receipt
\nof identification documentation, and all other rights that proceed from
\nthe aforementioned. Moreover, if a house is unregistered, not only
\nwill many of the rights of the inhabitants potentially be hindered,
\nbut the house itself also faces the threat of demolition. Many adult
\nresidents of Roma settlements have no identification documentation,
\nand in such instances, where parents do not have identification, it
\nis quite difficult for their children to be issued birth certificates.
\nThe issuance of a birth certificate is a very complicated process, especially
\nfor those who are only semi-literate, particularly as it sometimes becomes
\nnecessary to turn to officials who are not always well-disposed towards
\nthe Roma for assistance. Furthermore, this all takes time. Children
\nwho are unregistered are unable to attend school, even though school
\nattendance is officially required by law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen there is the issue
\nof social benefits and medical insurance. Most Roma families have many
\nchildren and therefore are entitled to special benefits which help them
\nto take care of such children. However, if an individual does not have
\nvalid documentation, it becomes difficult to register entitlement to
\nprivileges granted by the state, including this monetary allowance issued
\nto a mother. Furthermore, those government institutions that are responsible
\nfor issuing such benefits often illegally deny them to the Roma. When
\nthis does happen, those Roma who are disenfranchised are often unable
\nto assert their rights, either because they do not understand the system
\nor because they lack the documentary evidence with which to defend their
\nrights. A recent example took place in Ivanovo, where Roma living in
\na rather large village were forced to abandon their residences:
\nthey lost their homes and were separated from their relatives and acquaintances,
\nbut they continued to be registered as living in their former homes.
\nThus, while they remain formally registered, in practice their registration
\nis invalid and useless.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn another example, two
\nyears ago in Kaliningrad, a mass demolition of Roma settlements took
\nplace. The people who had lived in these settlements were left without
\nany place of residence whatsoever. Their homelessness was, however,
\nofficially noted, and they were subsequently deprived of their registration,
\nmeaning that they were left without pensions and benefits. Their children
\nalso their lost access to any rights. We do not know what the future
\nholds for these children, whether they will be able to get an education,
\nwhether their rights will be restored, and whether they will be able
\nto defend any rights that are restored in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that the Roma themselves
\nhave come to realize the importance of identification documentation
\nand the importance of their children\u2019s attending school, parents are
\nready to fight for these rights out of concern for their children\u2019s
\nfuture.\u201d