REPER leaders drew attention on Monday, in a message sent on International Roma Day, to the discrimination these communities „continue” to face.

„We value diversity and inclusion, we defend the rights of this minority and draw attention to the discrimination that the Roma communities continue to face,” the leaders of REPER stated in a release sent to AGERPRES.

MEP Ramona Strugariu, co-president of REPER, expressed her desire that this community be represented, respected, included, that there be access and equal opportunities for all these people, citizens of Romania and the European Union.

„I hope that all political parties will include Roma candidates on eligible seats on this year’s electoral lists. This is the only way we can ensure this representation and recognition of the contribution of the Roma community in Romanian society. And, last but not least, I would like to thank them for the way they fight for their rights, for mobilization and for support,” said Ramona Strugariu, quoted in the press release.

Roma Day surprises this community in a gloomy landscape, a landscape that has not changed much in recent years, considers, for his part, MEP Dragos Pislaru, co-president of REPER.

„The Roma communities are completely neglected by the politicians on Dambovita [the river that crosses Bucharest] and I have to remind them that ignorance divides us. I have not seen politicians who know these communities. I have not heard politicians who speak about these communities, to campaign for the inclusion of Roma, to agitate for their access to education, protection and social services. For example, we don’t even have accurate data on the Roma population, we don’t know the number of Roma in Romania, because at the last census the reviewers they didn’t go to the Roma communities, while the old people are afraid to declare their ethnicity and the young people have mostly gone abroad,” said Dragos Pislaru.

AGERPRES