Amnesty International (AI) has pointed to the segregation of Romany into their own special classes in the East Slovak town of Levoca, while pointing out that it is no individual case and so plans to launch a petition to combat this kind of ethnic segregation.
The school has refused to back down on its system of segregation despite the objections of parents. Levoca mayor Miroslav Vilkovsky said the special classes were set up because many of the Romany children had not been through pre-school preparations at nursery school, while noting that only a few parents had raised objections. A similar case was registered in Sarisske Michalany, which was subsequently deemed illegal by the court.
“This case is not isolated. Thousands of Romany children throughout Slovakia continue to attend separated, exclusively Romany schools and classes, which means that they are denied the right to education without discrimination,” the AI wrote. According to the most recent census, there are around 106,000 Romany living in Slovakia, but many feel the real figure (almost 18% up on 2001) is much higher.
Amnesty International looks at individual cases in an article on its website.
Another report, repeating the same old story, that will soon be forgotten. What’s needed is action. Stop the report writting and start the court procedings. Keep taking the Sk to the ECHR, keep getting rulings against the Sk, keep getting the cases reported. Eventually the clowns in Brussels will realise that the Sk is failing in its obligations and might actually do something tangible about it.
Are the Roma discriminated against because they are just taught to in schools by their peers to beg and steal, or is it because where they live they have sky high unemployment rates and cannot even be fed by their families properly? Are they not just treated badly because they really are “different”?
If there is any kind of problem, it is due to the fact that the majority of Roma parents to be, are educated from an early age that they should do anything instead of sending going to school, in order to buld themselves a future and find a job. Instead, they are often raised as petty-criminals.
The Roma community should do far more to help themselves and also make more of an effort to adapt to the culture of the country that shelters them.
…..OK , this was spoof comment ……but ironic eh ? Apples and pears, but at the end of the day Slovwaks are all just fruit .