CAHROM (2017)17

                              Strasbourg, 20 October 2017

AD HOC COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON ROMA AND TRAVELLER ISSUES[1] (CAHROM)

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CAHROM THEMATIC VISIT

ON CHALLENGES AND BEST PRACTICES IN IMPLEMENTING ROMA INCLUSION STRATEGIES

(WITH A FOCUS ON SOLVING THE LACK OF PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS

AND IMPROVING ACCESS TO SOCIAL SERVICES, INCLUDING HEALTH CARE)

KYIV, UKRAINE, 26-28 APRIL 2017

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THEMATIC REPORT

approved by the experts of the thematic group and endorsed by the CAHROM at its 14^th plenary meeting

on 25 October 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION                                                                                                                                                               page 3

1.1          Background of the thematic report                                                                                                  page 3

1.2          Context of the thematic visit                                                                                                              page 4

1.3          Expectations of the Ukrainian hosting authorities                                                                         page 5

1.4          Composition of the thematic group  of experts                                                                              page 5

1.5          Programme of the thematic visit                                                                                                       page 6

1.6          Background material for the preparation of the thematic visit                                                   page 6

1.4          Terminology                                                                                                                                          page 7

II. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SIZE, COMPOSITION, AND LEGAL STATUS OF ROMA COMMUNITIES      page 9

2.1. Legal status                                                                                                                                                    page 9

2.2. Size and composition of the Roma communities                                                                                    page 9

                2.2.1 Ukraine                                                                                                                                        page 9

                2.2.2 Greece                                                                                                                                         page 10

                2.2.3 Poland                                                                                                                                          page 10

                2.2.4 Serbia                                                                                                                                           page 11

                2.2.5 “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”                                                                    page 13

III. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ROMA RELATED CHALLENGES AT NATIONAL/REGIONAL/LOCAL LEVELS     page 14

3.1    Challenges in relation to the development, implementation and monitoring of NRIS                    page 14

3.2    Challenges in relation to Identification Documents (IDs)                                                                      page 15

3.3    Challenges in relation to access to social services                                                                                 page 16

3.4    Challenges in relation to healthcare                                                                                                        page 16

3.5    Challenges in relation to (Roma) mediators                                                                                            page 17

3.6    Challenges in relation to housing                                                                                                              page 17

3.7    Challenges in relation to internally displaced Roma & Roma returnees                                            page 17

3.8    Challenges in respect to employment                                                                                                     page 18

3.9    Challenges in respect to education                                                                                                          page 18

3.10 Challenges in relation to (multiple) discrimination                                                                               page 19

3.11 Challenges in relation to (multiple) discrimination

IV. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RELEVANT LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS                                       page 20

V. CONCRETE MEASURES AND PROJECTS AND EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICES                                    page 24

5.1 Identification documents (IDs)                                                                                                                    page 24

5.2 Healthcare and health mediators                                                                                                               page 24

5.3 Education and school mediators/assistants                                                                                              page 25

5.4 Employment                                                                                                                                                   page 26

5.5 Housing                                                                                                                                                           page 26

5.6    Other services                                                                                                                                              page 27

5.7    Discrimination                                                                                                                                              page 27

5.8    Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees                                                                                page 28

VI.  CONCLUSIONS, LESSONS LEARNED, GOOD PRACTICES IDENTIFIED, AND ENVISAGED FOLLOW-UP           page 29

3.1          General conclusions of the thematic group of experts                                                                 page 29

                6.1.1       Conclusions concerning the organisation of the thematic visit                                   page 30

                6.1.2       Lessons learnt regarding the situation of Roma in Ukraine                                          page 30

6.2          Good practices identified                                                                                                                   page 35

6.3          Envisaged follow-up                                                                                                                             page 35

APPENDICES (official invitation letter, list of participants, programme, papers distributed, etc.)                      page 38

ADDENDUM: Experts’ and participants’ presentations and other relevant documents

I. INTRODUCTION              

 

1.1 Background of the thematic report

The Strasbourg Declaration on Roma adopted in October 2010^[2] states that member States are to take effective measures to avoid statelessness in accordance with domestic law and policy and to grant Roma legally residing in their national territory access to identification papers and promote through effective measures the equal treatment and the rights of Roma children, especially the right to education, and protect them against violence, including sexual abuse and labour exploitation, in accordance with international treaties.

According to the report Updating the Council of Europe agenda on Roma inclusion (2015-2019)^[3], a particular issue concerns the effective access to education of children from vulnerable groups, including Roma migrants in irregular situation and street children. In addition to coming from highly disadvantaged backgrounds, and in many cases being left to their own devices, the children concerned often lack identity papers. In some countries, all children living on their territory for any period of time, and regardless of their formal status, have an effective right and obligation to attend school but in other countries the lack of official documents is a very effective barrier to school attendance.

The thematic visit was organised in Kyiv on 26-28 April 2017 at the invitation of the Ukrainian authorities (see official letter received by the Secretariat on 15 February 2017 in Appendix 1).

The thematic visit in Ukraine was aimed at exchanging experience and best practices for the social inclusion of Roma, namely through their access to identity and civil registration documents, which is a prerequisite to improve access to social services. It paid particular attention to the challenges and best practices in implementing Roma inclusion strategies, in particular as regards mechanisms for solving the lack of personal identification documents and the limited access to social services, including health care and housing.

The topic of this thematic visit is very much related to two previous CAHROM thematic visits/reports, a) on “the role of central, regional and local authorities on the implementing national Roma policies” held in the Republic of Moldova in March 2012; b) on “solving the legal status of Roma from ex-Yugoslavia and their lack of personal identity documents” held in Italy in April 2014^[4].

In 2014, the purpose of the thematic visit to Rome was to provide additional evidence that those persons without personal documentation faced problems proving their nationality, accessing basic human rights and that they were at risk of becoming stateless. As we know, due to a lack of personal documents, many Roma are barred in practice from registering to vote, registering residences, and accessing rights to health care, education, employment and social benefits. Undocumented persons are not allowed to register the birth of their children and simply do not exist in their respective societies and, without formally recognized citizenship and other identifying documents, Roma communities' access to health insurance, health care and social assistance is severely limited. The lack of one document leads to the inability, in many cases, to access others and it can indeed lead to individuals' imprisonment in a vicious circle of social exclusion. The inability of Roma to access such basic personal documents has given rise to a situation in which their ability to access services crucial to the realisation of a number of fundamental rights and freedoms is threatened and, in many cases, denied.^[5]

It is in the interest of the State to ensure that everyone living on its territory is registered and given personal identification documents as it will contribute significantly to the reduction of social and health issues which carry a high cost.

Therefore, the first step for a person to be integrated in society and access basic rights is to possess personal identity documents and the first step for a State to ensure social inclusion is to provide these identification documents.

Without them, it is a vicious circle: no identification papers prevent access to school and social services, which in turn undermines the prospects for employment and income, to fully participate in society and to reach one’s full potential. It is worth noting that in the life-cycle concept, the ages of 3 to 6 is decisive as children who do not attend pre-school are more likely to drop out of school later on.

1.2 Context of the thematic visit

This thematic visit took place at a right momentum: the Ukrainian Government which adopted on 11 September 2013 a Plan of Action of the Strategy for the protection and integration of the Roma ethnic minority into Ukrainian society 2013-2020 (hereafter the National Roma Action Plan - NRAP) has decided to put more efforts in the implementation of this Action Plan for the remaining period (2018-2020). Indeed, as highlighted by the International Renaissance Foundation and the Coalition of Roma NGOs, and acknowledged by the Ministry of Culture itself, this National Roma Action Plan has not sufficiently been implemented so far by lack of clear indicators and budget allocations when it was adopted and therefore needs substantial efforts for its implementation and monitoring. This was also identified as a major shortcoming of the Plan of Action by the representative of the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality.

In October 2016 the Inter-ministerial Working Group for the Implementation of the Strategy of Integration of the Roma national minority into the Ukrainian Society met for the first time. It was set up on 22 November 2015 and is headed by the Vice Prime Minister of the Government of Ukraine. It also involves representatives from local and regional levels and Roma representatives. Ms Zemfira Kondur representing the Roma Coalition which brings together over 20 Roma organisations, including her own Roma women association Chiricli, was appointed Deputy-Chair of this Inter-ministerial Working Group.

The thematic visit was also timely because discussions with the Ministry of Finances will take place in May 2017 to ensure budget allocation for Roma targeted measures under this Action Plan. Ms Svitlana Fomenko, first Deputy Minister, indicated that the Ministry of Culture has already prepared a budget plan for the implementation of some of the measures of the national strategy for Roma for the next three years and expects and encouraged during the thematic visit other ministries to do the same.

The Ministry of Culture has a coordination role in Ukraine on Roma and other national minority policies. The first Deputy Minister within the Ministry of Culture, Ms Svitlana Fomenko, is very much committed to prioritise Roma issues and implement the national strategy for Roma.

A special secretariat to deal with Roma issues with one person in charge and an assistant will be soon established at the level of the Ministry of Culture.

The Ministry of Culture, which is following a bottom-up approach, has initiated a consultation  process aimed at collecting information and plans from various Ukrainian regions to improve the planning and budget allocation for the next three year implementation period of the National Roma Action Plan.

There is already a very well established cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Interior on Roma issues as regards law enforcement and identity documents and the monitoring of human rights protection. Similar cooperation would be welcomed with other line ministries in particular the Ministry of Health Care and the Ministry of Education.

1.3 Expectations of the Ukrainian hosting authorities

The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine wanted to hear partner countries experiences in developing national strategies/action plans for Roma Integration with a particular focus on solving ID documents and improving access to social services, healthcare in particular. This was intended to mobilise other ministries to be more active in the implementation and budgeting of the new phase of the Ukrainian National Roma Action Plan Action Plan. The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine proposed to focus the discussions on the two above-mentioned particular aspects which they consider as priorities and which require other relevant ministries and public institutions’ stronger involvement. The Ministry of Culture which was planning to set up a Roma secretariat with the financial assistance from International Renaissance Foundation was also willing to learn more about similar structures in partner countries. The Ukrainian authorities were also interested to hear whether partner countries where following a top-down (actions decided by the State) or a bottom-up approach (actions proposed by civil society) when designing their action plan/integration strategy and how these policies were financed.

1.4 Composition of the thematic group of experts

Mr Andriy YURASH                                                              CAHROM member, Director, Department for Religious Affairs and Nationalities, Ministry of Culture

Ms Olga ZHMURKO                                                              Roma Program Initiative Director, International Renaissance Foundation

Ms Zola KUNDUR                                                                  Chiricli Roma Women Fund

Mr Volodymyr NAVROTSKY                                                Consultant on Roma issues at the OSCE, Head of the NGO 'Carpathian Agency of Human Rights 'VESTED'

Ms Eleni KALLINIKOU (Greece)                                         CAHROM member, Ministry of Interior of the Hellenic Republic

                                                                                                Independent Department of International and European Relations

Ms Elzbieta MIRGA-WOJTOWICZ (Poland)                       Malopolski Voivod Office                  

Dr Dragoljub ACKOVIC (Serbia)                                         CAHROM member, Deputy Director, Office for Human and Minority Rights,

Mr Elvis MEMETI (“The former Yugoslav Republic         Adviser for the implementation of Roma strategy, Ministry of Labour

of Macedonia”)                                                                    and Social Policy

                                                                                               

Dr Zora POPOVA (ECMI)                                                     Senior Research Associate, European Centre for Minority Issues

Mr Michael GUET                                                                 Secretary of the CAHROM, Head of I-CARE Unit, Support Team of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues

Ms Valérie POPPE-MUESS                                                  Project manager, I-CARE Unit, Support Team of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues

1.5 Programme of the thematic visit

The agenda (see Appendix 2) included meetings and exchanges of views with several relevant ministries (Culture, Health, Social Policy, Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs) and state agencies (State Migration Service), as well as with the representative of the Ombudsman’s office, representatives of the Kyiv and Odessa municipal and regional authorities, Roma and non-Roma NGOs (International Renaissance Foundation, Roma NGOs Coalition representatives, including Chiricli, and Roma mediators).

Whilst the initial proposal from the hosting authorities and the International Renaissance Foundation was to take the CAHROM delegation to Odessa for the 2^nd day of the thematic visit, it was decided to save on travel time; so instead, authorities from Odessa joined the delegation in Kyiv, the costs being covered by the International Renaissance Foundation.

A debriefing session between the experts of the thematic group was organised in the morning of the third day following the meetings with the authorities.

The preparation of the thematic visit followed the guidelines developed by the CAHROM and allowed the possibility for the Council of Europe Secretariat to discuss the agenda and introduce some changes.

Instead of a series of bilateral meetings, it was also agreed to organise round table discussions with different actors (officials, NGOs, etc.).

1.6 Background material for the preparation of the thematic visit

Background information circulated prior to this thematic visit took into consideration ECRI monitoring reports and other material and research available at national and international levels. Dr Zora Popova, Senior Researcher at ECMI who participated in this thematic visit used the following sources for her comparative analysis (see chapters II, III and IV).

• “Anti-discrimination legislation and practice: The rights of vulnerable groups in the context of the Association Agreement “, report drafted by Julia Tyshchenko, Marfa Skoryk, Natalia Belitser, Sviatoslav Sheremet, Bogdan Mojsa, Sergij Ponomarev and Lilia Oleksiuk, EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform, 3rd meeting, Kyiv, 8-9 November 2016 http://ec.europa.eu/justice/discrimination/files/comparative_analysis_2013_en.pdf
• ECRI Report on Poland, (fifth monitoring cycle) published on 9 June 2015
• ECRI Report on “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” published on 7 June 2016
• ECRI Report on Greece (fifth monitoring cycle), published in 24 February 2015
• ECRI Report on Serbia (fourth monitoring cycle) published on 31 May 2011
• ECRI Report on Ukraine (fourth monitoring cycle), published on 21 February 2012
• Ethnic Minorities in Serbia, An Overview, OSCE Mission to Serbia, February 2008 http://www.osce.org/serbia/30908?download=true
• European Commission, 2011c. “An EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020”, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52011DC0173&from=en
• “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, A Report by the European Roma Rights Centre, 2011-2012, http://www.errc.org/cms/upload/file/macedonia-country-profile-2011-2012.pdf
• General Characteristics of Substandard Roma Settlements in Serbia and a Proposal for Further Development Initiatives for the Improvement of the Living Conditions of the Roma Community, http://www.osce.org/serbia/159711?download=true
• http://zakon3.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/5207-17
• ROMED 1, http://coe-romed.org/romed1/map
• ROMED 2, http://coe-romed.org/romed2/countries
• Serbia, A Report by the European Roma Rights Centre, 2011-2012, http://www.errc.org/cms/upload/file/serbia-country-profile-2011-2012.pdf
• Statement of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for Roma issues at www.coe.int/roma (see news) and the joint statement on evictions of Roma and Travellers in Europe from 29 June 2016
• Ukraine, A Report by the European Roma Rights Centre, 2011-2012, http://www.errc.org/cms/upload/file/ukraine-country-profile-2011-2012.pdf

1.7 Terminology

The group of experts considered worth recalling for the purpose of this thematic report the following definitions provided in Recommendation CM/Rec(2008)5 of the Committee of Ministers on policies for Roma and/or Travellers in Europe^[7]

A ‘policy’ is an overall plan embracing general goals and procedures and intended to guide and determine present and future decisions, including legislation and programming.

A ‘strategy’ is a detailed plan based on long-term objectives for achieving positive results in situations, such as Roma employment, or a skill in planning for such situations.

A ‘programme’ is a series of projects with a common overall objective.

A ‘project’ is a series of activities with set objectives, designed to produce a specific outcome within a limited time frame.

The ‘project purpose’ is the central objective of the project. The purpose should address the core problem, and be defined in terms of sustainable benefits for the target group(s). There should only be one project purpose per project.

An ‘objective’ is the description of the aim of a project or programme. In its generic sense it refers to activities, results, project purpose and overall objectives.

An ‘output’ is the clearly identified products emerging from activities.

‘Results’ are the products of the activities undertaken, the combination of which achieve the project purpose, namely the beginning of enjoyment of sustainable benefits for the target groups.

‘Impact/outcomes’ are the effect of the project on its wider environment, and its contribution to the broader sectoral objectives summarised in the project’s overall objectives, and on the achievement of the overarching policy objectives.

An ‘indicator’ is an observable change or event which provides evidence of change, whether this be short-term or long-term change. They can be revealing of effort and effect at all levels from outputs to objectives.

‘Milestones/benchmarks’ are a type of objectively verifiable indicator providing indications for short- and medium-term objectives (usually activities) which facilitate measurement of achievements throughout a project rather than just at the end. They also indicate times when decisions should be made or action should be finished.

‘Participation’ is the active involvement of a person or a group of people within an activity and goes beyond consultation to being a form of active, continuing and effective engagement.

‘Monitoring’ is the systematic and continuous assessment of the progress of a piece of work over time, enabling actors to verify that things are going to plan and make adjustments in a methodical way.

‘Evaluation’ is the periodic assessment of the relevance, performance, efficiency and rate of achievement of the general objective.

‘Dissemination’ is the wide diffusion of points of knowledge, products developed and project results (for example, methods, products, educational programmes, instruments/tools, models, insights and policy ideas) among relevant target groups playing a part in the mainstreaming process.

‘Mainstreaming’ is a continuous and process-oriented strategy to integrate working methods targeting particular groups or specific aspects of a situation, in regular organisational policies, aiming, in the end, at influencing policy and implementation, and generating fundamental changes. Examples: horizontally (within branches or sectors of similar organisations), vertically (within local, regional or national policy) or transnationally (within partner organisations or through bodies such as the European Commission or the Council of Europe).

‘Positive action’: “With a view to ensuring full equality in practice, the principle of equal treatment shall not prevent any member state from maintaining or adopting specific measures to prevent or compensate for disadvantages linked to racial or ethnic origin.” (EC Directive 2000/43/EC). “The law should provide that the prohibition of racial discrimination does not prevent the maintenance or adoption of temporary special measures designed either to prevent or compensate for disadvantages suffered by [Roma and/or Travellers] or to facilitate their full participation in all fields of life. These measures should not be continued once the intended objectives have been achieved.” (ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 7 on national legislation to combat racism and racial discrimination, paragraph 5).

Under Article 1.1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ‘racial discrimination’, as defined in international law, is “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life”. Article 2.2 of the Directive 2000/43/EC of the Council of the European Union refers to racial discrimination as “discrimination on the ground of race or ethnic origin”.

Discrimination can take a variety of forms and may include direct and indirect forms of discrimination:

-           “direct discrimination occurs when one person is treated less favourably than another is treated in a comparable situation on grounds of racial or ethnic origin”. An example of direct discrimination is a job advert, which says “no Roma people need apply”;

-           “indirect discrimination occurs where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice would put persons of a racial or ethnic origin at a particular disadvantage compared with other persons, unless that provision, criterion or practice is objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary”. An example of indirect discrimination is requiring all people who apply for a certain job to sit a test in a particular language, even though that language is not necessary for the job.

II. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SIZE, COMPOSITION, AND LEGAL STATUS OF ROMA COMMUNITIES

The five member States represented in the thematic visit present different contexts with regard to the size, composition and legal status of Roma.

2.1 Legal status

Four of the five member States participating in this thematic visit have ratified the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) but Roma have been given the status of a national minority in Serbia[8] and Ukraine only. In Poland and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Roma are officially recognised as an ethnic minority. Roma are recognised as a distinct ethnicity in the preamble of the Constitution of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”). A contrario, in Greece, which has only signed the FCNM, Roma (“Gypsies”) are considered an integral part of the Greek population and have no official identification other than that of Greek citizens. At the same time, with respect to their community’s particular lifestyle and needs, Greek Roma have been recognised by the state as a socially vulnerable group of the Greek population for whom the state has adopted and implements policies and measures of positive discrimination. Social integration policies target all Greek “Gypsies”, irrespective of their religion and form measures of positive action in all spheres of social life such as health, housing, employment, education, culture and sport.

The issue of legal status directly affects the possibility of gathering official data for the number of Roma living in a particular state. Considered as Greek citizens only, Roma in Greece are not registered separately either within the national census or on the municipal registers. As a result of this, an exact official number of the Roma population is not available. In that sense too, since any such figures are mainly based on Roma self-identification, any reference to a precise number resulting from studies by local authorities or other bodies in drafting and implementing social integration projects is not based on credible procedures and criteria either.

In their policy and programme planning, the other four countries (Poland, Serbia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Ukraine) refer to the available census data which, apart from being unreliable due to a number of underlying factors, is also rather out-dated in the case of Ukraine and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (from 2001 and 2002 respectively). The discrepancies between the official data and the estimates therefore differ significantly in all five countries, and estimates may also vary significantly between official and NGO sources

2.2. Size and composition of the Roma population

   2.2.1. Ukraine

Roma are officially recognized as a national minority in Ukraine.  According to the official census conducted in 2001, 48,000 people identified themselves as from Roma origin. However current reports made by Ukrainian and international NGOs estimate that there are between 200,000 and 400,000 Roma living in Ukraine.

In Ukraine, Roma can be divided into sub-groups within a particular region by dialect and religion, such as Servy, Russko-Roma; Vlakhy, Kotliary, Kolderary, Madjar (Ungry); and Crymy (Crimean). Most Roma in Ukraine are sedentary. There are a few nomadic groups from the western part of Ukraine who migrate seasonally looking for employment in central and other parts of Ukraine. The regions of Transcarpathia and Odessa have the largest number of Roma people who are segregated geographically, mostly in rural areas, in compact Roma settlements: indeed, two of the biggest Roma settlements in Ukraine are located in the cities of Mukachevo (about 6 000 Roma) and Beregovo (about 5 000 Roma) in the Transcarpathia region.

The regions of Transcarpathia and Odessa have the largest number of Roma people and compact Roma settlements, segregated geographically, mostly in rural areas. However, two of the biggest Roma settlements in Ukraine are located in the cities of Mukachevo (about 6,000 Roma) and Beregovo (about 5,000 Roma), in the Transcarpathia region.

Roma in Ukraine could be divided into sub-groups within the region, by dialect and religion. The Roma ethnic minority is not homogeneous; among them are Servy, Russko-Roma; Vlakhy, Kotliary, Kolderary, Madjar (Ungry), Crymy (Crimean). Most Roma in Ukraine are sedentary.

Traditional and closed communities, the most segregated ones, are led by their head – authoritative traditional leader, named “baro” or “starosta”, who also has the roles of mediator and negotiator in the communication and relationships between Roma communities (settlements), local authorities and law enforcement. At the same time civil society activists from Roma communities notice that the “institute of baro or traditional leader” is losing the power it had and is gradually disappearing.

 

2.2.2 Greece

There is no official data available about the number of Roma living in Greece. They number 200,000 according to the Greek government. According to the National Commission for Human Rights that estimated number is closer to 250,000 and according to the Greek Helsinki Watch group to 300,000.

According to the Integrated Action Plan for the Social Integration of Greek Gypsies^[9], Gypsies in Greece consists an integral part of the Greek population; they have unequivocally expressed the wish to be considered and treated as Greek citizens, and not only as persons of “Gypsy” origin. They are Greek citizens and they fall within the Constitution and the laws of the Greek State. They are not registered separately from other Greek citizens, either during the national census, or in the municipal rolls.  As a result of this, there is not a precise official number of the Roma (“Gypsy”) population as such. In that sense too, any reference to a precise number resulted by several studies held by the local authorities or other bodies in terms of drafting and implementing projects of social integration, is not based on either credible procedures and criteria, since any such figures are mainly based on Roma (“Gypsy”) self-identification.

Greek Gypsies (Roma) enjoy by constitutional law all civic and political rights entitled to Greek citizens (electoral – voting rights, freedom of association, syndicalism, expression, etc.). Thus, (Greek) “Gypsies” in Greece participate at and constitute political parties, they vote and get elected too, they organize themselves in collective bodies and they participate at public life and local government structures. Furthermore, with respect to their community particular life style and needs, Greek Gypsies have been recognised by the State as a socially vulnerable group of the Greek population towards to which the State has adopted and implements policies and measures of positive discrimination. Social integration policies target all Greek “Gypsies”, irrespectively of their religion and they form measures of positive action on all spheres of social life such as health; housing; employment; education; culture and sports.

2.2.3 Poland

In the 2011 National Census of Population and Housing, 16,723 Polish citizens declared Roma ethnicity and 15,657 declared using the Romani language at home (2002 Census). The Roma population consists of 8,604 women and 8,119 men, including 10,840 persons of working age. Notwithstanding the foregoing, information coming from the centrally-appointed governors (voivodes) and partners of the “Roma Programme” collected in 2004-2013 shows that in Poland live approx. 20,000 to 25,000 Roma (0.08% of the total population).

Roma belong to the five groups: Polish Roma, Carpathian Roma also called Bergitka Roma or Mountain Roma and Kalderari and Lovari, as well as small group Sinti. These groups differ in cultural, social and economic terms. Vast majority of Roma in Poland constitute urban population (92%). They mainly live in major cities across the country. All these groups are sedentary since the 1960s (forced by the Communist regime). The Bergitka Roma group has had a sedentary way of life for a long time.

The search for a better life, especially after the enlargement of the European Union to include new countries from Central and Eastern Europe, resulted in the migration of Roma to Western Europe. Migration processes included a large number of Roma from Poland. Roma migrants (mostly Romanian and Bulgarian) arrive in Poland, relatively few in number.

There are approximately 120 Roma non-governmental organisations registered in Poland, declaring themselves as Roma minority organisations. Two representatives of the Roma community are present in the Joint Commission of Government and National and Ethnic Minorities, established by the Act of January 6, 2005 on National and Ethnic Minorities and Regional Language. At the same time - by using the opportunity to establish permanent panel of this Commission - since 2008 operates the Roma Team, which consists of 20 representatives of Roma origin people. It acts as a forum for the exchange of information on matters relating to the Roma ethnic minority issues, and is an advisory body whose aim should be the development of proposals for actions with the goal to improve the situation of minorities in Poland.

   2.2.4. Serbia

According to the official census, as of 2011, 147,604 inhabitants of Serbia self-declared as belonging to the Roma community (2.1 % of the total number of inhabitants)^[10]. Civil society organisations and researchers working with Roma believe that the real number of Roma in Serbia is close to 600,000 (8.31% of the total population). This estimated figure is used by the Council of Europe and also by the Office of Human and Minority Rights of the Serbian Government.

According to data collected in the Census of 2011, analysed in the study “Roma in Serbia”, indicators of poverty among ethnic Roma are derived indirectly. Based on the aggregate data on the demographic characteristics of the population, and on the monitoring of the economic structure of population, differences have been observed “between the ethnic communities and the general national level in the development of economic structures, which ultimately determine the social status of the society as the whole and of individual ethnic communities in it.

It is estimated that around 70% of Roma population in Serbia live in Roma settlements, and only around 5% of Roma live in public social apartments (in the majority population that percentage is lower, it is 3% but they make much higher figure in the absolute amount). Having in mind the dimensions of poverty and social exclusion of Roma, that percentage is extremely low. Namely, while 14.7% of the entire population is faced with problems of poor housing, it is the case with 64.1% of Roma population. The Roma Position Improvement Strategy indicates that 39% of Roma households lack water supply, and 5% has no sanitary devices at all (up to 25% in slams). A significant percentage of Roma in Serbia are concentrated in the south in municipalities such as Bujanovac, Vranje, Vladicin Han and Leskovac^[11]; several Roma settlements are also registered around major urban centres in Belgrade District, Nisava District and South Backa District, etc.^[12]The main sub-groups of Roma in Serbia include “Turkish Gypsies” (Turski Cigani), “White Gypsies” (Beli Cigani), “Wallachian Gypsies” (Vlaški Cigani) and “Hungarian Gypsies” (Mađarski Cigani). Roma comprise approximately 12% of the 221,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kosovo*. However, IDP figures are based on registration and it is estimated that some 20,000 Roma IDPs in Serbia are not registered.^[13]

Spatial layout, date of origin and legal status in 2002

According to 2002 survey results, 593 Roma settlements were registered in Serbia (more than 100 households) of which 34.6% was partly and 35.5% completely illegal, while 43% were slams (without electricity around 10%, with water supply in the apartment 47.1%, and sewerage system only 24.2%). During the thematic visit, it was indicated that the number of Roma settlements is in fact 750. Out of these 750 Roma settlements, 500 have sub-standard and unsanitary living conditions[14]. Not all of them are informal and unhygienic but information collected shows that two-third of the Roma population (400,000 people) live in completely inadequate settlements. According to the Office for Human and Minority Rights, there are six such settlements in Zemun, nine in Arandjelovac, twelve each in the municipalities of Palilula, Niš and Požarevac, 13 each in Čukarica and New Belgrade, 15 in Ub, 18 in Pirot, 22 in Lazarevac, 25 in Obrenovac…

The Strategy for Social Inclusion of Roma (2016-2025) was adopted on 3^rd March 2016 and was preceded by an extensive process of public consultations, in particular with the Roma community and a policy assessment by experts from the civil society and academia. The overall objective of the Strategy is the improvement of the socio-economic status of the Roma, eliminate discrimination and achieve a greater social inclusion of Roma men and women into all segments of society. The Strategy sets five special objectives in key areas which can contribute to the attainment of the overall objective, namely education, housing, employment, health care and social care.

The Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy, developed with the participation of wide network of stakeholders (governmental institutions, civil society organisations and Roma community representatives) and adopted by the Government of Serbia, conducted consultative workshops with 125 Roma representatives of Roma community (co-ordinators and other municipality employees dealing with Roma issues, pedagogical assistants, health mediators and members of civil society organisations) from 59 local self-governments. The participants were given a detailed introduction of the goals and measures of the Strategy. Inputs from these consultative workshops are valuable contributions to the national Action plan.

Returnees under the Readmission Agreement are citizens of the Republic of Serbia who have been refused an asylum application or have lost their rights to temporary residency, most commonly in a country of the European Union. Such people are returned on the basis of the Readmission Agreement into which Serbia entered with the European Union and individual countries.

The Strategy for Returnee Reintegration under the Readmission Agreement is a national strategic document that defines the mechanisms for the sustainable and active integration of returnees. The Strategy states that particular attention needs to be paid to the most vulnerable section of the returning population - Roma. The strategy also recognises priority areas which are of significance for returnees under the Readmission Agreement in fully pursuing their rights - access to personal documents, resolving housing issues, facilitating employment and making possible for them to exercise other primarily economic and social rights, such as the right to health care and education.

Since integration happens at the local community level, it is essential for all local stakeholders to be involved (representatives of local government and institutions, civil society organisations and the returnees themselves), for local action plans to be adopted and funding secured for the successful implementation of the planned measures and activities. At the same time, empowering returnees to more successfully express the needs and problems they face in everyday life is of huge significance to the process as a whole. Successful integration ensures full respect for standards of human rights protection for returnees, prevents poverty from re-emerging and reduces the risks of repeat migrations.

The most common problems faced by returnees under the Readmission Agreement when they return to Serbia, especially by those who have spent a longer period of time abroad, are a lack of documents, unresolved social and economic issues, a lack of information, complicated procedures and social isolation due to their lack of contacts and poor knowledge of the local language. Also, they do not know enough about their rights, duties and obligations in relation to the environment into which they returned (e.g. to have the right to health care and social protection, that children need to enrol in a school, and that it is necessary to have identification cards). Local inhabitants are reluctant to communicate with the Roma because they are new or visible in the local community (residents are distrustful, have prejudices about them, avoid them, etc.).

   2.2.5. “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”

In “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Roma are not concentrated in a particular region of the country, but are instead spread all over the territory. According to the 2002 population census, 27 municipalities have a share of Roma exceeding 1% of the population; ten of these have over 4% of Roma within their municipality. Most of the Roma refugees from Kosovo* have settled in the municipality of Šuto Orizari in Skopje - Europe's first municipality led by a Roma mayor and the only one in the world in which the Romani language has been granted an official status.

According to the 2002 population census, the number of self-declared Roma is 53,879, i.e. 2.6% of the total population. In addition, 3,843 declared to be Egyptians. Researchers’ estimates of the Roma population vary from 80,000 to 260,000. The estimated figure used by the Council of Europe is 200,000 (Roma and Egyptians included), i.e. 9.5% of the total population. The country is also home to nearly 1,700 refugees, mostly Roma, who fled their homes as a result of the 1999 conflict in Kosovo*[15]. Most of these persons are living in the municipality Šuto Orizari in Skopje. Most Roma speak Romani as their first language, others speak Albanian; most of them practice Islam.

Most of the Roma still speak their own language, Romani, together with the language that dominates in the regions where they are located, i.e. Macedonian and/or Albanian. A large number of Macedonian Roma are Muslim, although some of them practice other religions too.

III. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CHALLENGES FACED BY ROMA AT NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND LOCAL LEVELS

The thematic visit to Ukraine in April 2017 brought together CAHROM representatives from five CoE member States (Greece, Poland, Serbia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Ukraine) with rather different contexts regarding the size, composition and legal status of Roma, as well as challenges and experiences in Roma inclusion. Participants (including the CAHROM Secretariat and the European Centre for Minority Issues [ECMI]) exchanged information about problems and adopted approaches and positive practices from their own countries and from other CoE member States.

On the basis of the similarities and differences between the challenges and best practices in the implementation of Roma inclusion strategies that were discussed during the thematic visit, the following comparative analysis aims to enrich the discussion by emphasizing that the thematic approach to the issues allows for identification of possible measures that could be adapted and transferred from one country to another. It also outlines that, despite Roma inclusion being enacted as a national responsibility, some synchronisation between European policies and practices is needed in order to tackle horizontal disparities and challenges, as well as establish structured and systematic co-operation between member States.

Despite differences between the contexts in the countries represented in the thematic visit, discussions revealed that similar challenges are faced with regard to the development, implementation and monitoring of the national Roma inclusion programmes. The sections below outline the key barriers identified under the various aspects of inclusion and refer to some of the examples provided by the experts during the thematic visits, as well as through background documents and reports.

3.1   Challenges in relation to the development, implementation and monitoring of national Roma inclusion strategies

State institutions and local authorities often lack sufficient understanding of the problems faced by Roma due to their complexity. In contrast to other minorities, Roma communities are not just in need of protection of their cultural and/or linguistic rights but also in major need of social support. Hence, affirmative measures need be taken by states, regional and local authorities, however, at the moment, such instruments have a very limited scope (for example, the allocation of social benefits of 300 euros to children up to 16 years of age by local authorities in Greece or the employment quota in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”) and are not introduced in all states (for example, Ukraine). At the same time, the cultural factor appears to also be a barrier to improving the situation of part of the Roma population. The Polish experience shows that the hermetic nature of some traditional Roma communities due to maintained culturally motivated self-isolation also appears to be a significant impediment to social integration.

The lack of an integrated approach towards improving the situation of Roma and addressing the difficulties they face in all fields of daily life, including education, employment, housing and health, has been identified as a serious challenge in Ukraine. Achieving coherence between national strategies, regional action plans and local-level implementation is a precondition for the effectiveness of any integration measures. As outlined by Greece, the lack of structured co-operation between the authorities at different levels makes the implementation of programmes and measures and the overcoming of local resistance to Roma inclusion dependent on the good political will of the local authorities. 

The establishment of a system of monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of strategies and action plans and ensuring that there is sufficient knowledge among people who are directly responsible for Roma inclusion (which can be very problematic due to frequent changes of staff, as the experience in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” reveals) are also among the structural challenges that are currently facing all states. The major challenge, however, is the lack of availability of realistic data about the number of people in need of support. The significant discrepancies between official figures and estimates of the Roma population have a direct negative impact on policy planning and implementation, including the allocation of adequate financial funds and other resources.  

Finally, as the experts from Ukraine and Greece outlined, there is a need for institutional arrangements to promote an active role of Roma communities in the decision-making process. Through national, regional and local consultative mechanisms or direct involvement in the implementation of activities, Roma representatives should become active participants in the integration process.

3.2   Challenges in relation to Identification Documents (IDs)              

While Greece and Poland did not indicate statelessness as being one of the major challenges to Roma integration, the lack of ID documents and the difficulties associated with the registration of Roma appear to be a major issue in Serbia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Ukraine. The exchange of information regarding the legislative frameworks and the existing practices in these three countries revealed differences in the level of flexibility of the current systems for registration. The lack of biometrical documents in Ukraine, the lack of an integrated system of social services and the requirement for a permanent address are significant obstacles to reducing the number of stateless Roma. As the ECMI pointed out, collecting biometric data and issuing a single social security card (to cover all services) was a measure used by Germany as a first step in the registration of refugees during the refugee crisis of 2015-2016.

According to recent polls, there are between 10% and 17% of Roma in Ukraine without any identification papers. However, there appears to be neither a simplified procedure nor a government programme in place at present to assist Roma in obtaining such papers. Furthermore, as the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality observed, there are different practices, even in the same region, as regards the provision of identity documents by administration, including demands that are not in accordance with law.

As Roma representatives reported, registration can be extremely difficult, particularly in cases where a long period of time has elapsed since a person was last registered; all the more so if this was in the Russian Federation or Belarus under the former Soviet regime. Many Roma were born outside of hospitals and thus are not able to prove their actual birth in order to obtain birth certificates. There were reported cases of registration services, contrary to law, refusing to register the birth of Roma children if neither parents had identification. Yet without a birth certificate, a child cannot enrol in school and without an identity card a person older than sixteen years of age cannot enrol in high school or lawfully obtain work. The lack of identity documents also affects access to healthcare and means it is impossible to exercise the right to vote. Roma children whose parents lack identity papers are especially penalised in this context and may even be deprived of rights to which they are entitled under international law, such as the right to an education.

Secondary legal aid is also not accessible to Roma without identification papers as they are not able to prove their identity. Local migration services such as the passport issuing authority are not Roma-friendly and usually, if the case is difficult, try to find a reason to refuse the issue of a passport instead of helping illiterate Roma to obtain it. Due to the hybrid war conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine, Roma internally displaced people from the Donbas region and Crimea have become another vulnerable multi-discriminated group. According to NGO reports, in 2014 about 9 000 Roma IDPs moved from the conflict zone.

Insufficient information sharing between hospitals and local registry offices, especially when parents cannot produce the necessary documents, as observed in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, can also be obstacles to the issuing of birth certificates. At the same time, the increase in official attention given to the issue of personal documentation as seen in the Strategy for Intensifying the Social Inclusion of Roma in the System of Social Protection 2012-2014 in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, indicates the importance of raising awareness among the Roma people about the importance of obtaining identity papers.

The need for a more pro-active approach of state institutions was also identified as a challenge by the Ukrainian experts. Solving the problem of lack of personal identity documents, including citizenship, residence and birth certificates would address many challenges facing the Roma.

The overall conclusion from the discussion was that the lack of flexibility of registration systems presents a major impediment to Roma inclusion. Without the possibility to issue a birth certificate to a child with a registered father but an unregistered mother (“the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”) or without simplified procedures for providing identification papers for people who have not been registered for a long time (Poland and Ukraine), and with demands for a permanent address (Ukraine) or presentation of electricity or water bills in order to prove residence (Greece) as conditions for registration with authorities, the problems with statelessness will endure and a number of Roma children and adults will continue to be directly excluded from any possibility for social support.

3.3   Challenges in relation to access to social services        

Since the provision of social services in both the host country and the participating countries of the thematic visit is directly connected to the civil registration of the beneficiaries, the problem of identification papers clearly requires the most immediate intervention and resolution. The lack of personal documents creates serious impediments for the Roma minority to access not only social services but also their basic human rights, such as education, housing, healthcare and employment.

In addition to the cases of statelessness by birth, another phenomenon reported by Serbia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” has risen over recent years as an additional challenge in the access to social services, namely Roma returnees from European Union countries under readmission agreements. In the period January 2016-September 2016, the Office for Readmission at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia, accepted and registered a total of 3,041 persons, among whom 2,215 were Roma. The most common problems facing returnees, especially those who have spent a longer period of time abroad, are a lack of documents, unresolved social and economic issues, a lack of information, complicated procedures and social isolation due to their lack of contacts and poor knowledge of the local language. In addition, they do not know enough about their rights, duties and obligations in relation to the environment into which they returned (for example, the right to healthcare and social protection, the compulsory enrolment of children in school and the need to have identity cards). Local inhabitants are reluctant to communicate with the Roma because they are new or visible in the local community (residents are distrustful, have prejudices about them, avoid them, etc.).

3.4   Challenges in relation to healthcare            

As reported by all states, the health of Roma is worse than that of the general population due to factors such as prevailing poverty, poor living conditions and sanitation, low level of education, cultural and/or linguistic barriers, lack of vaccinations, etc.

During the discussions, various challenges were identified with regard to the access of Roma to healthcare. Certainly, the lack of ID documents (“the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”), lack of necessary medical registration (Serbia) and the impossibility of Roma to cover minimum levels of healthcare payments (Bulgaria) prevent a number of persons from seeking and obtaining the necessary medical help. Furthermore, cases of discrimination and segregation of Roma in hospitals (for example, in obstetrics departments as reported by the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality of Ukraine) increase the level of mistrust and reluctance among Roma women to seek medical help.

 

Alongside these structural barriers the lack of awareness among the Roma population about their rights and existing initiatives and measures is similarly problematic. The Serbian government adopted a decision stating that Roma are entitled to healthcare even if they are unemployed and without a permanent residence. However, it appears that this decision needs to be circulated among Roma communities as the overwhelming majority of Roma are not aware of it.

3.5   Challenges in relation to (Roma) mediators                                                                                               

Although all participants in the discussions during the thematic visit outlined the training of Roma mediators as being one of the most successful programmes aimed at Roma integration in their states, NGO representatives from Ukraine pointed out certain factors that, in their opinion, impede the achievement of better results. The current number of 52 trained Roma health mediators appears to be insufficient to cover all the communities in need across Ukraine. Furthermore, the lack of institutionalisation of the position makes the work of the Roma mediators dependent on both donor funding and the goodwill of local authorities for provision of the necessary support.

3.6   Challenges in relation to housing            

Poor living conditions in Roma households and Roma settlements, illegal dwellings, lack of basic sanitary infrastructure, segregation and ghettoisation appear as common challenges to Roma integration for both the host country and those participating in the thematic visit. Serbian NGOs estimate that two-thirds of the Roma population continue to live in informal settlements lacking schools, medical care, water, electricity and sewage facilities. These settlements are overpopulated and far from basic facilities and services. In addition, the majority of Roma living in these settlements do not have the relevant ownership documentation for their homes or land, thus compounding their housing problems.  There are Roma settlements in all parts of Serbia, the majority being in Belgrade and in other larger cities and municipalities. Similarly, as the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) reports,  living conditions in many Roma settlements in Greece continue to be a cause for concern. Some settlements are in complete isolation from the rest of the population, without running water or electricity, with no heating in winter and leaking roofs in some cases, and without a sewage system or access to public transport. Furthermore, forced evictions of Roma have taken place without specifying a suitable place to install a safe and legal settlement and without providing adequate access to legal remedies. In 2016 in Ukraine, with the exception of the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality or European organisations^[16], state institutions did not react to forced evictions. From a Serbian perspective, this problem is not only a matter of law, planning or administration; it is also the consequence of discrimination in the area of urban planning.

3.7   Challenges in relation to internally displaced Roma & Roma returnees

Challenges with regard to the integration of refugees and internally displaced people of Roma origin appear to be a common problem for Ukraine, Serbia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”.

According to ECRI reports, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians comprise about 10% of the estimated 209,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Serbia. Whilst some of them have been accommodated in government-supported collective houses, as a result of the reluctance of local municipalities to provide residences for Roma IDPs, others have settled in unrecognised collective centres, makeshift huts, corrugated metal containers and other substandard shelters. NGOs indicate that a significant number of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian IDPs also live in approximately 600 illegal settlements in Serbia alongside other Roma. The improvement of housing is the greatest challenge they face, however most of the time they cannot apply for the limited amount of housing available due to lack of information and documents.

NGOs state that, whilst other internally displaced children generally have access to education, most Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children face obstacles in accessing public education and many who can enrol subsequently drop out. Apart from the poor living conditions, difficulties in accessing employment and restricted access to social benefits due to lack of personal documents are also among the challenges that prevent the integration of Roma IDPs

Currently, the situation with Roma IDPs is also problematic for Ukraine. Refugees have been accommodated in temporary settlements but, as the NGO representatives reported, they live in extremely poor conditions due to lack of a basic sanitation infrastructure. Furthermore, the level of awareness of the local authorities of the needs of these people is very low and, as such, adequate services and support have not been provided.  It was also reported during the thematic visit by young Roma leaders that some young Roma still present in conflict areas in the eastern part of Ukraine when trying to regularise their situation obtained ID documents from self-proclaimed authorities which does not allow them to travel in the rest of Ukraine (only within this oblast and to Russia).

3.8   Challenges in relation to employment

Unemployment among Roma has also been identified as a common challenge. The lack of personal documents is one of the factors impeding employers from hiring Roma people. Other common structural challenges that obstruct access to the labour market are the low level of education and lack of professional qualifications prevailing among Roma communities. Furthermore, existing prejudice and discrimination limit the employment possibilities of Roma in all the national contexts discussed during the thematic visit. Facilitating the access of Roma to employment is still not an established practice.

3.9   Challenges in relation to education

Education appears to be another field of common challenges faced by Roma regardless of their country of origin. Lack of pre-school education (due to fees for childcare or cultural factors), low primary school attendance and high levels of dropping out early from the educational systems (as a result of poverty, discrimination or lack of educational support) affect the Roma communities in general.

Additional major challenges are the discrimination of Roma children and cases of segregation. As ECRI reports indicate, educational authorities have often failed to provide adequate protection of the rights of Roma children who face prejudice, verbal abuse and violence. Segregation further reinforces existing discriminatory practices. School segregation of Roma, in particular in the regions of Transcarpathia and Odessa (Ukraine), is still an issue that requires the attention of the Ministry of Education. As presented during the thematic visit however, segregation might occur as a result of schooling of children in compact Roma settlements. The over-representation of Roma children in special schools for children with disabilities, the need to secure attendance of Roma children in mainstream pre-school education and the need to adequately inform Roma parents of all the measures undertaken by the authorities concerning the inclusion of their children in mainstream education were reported by ECRI as being among the still existing challenges facing both “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Serbia.

Insufficient knowledge of the national language was also identified by the experts as a barrier to the educational integration of Roma children. Although in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” attempts have been made to address this issue through a programme establishing bilingual kindergartens, in Ukraine and Serbia linguistic facilities for the Romani language are still lacking. The lack of a systematic approach to the improvement of Roma access to education and the scattered efforts that sometimes depend on the goodwill of teachers (Ukraine) or the lack of adequate preparation of teachers to work with culturally diverse pupils (Poland), as well as the lack of flexibility of the educational system to tackle the frequent schooling interruptions and educational difficulties resulting from the migration of Roma families, are further barriers that affect the persistent low level of education among the Roma communities.

3.10             Challenges in relation to (multiple) discrimination

Regardless of the efforts made by governments and authorities targeting Roma inclusion, discrimination and hate speech still appear to be a widespread problem. In Greece, a significant increase in such cases has been recorded since 2009, in particular in the context of the rise of Golden Dawn. In Ukraine, the anti-Roma rhetoric and actions occurred in 2016 in the Odessa region (regarding the eviction in Loshchinivka village), Poltava, Transcarpathia and Kharkiv oblasts. The Ombudsman’s representative noted in her reports that these anti-Roma actions should be considered as the consequence of the lack of attention paid to the issue of Roma inclusion and a proper ethnic policy implementation. Despite the overall progress achieved, serious concerns remain. Some political parties and candidates engage in xenophobic, anti-Semitic or anti-Tatar rhetoric. There are websites that constantly publish anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobic material; virulent hate speech against Roma has also been reported on internet forums. Journalists and the media reportedly do little to combat racism, xenophobia and racial discrimination. Overall, tolerance towards Jews, Russians and Roma appears to have significantly declined in Ukraine since 2000 and prejudice is also reflected in daily life against other groups who experience problems in accessing goods and services. 

Roma women are considered to suffer from multi-discrimination, not only in Poland but in all countries, since they are exposed to discriminatory practices from both outside the community (as Roma), as well as within their own communities (as women).              

IV. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RELEVANT LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS

Since discrimination is the horizontal challenge that Roma people face throughout Europe and across various fields of life, it is important to outline that all the states represented in the CAHROM thematic visit to Ukraine have developed particular legal instruments to ensure equality and to protect against intolerance against diversity.

In “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”⁵, in addition to the specific reference in the Constitution (Article 9), non-discrimination has been ensured through the Prevention and Protection against Discrimination Act (2010).

Similarly, in Greece, alongside the constitutional provisions (Article 5.2)^[17], the Act on Punishing Actions or Activities Aiming at Racial Discrimination (1979, amended in 1984) and the Act on the Implementation of the Principle of Equal Treatment regardless of Racial or Ethnic Origin, Religion or other Beliefs, Disability, Age or Sexual Orientation (Equal Treatment Act, 2005) provide the legal basis for the protection of equality.

In Poland,^[18] alongside Constitutional Article 32, non-discrimination is regulated by the Act on the Implementation of Certain Provisions of the European Union in the Field of Equal Treatment of 3 December 2010.

Equality is guaranteed and protected by the legal and institutional framework in Serbia as well. The protection of ethnic minority rights is stipulated by a number of articles in the Constitution, guaranteeing a certain level of autonomy in questions relating to their culture, education, media, official use of language (Article 75), non-discrimination (Article 76), right to representation in public offices (Article 77), and prohibition of forceful assimilation (Article 78), etc. In 2009, Serbia adopted a special Law on Anti-Discrimination.^[19]

In addition to the general provisions banning discrimination (Article 21), the Ukrainian Constitution contains provisions directly applicable to national minorities in Ukraine (Articles 10 and 11).^[20] The Law of Ukraine “On Principles of Prevention and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine” was adopted in 2012^[21] but entered into force only after its revision in 2014. Aiming to develop and implement an effective system of preventing and combating discrimination, Ukraine approved a National Strategy for Human Rights in 2015.

Regarding Roma integration policies, Greece, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Poland, Serbia and Ukraine have different experiences. When comparing their policies aimed at tackling the challenges faced by Roma, it appears that, although certain efforts were made during the first decade of the 21^st century, all states adopted a more systematic and coordinated approach (at national and international levels) after 2010 only.

The 1992 Law on National Minorities in Ukraine does not offer adequate protection against discrimination. Addressing the rights of minorities in general terms, it cannot be seen as being directly supportive of the Roma integration agenda.

As the European Roma Rights Centre indicates in their report^[22], the Programme on Social and Spiritual Revival of Roma in Ukraine (2003-2006) has been poorly implemented due to the fact that financial resources were never made available at central level; only some regions of Ukraine implemented individual activities following this State Programme. In 2012 however, Ukraine began developing a Strategy on the Protection and Integration of Roma in Ukraine up to 2020, which was signed by the President and approved as a national strategy on Roma in 2013. As a framework document, the strategy covers the main problematic fields – human rights, social and healthcare, employment, education and culture. The first National Action Plan (NAP) was also adopted in 2013.

At the time of the CAHROM thematic visit to Ukraine (April 2017), the Strategy and the National Action Plan (NAP) were under review with the aim of introducing respective improvements: with regard to timeframes, indicators and responsible parties should be included in the national policy. No funding from the state budget has been forecast for the implementation of the NAP on Roma strategy. National experts have also observed that the institutional capacity of the national and local authorities on the implementation of policy related to Roma should be improved.

For that purpose, the Government of Ukraine approved the inter-ministerial working group on Roma policy implementation which includes representatives from each region of Ukraine, 13 ministries, civil society activists and experts. Three main priorities have been identified within the National Roma Action Plan which are key for developing other measures and which should probably receive funding priority (for example, resolving the issue of lack of identification documents, institutionalisation of Roma mediators and addressing problems regarding the accommodation of Roma and forced evictions).

A positive step forward is certainly the efforts of the central government to cooperate with the civil sector and stakeholders. Currently in Ukraine, there are 114 Roma-led and pro-Roma CSOs, official legal entities, which represent Roma communities. Roma all-Ukrainian and local NGOs have become the main advocates of Roma interests at policy level, although the overall level of representation and participation of Roma in the decision-making process is extremely low. Although there is no political party to represent the interests of the Roma, there are some Roma deputies at city and village levels in the Transcarpathia region.

As early as 2005, Serbia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” became part of the Decade of Roma Inclusion initiative (2005-2015). The ten-year policy framework was established as a platform for co-operation between 12 European countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”,) aiming to eliminate discrimination against Roma and to close the gap between the Roma and the rest of society. Alongside the prioritised areas of education, employment, health and housing, the framework also focused on fighting against poverty and discrimination and gender mainstreaming. In 2015, the partners agreed to continue this work under the Roma Inclusion 2020 Programme.

Throughout the years, Serbia has developed a very comprehensive legislative framework for the protection of national minorities and in particular Roma. Following the Law on the Protection of Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities (adopted in 2002 and complemented in 2009 by the Law on National Councils of National Minorities) together with the Poverty Reduction Strategy (2004), in 2005 the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the National Action Plan (NAP) for education, health, employment and housing. In 2009, a new NAP was developed with regard to the implementation of the adopted Strategy for the Improvement of Roma Status in the Republic of Serbia, covering 13 areas including education, housing, employment, healthcare, displaced persons, social insurance and social care, personal documents, culture, information, the status of Roma women, return based on readmission agreements, discrimination and political participation. The Office of Human and Minority Rights (upgraded to the level of a Ministry in 2008) took over the coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the NAP, allocating a budget of 5.5 million Euros to it.

As the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) outlines¹², a number of laws adopted in Serbia in only a few years have provided a framework for national policies targeting Roma inclusion: the National Strategy for Improving the Position of Women and Promoting Gender Equality (2009); the Strategy for Development of Education in Serbia up to year 2020; the National Strategy for Social Housing (2012); the National Program for Integration of the Republic of Serbia into the European Union; the National Employment Strategy 2011-2020; the Strategy for Reintegration of Returnees based on the Readmission Agreement (2009); the Strategy for Combating Illegal Migrations in the Republic of Serbia for 2009-2014; the Strategy for Public Health in the Republic of Serbia (2009); and the National Strategy for Combating Gender-Based Violence and Family Violence (2011).

A significant legislative change addressing specifically the problem of lack of identification documents faced predominantly by the Roma population was the 2011 law on permanent and temporary residence that allowed individuals without a formal address to register residence with their local centre for social work. The 2012 Law on Amendments to the Law on Non-Contentious Procedure introduced a court procedure for establishing birth facts (time and place of birth and parents) for people without birth certificates.

After an extensive process of public consultations, in particular with the Roma community, as well as a policy assessment by experts from civil society and academia, the new Strategy for Social Inclusion of Roma (2016-2025) was adopted in 2016. The Action Plan for its implementation was also developed in active consultation with representatives of the Roma community, pedagogical assistants, health mediators and members of civil society organisations from 59 local self-governments.

Similarly to Serbia, in 2005 “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” developed and adopted a National Strategy for Roma covering a wide range of sectors such as housing, employment, education, health, social assistance and protection, protection of human rights and anti-discrimination, culture, media, the position of Roma women and political participation. The National Action Plan developed in 2004 for the Roma Decade covered four priority areas - housing, employment, education and health, as well as cross-cutting issues of gender equality, anti-poverty and anti-discrimination; in 2009, it was revised for a three-year period. As the ERRC report reveals,¹³ despite the policy framework and measures planned to address the situation, the impact has been very limited since only a few of the envisaged programmes have actually been implemented (financed for a large part from non-budgetary sources and only to some degree by the state budget itself). At the local level, 14 municipalities have adopted local action plans for the improvement of the situation of Roma and local authorities from 19 municipalities have signed memoranda of understanding with the government to jointly implement the National Roma Strategy.

Furthermore, as a result of the Roma Decade and Strategy, other national level policy documents and action plans have been developed in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”: the National Action Plan for the Improvement of the Social Position of Roma Women (2011-2013); and the Strategy for Intensifying Social Inclusion of Roma in the Social Protection System (2012-2014). A legislative framework for the civil service and public employment aiming to streamline the recruitment process for all ethnic communities and establish a data collection system to monitor ethnic distribution of public sector employment was adopted in 2014. The latest Roma Strategy (2014-2020) and the respective National Action Plan focus on the five strategic areas of employment, education, housing, health and culture, and also provide specific support to Roma Women.

Following the request by the European Commission to develop a common EU Framework for Roma integration,^[23] in 2012 Greece and Poland developed and submitted their National Roma Integration Strategies. Since then, the states have undergone several cycles of monitoring of the implementation of their national strategies receiving recommendations and methodological support from the European Commission respectively.

With respect to this framework, the objective of the Greek National Strategy for Social Integration of Roma 2012-2020 is to end the social exclusion of Roma and create conditions for their integration focusing on the respective issues in the fields of housing, education, employment and health. Based on the negative experience with the previous Integrated Action Plan which has largely failed, the Greek authorities have set up an inter-ministerial committee for the coordination of all government institutions involved in Roma integration programmes. The committee is scheduled to meet once a year.

In 2016 a Special Secretariat for Roma Inclusion was set up within the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Social Solidarity so as to coordinate the new national strategy for Roma inclusion in Greece.

Prior to 2012, Poland gained experience in the implementation of policies for Roma integration within the frameworks of the successive pilot government programme for the Roma community in Małopolska Province (2001-2003) and the Programme for the Roma community in Poland in the period 2004-2013. In 2012, Poland started formulating a new integration policy to cover all foreigners and to support them in becoming socially and economically self-sufficient. The implementation of the governmental programme for the Roma community brought about an increase in the number of young Roma completing secondary education. A group of experts has been set up to identify systemic responses at national level to deal with problems that cannot be resolved at local and regional levels. In addition, a National Action Plan for Equal Treatment 2013-2016 has been adopted and numerous awareness-raising and training activities in connection with racist crimes, intolerance and discrimination have been carried out by the authorities.

The programme for the integration of the Roma community in Poland in the years 2014-2020 continues to address in a comprehensive way the challenges faced by Roma in the fields of education, housing and social situation, health, labour market, anti-discrimination and security, culture, promotion of Roma culture and civic education of Roma (education with cultural, historical and civic component).

V. CONCRETE MEASURES AND PROJECTS AND EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICES               

Throughout the discussions, the participating experts from the host and participating countries, as well as from the CAHROM Secretariat and ECMI, outlined a number of positive practices and approaches to tackle the challenges identified under the different thematic lines.

5.1   Identification documents (IDs)

The exchange of information between the experts about legislative frameworks and existing practices regarding the registration of stateless people revealed differences in the adopted measures and in the level of flexibility of the current registration systems. ECMI referred to the German experience here, as the collection of biometrical data and issuing of a single social security card (to cover all services) was a successful measure as a first step in the process of registration of refugees during the refugee crisis in 2015-2016.

In “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, co-operation has been established between the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Ministry of Health to collect information from NGOs, social centres and local employment offices on how many Roma lack ID documents. Roma are expected to register and make an official request for ID and fingerprinting (to avoid duplication of IDs). Once the Roma have registered, they are able to benefit from this joint programme to solve the lack of ID and health documents. Furthermore, specific training given to the police ensures that adequate support is offered to Roma without documents. Police forces are trained to direct Roma persons without ID to the relevant services where they can submit such requests; furthermore, a questionnaire to be filled in by the police aims to identify the reasons for the initial lack of identity papers. Supporting the registration of Roma is among the key tasks for the established mobile teams.

Similarly, in Serbia, the training of public officials, free legal assistance and support provided by mobile teams are among the key measures for tackling the issues related to the lack of ID documents among Roma. Media and awareness-raising campaigns have also been used to explain to the Roma population how to exercise their right to register in the birth registry. One of the most significant achievements in Serbia however with regard to solving this problem and ensuring better child protection has been the change in legislation which allowed adults with a temporary address to register and a child to be registered to either parent (including the father) in possession of ID. 

Recognising the need for more pro-active efforts from state institutions, Ukraine is currently planning to set up a joint task force between the State Migration and the Ministry of Healthcare to resolve the issues of identity documents and health coverage. Participation of Roma coalition representatives in this joint task force will be sought. 

5.2    Healthcare and health mediators

As a result of the CoE-EU’s ROMED1^[24] and ROMED2^[25] joint programmes implemented since 2011, trained Roma mediators have started to operate in Greece, Serbia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Ukraine in order to support governmental efforts to improve the access of Roma to healthcare and to facilitate their integration. In addition to that, other concrete measures have been taken by national governments to address challenges connected with the health status of the Roma population.

In Greece, local authorities are monitoring compulsory vaccinations with the support of the respective competent services which are providing them with the needed information.

In Ukraine, at local level some initiatives have been taken to improve the access of Roma to health screening devices. According to a draft bill (still to be enacted by the Parliament), both public and private hospitals would be required to provide free primary (emergency) healthcare. Acknowledging the important role of Roma mediators, Ukraine is envisaging the institutionalisation of the position (either as community mediators or, more specifically, health or school mediators) by including the position in the list of official professions. Provision of public funding (from the national, regional or local budgets) would ensure sustainability of the process.

In order to address the issue of violations of the rights of Roma patients due to unequal treatment from healthcare workers, as well as to overcome the limited access of Roma to health insurance due to frequent amendments to the relevant legislation and the introduction of complex administrative procedures, the government of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” has included awareness-raising and information campaigns in its strategy. Furthermore, provision of training for Roma communities on how to report incidents of discriminatory treatment and the use of Roma health mediators to inform people about the rules of the public healthcare insurance system are planned as measures to tackle cases of discrimination in the sector.

The role of the Roma (health) mediators in Poland has been covered by the so-called “environmental nurses” – persons with a medical or social welfare professional background. In contrast to the general ROMED policy aiming to involve ethnic Roma as mediators, only one of the “environmental nurses” in Poland is of Roma origin due to the fact that medical professions are considered by Roma in Poland as culturally forbidden.

5.3   Education and school mediators/assistants

With regard to education, through comparison between the different experiences within the specific national contexts, a number of positive measures can be highlighted.

In order to ensure the enrolment of Roma children in kindergarten, in 2008 the Serbian authorities adopted a law on compulsory pre-school education. In “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” however, the provision of free preschool education has been adopted as a measure. Apart from compulsory education (Serbia, Poland, Bulgaria), in Bulgaria, as mentioned by the ECMI, the waiving of the monthly fee for kindergartens helped to remove the barriers stopping Roma parents from enrolling their children there. Preschool education in Poland is also free of charge. Furthermore, incentives such as free meals or free text books have also encouraged some of the vulnerable Roma families in Bulgaria to send their children to school.

In 2010, 180 Roma teaching assistants were hired in Serbia to provide support to children in class and to improve co-operation between schools and families. Similarly, Roma teaching assistants were employed in pre-school facilities in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” within the framework of a joint project with the Roma Education Fund. The success of this project resulted in the establishment of a system of Roma school assistants. In Poland, among the systematic actions for the benefit of the Roma people that have been conducted since 2001, the Roma school mediators programme turned out to be a great success.

The experience of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” since 2010, as well as that of Hungary, as presented by the CAHROM Secretary, also reveal that measures such as financial assistance and free teaching materials, transport or dormitory accommodation also increase the opportunities for Roma children in different education cycles.

In the region of Vojvodina (Serbia), the provision of scholarships to 350 Roma children in secondary schools and the assigning of mentors to assist them in overcoming any problems they may have had in primary school resulted in an increase of the number of Roma students in colleges and universities – from four to 250 in only a few years. In 2015, for example, there were 650 scholarships for Roma children in secondary schools in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. It seems that these measures have facilitated the increase in the enrolment of Roma children in recent years. Furthermore, a quota for enrolment of Roma students in state institutions for higher education, combined with an exemption from fees, has been in existence since the late 1990s. In 2015, the quota was set at 4% of places and there were a total of 300 Roma students enrolled.

To avoid geographical school segregation, the Greek authorities allow children to attend schools that are not necessarily located in their neighbourhood.

The linguistic rights of Roma have also been addressed by Serbia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” with the teaching of the Romani language introduced in various levels of education. In addition to the bilingual kindergartens (in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”) and the provision of free classes in secondary schools (in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Serbia), the establishment of a Roma studies programme at Belgrade University can be considered as a significant achievement. With regard to linguistic integration, ECMI mentioned the case of Germany where free German language lessons are provided to children of foreign origin in order to overcome the language barrier and continue their education.

As a result of the active position and initiatives of Roma civil society representatives together with the support of international organisations and national universities, courses on Roma studies have been developed in two universities in Ukraine (Uzhgorod and Chernivtsi) and incorporated into students’ courses in sociology, pedagogy, history and political studies.

Ukraine also plans to start offering the teaching of Ukrainian as a foreign language to migrant children or children from Roma and other minority backgrounds, as well as to establish a system of Roma assistants to support teachers and Roma children at school.

5.4   Employment

Among the positive measures identified in the field of employment, currently the Greek authorities intend to reduce the number of legal prerequisites for employing Roma in hospitals and local municipalities. The plan for providing certificates for mediators would be beneficial, not only to increase employment opportunities for Roma, but also to provide additional support for the implementation of integration policies.

In “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, specific affirmative measures have been adopted to motivate companies to employ Roma. One such measure (also targeting mainstream youth) is tax reduction for people under the age of 29. Furthermore, 300 Euro subsidies have been offered to companies which recruit Roma. In addition, following the provisions of the Ohrid Agreement to ensure a fairer representation of Roma and other minority groups in institutions, a Roma employment quota has been introduced for public institutions.

In Ukraine, the State Employment Agency within the Ministry of Social Service of Ukraine and the UNDP have launched a pilot project in six regions (oblasts) to improve access to employment of Roma.

5.5   Housing

In the area of housing, the CAHROM Secretary presented the case of Albania, where the current legal reform aims to introduce provisions for preventing evictions without offering alternative accommodation for Roma and Egyptian families and a quota system for social housing for Roma and Egyptian families similar to the system used within the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”.

In order to take an organised and planned approach to the problem of informal settlements in which Roma live, the Serbian authorities of the City of Belgrade have established a Roma Inclusion Council with the participation of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. 

Following the positive examples in the Slovak Republic, Spain, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, etc. carried out with the financial assistance of the UNDP, Ukraine may include the mapping of Roma settlements in its action plan for the next three years. This would be the first step towards the development of a strategy to address adequately accommodation issues, including for those Roma displaced from eastern Ukrainian regions and the Crimea, and to stop evictions of Roma taking place without the provision of alternative shelter.

5.6   Other social services

Provision of social services is certainly a significant factor for ensuring the efficient integration of Roma in every state. Among the successful examples with regard to the provision of comprehensive support and addressing the complex needs of the Roma people is the establishment of mobile teams, as in Serbia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. In Serbia, the mobile teams function at local level and are composed of a local Roma coordinator, health mediators, school mediators, and/or social worker and legal assistant.

In addition to the mobile teams, 12 Roma information centres have been opened throughout “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” to facilitate access to education and social services. There are also mobile legal offices in Skopje to provide free legal aid and advice to Roma. Similarly, in Greece, community centres in municipalities (compulsory involving one mediator) have been set up to support vulnerable groups, including Roma. Attribution of social benefits (300 Euros annually per child up to 16 years of age) by local authorities was also a measure taken by the Greek authorities to support the integration of Roma.

To ensure that the rights of Roma are properly addressed, in Ukraine, the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality provides special training for social workers and educational staff. Among the possible future measures identified by the Ukrainian experts as potentially efficient with regard to the integration of Roma are:

·         provision of training for local and regional authorities concerning the planning of programmes and allocation of funds to address adequately the needs of Roma (in the context of their new powers under the decentralization process of Ukraine);

·         empowerment of Roma women (including raising their awareness about their rights and the institutions that protect them) since they represent a key factor for introducing changes within the Roma communities, in particular with regard to the education and health care issues;

·         addressing the high degree of mistrust among Roma communities in Ukraine that forms a significant barrier to efficient communication and co-operation with institutions.

5.7    Discrimination

With regard to combating discrimination of Roma, the human rights training courses for police officers provided by the Ministry of the Interior of Ukraine can be highlighted as a positive measure. The aim of this cascading non-discrimination training is to ensure wide coverage throughout the police forces in the country (trained police officers then become trainers for police officers in other parts of Ukraine). Since there is no ethnic recording of trainee data, no official information is available about the number of police officers of Roma origin who have completed the training, but the existence of same was confirmed during the thematic visit.

Furthermore, some local authorities from the regions of Transcarpathia and Odessa (where a significant number of Roma live) have set up programmes to promote the social inclusion of Roma, including measures addressing discrimination in the field of education, healthcare, etc.

5.8   Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees

Some of the positive measures adopted by “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Serbia with regard to the integration of refugees and returnees (former “asylum seekers to the EU”) could become a basis for the development of respective policies and programmes to address the needs that the Roma IDPs in Ukraine currently face.

In “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”¹⁷, support to refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection was provided within the framework of the Strategy for Refugees and Foreigners for the period 2008-2015 and the respective NAP. This support consisted chiefly of access to social housing and vocational training activities to promote integration into the labour market. As part of the implementation of the strategy, the social security legislation was amended in 2010 to provide access to social security benefits for refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection on an equal footing with nationals. This also included housing allowances in the form of rental subsidies. In 2012, health insurance legislation was amended to grant these two groups full access to the healthcare system. They also have access to the education system and the labour market.

Citizens of the Republic of Serbia¹⁸ who have been refused an asylum application or have lost their rights to temporary residency, most commonly in a country of the European Union, have been returned under the 2009 Readmission Agreement. The developed Strategy for Returnee Reintegration defined the mechanisms for the sustainable and active integration of returnees, particularly those of Roma origin. Accessing personal documents, resolving housing issues, facilitating employment and exercising other primarily economic and social rights, such as the right to healthcare and education, have been outlined as priority areas. Since integration happens at the local community level however, the involvement of all local stakeholders was considered crucial, especially with regard to the planning of measures and securing funds for their implementation.

The primary reception and information point for returnees is conducted in the Office of the Commissioner for readmission at the airport. Returnees are met by information officers who provide information in five languages (Serbia, Romani, Albanian, German and English) about access to basic rights such as the right to an identity card, social assistance and enrolment of children in school. Returnees in urgent need of support are entitled, through the centre for social work, to transportation to the place of residence and assistance in obtaining personal documents. The Commissioner also informs the relevant services about the arrival of the returnees and collects feedback on the social mapping of returnees, assessing the needs of these individuals.

Strengthening capacities at the local level is certainly a key element of the process. Local councils on migration play a key role in creating both the conditions for the integration of returnees and the concrete measures for economic empowerment which will prevent secondary migration. The projects are aimed at informing the public and promoting the inclusion of returnees into the labour market through the provision of support in the process of self-employment.

VI. CONCLUSIONS, LESSONS LEARNED, GOOD PRACTICES IDENTIFIED, AND ENVISAGED FOLLOW-UP

6.1          General conclusions of the thematic group of experts

                                 

This thematic visit took place at a right momentum: the Ukrainian Government which adopted on 11 September 2013 a Plan of Action of the Strategy for the protection and integration of the Roma ethnic minority into Ukrainian society 2013-2020 (hereafter the National Roma Action Plan – NRAP – available in English in Appendix 7) has decided to put more efforts in the implementation of the NRAP for the remaining period (2018-2020). Indeed, as highlighted by the representative of the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality, the International Renaissance Foundation and the Coalition of Roma NGOs, and acknowledged by the Ministry of Culture itself, the NRAP has not sufficiently been implemented so far due to a lack of inclusion of clear indicators and budget allocations when it was adopted. This has consequences on its implementation and monitoring.

In October 2016 the Inter-ministerial Working Group for the Implementation of the Strategy of Integration of the Roma national minority into the Ukrainian Society met for the first time. It was set up on 22 November 2015 and is headed by the Vice Prime Minister of the Government of Ukraine. It also involves representatives from local and regional levels and Roma representatives. Ms Zemfira Kondur representing the Roma Coalition which brings together over 20 Roma organisations, including her own Roma women association Chiricli, was appointed Deputy-Chair of this Inter-ministerial Working Group.

The thematic visit was also timely because discussions with the Ministry of Finances were due to take place in May 2017 to ensure budget allocation for Roma targeted measures under this Action Plan. Ms Svitlana Fomenko, first Deputy Minister, indicated that the Ministry of Culture has already prepared a budget plan for the implementation of some of the measures of the national strategy for Roma for the next three years and expects and encouraged during the thematic visit other ministries to do the same.

The Ministry of Culture has a coordination role in Ukraine on Roma and other national minority policies. The first Deputy Minister within the Ministry of Culture, Ms Svitlana Fomenko, is very much committed to prioritise Roma issues and implement the national strategy for Roma.

A special secretariat to monitor the implementation of the Strategy of Integration of the Roma national minority into the Ukrainian Society and its national and regional actions plans with one person in charge and an assistant should be soon established at the level of the Ministry of Culture. This special secretariat would be financed the by International Renaissance foundation.

The Ministry of Culture, which is following a bottom-up approach, has initiated a consultation  process aimed at collecting information and plans from various Ukrainian regions to improve the planning and budget allocation for the next three year implementation period of the National Roma Action Plan. It also expects Roma civil society to come up with proposals.

There is already a very well established cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Interior on Roma issues as regards law enforcement and identity documents and the monitoring of human rights protection. Similar cooperation would be welcomed with other line ministries in particular the Ministry of Health Care and the Ministry of Education.

The overview of the different situations of Roma, not only among the countries participating in this thematic visit but also within them, as illustrated in chapter II above, indicates the need for a thematic-based approach to issues at national level supported by relevant programming and action planning at local level.

The lack of official realistic data about the size of Roma communities within each member State presents a serious challenge to the development of adequate policies for Roma inclusion, especially with regard to allocation of resources and programme planning. If official data is used when developing specific support measures at national level, it would appear that only a maximum 25% of the population in real need of support could be covered by such measures. As such, national level budgeting of programmes for Roma inclusion is likely to be insufficient with the allocation of additional resources not corresponding to the needs of the communities. 

At the same time, the information provided by member States reveals that rather realistic information about the size of the Roma population and the specific needs of the communities exists at regional and local level. Synchronisation between plans for inclusion of Roma at national and regional levels is crucial for the allocation of an adequate level of financial and other resources, as well as for the development of measures to address the specific needs of the non-homogeneous Roma population. 

6.1.1       Conclusions concerning the organisation of the thematic visit                 

The experts of the thematic group expressed great satisfaction about the organisation of this thematic visit. It was appreciated that the thematic visit was opened by  Ms Svitlana Fomenko, first Deputy Minister from the Ministry of Culture who showed clear political will to improve the situation of Roma. A large number of key ministries, states institutions took an active part in the discussions and showed interest to learn from other countries’ experience. The participation from the Office of the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality, International Renaissance Foundation, representatives of the Roma Coalition, Chiricli organisation, Roma women mediators and young Roma, as well as representatives from Kyiv and Odessa municipalities were an added value for the discussion. The group of experts however regretted the fact that representatives from the Ministry of Education and from the Transcarpathia region could not attend the entire discussions and left before making their presentation. One of the reasons might be the fact that the agenda proposed by the Ministry of Culture did not initially focus on educational aspects of the Action Plan for Roma; however education was several times mentioned and there seems to be a rather conservative attitude from the Ministry of Education, school institutions and teachers.

Whilst excellent Ukrainian-English interpretation was provided thanks to the support of the International Renaissance Foundation, the fact that this was consecutive interpretation took additional time from the agenda and limited time for discussion and sharing of information. The initial plan from the hosting country to organise a one day trip to Odessa to meet with local actors was abandoned at the request of the Secretariat as it was not time effective (too much time would have been spent on local travel). However, thanks the International renaissance foundation, Odessa authorities attended the meeting in Kiyv.

6.1.2       Lessons learnt regarding the situation of Roma in Ukraine

As emphasized by the representative of the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality, state institutions do not sufficiently understand that problems faced by Roma are of social nature and not just cultural or linguistic nature like for many other nationalities in Ukraine which require affirmative actions regarding this minority by the state, regional and local authorities.

Ten main prioritieswere identified within the National Roma Action Plan which are essential for developing other measures and which should probably receive funding priority:

Ø  To solve the lack of personal identity documents, including citizenship, residence and birth certificates. Several ministries, including the Ministry of Health Care, indicated that solving this problem would address many challenges faced by Roma in Ukraine. State institutions concerned should take a more pro-active approach and not wait from Roma NGOs and civil society at large to take actions in this area. The thematic group of experts propose to the Ukrainian authorities to set up a joint task force between the State Migration Service and the Ministry of Health Care to solve both the lack of identity documents and health coverage. Participation of Roma Coalition representatives in this joint task force and/or local mobile units would be and added value.  

Ø  To institutionalize Roma mediators (either as community mediators or more specifically health or school mediators or assistants) by recognizing it in the list of official professions and having them funded by state, regional or local budgets so as to ensure sustainability of the process (NGOs or EU funding is not sustainable).

Ø  To solve accommodation issues, including for displaced Roma from Eastern Ukrainian regions and Crimea, and stop evictions of Roma, since the lack of secured, save and sustainable accommodation prevents also Roma from accessing other rights and services and has also negative consequences on school attendance. Stronger reaction from state institutions is expected when forced evictions of Roma take place. So far only the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality and European/international organisations reacted[26].

Ø  To fight segregation in schools and hospitals. School segregation of Roma, in particular in Transcarpathia and Odessa oblasts, is still a major issue and should be addressed by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education does not seem to understand that the problem is not linked to the legislation and curriculum which are available for all children in Ukraine and does not authorise school segregation and freedom for parents to choose schools per se but due practices. There seems to be also cases of segregation of Roma in hospitals (e.g. obstetrics departments) in some parts of Ukraine reported by the Office of the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality, International Renaissance Foundation.

Ø  To invest in kindergarten, secondary education, vocational education and higher education for Roma children and youth. There is a low level of Roma involved in vocational education and training because many Roma children and youngsters do not finish compulsory secondary school and lack preschool education. There is a tax to pay by parents to send their children to kindergartens that should be lifted. Special preparation courses for Roma children are being offered in some localities as compensation.

Ø  To include the teaching of Ukrainian as a foreign language for migrant children and for Roma or other minorities’ children who speak a different language at home. Facilities for the teaching of Romani as a minority language need also to be developed in Ukraine.

Ø  To empower Roma women and young people: as emphasised by the first Deputy Minister of Culture, there is a need to pay more attention to and empower Roma women in Ukraine since Roma women are key for change within the Roma communities, in particular as regards education and health care issues. Improving awareness of Roma women about their rights and relevant institutions, including access to justice and legal aid using the for instance the JUSTROM joint programme as a model. Equally, educated young Roma in Ukraine should be promoted as role models and should be encouraged to participate in the implementation of the Plan of Action of the Strategy for the protection and integration of the Roma ethnic minority into Ukrainian society 2013-2020. The International renaissance Foundation, already very active in this field, should pursue its investment in Roma women and young people.

Ø  To organise training for social workers, the police and educational staff in Ukraine with a focus in the rights of Roma[27] since there is a high degree of mistrust among Roma communities towards police forces due to ethnic profiling and towards the school institutions. Training should also be provided to local and regional authorities who receive funding through the decentralization process to encourage them to use this funding for measures towards Roma, such as lifting fees for preschools, free of charge of meals, training courses for parents, funding of Roma mediators, etc.

Ø  To collect data about Roma and do a mapping of their geographical presence in Ukraine, following the positive example of the Slovak Republic, Spain, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, etc. Some these mapping exercises were done with the financial assistance of UNDP. ECMI might be in a position to assist provided sufficient funding.

Ø  To specifically and systematically mention Roma in the list of vulnerable groups in Ukraine so that they benefit from affirmative measures, such as getting free of charge access to kindergartens, being given priority for social housing etc. The choice should not be left to the decision of local authorities but should be a central legal provision defining vulnerable groups that could be developed by the Ministry of Social Affairs. See in Appendix 4 a paper on vulnerable groups produced by Dr Zora Popova, Senior Research Associate of the European Centre for Minority issues (ECMI) which provides country examples on how Roma have been included in the vulnerable groups categories.

Solving the lack of ID documents

The group of experts noted that different practices exist in Ukraine, even at the level of the same region, as regards the provision of identity documents by the administration, including demands of justification that are not according to the law, as stated by the Office of the Commissioner for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality.

The lack of identification and civil registration documents, such as birth certificates or passports, remains one of the key challenges for Roma in Ukraine. The specificity of the problem when it comes to Roma, due to frequent migrations, difficult living conditions, high (semi-)illiteracy rate, and the fact that many Roma children are not born at the hospital, needs to be recognized by the authorities and requires affirmative actions to remedy the situation. It also requires strong coordination between various state actors and assistance from the Roma civil society.

In order to substantially curb the number of undocumented Roma in Ukraine, there is a need to identify and analyze the concrete obstacles, propose possible solutions to overcome them and develop concrete recommendations/guidelines for public officials in charge at local and regional levels.

At the Expert Seminar of the OSCE/ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues on access to identification and civil registration documents by Roma organised in Ukraine (November 2015), it was stated that “Equal access to identity and civil registration documents is essential for the realization of the right to recognition as a person before the law and the right to birth registration as enshrined in international human rights standards. It has been widely recognized that birth registration, which should be part of a comprehensive civil registration system, must be accessible to all and free of charge, as well as flexible and responsive to the circumstances of families, and that there is a need for simple administrative procedures, regular awareness-raising campaigns, and other measures such as pro-active outreach to rural or remote locations to make civil registration accessible. […] It is recommended the authorities remove obstacles to obtaining documents, simplify procedures for obtaining documents, and recognize the particularly vulnerable situation Roma face in displacement due to a lack of identification and civil registration documents. […]” . Their assessment corroborates the one made by the Council of Europe.

Ukraine might inspire itself of good practices identified in “the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia” and Serbia to solve the lack of identity documents, property documents, health insurance, etc. This includes the setting up of mobile legal teams to reach the most marginalised population living in informal settlements sometimes in remote areas to facilitate the obtainment of birth certificates even if the parents lack official identification papers. The Romanian practice using the assistance of Roma mediators could also be used in that respect.

In Montenegro, another possible source of inspiration, clarification of the status of each individual is defined through a corpus of statutory rights that are available to the person. The possession of identification documents is a fundamental prerequisite for social inclusion and poverty reduction of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro. This allows regular access to the labour market, social protection, health and education services, and everything else which is necessary for normal life.  In order to regulate the status of foreigners with permanent residence or temporary residence in Montenegro, the Montenegrin Government, through the relevant ministries and institutions, and with the help of international organisations, has made visible and measurable results when it comes to domicile Roma and Egyptian populations.

During the thematic visit it was also recalled that Albania had lifted for several months the requested fee to register as citizen and obtain identity documents. This measure particularly targeted the Roma population. However, this period should be sufficient enough (several months at least, preferably not during summer time) and an intensive awareness-raising campaign among the Roma population should be organised, with the help of NGOs, to ensure that people in need of identity documents receive the information in due course.

Collecting data

Since the estimated number of Roma living in Ukraine varies a lot between official census and NGO estimates, the group of experts would recommend that the Ukrainian authorities take steps to improve ethnic data collection, with due regard to the principles of confidentiality, informed consent and voluntary self-identification. 

A mapping of Roma communities such as the one conducted in Serbia would be necessary so as to provide an overall picture of Roma presence in Ukraine and per region. This would also a better perception of the needs and funds needed to improve their situation. This mapping should take as far as possible into account internally displaced Roma who have left conflict zones and who might be temporary living in other parts of Ukraine.

Mediation (Roma mediators)

Ukraine has implemented the ROMED1 joint Council of Europe/European Commission programme on Roma mediation. The following country findings in Ukraine were extracted from the evaluation report of the ROMED joint programme between the council of Europe and the European Commission.^[28]

[…] ROMED1 was an innovative Programme with a special curriculum developed to fit best European practice of mediation. It was adapted to the Ukrainian legislative framework and cultural specificities. Mediators serve as an important link between the Roma community and the state (local and national levels). The main benefits of employing mediators are their knowledge of Roma community culture and trust among Roma communities. Mediators can gain access to communities and this helps to better serve their needs. They are also committed and passionate about helping Roma. Challenges arise from the insecurity of employment of mediators, lack of financial resources to cover costs related to solving Roma problems (medical diagnosis, treatment, administrative fees for courts and document processing) and a corrupt, inefficient bureaucracy. […]

Mediators have substantially improved access to services in the areas where they work. The mediators are now working in seven out of 24 oblasts of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv. These are: Zakarpattia oblast (Uzhgorod, Mukachevo, Perechyn, village of Berezny), Zaporizhzhia oblast (city of Zaporizhzhia), Donetsk oblast (city of Dniprodzerzhynsk), city of Kyiv, Kyiv oblast (city of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky), Kirovograd oblast (cities of Kirovograd and Oleksandria), Odessa oblast (city of Odessa) and Kharkiv Oblast (city of Kharkiv and Merefa).

During the six months from October 2015 to March 2016, the NFP reports that the network of 40 mediators covered 34,683 Roma representatives, which includes 7,144 families, of which 11,125 are women, 7,890 men and 15,668 children. Each month, mediators provide services to around 200 to 300 Roma IDPs.

The most popular services include:

- Assistance with applications for identification documents;

- Residence registration;

- Court appeals;

- Access to local state financial subsistence and services (utility subsidies, pensions, disability payment);

- Information about social protection and basic rights;

- Assistance with social housing and employment;

- Educational support to improve school attendance;

- Medical assistance with access to diagnosis and access to hospitals.

Some positive structural results could be observed in Odessa with regards to the proposed pilot project of the Oblast Migration Service to introduce a simplified procedure for obtaining identification documents for Roma. Thanks to the active co-operation between the NFP, the Ministry of Social Policy and its Centres for Homeless, which provide registration for Roma in order to obtain passports, it became easier for Roma to apply for passports.

Documentation: agreements with the State Centres for Homeless to register Roma, who need registration to apply for passports. Odessa Oblast Migration Service will pilot a simplified procedure for Roma registration. Mediators help citizens apply for passports, birth certificates, pension certificates, disability documents or house registration books, often the first step to receiving any kind of social services from the state. […]

Coordination of the Roma policy

The thematic group of experts welcome the intention of the Ukrainian Government to set up a Special Secretariat for Roma aimed at reinforcing coordination among the various stakeholders and the monitoring of the implantation of the National roma Strategy and national, regional and local actions plans. The thematic group of experts took note of that this Special Secretariat for Roma will be funded by the International Renaissance Foundation as a pilot exercise. It raised however questions about the sustainability of this process. The Ukrainian authorities may further discuss with the Greek expert of the thematic group the role, financing and functioning of the Special Secretariat for Roma Inclusion that was set up in 2016 within the Greek Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Social Solidarity.

The group of experts noted that there are frequent changes of people in charge of Roma issues at state, regional local levels which impact the sustainability of actions. Persons in charge at state, regional and local levels do not always understand their role in implementing the national Action Plan. More information and communication would be needed via for instance written guidelines to be produced by the Ministry of Culture which has a coordinating role on Roma issues in Ukraine.

6.2          Identified good practices

The following good practices in Ukraine were identified by the thematic group of experts.

• Political commitment from the first Deputy Minister within the Ministry of Culture to prioritise Roma issues and implement the National Action Plan for of the Strategy of Integration of the Roma national minority into the Ukrainian Society national Action for Roma;
• Setting-up of an Inter-ministerial Working Group for the Implementation of the Strategy of Integration of the Roma national minority into the Ukrainian Society in October 2016;
• Appointed of a Roma woman as Deputy-Chair of this Inter-ministerial Working Group;
• Some local authorities, notably in Zakarpattia and Odessa (where a significant number of Roma live), have set up some programmes to promote the social inclusion of Roma;
• Some consultative meetings of public authorities with representatives of Roma organisations take place on the local level in regions with a high concentration of Roma and provide a genuine opportunity for Roma to influence the decision-making process on issues concerning them at local level;
• Some Roma representatives were elected to local councils at the local elections of October 2010, in regions with a high concentration of Roma.

Ukrainian authorities are encouraged by the thematic group of experts to look at various good practices in partner countries mentioned in this report under Chapter III (mobile legal units to solve IDs in Serbia and “the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia”, the funding system of the National Roma Integration Strategy in Poland, the role and functioning of the Special Secretariat for Roma Inclusion set up within the Greek Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Social Solidarity, etc. to quote a few examples.

6.3          Envisaged follow-up

At the level of the Council of Europe:

The Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2015 – 2017 outlined the following objectives to be reached through the implementation of pertinent activities:

-          Supporting authorities in restoring minority communities’ confidence in public authorities and institutions, including the Roma community;

-          Protecting persons belonging to minorities and increasing social inclusion of Roma

The Council of Europe undertook activities specific to safeguarding the rights of the Roma population, including organising trainings, workshops and seminars for government officials and civil society, and assisting on the elaboration and adoption of National Strategies for the Protection and Integration of the Roma and subsequent Action Plans. This strategy covers the legal protection of Roma, improvement of their social protection and employment as well as to further develop their ethnic and cultural identity. Training for Roma cultural mediators and social workers were also supported by Council of Europe co-operation activities. 

A new Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2021 is under elaboration. Following the thematic visit to Ukraine, the Roma and Travellers Team submitted, following coordination with ECMI, a number of Roma-related project proposals which could be implemented, provided that the Council of Europe receives voluntary contributions from member States and other donors for these particular Roma-related projects.

The Council of Europe will also follow-up the recommendations contained in the external evaluation of the ROMED1 joint Council of Europe/European Commission programme on Roma mediation as regards Ukraine. These recommendations are reproduced below per memoria:

Specific recommendations for ROMED1 National Focal Point/National Project Officer:

• Build the capacity of mediators, especially on the psychological aspects of communication; develop skills in educational mediation, techniques of positive motivation of communities for action, knowledge of international conventions on human rights and Roma inclusion. Provide skills in local budgeting and train mediators on ways to feed community needs into policy-making processes, focus on gender-based budgeting and train mediators on how this approach could be applied to national minorities.
• Conduct long-term training for mediators in partnership with social workers; perhaps develop an annual curriculum with several sessions rather than one-off training sessions.
• Develop links between mediators and other local and national NGOs working on Roma and general human rights issues. Connect them to groups that are members of the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform9 established as part of the new EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
• Expand the inclusion of mediators into the state system of social services by intensifying the work with the Centres of Social Services to promote mediation and new standards of mediation services.
• Encourage Roma NGOs and mediators to apply for funding as part of the state social contracting; then train them to apply for this funding.
• Engage more Roma youth to be future mediators and active in Roma issues. Use such avenues as sports and arts to engage young people. Elaborate a strategy for Roma youth. Train them in project management. Develop a youth social worker training programme. The youth wing of Chiricli could be a good start, as well as the participants of the Roma educational fellowship of the International Renaissance Foundation.

Pending requests from the Ukrainian authorities, the Council of Europe could provide assistance in organising non-discrimination training activities in Ukraine for lawyers, judges, prosecutors, the police and prison staff as part of its non-discrimination training programme on human rights with a focus on Roma. The Council of Europe will share with the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior the training module and police toolkit for non-discrimination training of police officers, as well as provide the Ministry of Interior with the contact details of Paul Giannasi from the United Kingdom and information about their programme for online reporting of hate crime.

The Council of Europe will establish contacts with FRA (EU Fundamental Rights Agency), Equinet (European network of equality bodies) and ENNHRI (European Network of National Human Rights Institutions) so as to invite an English-speaker representative of the Office of the Ukrainian Commission for Observance of the Rights of the Child, Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality to future meetings of the OPRE platform[29].

At the level of OSCE/ODIHR

OSCE/ODIHR will share with the experts of the thematic group and the CAHROM the results of their research study on the lack of identity documents of Roma in Ukraine to be published in the course of 2017.

At the level of ECMI:

Dr Zora Popova from ECMI - as agreed at the thematic visit - provided a comparative analysis of hosting and partner countries’ policies and practices addressed during the thematic visit which have been integrated in Chapters III and IV of this report. She also provided a paper on Roma as a vulnerable group (see Appendix 4) which will be presented at the 14^th CAHROM plenary meeting in Strasbourg on 24-27 October 2017.

ECMI also provided a description of projects in view to assisting the Ukrainian authorities with some of the proposed measures identified during the thematic visit and a draft budget for potential donors to the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2021. These proposals were transmitted by the Roma and Travellers Team to ODGP which centralizes request for voluntary contributions.

ECMI will provide the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture with information about Germany’s practice of registration, including finger printing, of refugees who had often no more identity documents so as to deliver them with a social insurance card number.

At the level of partner countries:

During the thematic visit to Ukraine, the CAHROM member on behalf of the Republic of Moldova - who could not attend the CAHROM thematic visit in Ukraine due to his participation in the CAHROM thematic visit on Roma mediation held in Lithuania the same week – provided electronically information about the legislative and policy framework for Roma Community Mediators in the Republic of Moldova (see Appendix 5). The Council of Europe will also provide the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Social Affairs with contact details of Ms Petuhov from the Bureau of Inter-Ethnic Relations of the Republic of Moldova. The Council of Europe may facilitate a bilateral visit between the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine on this particular issue, possibly through the ROMED programme.

Poland will provide the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior (Mr Kostiantyn Tarasenko) with additional information about its training experience of police officers with a Roma focus, and to the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture with information on their funding mechanism of their national Roma integration strategy.

Greece will provide the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture with information on the establishment of a Special Secretariat for Roma Inclusion was set up within the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Social Solidarity, including its mandate, staff and funding.

“The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” will provide the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior and the State Migration Service with additional written information on its experience in providing services for solving the lack of ID documents.

Serbia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” will provide the Ukrainian Ministry of Health Care with additional written information on training medical staff and on the role and institutionalization process of Roma health mediators.

Serbia, Montenegro and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” will provide the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior and the State Migration Service with measures undertaken to solve particular issues related to (internally) displaced Roma from Kosovo* that could be applicable to internally displaced Roma from eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

At the level of Ukraine:

In due course, the Ukrainian CAHROM member is expected to inform the Council of Europe and the CAHROM about any follow-up given to the above mentioned conclusions and recommendations. The group of experts would also be interested to hear about the results of the pilot project in Kharkov (Four Roma will be trained by the State Migration Service on procedures and will later assist Roma representatives and follow-up this process). If successful, this experience might be extended to other regions and Roma mediators if institutionalized could be involved in this type of action.

The Ukrainian authorities are expected to support the Roma-related proposals submitted by the Roma and Travellers Team for inclusion in the Council of Europe Action plan for Ukraine 2018-2021.

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Official invitation received from Ukrainian authorities

Appendix 2: Agenda of the CAHROM thematic visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on 26-28 April 2017

Appendix 3: List of experts participating in the CAHROM thematic group

Appendix 4: List of experts participating in the CAHROM thematic group

Appendix 5: Legislative and policy framework for Roma Community Mediators in the Republic of Moldova

Other useful information concerning Roma Mediators in the Republic of Moldova provided by the CAHROM member on behalf of the republic of Moldova can find also at:

https://www.academia.edu/32746358/Roma_community_mediators_in_the_Republic_of_Moldova

Silvia FERARU – The Roma mediator who drafts projects for community development. In: UN in Moldova. Quarterly Magazine. January 2017/No. 3 - p.7 http://md.one.un.org/content/dam/unct/moldova/docs/pub/UN%20Magazine%203%20eng%20web.pdf

Information concerning the number of Roma Community Mediators in the Republic of Moldova - is a constantly fluctuating number. Last information you can find in this link:

https://www.academia.edu/12191642/Lista_mediatori_comunitari_romi_din_Republica_Moldova

Appendix 6: OPRE joint statement on evictions of Roma and Travellers in Europe

Appendix 7: Plan of Action of the Strategy for protection and integration of Roma ethnic minority into Ukrainian society 2013-2020