EU commitments to combat poverty are not credible if we let our biggest ethnic minority continue to live in slums without sewerage, transportation and schools, writes Shannon Pfohman.
Shannon Pfohman is Policy and Advocacy Director at Caritas Europa.
Most policymakers believe integrating Roma and Sinti minorities is a hard mission – perhaps impossible. Should we just capitulate and give up? Many organisations have been fighting against poverty for decades and have good reasons to say no, we must continue, and on the occasion of International Roma Day, I want to give a reminder of why this is vital for our humanity.
First, fostering Roma inclusion effectively contributes to significantly overcoming Europe’s poverty concerns. Recent official figures show that 80% of Roma residents in the EU live below the poverty line. This is a staggering number.
Second, government commitments to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights are not credible if they let Europe’s biggest ethnic minority continue to live in slums without sewerage, transportation, schools and healthcare facilities.
Third, Europe’s common values and laws are based on the principle that decent housing conditions are a fundamental right and essential to preserving human dignity.
The EU Roma Strategic Framework set the main objectives and targets that member states should implement via national strategies to ensure equality, inclusion, participation, education, employment, health and housing. Yet, most of the countries continue to struggle to put into practice effective local measures to support their National Roma Framework Strategies. With competing demands and scarce resources, only a few member states have prioritised this, indicating a lack of commitment and political will.
Roxana Y., a 47-year-old Roma woman, who has lived in Belgium since 2020, confirmed this from her perspective. Born in Romania, where the unemployment rate among Roma is over 40%, Roxana – not in possession of an official residence address – first lived for many years in Italy in a slum before moving to Belgium. She explained, “I changed homes three times in one year. The municipal authorities host us, but when the apartment is needed for someone new, we only have eight days to leave”.
Many Roma people in Europe are struggling to access and maintain basic necessities like clean water or secure housing. I witnessed despair when I visited a Roma settlement in Slovakia last year. A young Roma family of five invited me to see their living space, in a nine-square-metre hut. The children slept in two corners, their parents in opposite corners. An open wood stove in the middle was used both for cooking and for heating; the smoke fumes were clearly unhealthy.
National governments and local authorities need to exert greater effort to support this most disadvantaged population group. If women like Roxana struggle to see a proper future for her 17-year-old son, despite his ability to speak Flemish and attend a vocational school, there is a serious problem: stigma. She knows how many people – including key figures in their lives such as teachers, employers and landlords – see their ethnicity as a threat, an uncomfortable reminder. Discrimination is real and hard to eradicate.
The target to reduce discrimination by half is just one of seven targets in the EU Roma Strategic Framework. Another is doubling the number of children in early education. In Bulgaria, despite a recent law that imposes a mandatory two-year preschool education, there are regrettably not enough teachers and not enough teachers with an adequate level of training. Access to the labour market also remains difficult for Roma people.
Despite the many examples of underperformance when it comes to fostering Roma inclusion in Europe, some positive signs exist. One, for instance, is the Portuguese government involving the Roma communities in putting Roma inclusion and integration measures into practice. The European Commission’s focus on ensuring essential services will hopefully also be an important tool for responding to situations of extreme poverty.
While the European Commission has provided the framework and guidance to support the Member States to effectively meet the targets set out in 2020, it is now the task of Member States to achieve the seven targets to foster Roma inclusion, allocate dedicated budgets for these and actively involve the Roma people in the policy decisions that affect them. Europe cannot afford to give up on the estimated six million Roma people affected by unacceptably high levels of social exclusion. This cannot be a mission impossible.
Source: euractiv.com
