Hindus & Jews criticize Swedish Presidency of European Union for Roma exclusion
Newswire Services
July 06, 2009
Hindus and Jews have strongly criticized Swedish Presidency of the European Union (SPEU) launched on July one for total exclusion of Roma people from its priorities, who are reportedly facing apartheid.
Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a statement in Nevada today, said that when they searched for "Roma" on the SPEU website, the result was: "Your search for ´Roma´ did not match any documents".
Zed and Freirich said that they had high hopes that the new Swedish Presidency would not stay apathetic and silent spectator when about 15 million fellow Roma brothers/sisters were reportedly facing blatant injustice and discrimination in Europe. He urged Swedish Presidency and Sweden´s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to show strong political will, courage, and commitment in support of Roma cause.
Alarming condition of Roma people was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as they reportedly regularly faced social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, unusually high unemployment rates, etc., Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out.
It was like an undeclared apartheid and it was almost total societal exclusion of Roma. The maltreatment of Roma was outside even the European Union norms. Roma issue should be one of the highest priorities of human rights agenda of Europe and world, Zed argued.
According to Swedish Government´s own Human Rights Website, "The Roma still occupy a highly vulnerable position in Swedish society and are exposed to discrimination although this is prohibited by law. Generally speaking, many Roma encounter great difficulties in virtually all spheres of society. This applies to education, the labour market, housing and health care and to possibility of participating in the community on the same terms as the majority population".
Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a statement in Nevada today, said that when they searched for "Roma" on the SPEU website, the result was: "Your search for ´Roma´ did not match any documents".
Zed and Freirich said that they had high hopes that the new Swedish Presidency would not stay apathetic and silent spectator when about 15 million fellow Roma brothers/sisters were reportedly facing blatant injustice and discrimination in Europe. He urged Swedish Presidency and Sweden´s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to show strong political will, courage, and commitment in support of Roma cause.
Alarming condition of Roma people was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as they reportedly regularly faced social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, unusually high unemployment rates, etc., Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out.
It was like an undeclared apartheid and it was almost total societal exclusion of Roma. The maltreatment of Roma was outside even the European Union norms. Roma issue should be one of the highest priorities of human rights agenda of Europe and world, Zed argued.
According to Swedish Government´s own Human Rights Website, "The Roma still occupy a highly vulnerable position in Swedish society and are exposed to discrimination although this is prohibited by law. Generally speaking, many Roma encounter great difficulties in virtually all spheres of society. This applies to education, the labour market, housing and health care and to possibility of participating in the community on the same terms as the majority population".