ACTION FOR ROMA
Via Balkan Human Rights
The Panhellenic Confederation of Greek Roma (PACONGR) and Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) have launched a joint effort to defend the fundamental human rights of Roma by visiting the Roma settlement in the Psari, Aspropyrgos (near Athens). During the visit, the Chairman of the PACONGR Vassilis Dimitriou was interviewed by BBC television on the problems facing Roma and the objectives of the new political party “Independent Rally of Citizens with Special Self Identification – ASPIDA ROM”. Similar actions on other Roma settlements will follow.
During their visit to the Psari settlement, PACONGR and GHM noted the inhuman and degrading living conditions of the Roma, were briefed about the establishment of a segregated “ghetto” school for the Roma schoolchildren and were informed of a series of discriminatory acts against the Roma, including the use of offending stereotypes.
It was decided to record also audiovisually the unacceptable living conditions, so as to widely inform Greek society, state agencies and Members of Greek and European Parliaments. In addition, it was decided to carry out a census of the community in order to make documented demands to the state concerning their adequate housing the schooling of all school aged Romani children in mainstream public schools and not in segregated Roma-only school annexes. Lastly, it was decided to activate the relevant anti-discrimination legislation for each documented violation of its provisions against any Roma.
posted by deviousdiva @ 2/01/2006 07:36:00 PM
6 comments
zardoz says:
funny i had this conversation today
someone wanted to know how it is to make your daily wage
picking garbage from the giant waste disposals at ANO LIOSA next to ASPROPYRGOS
and their editor for a major newspaper hadnt given the o.k.
for article and photo. wont they be suprised when the BBC airs,
thats probably why they closed the greek BBC about a month ago,in london after 60 years i think.
to be specific one part of rom population
makes its daily bread from breaking and
pickin from the mountains of everybodys garbage
recycable cables (they have copper in them, and they can resell to copper recycling center)
or simpler aluminum cans, there is alot of gory details here,ever seen the kids pickin garbage in BRAZIL
THIS IS FAR WORSE.
and the living conditions arent any better old containers house someof the families
that live without water, they have to bring from werever they find a faucet,
AND LETS BE PERFECTLY CLEAR , i remember in blog a comment about how the water tastes funny all over greece, this water does taste and is funny!!!!!!!!
well in ASPROPYRGOS AND ELEUSINA one of the most polluted areas of all of E U R O P E,
and with the garbage deep in the ground , you can understand what kind of toxins are going into the subsystem of the ground from ANO LIOSA TO ELEYSINA
so the all of the population (not only rom) has problems with the drinking water, depending on area
washing..?
(DONT BUY ANY VEGETABLES OUT OF THESE AREAS, PERIOD) the water comes from wells.
well anyway youre gettin the picture ,
oh lest i forget the police , stalag 17 was kindergarten to some areas were some ROM are, supposedly
there is drug trafficking and gun smuggling, probably is . BUT WHEN ALL OF THE DIFFUCULTYS
of living a normal life , with their special traditions is being regulated by
armed police guards dogs and machine guns, police blockades at entrance points,
(you thought DUBLIN was a mess)
and the central goverment is
backward in puttin to life programs to bring cultures parralel to wherever each community
can aim for, and live more temperate with each other , thus complementing this society
Now of course all the rom do not live there.
YES there is a greater population at large in greece
with better lives and better fortunes.
And some local communities that grow together with the local rom
thru s o m e succesful goverment education programs , not all.
c o i n c i d e n c e huh.
======== zardoz
This will, hopefully, bring the Greek Roma issues to the forefront on a large European scale. Too long have these people been marginalized, too few policies have been implemented to improve their quality of life. It is, of course, an issue that needs not only "outside" help but "inside" as well. Both non-Roma and Roma citizens must stop sustaining this segregation. I'm a bit wary, however, of political parties that represent the cause of one group of people because immediately a division is made among citizens. I would rather the existing political parties had more "minority" representatives: Roma, disabled, economic refugees, women, unemployed.
You are so right, flubberwinkle. I would also like to see more inclusion rather than segregation. I do not know if there are any Roma politicians at a local or national level Anyone know?
zardoz says:
the ones today that come into the limelight are ex-folksingers
(who passed thru the existing political partys)
sensitive to their own people's plight.as spokeperson on t.v.
There are some with writing capabilities which have published books on their lives 1986-i think.
but very shy, all in all , rom that have excelled in fields i dont know any except singin.
i am probably wrong but they keep their identity hidden if they have done well in a field
other than traditional ways of working.
but all in all ,
i think they have to come into their own ,
the rom people ,
i mean right know they are organized into
small clans or larger ones which a spiders web type set-up , were a king type lord of the land reigns, over them for symbolic phyletic events. and others....
for now this party will give them a voice .
maybe ,..hopefully they will learn to use it correctly for all concerned.
hopefully they will educate
others of their identity and generation to be proud of their traditions.
as nomad people of europe and hopefully many will be further educated to the ways of the world so they can find the best way for all to live together .
in all probability it was created because there is no respect and trust to the other political parties
on a social base . at least at this time .
but sometimes there are others interested for different reasons to support and guide such parties to be segregated . and influence this country down another road.
and in time maybe they will find their way to be positive citizens in a system that is for all .
ms DD proposition: why dont ya come in contakt with this rom party and interview them
i think mr VASILIS PAITERIS would be interested...?
=============== zardoz
I like your proposal although I am not a journalist or anything and have no idea how I could get in touch. I will try and find out.
ZARDOZ SAYS:
YOURE NOT A JOURNALIST.
Xuh-xuh.
o.k. whatever you think,
just the same
itll be interesting,
theyll like you im sure.
------zardoz
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