Roma complain of apartheid

TIRANA, March 30 – A statement of acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed complained that the European Union (EU) and countries of Europe, including Albania, reportedly seemed to lack strong political will to improve the plight of Roma people who were living in apartheid like conditions.
The statement asked the United Nations to immediately intervene.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that Roma had reportedly suffered maltreatment from centuries in Europe and still continued to face social exclusion and it was apparent in the recently issued Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State.
This Report says that Albania did not fund its National Roma Strategy; in Austria Roma faced discrimination in employment and housing; in Belarus Roma were often denied access to higher education; in Bosnia and Herzegovina mainstream society often excluded many Roma from public life; in Bulgaria police harassed, arbitrarily arrested, and used violence against Roma; in Croatia societal violence, harassment, and discrimination against Roma continued to be a problem; in Czech Republic restaurants, bars, and other public places at times refused to serve Roma; in Estonia Roma faced discrimination in employment and other areas.
It complained of discrimination in education, housing and access to government services, police abuse.
In Kosovo official and societal discrimination persisted against Roma, it also said.
Rajan Zed asked how Europe, which prided itself for its human rights record, was tolerating such widespread prejudice against a segment of its own society. Maltreatment of Roma was simply immoral and a dark stain on the face of Europe, according to the statement.
Rajan Zed further said that references to Roma people in Europe, who numbered around ten million, reportedly went as far back as the ninth century AD. How many more centuries do Roma have to reside in Europe to prove that they were real and equal Europeans like any other, Zed asked.