The future 'integration' of Romanies in the European Union

| Monday, 5 June 2006 Source: Nidhi Trehan

You are warmly invited to a panel discussion on Citizens or Denizens? The future 'integration' of Romanies in the European Union, in association with the Central London Europe Group (CLEG) and the London School of Economics (LSE) Praxis Society (Department of Sociology)

Keynote Address: Baroness Sarah Ludford, MEP

Speakers:
• Barbora Bukovska
• Angela Kocze
• Martin Kovats
• Florina Zoltan

Moderator: Nidhi Trehan, LSE-Sociology

Date and time: 6.30pm, Thursday June 8, 2006

Venue:
Old Theatre
Old Building
London School of Economics (LSE)
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE

Abstract: Did you know that Europe has over eight million Romanies in all? Comprising one of the largest (and least understood) minority groups in Europe, the accession of Bulgaria and Romania will render them the European Union's largest minority population.

• Are they citizens or denizens in the EU?
• What nationality do they have, and how many are EU citizens?
• How are their human rights being breached?

We will have an international forum of specialists, including an MEP from the European Parliament putting forward their views on the above issues. Expect a lively debate to follow - as the audience will be drawn from a wide spectrum including Romani activists, academics, lawyers, politicians and students.

Barbora Bukovska is a Czech human rights lawyer, and director of Poradna (Centre for Human Rights) in Kosice, Slovakia; Angela Kocze is former director, European Roma Information Office, Brussels, and is Phd candidate at Central European University in Budapest; Dr. Martin Kovats is a political scientist at Birkbeck, University of London; Florina Zoltan is a Romani activist and refugee community leader, UK

Florina Zoltan is a refugee from Romania where ultra-nationalists (and the ideologies propelling them) killed members of her family and further persecuted her. The lack of justice in the case motivated her to become a human rights activist and to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In its landmark ruling, the ECHR held unanimously that there had been a breach of human rights, awarding over 200,000 euros collectively to several Romani victims and their families [see Moldovan & Others v Romania No2 on the Court's website]; nonetheless, the perpetrators of the crime were granted a presidential pardon by the former Romanian President, Iliescu. Her experience in working with Romani communities led her to complete an MA in Romani Studies and Social Science at the University of Greenwich from where she graduated in 2005. Two years of working as researcher at University of Surrey in the EU-funded 'Workalo' - a trans-european project looking at the barriers faced by Roma, Gypsy and Travellers in terms of accessing education, training and employment- further developed her knowledge of the "Roma subject". Florina describes herself as a traditional emancipated Romani woman.

Barbora Bukovska is a Czech lawyer, director of the human rights organization, Center for Civil and Human Rights (Poradna) in Kosice, Slovakia. Since 1994, she has been litigating cases of discrimination of Roma in access to housing, employment, public accommodation, and the criminal justice system. Recently, she has been actively working on cases of forced sterilization of Romani women, a grave human rights abuse which reached the international spotlight in the 1990s.

Martin Kovats completed his PhD on Hungarian Romani politics and policy in 1998. He has continued his research into European Romani issues at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of Birmingham and as Marie Curie Fellow at Corvinus University, Budapest. He has been a consultant on various Romani projects for Save the Children, UNICEF and Minority Rights Group International and is widely published in this area. He is currently a sessional lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London.

Angela Kocze is Phd candidate in Sociology at the Central European University in Budapest. She is the former director of the European Roma Information Office (ERIO) in Brussels, as well as the former director of the human rights education programme at the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) in Budapest, Hungary. She is active in the movement for the emancipation of Roma in Europe, and has a particular interest in issues of women's political representation and social justice.

Nidhi Trehan is Phd candidate at the London School of Economics & Political Science, Department of Sociology. She has also worked for several human rights and social justice organizations such as the European Roma Rights Centre (Hungary), the Industrial Areas Foundation (USA), as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She has also acted as an expert witness to the UK Home Office on asylum cases of persecuted Romanies in Europe.

Sponsored by: The LSE PRAXIS Society (Department Of Sociology), The Centre for The Study Of Human Rights, and the Central London Europe Group (CLEG)

Inquiries/further infomration:
Nidhi Trehan
N.Trehan@lse.ac.uk