The Execution Department issued today a new thematic factsheet on Roma and Travellers. [1]
The European Court has underlined that as a result of their history, the Roma have become a specific type of disadvantaged and vulnerable minority, therefore requiring special protection. It has noted that their vulnerable position means that special consideration should be given to their needs and their different lifestyle, both in the relevant regulatory framework and in reaching decisions in particular cases.
The new factsheet provides examples of general and individual measures reported by States in the context of the execution of the European Court’s judgments, concerning notably: access to justice, right to respect for private and family life, including issues related to forced sterilisation of Roma women, protection from hate crime and housing rights, protection of property and right to education.
Thematic factsheet - Roma and Travellers
[1] The terms “Roma and Travellers” are being used at the Council of Europe to encompass the wide diversity of the groups covered by the work of the Council of Europe in this field: on the one hand a) Roma, Sinti/Manush, Calé, Kaale, Romanichals, Boyash/Rudari; b) Balkan Egyptians (Egyptians and Ashkali); c) Eastern groups (Dom, Lom and Abdal); and, on the other hand, groups such as Travellers, Yenish, and the populations designated under the administrative term “Gens du voyage”, as well as persons who identify themselves as Gypsies.
