MINELRES: ERRC/EUMAP: German government urged to act on Sinti and Roma

[MINELRES moderator]

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


German Government ignores major disadvantages faced by Sinti and Roma
women, say EUMAP and ERRC

Budapest and New York, 21 January 2004. The first ever report
specifically analysing the situation of Sinti and Roma women in Germany
has found that women of this minority group face intersectional
discrimination, cumulating the effects of both gender and ethnic or
racial discrimination. Sinti and Roma women in Germany are clearly
disadvantaged in a number of key areas, such as education, employment,
healthcare and participation in public and political life, and have not
enjoyed the progress that other German women have achieved in recent
years. Foreign Romani women are particularly disadvantaged. These are
the main conclusions of a "shadow" report jointly submitted to the UN
gender anti-discrimination body CEDAW by the Budapest-based European
Roma Rights Center (ERRC) and EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program
(EUMAP). The report, considered today in the framework of a regular
review of Germany's record in the implementation of the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, calls on the German Government to stop ignoring these major
problems, to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation and to
fulfil its long overdue obligations under European and international
law.

Despite the existence of a range of measures addressing gender
discrimination, the existing legislative and policy framework is clearly
insufficient to protect against multiple discrimination. It is also of
serious concern that despite the expiry of 2003 deadlines for doing so,
Germany has yet to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation,
as required by binding European Union equal treatment directives.
Germany has also yet to ratify Protocol 12 to the European Convention on
Human Rights. ERRC Executive Director Dimitrina Petrova noted, on the
occasion of the CEDAW review, that "Without these basic legal
protections, Sinti and Roma women in Germany are dangerously exposed to
arbitrary treatment. Germany needs to adopt comprehensive
anti-discrimination law in line with international standards without
further delay."

The ERRC and EUMAP draw the attention of the Committee to the fact that
many Sinti and Roma women and girls in Germany are de facto excluded
from a range of protections guaranteed by the Convention, notably in the
areas of education, employment, health and participation in public life.
Lack of adequate access to education for Sinti and Roma girls and women
is a key factor which significantly affects their employment
opportunities and ability to enjoy a range of public services. Despite
the absence of any official data, there are troubling reports of high
rates of school drop-out, already at the primary school level, and
significant over-representation of Sinti and Roma girls at "special
schools". Local models of good practice in education tend to be
under-funded and have not been widely implemented.

As primary care providers for their families, Sinti and Roma women in
Germany suffer disproportionately from the effects of the often
precarious living conditions faced by this minority group, which may
also impact negatively on their health. Perceived discriminatory
attitudes of some medical personnel appear also to discourage their
access to preventive healthcare.

Sinti and Roma women also report instances of discriminatory treatment
by public authorities and the police. One recent example of particular
concern highlighted in this submission is the reported degrading
treatment of foreign Romani girls aged under 14 years old at the hands
of some Cologne police personnel. Documented police practices of
undressing and photographing such under-age girls warrant immediate
investigation by the authorities. The Cologne-based NGO Rom e.V. has
expressed concern at the "shameless methods of investigation" used by
the Cologne police.

The shadow report also notes the dramatic contrast between the high
level of activities undertaken by Sinti and Roma women in civil society,
on the one hand, and their near total absence from public office or
administration on the other. The ERRC and EUMAP call on the Committee to
urge German authorities to implement programmes to remedy low levels of
Roma representation in public administration and in particular the low
levels of representation by Sinti and Roma women.

On the occasion of the CEDAW review, ERRC Board Member and Romani
activist Nicoleta Bitu said, "Germany has not kept pace with very
significant developments in the field of Romani women's rights. Now is
the time to implement policies remedying the very worrying issues Romani
women and girls face in Germany."

For further information contact Miriam Anati, EUMAP, at (+36) 30 2748533
or Claude Cahn, ERRC, at (+36) 20 98 36 445.

Note to editors:

Today, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women reviews Germany's compliance with the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This
regular review takes place at least every 4 years. The eight countries
being reviewed this session are Belarus, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Germany,
Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Nigeria.

The joint ERRC - EUMAP shadow report is a first attempt to analyse the
situation of Sinti and Roma women in Germany and follows on the 2002
EUMAP minority protection monitoring report on the situation of Sinti
and Roma in Germany. The full text of the shadow report, including
detailed recommendations, is available on:
http://www.eumap.org/announcements and
http://www.errc.org/publications/legal/index.shtml

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is an international public
interest law organisation based in Budapest, Hungary, which monitors the
human rights situation of Roma and provides legal defence in cases of
human rights abuse. The ERRC has monitored the human rights situation of
Roma in Germany since first opening offices in 1996, and has been
involved in litigation in a number of cases involving Roma rights in
Germany. Further information on the European Roma Rights Center is
available on the web at www.errc.org.

The EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP), formerly the EU
Accession Monitoring Program, monitors human rights and rule of law
issues in Europe. A program of the Open Society Institute (OSI) in
Budapest, EUMAP has published a series of reports on Minority Protection
and other topics, all of which may be accessed at www.eumap.org.

Sinti and Roma in Germany: "Roma" is the preferred term for communities
traditionally referred to as "Gypsies" in Europe. However, in Germany a
number of groups, particularly those with longer histories on the
territory of present-day Germany or in areas of pre-World War II Europe
where the German language was spoken extensively, have emphasised that
they comprise a separate group - Sinti. This "shadow" report respects
this usage and therefore uses the term "Sinti and Roma" throughout the
report.  There are no reliable figures regarding the total size of the
Sinti and Roma population in Germany and estimates vary widely, from the
Government estimate of up to 70,000 to up to 200,000 as indicated by
some Sinti and Roma leaders. Current estimates indicate that during the
1990s, up to 100,000 of the Roma in Germany were not German citizens,
although the actual number of Roma in Germany who are foreigners is
currently declining rapidly, due to ongoing forced expulsions being
carried out by German authorities.