Political will, sufficient state resources necessary to stop racism, discrimination against Roma and Sinti, ODIHR Director says ahead of International Roma Day

WARSAW, 6 April 2018 – Legislation and institutions created to address racism and discrimination against Roma and Sinti need to be backed with the political will and resources necessary to ensure their effectiveness, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said today, ahead of the 8 April International Roma Day.

“The adoption of anti-discrimination legislation in a number of OSCE countries, while welcome, has unfortunately been much less effective in improving the situation of Roma and Sinti in the region than we would have hoped,” Gísladóttir said. “These communities continue to face racism, discrimination and sometimes violence that urgently need to be eliminated. There must be concerted action on the part of governments to ensure these laws are effective, including by providing sufficient state-funded resources.”

The ODIHR Director added that specific measures can include bolstering the effectiveness of the equality bodies that have been created in a number of OSCE countries, as well as stronger, clearer messages from political leaders at all levels of government that there is zero tolerance for racism and discrimination against these communities – against anyone.

“As the institutions set up to receive complaints of racism and discrimination, these equality bodies play an important role, although the under-reporting of such instances continues to hamper their work. I believe that these bodies need to be more proactive in raising awareness of what constitutes discrimination and how existing laws can help Roma and Sinti communities get remedies,” she said.

“All political leaders, meanwhile, have the clear responsibility to condemn all acts of racism and discrimination in their societies, including against Roma and Sinti,” Gísladóttir added. “There has to be a clear and constant message that racism and discrimination will not be tolerated, along with reinforced efforts by participating States to promote and protect the human rights of Roma and Sinti.”

International Roma Day, established in 1990, marks the date of the first international meeting of Roma representatives across Europe, on 8 April 1971 in Chelsfield, near London, United Kingdom.