OSCE Rights Office, Minorities Commissioner call for greater efforts to improve the situation of Roma

WARSAW/THE HAGUE, 8 April 2010 - The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, and Ambassador Knut Vollebaek, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, called today on governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil society to intensify work to improve the situation of Roma and Sinti in Europe, and to prevent human rights violations.

In a joint statement issued on International Roma Day, the two OSCE officials expressed their deep concern that only limited progress has been made in eliminating the discrimination and social exclusion suffered by Roma and Sinti communities.

"We are particularly concerned by instances of hate-motivated crime and racist rhetoric targeting Roma in a number of states," they said in the statement. "Manifestations of intolerance against Roma and Sinti not only increase the exclusion and marginalization of these communities, but also pose a threat to social cohesion and peaceful coexistence within broader society."

The joint statement highlights that it is time to translate action plans and commitments into concrete work by states to increase inclusion and combat discrimination into concrete policies. High-level events such as the Second European Summit on Roma Inclusion, organized today and tomorrow in Cordoba by the Spanish EU Presidency, provide an opportunity to emphasize the need for action, they said.

The statement also calls on governments to improve education, and early education in particular, to help Roma and Sinti communities break out of the vicious circle of poverty and exclusion they face.

"On this International Roma Day, we confirm our and our OSCE institutions' commitment to assisting states in combating discrimination and violence against Roma and Sinti and in meeting the challenges linked to their sustainable integration," the statement said.