Human Rights Watch Joins Us In Appeal For Roma
Human Rights Watch appeals to European states to stop sending Roma back to Kosovo. In a report they point out that Roma who left for Western Europe but were sent back face serious human rights problems.
They experience problems getting identity documents as well as regaining possession of any property they own. They also have difficulties accessing housing, health care, employment, and social welfare services. Many end up in places where they are separated from family members.
The deportations are especially hard on children, few of whom stay in school due to the lack of language skills, curriculum differences, and poverty.
“Europe is sending Kosovo’s most vulnerable people back to discrimination, exclusion, poverty, and displacement,” said Wanda Troszczynska-van Genderen, Western Balkans researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Civil Rights Defenders recentlly wrote an Op-Ed article requesting Sweden and other European countries to stop sending Roma back to Kosovo for exactly the same reasons. In deporting the Roma to Kosovo, Sweden and other EU countries are not only morally and ethically wrong but are also contravening fundamental human rights.
