“Political and media debates on Roma migration have become recurrent in several European countries. Since the eastward expansion of the European Union in 2004 and 2007, and the lifting of employment restrictions regarding Romanian and Bulgarian citizens in a number of EU member states in 2014, fears of Roma migration have often triggered uninformed and inflammatory discourse”, says Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in his latest Human Rights Comment published today.
No “invasion” by Roma
Media in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and other countries have often put forward unfounded figures about actual or potential arrivals of Roma. However, I found out that in some places, the number of Roma migrants has remained stable over the years.
In France, for example, it is estimated that the number of Roma migrants is around 15-20 000, a stable figure since the beginning of the 2000s. Last year, during a visit to a Roma migrant settlement in Strasbourg, I was informed that the overall number of Roma there has remained at around 400 persons over the last few years. Numbers might have been more variable elsewhere but, in general, there is no research-based evidence indicating that Roma form a larger share of those emigrating than their respective share of the population in their countries of origin. A 2013 study on Roma in Romania found that they were not more inclined to emigrate than non-Roma. (more...)
Извор: Совет на Европа – 16.07.2015
