ERRC Letter to Joint World Bank/European Commission Office for Southeast Europe
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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 20:56:31 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: ERRC Letter to Joint World Bank/European Commission Office for Southeast Europe
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <[email protected]>
ERRC Letter to Joint World Bank/European Commission Office
for Southeast Europe
On July 28, 1999, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), an
international public interest law organisation which monitors the
rights of Roma and provides legal defence in cases of human rights
abuse, sent a letter to Mr Olivier Bodin, European Commission
Representative of the Joint World Bank/European Commission Office for
Southeast Europe, and Mr Rory O'Sullivan, World Bank Representative of
the same body, to urge that international authorities undertake all
possible measures to overcome the alienation of Roma from local aid
distribution. The ERRC also urged that representatives of the Romani
community be involved in bodies charged with damage assessment and
reconstruction fund distribution in Kosovo. The ERRC provided Mssrs
Bodin and O'Sullivan with the ERRC Press Statement of July 9,
detailing human rights abuses against Roma by ethnic Albanians in
Kosovo in the period June 15 - July 7, 1999. The ERRC additionally
provided the Declaration of the European Roma Rights Center/Human
Rights Project Balkan Roma Conference for Peace and Security, which
took place on June 18 and 19 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Both of those
documents can be found on the ERRC internet website at
http://errc.org. The text of the letter to Mssrs Bodin and O'Sullivan
follows:
Dear Mr Bodin and Mr O'Sullivan,
The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), an international public
interest law organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and
provides legal defence in cases of human rights abuse, has noted with
interest the foundation of the Joint World Bank/European Commission
Office for Southeast Europe.
The ERRC has documented a wave of grave human rights violations of
Roma by ethnic Albanians since the end of the NATO bombing of
Yugoslavia in mid-June and the entry of KFOR troops into the province.
The ERRC made public the findings of field research conducted between
June 30 and July 7 in a press statement issued on July 9. That
document is attached herewith.
In addition to the serious human rights violations documented, Roma in
Kosovo reported to the ERRC that they were in many instances excluded
from aid, since international aid organisations working in Kosovo are
primarily staffed by ethnic Albanians. Numerous Roma in the towns of
Prizren, Djakovica, Kosovo Polje and Orahovac told the ERRC that they
had been refused aid. Some Roma stated that they had been chased away
or insulted in the course of being refused aid. The ERRC witnessed
ethnic Albanian doctors working for the organisation Medicins sans
Frontieres who, despite stating that they were "not interested in
politics" and therefore by implication not given to anti-Romani
sentiments, were highly suspicious of ERRC activity and wanted to know
"why we were helping Gypsies".
In this context, the ERRC is highly concerned by press reports, such
as that in the International Herald Tribune of July 28 that "most of
the members" taking part in World Bank and European Commission Kosovo
damage assessment and reconstruction projects will be ethnic
Albanians.
The ERRC is forwarding herewith the Declaration of the Balkan Roma
Conference for Peace and Security, which took place on June 18 and 19
in Sofia, Bulgaria, along with its ten-point appeal. The ERRC urges
that representatives of the Romani community be involved in bodies
charged with damage assessment and reconstruction fund distribution.
The ERRC additionally urges that international authorities undertake
all possible measures to overcome the alienation of Roma from local
aid distribution.
Sincerely
Dimitrina Petrova
Executive Director
Persons wishing to express similar concern are urged to contact Mr
Olivier Bodin and Mr Rory O'Sullivan at the Joint World Bank/European
Commission Office for Southeast Europe.
Fax: (32 2) 504 0999
*****************
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://errc.org.
European Roma Rights Center
H-1525 Budapest 114
PO Box 10/24
Hungary
Telephone: (36 1) 42 82 351
Fax: (36 1) 42 82 356
*****************
SUPPORT THE ERRC!
The European Roma Rights Center is dependent upon the generosity of
individual donors for its continued existence. If you believe the ERRC
performs a service valuable to the public, please join in enabling its
future with a contribution. Gifts of all sizes are welcome; bank
tranfers are preferred. Please send your contribution to:
European Roma Rights Center
Budapest Bank Rt.
99P00402686
1054 Budapest=20
Bathory utca 1
Hungary
--------------
>From the moderator: Excerpts of interview transcripts of Roma from
Kosovo conducted during field research in Kosovo and in Macedonia in
the period July 2-18 are available online at the ERRC website at
http://errc.org/publications/letters/kos_aug_2_99.shtml
Boris
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