The biggest population of Roma is in the Transcarpathian (Western Ukraine), Odesa (Southern Ukraine), and Cherkasy (Central Ukraine) regions
According to official statistics, there are 48,000 Roma living in Ukraine. For a country with a population of 46 million the number is not surprising. But one must take into consideration that the official data was gathered more than 10 years ago – in 2001. Meanwhile, the Council of Europe estimates the Roma population of Ukraine to be 260,000.
Today, according to medical statistics for the Transcarpathian region alone, there are 21,000 children aged to 17 years officially registered in the area. Compare this with the 14,000 identified as Roma in 2001 and you will understand that if the state does not know the real numbers of the population it can hardly ensure at least their minimum needs.
The biggest population of Roma is in the Transcarpathian (Western Ukraine), Odesa (Southern Ukraine), and Cherkasy (Central Ukraine) regions. They live in settlements (“tabory”) isolated in large part from other communities. There has been no effort by the state to address Roma issues at the national level. The government approved National Roma Strategies several times but no practical steps had been made. Last year, under Ukraine’s obligation in preparation for signing the EU Association Agreement, the President of Ukraine signed the National Strategy of Social Protection and Integration of the Roma People in Ukrainian Society.
There is no special governmental body in charge of national minorities. The Ministry of Culture became responsible for implementing the Roma strategy and developing the Action Plan. The coalition of Roma NGOs developed their recommendations for improving the Action Plan. The International Renaissance Foundation, the office of the Ombudsman, and a number of partner NGOs expressed their concerns regarding the document.
The recent countrywide protests brought a number of challenges for the state as well as for civil society. The biggest one has to do with Crimea. Being a vulnerable group, the Roma, particularly in Crimea, face a number of new problems that are consequences of existing ones (ID documents, lack of education, and isolation of their communities). The Chirikli Roma women’s foundation, which coordinates the Roma mediators project in Ukraine, is in constant communication with Roma mediators in Crimea who report that the situation is very tense. They have stressed that the Roma people they have spoken with want to leave Crimea after it was illegally united with the Russian Federation following the March 16 referendum.
Vice President of Chirikli Zola Condur said: “What worries me at the moment is that if Roma people have to leave Crimea, how will they live? Where will their children go to school? What opportunities will they have? If they don’t have passports, how will they travel? Where will they go? We have no answers to these questions at the moment. Some Roma still have their older Russian passports, but some have lost their documents, while others never had any to begin with. To apply for a passport, they must provide a permanent residence document with an address, and in Crimea and other regions, Roma people live in unofficial settlements where the houses are not officially registered. You cannot prove that you are living in an unregistered place. This is one of the reasons why many Roma cannot get passports, as well as the lack of birth certificates and many other documents. It is a complex problem.”
Educated and skilled Roma community leaders have been active participants in the decision-making process. Myroslav Horvat (Uzhgorod, Transcarpathian region), Olena Fyudr (Cherkasy region), Chirikli, Roma Council of Ukraine, and others took an active part in the elaboration of the Roma National Strategy and Action Plan.
After the Euromaidan protests in December 2013 – February 2014, the new Ukrainian government and Parliament confirmed their political will to join the EU, which creates a new window of opportunity for Roma in Ukraine to advocate for Ukraine to join the Roma Decade and EU initiatives for Roma, to monitor national and regional Roma action plan performance, and to report to the Ombudsman’s office and international community. It is also a good time to advocate for forming a specialized governmental institution that would deal with national minority issues and Roma minority protection. For the moment, the Ministry of Social Policy is best suited to handle social issues for national minorities.
This is also a good time to advocate for the official recognition of the Roma health mediators model, which is being implementing in Ukraine with the support of the Roma Health Program (Budapest) and International Renaissance Foundation. The coordinator of the project, Chirikli, promotes the model at the national and regional level. We believe the network of mediators could become one of the key implementers of the Action Plan at the regional level given that they have direct access to Roma communities and advocacy skills.
Following the Russian occupation, Ukraine faces new challenges that require all national minori-ties to consolidate their efforts in participating in regional local government advisory boards to preempt any ethnic conflict and political extremism.
Contacts:
International Renaissance Foundation
Roma Program Initiative
Olga Zhmurko
(+380 44) 461 95 00
zhmurko@irf.ua
