The Roma People- Debate Over Right to Asylum

Brief History of Discrimination and the Roma People

Discrimination is not built in a day, but rather is constructed carefully for years by both the society and the individual. Since their arrival in Europe from India in the 14th Century, Roma have been treated with suspicion. During the Second World War most Romanys in the former Czechoslovakia were exterminated by the Nazi regime, and most Roma now living in the Czech Republic were originally moved from Slovakia as part of an organized dispersal program. Romany people are known as gypsies throughout Europe and there are many stereotypes that pervade European and World culture today surrounding the Romany people. Currently, the European Union and the Czech Republic are debating the experience of the Roma people in society, and the debate ensues.

The Debate Between Economically Motivated Migrants and Legitimate Refugees

While the definition of a refugee under the 1951 Geneva Convention clearly excludes economic migration as a reason for seeking asylum, the difference between refugee and economic migrant can easily become obscure. According to the UNHCR in the 2001 Refugee Magazine, “ an economic migrant normally leaves a country voluntarily to seek a better life. Should he or she elect to return home they would continue to receive the protection of their government. Refugees flee because of the threat of persecution and cannot return safely to their homes.” Therefore, depending on the status granted by the receiving government, the fate of the individual applying for asylum will be determined.

The Roma People as Legitimate Refugees- Reports from International bodies and Non-Governmental Organizations

Ian Hancock, Professor of Romany Studies at the University of Texas describes the Roma experience as the following. “And we (the Roma people) have been pushed to the bottom of the heap and then judged on these grounds. Judged as beggars, judged as thieves- when this is not a matter of choice- it never was.” Narrowing the scope to the experience of the Roma people in the Czech Republic, the United Nations and Amnesty International issued a report on May 15, 2001, reporting the findings of torture and discrimination in Czech society. With urgency the UN “expressed concern of continuing incidents of discrimination against Roma, including by local officials, and particularly about reports of degrading treatment by the police and members of minority groups, and continuing reports of violent attack against Roma.”

To further support the experience that Roma face discrimination in the Czech Republic, David Chirico, who has worked at the European Roma Rights Centre in the Czech Republic reports the following experience. “If you are a Romany child you are 15 times more likely to be sent to a school for children with learning disabilities. If you are an adult you are 10 to 15 times more likely to be unemployed. ...You are likely to face intimidation or violence from an extremely organized and active skinhead movement. You are likely to spend your life attempting to gain admittance to bars, restaurants, swimming pools and other public places, where it is absolutely standard that you'll be refused service or admittance.” Clearly, Roma at large face discrimination. Yet, is it not possible for a Roma seeking asylum in the European Union to have avoided discrimination personally and be seeking asylum as an economic migrant?

Discrimination as it Applies to Refugees by International Mandate

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants notes individuals do not need to be personally targeted by discrimination to qualify as a legitimate refugee and apply for legitimate asylum. “If it can be established that there is a systematic pattern of state abuse and disenfranchisement of the fundamental human rights of a class of people then this will amount to persecution.” (JCWI 1999 p92)

Refusal of Asylum

Despite these legal guarantees many Roma are rejected more and more from Western Europe, specifically the United Kingdom and Germany. The Czech-British Agreement signed in February became effective on July 19, 2001 is already having a large effect on Roma People seeking asylum in Britain. The agreement requires all Czech citizens flying to Britain to fill in a landing card and go through a passport inspection by British immigration officers at Ruzyne Airport in Prague. According to the Roma News of Radio Prague on July 19th, 2001, “Officials began checking passengers to London on Wednesday, in a bid to deal with growing numbers of Roma people applying for asylum in Britain. Reports say that about ten Roma families, apparently all Czech citizens, were prevented from boarding their flight on grounds that they did not qualify for asylum.” Following this agreement, Roma people have consistently been denied flights to Britain.

The European Union's Effect on Refugees

As the European Union comes closer to accomplishing their goal: to form a single union, one main sticking point between nations has been freedom of movement. Freedom of movement means that EU nationals have the right to enter any other EU nation and seek jobs (except for some public sector jobs for which citizenship is required) on an equal basis with local residents. Currently, about 0.4 percent of EU citizens, about 1.5 million people, move from one EU country to another annually. The EU Commission estimated that admitting 10 Eastern European nations to the EU could result in a migration to the more prosperous West of 3.9 million people over 30 years.

Policy continues to be debated over freedom of movement and safeguards to protect countries from an astronomical injection of needy citizens. The fact that it is a major issue in the formation of the EU shows just how important the influx of current refugees are considered. Jack Straw, the former British Home Secretary in charge of immigration and asylum issues in Britain, emphasized the need of strict asylum measures in the 2001 Refugee Magazine. “It is in the interests of genuine refugees, as much as anyone else, for the United Kingdom and other countries to take strict measures to maintain the integrity of our asylum system.”

The Authenticity of Roma Asylum-the Czech Government Reports

The Czech government itself gives mixed messages. In their 1997 assessment of the Roma experience in the Czech Republic, the government called on its' fellow, “citizens of the Czech Republic to do as much as possible for improving the feelings of our Romany fellow citizens and thus help free the country from the feelings of mutual mistrust, undervaluing, accusation or discrimination on racial grounds.” In the same breath the government said, “The economic reasons are solvable in the home country and do not justify requests for political asylum.” In these two remarks the government has both voiced that Romany people experience discrimination on racial grounds and they are not justified to request asylum.

Negotiating the Future

The debate ensues from all third parties- are the Roma people victims of discrimination at large and therefore legitimate refugees? Or, are the Roma people economic migrants, traversing borders to utilize more developed countries infrastructure?

Ruud Lubbers, the High Commissioner for Refugees, states, “It is a real problem that Europeans try to lessen obligations to refugees. They must take seriously the responsibility of giving asylum.” Yet, what are the ramifications if countries do not take refugees seeking asylum seriously? The UNHCR states, “host governments are primarily responsible for protecting refugees.” Therefore, while the underprivileged refugees are afforded some international aid by the UNHCR, the Roma people's future is still dependent by and large on the countries from where they seek asylum.

1996 U.S. Aid Population Assistance for Eastern Europe

ERRC

Migration and Roma ERRC Newsletter

Article on Roma Population in the Czech Republic

Roma Population Statistics

The Council of Europe: Population and Migration Parliament

The ERRC report, “Time of the Skinheads- Denial and Exclusion of Roma in Slovakia.”

Latest News by Radio Prague

Bonafide or Bogus? : Roma Asylum Seekers from the Czech Republic

“The right to seek and enjoy the right of asylum” prepared by the UNHCR

UNHCR- Daily Report on July 24, 2001

UNHCR Mission Statement

Henry Lamb's article “A new era of UN-US Relations

Amnesty International-Article May 15, 2001 Czech Republic and Roma Discrimination