(ERIO): In an interview broadcasted on Dutch TV on 1 May, Eric Van der Linden, EU Commission’s Ambassador to Slovakia, proposed to remove Romani children from their parents and put them into boarding schools: “It may sound simplistic,” the Head of the EU Delegation said, “but it is, I think in the root of the cause that we need to strengthen education and organise the educational system in a way that we may have to start to, I’ll say it in quotation marks, force Romani children to stay in a kind of boarding schools from Monday morning until Friday afternoon, where they will continuously be subjected to a system of values which is dominant (“vigerend”) in our society.”
When the journalist objected that Roma might be opposed to such a measure, Van der Linden proposed to utilise financial incentives as to break an initial resistance. He agreed that, “we do live here in a democracy, so you cannot force it, but you can of course try to let it develop more smoothly through giving financial incentives.” He expected that families would as a result send their children to school and that “the generation that will be educated then and at the same time raised, will fit better in the dominant society, they will be able to cooperate in a productive way to the growth of the economy.”
These statements are unacceptable, not only as they are in breach with fundamental international Human Rights conventions such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the EU's own basic principles. They are also unacceptable, because they clearly express the idea to eradicate the Romani identity and culture through the brain-washing of Romani children and their alienation from their parents and community.
Practices of forcibly separating Romani children from their parents as a means to assimilate the Romani communities have a long tradition. Under the reign of Empress Maria-Theresa, Romani children were removed from their families and brought up by non-Romani families as a means to eradicate Romani culture and identity. In Switzerland, similar practices were introduced after the first World War and persisted until the early 1970s.
The European Union and the Commission as its executive arm have long been telling the accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe that they need to safeguard and respect the rights of their minorities, including the Roma. Today, it looks as if the European Union is actually sharing the same approach towards the “Roma problem” as it has been done by socialist governments in Central and Eastern Europe and their post-socialist successors consisting of either forced assimilation or exclusion.
This is why a clear sign is needed from the side of the European Commission that Mr. van der Linden's views are not in line with the philosophy of the institution he represents and that these kinds of statements are neither tolerable, nor tolerated.
The European Roma Information Office has asked the President of the European Commission, Mr. Romano Prodi, to remove the Commission's Ambassador to Slovakia from his post. ( http://www.erionet.org/Prodi1.html ) So far, there is no official reaction from the Commission to this request. Statements made by the spokesperson of Romano Prodi during the Commission's press briefing on 14 May, make us, however, believe that Mr. van der Linden will not face any major consequences for his undue talk.
Accordingly, Mr. van der Linden was simply requested not to give any longer interviews “on this topic”. Mr. van der Linden's racist statements were played down as “an unfortunate choice of words in an interview which was otherwise quite good and talked about important things we [the European Commission] are engaged in this respect.”.
It is now upon us, Romani and non-Romani Human Rights activists and citizens concerned about the respect of basic freedoms, to make clear that there is no such simple escape out of statements that express a strong racist bias and assimilatory intents towards Roma. Generations of Roma have become victims of assimilatory practices; an estimated between 228,000 to 500,000 were killed in the name of the purity of blood and culture during the Second World War.
This is why we kindly invite you to sign our protest. It will be sent to the President of the European Commission, Mr. Romano Prodi, with copies going to the Delegation in Bratislava.
Mr. van der Linden needs to be sacked and apologies need to be addressed to the Romani communities throughout Europe. We are citizens with the same rights as any other citizens of Europe. We claim the respect of our rights and of our people!
Join our call for Mr. van der Linden’s removal by electronically signing the protest at: http://www.erionet.org/petrosani.html (takes 40 sec).
European Roma Information Office (ERIO)
http://www.erionet.org
When the journalist objected that Roma might be opposed to such a measure, Van der Linden proposed to utilise financial incentives as to break an initial resistance. He agreed that, “we do live here in a democracy, so you cannot force it, but you can of course try to let it develop more smoothly through giving financial incentives.” He expected that families would as a result send their children to school and that “the generation that will be educated then and at the same time raised, will fit better in the dominant society, they will be able to cooperate in a productive way to the growth of the economy.”
These statements are unacceptable, not only as they are in breach with fundamental international Human Rights conventions such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the EU's own basic principles. They are also unacceptable, because they clearly express the idea to eradicate the Romani identity and culture through the brain-washing of Romani children and their alienation from their parents and community.
Practices of forcibly separating Romani children from their parents as a means to assimilate the Romani communities have a long tradition. Under the reign of Empress Maria-Theresa, Romani children were removed from their families and brought up by non-Romani families as a means to eradicate Romani culture and identity. In Switzerland, similar practices were introduced after the first World War and persisted until the early 1970s.
The European Union and the Commission as its executive arm have long been telling the accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe that they need to safeguard and respect the rights of their minorities, including the Roma. Today, it looks as if the European Union is actually sharing the same approach towards the “Roma problem” as it has been done by socialist governments in Central and Eastern Europe and their post-socialist successors consisting of either forced assimilation or exclusion.
This is why a clear sign is needed from the side of the European Commission that Mr. van der Linden's views are not in line with the philosophy of the institution he represents and that these kinds of statements are neither tolerable, nor tolerated.
The European Roma Information Office has asked the President of the European Commission, Mr. Romano Prodi, to remove the Commission's Ambassador to Slovakia from his post. ( http://www.erionet.org/Prodi1.html ) So far, there is no official reaction from the Commission to this request. Statements made by the spokesperson of Romano Prodi during the Commission's press briefing on 14 May, make us, however, believe that Mr. van der Linden will not face any major consequences for his undue talk.
Accordingly, Mr. van der Linden was simply requested not to give any longer interviews “on this topic”. Mr. van der Linden's racist statements were played down as “an unfortunate choice of words in an interview which was otherwise quite good and talked about important things we [the European Commission] are engaged in this respect.”.
It is now upon us, Romani and non-Romani Human Rights activists and citizens concerned about the respect of basic freedoms, to make clear that there is no such simple escape out of statements that express a strong racist bias and assimilatory intents towards Roma. Generations of Roma have become victims of assimilatory practices; an estimated between 228,000 to 500,000 were killed in the name of the purity of blood and culture during the Second World War.
This is why we kindly invite you to sign our protest. It will be sent to the President of the European Commission, Mr. Romano Prodi, with copies going to the Delegation in Bratislava.
Mr. van der Linden needs to be sacked and apologies need to be addressed to the Romani communities throughout Europe. We are citizens with the same rights as any other citizens of Europe. We claim the respect of our rights and of our people!
Join our call for Mr. van der Linden’s removal by electronically signing the protest at: http://www.erionet.org/petrosani.html (takes 40 sec).
European Roma Information Office (ERIO)
http://www.erionet.org