Alternative report submitted to the 112th session (08 April – 26 April 2024) of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Joint submission of the Center for Policies and Reforms and the Roma Women’s platform ROMNI from the Republic of Moldova
Introduction
This report concerns the Republic of Moldova’s compliance with its international human rights obligations to prevent and combat discrimination against Roma. The report includes progress made by the authorities, challenges faced by Roma, gaps and shortcomings in the state’s efforts to ensure respect for Roma rights in line with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The Republic of Moldova participated in the 2017 review on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Committee made several recommendations to the Moldovan government on improving the situation related to prejudice and intolerance towards ethnic minorities, hate speech and discrimination against Roma people, but these have not been fully implemented by the authorities.
We submit this report in order to provide alternative information on the situation of Roma in the Republic of Moldova and in response to the action report No. 12 – 14 submitted by the Government on 18 June 2020 on the status of the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, prepared on the basis of the concluding observations on the tenth and eleventh periodic reports of the Republic of Moldova, adopted by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination at its 25-27th meeting on 8 May 2017.
The report highlights the challenges faced by Roma people in Moldova, related to prejudice, violence, discrimination and segregation, which have increased, especially with the start of the war in Ukraine, in the context of the arrival of Roma refugees in Moldova. Some violations of Roma rights highlighted in the Committee’s concluding observations in 2017 are also reflected in this report, as they have not been remedied by the Government so far. At the same time, the Committee’s recommendations to Moldova have not been fully implemented.
In 2017, the Committee recommended Moldova to take the necessary measures to ensure the implementation of the Action Plan for the support of the Roma population for the years 2016-2020, its financing and monitoring. At the same time, the Committee recommended that the public authorities continue to take measures to end discrimination against Roma and improve Roma access to healthcare, housing, education and employment.
The Committee recommended ensuring Roma involvement and consultation on their issues and needs, including through Roma representation in the policy-making process. It was recommended that the vacant positions of community mediators be filled and adequately funded, stressing the importance of the role of Roma mediators in addressing the problems faced by Roma and their integration into society.
The Committee recommended Moldova to undertake capacity-building efforts for specialists interacting with Roma in the field of preventing and combating ethnic discrimination. It also asked Moldova to provide statistics on training programmes and their impact on the situation of ethnic minorities.
Despite some progress in these areas, the situation of Roma in Moldova has not changed significantly. The existing legal framework for preventing and combating discrimination fails to provide effective protection for victims of discrimination, and prejudice against Roma, often shared even by law enforcement specialists, frequently lead to their revictimization. With the support of development partners and governmental and non-governmental organisations, trainings have been carried out for specialists interacting with Roma people, but they are insufficient to prevent and combat the phenomenon of discrimination against Roma, which is deeply rooted in Moldova.
At the same time, the action plan to support the Roma population for the period 2016-2020 has been partially implemented. The Government’s report on the implementation of the Plan is rather vague, sometimes lacking argumentation of the deficient implementation, without conclusions and statistical data. This report highlights the remaining challenges in ensuring the rights of Roma and affecting their safety, well-being, and protection.
The general context regarding ethnic discrimination of Roma people in Moldova
In the Republic of Moldova, the Roma population is the most disadvantaged minority group. Although, the Government is in the process of implementing the Government Decision no. 576 of 03-08-2022 on the approval of the programme to support the Roma population for the period 2022-2025, ensuring the effective exercise of Roma rights continues to be a challenge for the authorities.
The Platform of Roma Women and CPR Moldova express their concern about the slow progress of the Government in enforcing Roma rights in line with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as well as the persistence of discriminatory attitudes towards Roma, including by public officials. These lead to discrimination and exclusion of Roma from various social spheres. Roma women, in particular, are subject to violence and double discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity and gender, and children have limited access to quality education.
At the same time, a considerable number of Roma, including refugees, live in marginal conditions and are in a precarious socio-economic situation. The discrimination, social exclusion and segregation faced by Roma refugees are aggravating factors. Their limited access to the labour market and high unemployment rate diminishes their chances of poverty alleviation and social inclusion through work. This leads to low-income levels, limited access to quality health services and poor health and living conditions. These circumstances in turn lead to lower life expectancy and higher morbidity rates compared to the rest of the population.
According to the findings of the “Study on perceptions and attitudes towards equality”, produced by the Council of Europe in 2021, the general population’s attitude towards Roma is predominantly negative. Roma people interviewed in the study said that in theory all people can be equal. In reality, however, Roma people are not seen as equal to other ethnic groups; Roma are always discriminated against. “There is no equality in Moldova” – this was the opinion of all Roma participants who were interviewed in the study. “Moldovans have a negative attitude about Roma, that they are dirty, steal, sell drugs. Even if Roma have a good attitude towards people of other ethnicities, this attitude is not reciprocal.”
At the same time, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), in its report on the Republic of Moldova found that the political arena plays an important role in the emergence, amplification and spread of hate speech. This rhetoric is exploited, in part, because of deeply rooted prejudices against Roma in society. Lack of responsiveness from authorities, uncontrolled online environment, ineffective sanctioning mechanisms and imperfect legislation play a significant role in the spread of hatred and intolerance in society.
Although discrimination against Roma based on ethnicity is a widespread phenomenon in Moldova and a serious violation of human rights, it often goes unpunished. At the same time, the reporting rate of hate speech and discrimination is low, given that there are several obstacles preventing Roma from accessing justice and assistance and protection services, including mistrust of the authorities and lack of long-term state support.
The authorities have taken important steps to prevent and combat discrimination, but further efforts are needed to ensure that the rights of Roma people in Moldova are respected. Positive aspects relate to the adoption of legislation and policies, such as: the adoption of the Strategy on strengthening inter-ethnic relations (2017-2027), the adoption of the Government Decision no. 576 of 03-08-2022 on the approval of the Programme for the support of the Roma population in the Republic of Moldova for the years 2022-2025.
At the same time, the national authorities have failed to prioritize ensuring the effective exercise of Roma rights. Thus, the Action Report no. 12 – 14 CERD/C/MDA/12-14 submitted by the Government to the Committee does not address a number of critical issues faced by Roma.
Main areas of concern regarding violations of Roma rights in the Republic of Moldova
Considering the extent and impact of the phenomenon of discrimination against Roma in Moldova, it is necessary to adopt and implement firm, systemic measures in line with international standards in this field. Roma people, especially refugees, continue to face multiple difficulties in accessing their rights, due to the following aspects, highlighted below:
Limited implementation of the Strategy on Integration of Ethnic Minorities. In recent years, the Republic of Moldova has adopted the Action Plan on Roma Support for 2016-2020 and the Action Plan for 2022-2025, aimed at improving Roma inclusion. The general objectives of the two action plans are aimed at measures for the social inclusion of Roma in society, by combating discrimination, improving living conditions, school enrolment of Roma children and participation in public life, etc. The proper implementation of the two action plans would have generated significant changes that would have improved the situation of this group. The Action Plan for Supporting the Roma Population for 2016-2020 was only partially implemented, therefore the adopted policy documents did not have a significant effect on improving the situation of Roma in Moldova. This fact is also noted by the Roma Voice Coalition in the monitoring report of the Action Plan (2016-2022).
At the same time, the report on the implementation of the Action Plan for the period 2016-2020 for the support of the Roma population in the Republic of Moldova for the period 2016-2020 (approved by GD no. 734 of 09.06.2016) is rather vague, sometimes lacking argumentation for the lack of implementation, without conclusions and disaggregated statistical data. Thus, we conclude that the Action Plan for the support of the Roma population for the period 2016-2020 was only partially implemented, monitored and evaluated.
In 2021, the Roma Voice Coalition found in the study on Roma access to justice that about 34% of the monitored actions in the areas of health, education, community mediation and employment were not implemented, the results being below the level that could generate a positive impact for Roma communities. As national Roma policies have been superficially implemented, the situation of the community remains difficult. School drop-out rates are high, adult illiteracy persists and access to employment is limited. Roma women are particularly vulnerable, with limited rights due to multiple discrimination based on both gender and ethnicity.
Limited access to housing and segregation in refugee centres. In July 2023, the Roma working group conducted mapping of Roma refugees in Moldova, identifying over 1,500 people. They joined the already existing Roma community in Moldova of about 10,000 people. But the total number could be higher, given that the refugee population is in continuous flux on both sides of the national border.
According to UNHCR’s Roma Refugee Briefing Note, in December 2023, almost 45% of Roma refugees are living in refugee centres (RACs), a much higher percentage than the overall Ukrainian refugee population. Roma refugees face discrimination in access to housing and accommodation, often being denied accommodation in accommodation centres on ethnic grounds. At the moment, there are four segregated refugee accommodation centres in Moldova, with worse living conditions compared to non-segregated accommodation centres. Although the authorities are aware of the segregation of Roma refugees in refugee centres, no effective measures have been taken to combat this phenomenon.
Case study: Two mothers and ten Roma children were evicted in February 2023 from the refugee centre in Costești village, Ialoveni district. The case was reported by Elena Sîrbu, president of the Roma Women’s Platform of Moldova, who reported to the police that the mayor of the village, Vasile Borta, had physically and verbally assaulted the evicted refugees. The mayor denies the accusations. With regret, during the information activities carried out by CPR Moldova in the placement centres and during the legal counselling provided to refugees, we have noted that such cases are frequent in refugee centres.
At the same time, volunteers of the Moldova for Peace initiative have reported several cases of direct discrimination against Roma since the beginning of the crisis. Thus, volunteers who mediate the accommodation of refugees have been repeatedly warned by telephone by the administrators of some placement centres that they will not accept Roma for accommodation. Volunteers were told to refer “only Ukrainians” to these centres. In other cases, volunteers were asked to find out the ethnicity of people before referring them to accommodation centres. Volunteers working at border crossing points also reported the practice of authorities’ representatives to persuade/encourage Roma to choose Romania and not Moldova as their destination, on the grounds that the accommodation centres would no longer have places available. According to the report published by the People’s Advocate on the monitoring of respect for the rights of foreigners in Ukraine in refugee accommodation centres, there has been a direct or indirect refusal to accommodate Roma on the grounds of insufficient or even lack of available places. In other words, there is a negative preferential selection of Roma refugees for accommodation.
Gender-based violence and intersectional discrimination. Domestic violence is also a widespread negative phenomenon in Roma communities, but it is impossible to make a qualitative analysis in the absence of ethnically disaggregated data. Most of the time these cases are not reported for various reasons, one of which is the passive intervention of the police. The police usually avoid protecting Roma women and girls under the pretext of “their own laws” operating in the community. This is one of the reasons why Roma girls and women are deprived of access to “protection/restraining orders” and specialised support services for victims of domestic violence, such as shelters, psychological and legal counselling services.
The National Programme to Prevent and Combat Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (2023-2027) recognises, that the prevalence of violence is higher among Roma women and older women, while reporting rates are lower. Despite this recognition, GREVIO regrets to note that the notion of intersectional discrimination is not reflected in the broader legal and policy framework in Moldova governing gender equality and violence against women. Neither does the law on ensuring equal opportunities between women and men, reflect the intersection of multiple grounds of discrimination. Although the strategy on ensuring gender equality recognises that Roma women and girls are more vulnerable to gender-based violence, it does not provide for any specific measures to address their specific needs. Roma women are practically deprived of access to justice due to limited ability to control financial resources and poor legal knowledge. Limited access to justice is also determined by the lack of information and capacity to address and claim their rights when they are violated, by institutional discrimination caused by the passivity of the law enforcement bodies towards Roma communities and by the prejudice of the rest of society in general.
Child marriage is a widespread phenomenon in Roma communities, often seen as a way of protecting girls, but also as a tradition. These marriages accentuate the disparities faced by girls and limit their opportunities in life. Teenage marriage and school drop-out are closely linked, especially for girls, and these marriages also expose girls to the risks of early pregnancy and childbirth, as well as a high risk of violence.
The Roma Women’s Platform and CPR Moldova welcome the adoption by the Government of the Action Plan to support the Roma population in Moldova (2022- 2027). However, we would like to stress that this document does not address measures that would address the multiple vulnerabilities of Roma women. Women from Roma communities, including those who are refugees from Ukraine, continue to face discrimination rooted in deep-rooted prejudices. The limited availability of economic opportunities, lack of information, and services in rural areas remains a challenge to the advancement of gender equality and empowerment of Roma women. Women of Roma background in rural areas need support that would address the multifaceted problems they are facing.
Limited access to public services and public participation. The report on mapping densely populated Roma settlements in Moldova found that the Roma population continues to face difficulties and constraints in accessing public services, particularly in the areas of education, social protection, healthcare, and employment. In the localities where community mediators are active, the situation regarding Roma access to employment, education, health and other public services is better than in other localities where there are no community mediators. According to the study “Perception of Roma people on political participation in the Republic of Moldova”, 45% of Roma respondents said that they did not participate in local assemblies, political party activities, decision-making positions and other social and political activities.
Limited access to employment. The majority of Roma are not formally employed and do not have unemployed status because they do not know how to obtain this status and do not use the services of the National Employment Agency. The lack of knowledge about employment opportunities and social insecurity in the labour market has a negative impact on the socio-economic situation of the Roma population, leading to deepening poverty. Discrimination in employment and reduced opportunities lead to increased poverty, isolation, social exclusion, increased crime, corruption, etc. Therefore, promoting employment opportunities and combating labour discrimination is a necessary tool to break the vicious circle of poverty faced by a large part of the Roma population in Moldova.
Limited access to social protection. Lack of knowledge about social protection services, limited access to these services, long distances to social welfare institutions, lack of identity documents, insufficient information from state authorities, etc. are some of the multiple causes that limit Roma access to social protection. For example, the share of Roma people who have benefited from the basic components of the social assistance programme: the cold season allowance and social assistance is very low compared to the total population. In the updated report on the mapping of densely populated Roma localities, carried out in 2021, out of the total number of beneficiaries of social aid of 93362 persons only 4618 are Roma (about 5%). Poverty undermines the realization of basic social rights of Roma in Moldova. The situation is aggravated by the lack of proactive measures by the public authorities to mitigate the effects of poverty, leading to social exclusion and intolerance.
The low level of enrolment in the education system as well as the precarious financial situation are among the main factors influencing the attendance of educational institutions and consequently a high level of absenteeism and early dropout from the general education system is observed. Out of the total number of Roma children aged 0-17 years, in the 154 localities analysed in the study mentioned above 57% are enrolled in the secondary education system, so only 57% were enrolled in the education system from kindergarten to higher education institutions. The school dropout rate among Roma children is high. 65% of Roma children are dropouts. Among the causes of school dropout and lack of schooling of Roma children are: lack of an effective partnership between the educational institution, the municipality and Roma parents, joining/assisting parents with work, parents’ refusal and low effort to encourage their children to study, high illiteracy rate of Roma parents, lack of permanent place to live or necessary conditions to study at home, limited access to tutoring in educational institutions, children’s health problems, poor material status, discrimination in schools, bullying and inappropriate attitude towards Roma children by peers and even teachers. The persistence of discriminatory attitudes towards Roma and, by implication, a low level of education of Roma children results in increasing social distance between Roma and non-Roma population and, subsequently, in social exclusion and maintenance of the vicious circle of poverty.
Limited access to public health services. The low rate of the Roma population with compulsory health insurance policies and the lack of timely access to doctors are major problems. The number of Roma children who have received at least one vaccine from the national immunisation programme is 5386 children (76% of the total number registered). Roma do not attend medical institutions on a planned basis, but only in serious and extremely serious cases. The main reason limiting Roma access to health services is the lack of compulsory health insurance and the lack of financial resources to pay for medical services. Thus, the low access of the Roma population to medical services is caused by the lack of the status of insured person, the high price of medicines, the discriminatory attitude of medical professionals, the lack of information about state programs: free vaccination, medical check-ups, etc. The lack of access to information in the Roma language about the state programs promoted in the sphere of public health, the late approach of the Roma for medical assistance, the insufficient knowledge about health education, are also among the social constraints in the field of realization of the right to access to health.
Preconceived approaches, incitement to discrimination and ethnic stereotypes towards Roma, including by representatives of public authorities. During the outreach activities carried out by the CPR Moldova team in refugee centres and with legal advisors, we found that Roma often face discrimination, particularly in accessing social services. According to the report no. 1 published by the People’s Advocate stigmatizing speech and stereotypes related to the ethnicity of Roma refugees were found both from civil servants, administrators and staff of refugee centres, as well as from employees of the National Carabinieri Inspectorate (which provides security in some refugee centres) and other volunteers.
The Equality Council has issued numerous decisions finding discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity against Roma people by public officials, which confirms the extent of discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity against Roma.
Case study: On the official website of the City Hall of the town of. Soroca on the social network Facebook, on 13.01.2021, a press release was published announcing the liquidation of an unauthorized garbage dump, made a reference to another garbage dump, previously liquidated, in the so-called “gypsy hill”. The press release highlights that Roma citizens were involved in the work in question, with the aim of raising public awareness not to dump rubbish in unauthorised places, highlighting Roma in particular. The emphasis by the public authority on the ethnicity of the persons involved in the land clearance work and the highlighting of this fact in the media creates prejudice in society towards Roma people, leads to stigmatisation of the ethnic group and instigates discrimination and inter-ethnic hatred. Such actions, reinforce a rhetoric that where order is not respected, members of the Roma community are to blame. This is a misconception based on the negative stereotypes that prevail in society. Thus, the Equality Council found by decision that the message published by the City Hall of the Municipality of Soroca instigates discrimination against Roma people.
According to the study “Perceptions of Human Rights in the Republic of Moldova” conducted in 2021, the Ombudsman notes that “in recent years, the situation regarding discrimination against Roma has worsened” and warns of the inaction of state institutions that should protect them in this regard. The same findings are also derived from the findings of the study “Access to justice for Roma” conducted in 2021. Marginalisation, poverty, systematic discrimination, and lack of proactive attitude on the part of the state practically lead an entire ethnic group to give up defending their rights, which reinforces feelings of powerlessness, anxiety, depression and isolation.
About our organizations
Roma women’s platform “ROMNI” is a non-governmental organization, designed to support and promote the rights of Roma girls and women in Moldova. In addition to material assistance and housing support, ROMNI helps refugees from Ukraine navigate the Moldovan bureaucracy and provides legal services.
CPR’s mission is to promote access to information and public participation; honest and responsible business practices; human rights with a focus on freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and accessibility and transparency of the judiciary.
CPR Moldova is also a member organization of the Moldova for Peace initiative that implements prevention, protection and advocacy actions to promote refugee rights, especially the rights of Roma refugees.
Starting 2022 CPR Moldova and ROMNI have cooperated in protecting the rights of Roma refugees in the context of the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine.
