by KAYHAN KARACA
Roma throughout Europe will be the subject of continued discrimination despite a new European Commission call this week for EU member states to better integrate Gypsy communities, according to the European Roma Rights Center, or ERRC.
“Although we welcome the European Commission’s direction to tackle Roma exclusion by defining concrete targets and timelines, the commission was silent on one critical impediment to Roma inclusion: anti-Gypsyism, which manifests itself in intimidation, harassment and violence against Roma,” ERCC Executive Director Robert Kushen said this week. “Unless states take forceful action against anti-Gypsyism, Roma will continue to be second-class citizens in Europe.”
The commission presented a new framework on Tuesday that calls for each European Union member state to develop a national strategy for Roma integration by the end of the year.
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