Organizations representing interests of Romani people withdraw from Interethnic Relations Bureau

The vice president of the United Alliance of the Roma Mihai Lepadatu in a news conference on August 9 announced that the Roma civil society decided to withdraw from the Interethnic Relations Bureau and create a Technical Working Group that will solve the problems faced by the Romani people. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, the deputy head of the Interethnic Relations Bureau Vera Petuhov said they received no application and the announcement made by Mihai Lepadatu is rather a political order. Mihai Lepadatu told the conference that the Roma civil society, without saying who forms part of this society, does not want to cooperate with the Interethnic Relations Bureau because it organizes sterile festivities and does not improve the living standards of the Romanies in Moldova. In 2006, the Government of Moldova adopted a plan of action to support the Romani people in Moldova for 2007-2010. Under the plan, the state was to get involved to solve different problems encountered by the Romanies, but nothing was done in this respect, Mihai Lepadatu said. Ion Farama, the head of the association “Elita Romani”, said the Roma are marginalized, while the Romani children are not accepted into education institutions. “No Romani person was admitted to university on a budget-funded place this year,” he said. The representatives of the Roma associations said they set up a working group that will work out a mechanism for implementing the measures described in the plan of action adopted by the Government and will cooperate directly with the executive. The Interethnic Relations Bureau includes six national Roma organizations and 26 local Roma organizations. There are over 40 associations and nongovernmental organizations that protect the rights of the Roma people in Moldova at present.