Members of the Coalition “Vocea Romilor” (“Voice of the Roma”), which promotes the rights of the Romani people in Moldova, said the phenomena of discrimination and racial hatred expands in state institutions, in particular in education establishments. The attitude to persons of Roma ethnicity is determined also by prejudice and, consequently, the representatives of the Roma, most often the children, become victims of violence.
In a news conference at IPN, Elena Sirbu, head of the Platform of Romani Women of Moldova, said that after the incident that happened on December 20 at the lyceum “B.P. Hasdeu” in Chisinau, where a minor girl of Roma ethnicity was insulted by classmates, verbal violence against the girl continued after she returned to school after vacation. The classmates staged a boycott against her and refused to communicate with her, isolating her. A girl who tried to speak to the Roma girl was also insulted and threatened.
According to Elena Sirbu, the lyceum’s administration didn’t deal with the situation and waited for this to dissolve. “I think the teachers, the children and parents made common cause by deciding to go against the Roma family. It is very important for the relevant institutions to work together to elucidate the case, while those to blame should be punished,” stated Elena Sirbu.
The Coalition’s secretary Marin Alla said the 34 organizations that are the Coalition’s associates want to bring about changes by eliminating the negative moments related to the discrimination of the Romani people from the education system as the Roma in Moldova want to study, but barriers that prevent the children from continuing their studies appear every time.
“We want to demonstrate that hate speech is a danger that leads to violence. We requested the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research and the Ministry of the Interior to become involved. By promoting racial hatred we cannot develop as a state,” stated Victorina Luca, founder of Radio Patrin Moldova.
The NGOs associated with the Coalition “Vocea Romilor” expect that the Prosecutor’s Office, the people’s ombudsperson for children’s rights and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research will intervene.
