Hindus and Jews have strongly criticized erection of a wall in Ostrovany in Slovakia to keep out Roma.
Calling it a blatant sign of apartheid, Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a statement issued in Nevada today, said that it clearly showed the attitude of European Union towards its most maltreated community of Roma.
It was really shocking to see 21st century Europe spending public funds to erect wall to segregate communities; instead of improving the conditions of Roma who lived next door reportedly in medieval squalor in mud houses without running water, gas and sewage. Was this a part of the vision of post-Berlin Wall European Union to keep Roma away from their more affluent non-Roma neighbors, Zed and Freirich asked.
Hindu and Jewish leaders also urged Slovakia to accept responsibility over involuntary sterilization of Roma women in past, offer “apology” and provide adequate financial compensation to the victims. There are reportedly about 350,000 Roma in Slovakia and there are also allegations that many Roma children were placed in “special” schools. Ivan Gašparovič is President and Robert Fico is the Prime Minister of Slovakia.
Zed and Rabbi Freirich pointed out that it was appalling to see how inhumanely Europe was treating its about 15 million Roma brothers-sisters. It was clearly reprehensible, hazardous and immoral and a brazen failure of Europe to meet its international obligations. When it came to Roma, Europe frequently failed to implement its own laws distinctly mentioned in its own books.
Rajan Zed and Jonathan Freirich further said that alarming condition of Roma people was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as they reportedly regularly faced social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, etc.
Besides the absence of any serious efforts at their inclusion, Roma were being used as “punch bag” and blamed for the social ills of Europe and many politicians even exploited segregation to their political advantage. European neglect was trapping Roma in cycles of persecution and poverty. Roma issue should be one of the highest priorities of human rights agenda of Europe and world, thus reversing the history of persecution, Zed and Freirich stressed.