The Standing Rapporteur on Human Rights of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Gudrun Mosler-Törnström (Austria, SOC/G/PD), has made the following statement on the occasion of European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, 2 August:
“As Europe marks the 80th anniversary of the murder of 4,300 Roma and Sinti in the Nazi German extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, on 2 August 1944, we must pay tribute to all members of this minority who were killed in Nazi-occupied Europe.
“Today, Roma are Europe’s largest ethnic minority at estimated 10 to 12 million people. However, many of them are still facing prejudice, social exclusion, deprivation, discrimination and racism in their daily lives. This discrimination can be felt in employment, education, health care, housing or when using public or private services.
“As public authorities closest to Roma and enjoying higher levels of their trust than other public institutions, local and regional elected representatives have a particular responsibility to combat discrimination and better support the social inclusion of Roma and Travellers, to ensure that their communities can thrive with dignity and equal opportunities in our territories.
“At a time when Council of Europe member States and institutions, including the Congress, have recommitted to social justice and social rights at the High-level Conference on the European Social Charter in Vilnius in July 2024, the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, including for Roma and Travellers, should be kept high up on political agendas of local and regional authorities."
European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day was first instituted by the European Parliament in 2015, to remind the fate of the estimated 220,000 to 500,00 Roma and Sinti killed by the Nazis and their allies; the Memorial Day was then endorsed by other organisations like the Council of Europe and its Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
Past initiatives by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities to promote the integration of Roma and combat prejudice included, amongst others, its Human Rights Handbook for Local and Regional Authorities, including a chapter on Roma rights, as well as the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion.
