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European Roma Rights Center Press Release
Conclusions: Personal Documents and Threats to the Exercise of
Fundamental Rights among Roma in the Former Yugoslavia -- Workshop in
Igalo,
Montenegro, September 6-8, 2002.
European Roma Rights Center Press Release
Conclusions: Personal Documents and Threats to the Exercise of
Fundamental Rights among Roma in the Former Yugoslavia -- Workshop in
Igalo,
Montenegro, September 6-8, 2002
On September 6-8, 2002, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) held a
workshop in Igalo, Montenegro, addressing the theme of Personal
Documents and Threats to the Exercise of Fundamental Rights among Roma
in the Former Yugoslavia. The workshop brought together government
officials from around the former Yugoslavia, Romani activists and other
civil society actors, and staff of intergovernmental organisations and
other relevant experts, to discuss problems related the widespread
problems of statelessness among Roma from the former Yugoslavia and a
lack of basic documents necessary to realise fundamental rights. The
focus of the meeting was on generating sound documentation, as well as
on advocacy strategies for change.
A serious obstacle to the exercise of basic rights by Roma in the
countries of the former Yugoslavia is a lack of basic documents,
including but not limited to birth certificates, personal identity
documents, local residence permits, documents related to (in most cases,
state-provided) health insurance, marriage certificates, work booklets,
death certificates, passports, IDP and refugee registration documents
and, in extreme cases, a lack of citizenship in countries of birth or to
which the individual at issue has real and effective ties. In a
disturbing number of cases, this has given rise to the anathema
phenomenon of statelessness among Roma. Exclusionary obstacles created
by a lack of documents can be daunting and in many instances, the lack
of one document can lead to a "chain reaction", in which the individual
at issue is unable to secure a number of such documents. In the extreme
case, a Romani child without a birth certificate may wind up in a
situation of complete paralysis with respect to the exercise of basic
rights: precluded access to basic health care, effectively hindered
freedom of movement (including the right to leave one's own country),
denial of the right to vote, exclusion from state housing provided to
persons from socially weak groups, as well as the inability to have real
access to other rights and services crucial for basic human dignity.
This problem has only been vaguely sketched (primarily by some
non-governmental organisations), and has not to date been addressed in
any systematic way by authorities in the countries of the former
Yugoslavia.
The ERRC therefore convened the Igalo workshop with the following goals:
? To invigorate and inform debate in the countries of former
Yugoslavia, with the aim of bringing an end to Romani statelessness in
countries where it exists.
? To ensure that just compensation be provided to Roma made
stateless as a result of laws and practices on citizenship adopted by
successor states to the former Yugoslavia.
? To raise awareness of, improve documentation about, and discuss
action in relation to problems of Roma in securing other important
documents such as birth certificates, identity cards, etc.
Participants at the workshop included:
? ERRC staff and consultants
? Romani activists from all of the successor states of the former
Yugoslavia
? Other civil society actors and journalists from around the
former Yugoslavia
? Government officials from around former Yugoslavia
? Staff of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
? Activists from the Czech Republic who had been involved in the
struggle to amend the 1992 Czech Act on Citizenship (for more
information on this theme, please see
http://errc.org/publications/legal/cerd_mar98.pdf)
? Civil society actors from Western Europe (because statelessness
among Roma in Yugoslavia has repercussions abroad)
? Civil society actors from the Baltics (where Roma may face
similar issues)
? Experts on statelessness and international law issues.
Conclusions and follow-up
Conference participants explored a number of ideas as recommendations
and conclusions, based on local conditions in the various countries at
issue. General recommendations include:
? Successor states of the former Yugoslavia which have not yet
done so should, without delay, sign and ratify the European Convention
on
Nationality;
? Persons who had real and effective ties with a successor state
of the former Yugoslavia as of the date of its independence or
succession should be provided with access to the citizenship of that
state by declaration, in accordance in particular with Article 18 of the
European Convention on Nationality, on nationality in the context of
state succession;
? All former Yugoslav countries should, without delay, sign and
ratify the International Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
(no successor states to the former Yugoslavia have as yet done so);
? Successor states of the former Yugoslavia which have not yet
done so should, without delay, sign and ratify the International
Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons;
? Successor states of the former Yugoslavia which have not yet
done so should, without delay, sign and ratify, the International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
Members of Their Families;
? All states of the former Yugoslavia should work proactively to
design and implement strategies to end statelessness among Roma on their
territories, as well as to alleviate the crisis of rights deprivation
generated by a widespread lack of basic documents among Roma.
Conference participants additionally agreed upon next steps in the form
of an action phase for documentation and advocacy work, followed by a
follow-up workshop.
Further information on the issues raised herein is available by
contacting the offices of the ERRC.
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