The Delegation for Roma Issues

The Delegation for Roma Issues

ToR 2006:101

Decision at a Government meeting on 14 September 2006

Summary of the remit

A delegation for Roma Issues will be set up to play a proactive role at national level in work to improve the situation of Roma in Sweden on the basis of Sweden’s international commitments to protect and promoter human rights. This work will require close dialogue and close cooperation with the Roma community. The Delegation is to investigate the situation of Roma in Sweden by collecting, compiling, analysing and reporting the experience and knowledge available in the area and by presenting proposals for how to improve the living conditions of Roma in society. The Delegation is also to promote and support municipal projects and services intended to improve the situation of Roma. Finally, the Delegation is to spread information and knowledge about Roma and the situation of Roma in Sweden and to encourage exchanges of knowledge and experience with government agencies and municipalities.

Background

Council of Europe Conventions on national minorities and minority languages

In autumn 1999 the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) decided to approve the Government’s proposal that Sweden ratify two Council of Europe Conventions, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (the Framework Convention) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (the Minority Languages Charter) (Govt Bill 1998/99:143, Committee Report 1999/2000:KU6, Riksdag Communication 1999/2000:69). At the same time the Riksdag supported the Government’s proposal that the national minorities in Sweden are the Sami, the Swedish Finns, the Tornedal Finns, the Roma and the Jews and that Sami, Finnish, Meänkieli (Tornedal Finnish), Romany Chib and Yiddish are minority languages in Sweden.

Under the Framework Convention and the Minority Languages Charter, the right to protection for national minorities and minority languages forms an integral part of the international protection of human rights. Through the Conventions and Charter, Sweden is obliged to realise these rights. Through the Framework Convention, Sweden has undertaken to take appropriate measures in all areas of economic, social, political and cultural life to promote full and effective equality between the Roma, as a national minority, and the rest of the population. Through the Minority Languages Charter Sweden has undertaken to take action to maintain and develop the minority languages.

Roma in Sweden

The Roma are thus one of the national minorities and Romany Chib is one of the minority languages. Roma have been living in Sweden since the 16th century and ever since then new groups of Roma have come to Sweden from most countries in Europe during different periods of time. This means that today there are several groups of Roma in Sweden such as Swedish, Finnish Kalé, non-Nordic Roma and newly arrived Roma from former Yugoslavia. Since the 16th century there have also been groups of travellers in Sweden and many of them identify with the Roma group. Even though the different Roma groups have different traditions and speak different variants of Romay Chib, there is a feeling of belonging together and a sense among Roma that they are one people.

For centuries the life of Roma in Sweden has been characterised by discrimination and exclusion. There have been abuses against Roma in the form of expulsion, forced migration, trading bans, immigration bans, forced sterilisation and forced assimilation. As a result, today there is still a distrust of the authorities among many Roma.

A range of central government and municipal action has been taken since the 1960s to deal with these abuses and to improve the situation of Roma in Sweden For example, the particularly vulnerable situation of children and young people has meant that action has focused in part on improving the conditions for their schooling. The situation has been improved to some extent as a result of this action. Nevertheless discrimination and exclusion are still a reality for many Roma.

Consultations with Roma

Since the 1970s action by central government to improve the situation of the Roma group in Sweden has increasingly been shaped in dialogue and cooperation with Roma representatives. In the 1990s the Swedish Immigration Board produced along with the Nordic Zigenarrådet a report on the situation of Roma in Sweden with proposals for action, Roma in Sweden – a description of the situation (Romer i Sverige – en situationsbeskrivning). This led to the Government appointing a working group of representatives of the Roma and public authorities that reported its findings in 1997 in the report Roma in Sweden – together in change (Romer i Sverige – tillsammans i förändring).

As a result of the recognition of Roma as a national minority in Sweden the forms for consultation between the Government and the Roma have been developed further, and in 2002 the Council on Roma Issues was appointed as an advisory body to the Government in matters concerning Roma. The Minister responsible for national minorities chairs the Council. Representatives of national organisations for Roma sit on the Council along with representatives of the Government Offices, the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination (DO), the Swedish Integration Board, the Living History Forum and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions. The Government has decided that the work of the Council is to continue until 31 December 2006 at the latest.

Action in minorities policy

Other action is also being taken within the framework of state minorities policy to improve the situation of Roma in Sweden.

In addition to the Council on Roma Issues, a working group for Roma women has been set up to discuss and highlight the situation of Roma women and to strengthen their possibilities of having a say. In 2002–2004 the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination carried out a special project to counter discrimination of Roma; and after the project had been completed and reported the Ombudsman has been given a further remit to continue working on this issue. Government support is given to Roma organisations and also to Roma cultural projects via the Swedish Arts Council.

The Swedish National Agency for School Improvement is working to develop tools for mother tongue teaching Romany Chid and other languages. Moreover, National Agency for Education has recently been instructed by the Government to carry out an in-depth study of the situation of Roma children and young people in Swedish schools. In addition, the Living History Forum is running a project base on the Holocaust.

Action has also been tale a municipal level in areas including education, working life and culture, even if the scale of such action varies greatly between municipalities.

International cooperation

The Roma have long been and still are very much of a transnational minority. There are an estimated 10 million Roma throughout Europe and their situation is difficult in many places. In addition, as mentioned above, a large group of the Roma who live in Sweden have immigrated from other European countries. It is therefore important to take account of international developments and experience in work on Roma issues in Sweden. The situation of the Roma has been given particular attention in international cooperation in, for example, the European Union (EU), the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Sweden also has bilateral exchanges on matters concerning the Roma with Norway and Finland, for example.

Need for a Delegation for Roma Issues

A national action plan for human rights

The difficulties that many Roma encounter in Sweden are considerable, despite the action taken up to now to improve their situation. This is apparent in the Government Communication A national action plan for human rights 2006–2009 (Govt Comm. 2005/06:95). The communication, which was presented in March 2006, contains both a survey of the human rights situation in Sweden in 2005 and a compilation of the action that is or will be taken in various policy areas to promoter respect for human rights at national level.

The survey identifies the existence of inequality between the Roma and the rest of the population in almost all the central areas of life, such as schools, occupational life, leisure and the housing market and shows that as a group the Roma are particularly vulnerable to discrimination. The Government therefore announced in the communication that a number of measures would be taken to improve the situation of Roma in Sweden. The survey is the communication is based on views and material collected from international bodies, government agencies, municipalities and county councils, and NGOs among others.

Views from international bodies, government agencies, municipalities and county councils, and NGOs, etc.

Views concerning the situation of the Roma have been presented to Sweden by a number of international bodies. For instance, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) states in its third report on Sweden (CRI (2005)26) that the Swedish authorities should first improve the situation of the Roma and take action to counter racism and second increase the influence of Roma by developing consultation procedures both at national and at regional and local level.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights underlined in his report from a visit to Sweden in 2004 that Roma in Sweden are severely affected by prejudice and discrimination, which leads to difficulties in certain areas, such as education, employment and housing. The report also pointed out that action is required to improve conditions concerning the schooling of Roma children. It was stated that the difficult situation facing Roma in Sweden must be tackled in a more concerted way so as to cover all areas of life.

The views that the Government has received from these international organisations and other bodies demand a concerted investigation of the situation of the Roma,

The report from the previously mentioned project carried out by the Ombudsman for Ethnic Discrimination in 2002–2004 shows that Roma are marginalised in many parts of Swedish society and that, to a great extent, Roma are excluded from the democratic process. The report states that this alarming situation can be seen s a consequence of drastic, long-term discrimination in Sweden and in the countries from which the Roma have immigrated. The report also highlights the fact that knowledge of the Roma among the rest of the population is very limited, while, in contrast, anti-gypsy patterns of thought with prejudices and negative notions are common and are rarely questioned. The Ombudsman’s report thus shows that there is a great need to produce and spread information about Roma and the situation of the Roma in Sweden,

The Children's Ombudsman (BO) has drawn attention to the situation of Roma children and young people in Sweden today in her most recent annual report for 2006. On the basis of the views of Roma children and young people the Children's Ombudsman has identified various areas that it is important to continue working with in order to improve their situation. These include the conditions and support needs of Roma girls and boys at school, the need for education and the dissemination of knowledge about Roma culture and the importance of cooperation with parents in order to improve the situation of Roma girls and boys in society.

The point that conditions for many Roma in Sweden are difficult is also constantly being made in the dialogue that the Government has with representatives of Roma organisations, in the Council on Roma issues, for example. The difficulties extend to all areas of society and often concern services large parts of which are handled at municipal level. Several municipalities have contacted the Government and sought support in municipal work to improve the situation of the Roma living in their area. The Government concludes that there is a great need to support and promote municipal initiatives to improve the situation of the Roma.

At present not enough is known about the health situation of Roma. There is also insifficient knowledge of the extent to which older Roma receive the health care and social care they are entitled to.

Need for a concerted long-term approach

In order to help improve the situation of Roma in Sweden there is a need to take further action to highlight and counter the mechanisms that steer discrimination of Roma and that prevent Roma from talking part ion the different parts of social life on the same terms as the rest of the population. This is a task that requires a concerted, long-term approach focusing on the collection and dissemination of knowledge. The appointment of a Delegation for Roma Issues will make it possible to take concerted action at central government level in order to improve the situation of Roma in Sweden.

Remit

A Delegation for Roma Issues will be set up to play a proactive role at national level in work to improve the situation of Roma in Sweden on the basis of Sweden’s international commitments to protect and promote human rights. This work presupposes a close dialogue with Roma, both women and men and girls and boys.

The work of the Delegation will cover of three main tasks

Its first main to investigate the situation of Roma in Sweden by collecting, compiling, analysing and reporting the experience and knowledge available in the area and by presenting proposals for how to improve the living conditions of Roma in society. If necessary the Delegation can conduct complementary studies.

Its second main task is to promote and support municipal projects and services in various parts of the county that are intended to improve the situation of Roma. This can, for example, include promoting consultations between municipal representatives and Roma representatives in the community. It can also involve supporting initiatives based on these consultations.

The third main task is to spread information and knowledge about Roma, including their culture and history, and about the situation of Roma in Sweden to the general public, government agencies and municipalities. This includes supporting and encouraging exchanges of knowledge and experience between government agencies and municipalities. Another important part of this is providing information and spreading knowledge about Roma culture and the conditions of the Roma.

Within the framework of its main tasks, the Delegation is to organise conferences and seminars, take part in international cooperation on Roma issues and examine the need and scope for building up Roma institutions. In its activities the Delegation is to pay particular attention to the conditions of Roma children and young people and their need for support as well as the situation of women and girls. The Delegation is also to pay attention to the situation of older Roma and Roma with disabilities. A gender equality perspective and a child perspective are to be integrated consistently into the Delegation’s analyses and proposals.

Working methods and consultation

The delegation is to take an open and involving approach. Dialogue is to be an important part of its activities.

Representatives of Roma organisations are to make up at least one reference group for the Delegation.

Where relevant the Delegation is to consult with the actors affected such as the National Police Board, the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination, the Swedish Integration Board, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the Children's Ombudsman, the National Agency for Education, the Swedish National Agency for School Improvement, the Living History Forum, the National Labour Market Board, Delegation for Human Rights in Sweden and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions.

Timetable and reporting

The Delegation is to report to the Government no later than 31 December 2007 and 31 December 2008 how it has conducted its activities during the year. In addition, the Delegation is to present its final report on its remit to the Government no later than 31 December 2009. At the same time it is to present proposals for how work on improving the situation of Roma is to continue after the Delegation has completed its work.

(Ministry of Justice)