Samir Jaha: Position of Roma far from satisfactory [Refleksija]
- Details
- Wednesday, 08 April 2015 11:32
On the occasion of 8 April, International Roma Day, we talked to the executive director of the NGO "Young Roma", Samir Jaha, about his view of the situation of Roma in the Montenegrin society.
Refleksija: How do you assess the situation of Roma in the Montenegrin society, especially young Roma people?
In my opinion, and I believe, in the opinion of all who deal with this problem, the situation of Roma in Montenegro is still far from satisfactory. Deep-rooted poverty, poor housing conditions, unemployment, and open or covert discrimination are problems faced by the majority of the Roma population. Despite the large number of projects aimed at promoting and protecting of the rights of Roma, there is still a deep gap between Roma and the rest of the population in Montenegro, while the degree of ethnic distance is still highest against this minority group. Some recent studies suggest that almost every other citizen of Montenegro has a prejudice against the Roma. As for the young Roma, their situation is somewhat better in comparison to the previous period. A greater number of children is involved in the education system, while great number of young people now understand the importance of education and active engagement in improving the situation of their community. Roma students and pupils are quite active in non-governmental organizations and often participate in various volunteer activities, which is very commendable. However, their biggest problem is unemployment.
Refleksija: In the last few years there have been numerous changes in legislation in various areas, but the changes are often not accompanied by appropriate practice. Is it the same in the are of Roma protection and inclusion?
The legislative framework in the field of anti-discrimination and protecting the rights of Roma has not significantly changed in the past 5 years. On the other hand, at the policy level, we have the Strategy for improving the situation of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro 2012 - 2016, Strategy for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion from 2007, the Strategy for Resolving the issue of displaced and internally displaced persons in Montenegro with special emphasis on Konik area and the accompanying action plans at national and local levels. The participation of Montenegro in the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005 - 2015 was also very important for progress in the integration of Roma. However, it can not be said that all planned strategic objectives were achieved. In most cases, the lack of precise indicators aggravated theadequate monitoring over the progress in priority areas. And there is also a lack of financial resources for the implementation of planned activities. For the effective implementation of all action plans and policy documents, as one of the solutions we see qualitatively inclusion of Roma representatives in all stages of the process. What I have in mind is participation in early consultations before preperation of the document itself, but also the participation of Roma in writing, implementation and evaluation of the adopted documents. This is particularly important given that Roma know their own needs and problems better than others, and their say must be into account when formulating policies.
Refleksija: What are the most common problems faced by the Roma minority?
In the first place there is discrimination which occurs daily in various fields, from education to employment, but also the lack of information. However, according to the findings of the research recently conducted in cooperation with the Coalition NGO Roma Circle and Humanitarian, Roma listed the following problems: unemployment especially of women, poor housing conditions, an extreme poverty, problems in education, lack of personal documents, lack of information, lack of adequate infrastructure facilities, begging, and social and political exclusion and marginalization.
Refleksija: Are Roma involved in social life?
The social and educational situation of the Roma community has contributed to the fact that Roma are largely excluded from the process of equal participation in public affairs. This is particularly evident in the sphere of political participation. Namely, Montenegro is the only post-communist country where there are no Roma political parties. Legal solutions with affirmative action (lower treshold clause), which were introduced in 1998 for certain ethnic groups, bypassed the Roma people as a minority. At the same time, the existing political parties almost don/t treat Roma as a political community, showing no interest in recognizing the problem of Roma and putting efforts to apply political mediation in resolving them. This passivity is, on one hand, a consequence of a lack of political sensitivity of "big parties", but is also the result of non established contact with the existing political factors by Roma representatives and the lack of adequate skills for the presentation of the problems. The Roma population is not sufficiently familiar with the political system, its functioning, opportunities able to engage in it, ways of influence and the types of changes which can be achieved. In this regard, it is necessary to continue working to strengthen the capacity of Roma NGOs, activists, and beneficiaries.
Refleksija: What is the situation in the field of education like? How many Roma go to college? Are there any obstacles in acquiring higher education, or whether the conditions established are properly placed for inclusion of Roma pupils and students in the educational system? What is missing?
Evident progress was made particularly in the field of education. The number of Roma children in kindergartens and the number of Roma students increased. According to the report on the implementation of the Strategy in 2014, there are 1538 Roma pupils in primary schools, 69 in secondary schools and 17 college students. However, looking at the whole system, we must point out that the system misses sustainable solutions relating to insurance of compulsory attendance at primary schools and prevention of the dropout, especially by girls. Also, the educational outcomes of Roma children are still very low, especially among internally displaced persons. In this sense, what would be the recommendations for the coming period is to continue with efforts in this particular area, and above all, to fully integrate the system of Roma mediators and assistants in elementary education and mentorship for students. NGO Young Roma achieved excellent results in this regard, through the project "Education to Integration" which uis being implemented in Herceg Novi since 2013, in ​​cooperation with the OSCE Mission. Through this project, we hired assistants and organize workshops for Roma children in order to support them to get better quality education. As far as higher education is concerned, we appreciate and welcome the practice of the government to grant scholarships to Roma high school and college students, thus motivating them to continue their education.
Refleksija: A particular issue that is often present, but also followed by the lack of understanding of its depth is the problem of begging. What can you tell us about this problem? How to fight it?
Begging is almost entirely a phenomenon which characterizes only the Roma community and the highest percentage of beggars are children; the consequence of begging, in addition to mental and physical disorders, is that it deprives these children of educational opportunities. Tolerating and ignoring this phenomenon only reproduces existing poverty of the Roma community. The problem of begging is a very sensitive issue, and requires a coordinated and dedicated action by all relevant actors, Ministry of Interior, centers for social work and non-governmental and international organizations, but also the parents of these children. Montenegro has repeatedly implemented actions to combat begging. Our recommendations in this regard are to:
- create more mobile professional teams for continuous field work, identifying problems and animating parents with the aim of removing children from the streets, and the integration of children and their families in the system;
- provide education for all children and parents on all aspects of their rights and obligations, and providing material support to the child and their families, depending on their needs and conditions;
- open daily and crisis centers wherever they are needed, but treat them as temporary solutions that need to be gradually replaced with permanent solutions in terms of full inclusion of the family and the child;
- take all possible measures to register all children, which requires inter-sectoral and regional cooperation, as well as
- educate the public about the harmful consequences of child begging.
Refleksija: How often is the problem of underage forced marriages among the Roma population? Often, the people can hear the opinion that it is a tradition at and that people should not interfere, what is your response to such views?
In my opinion, arranged marriages in modern Roma community are rare. When it comes to under-age marriages, I really can not say that they do not exist, but we should be careful not to fall into the trap of generalization. Couple isolated cases can not and must not be seen as something common and acceptable. Juvenile marriages are a problem, but often this phenomenon is overemphasized in the public, which creates misconceptions and prejudices about the Roma community. The term "forced marriage" is wrong, because I think that forced marriages do not exist in the Roma community. On the other hand, there are arranged marriages, which are quite rare nowadays. Such decrease of arranged marriage should be viewed in the context of the development of a community. Arranged marriages were characteristic of all nations in the region, not only among Roma. Through the education and emancipation of the population, this phenomenon is now eradicated, so I believe this will be also the case with the Roma community in very near future.
Refleksija : End message
For a substantial improvement of the situation of Roma it is essential that Roma themselves are involved. By that, we mean that all institutions or organizations concerned with the integration of Roma must employ or engage members of the Roma community. Respect for the core principle of the Decade of Roma "Nothing for Roma without Roma" should be fully applied.
