EU holds first Roma summit, but critics say it’s not enough

Gypsy representatives irked by failure to condemn Italian measures

A young girl is pictured early yesterday in a Roma settlement in Palaiseau, south of Paris. Representatives of EU governments and Roma groups held the first ever summit aimed at improving Roma living conditions.

BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union called yesterday for a continent-wide drive to improve the plight of millions of Gypsies, also called Roma, who face discrimination and poverty.

Roma representatives at the first «European Roma Summit,» however, criticized the EU for failing to do enough. In particular, they were incensed by the EU executive body's failure to condemn Italy over new security measures that human rights groups denounce as discriminatory against Gypsies.

«It is very shameful such things can happen within the European Union,» said Isabela Mihalache, senior project manager with the Open Society Institute. «It's also shameful that the European Commission could not send a clearer and stronger message to the Italian government.» Open Society Institute founder George Soros, who has long championed Roma rights, said he supported legal action against Italy over the measures, which include fingerprinting adults and children without valid ID papers.

«I am deeply troubled by the precedent set by Roma profiling in Italy,» Soros told the conference. «I consider targeted fingerprinting of Roma a case of ethnic profiling which ought to be illegal.» Italy's government is conducting a census of tens of thousands of Gypsies, many of whom come from Romania or elsewhere in the Balkans. It says the move will help authorities clamp down on crime and illegal immigrants and push Roma children to attend school.

Critics say it is an attempt to win favor with voters who blame Gypsies for street crime. Although the measures were condemned by the European Parliament, the EU's head office - the European Commission - has said they do not infringe the bloc's rules.

The Commission called the summit to bring together government officials, Roma representatives and non-governmental organizations to draw attention to the problems facing the up to 9 million Gypsies living in the 27-nation bloc. Studies say Roma suffer widespread poverty, poor health, low educational levels and high unemployment.

«They still represent the largest ethnic group facing extreme poverty, social exclusion and discrimination on our territory,» European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said. «Most of their population... lives in conditions which are simply not acceptable in 21st-century Europe.»

A senior UN official told Greece yesterday it should take urgent measures to improve the quality of life for Roma gypsies living here.

Gay McDougall, the United Nations' independent expert on minority issues, said that Greek Roma were «living in an unacceptable situation» and the Greek government must do more to help them.

McDougall, who is in Greece on a weeklong visit, said authorities should make access to education for Roma children one of their top priorities.

«Every child must be enrolled in school and there must be equal access to education,» McDougall said.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled against Greece last June when it found Roma children had been denied access to an Athens school following opposition from other parents. According to a Greek NGO following the case, the school refused to accept the children's registration.

McDougall also noted the poor living conditions that many Roma live in, «without running water or electricity,» she said.

McDougall is set to present a report of her findings to the UN in March, although she said she had already made some recommendations to the Greek government.

International observers and NGOs have long been critical of the racial discrimination suffered by the Roma community in Greece, estimated at around 350,000 people.

Measures announced by previous Greek governments have so far failed to tackle the problem. (AFP)