BULGARIA KICKS OFF DECADE OF ROMA INCLUSION WITH

UNCLAS SOFIA 001111

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KTIA BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA KICKS OFF DECADE OF ROMA INCLUSION WITH
CONTROVERSY OVER PLANS TO DISPLACE THEM



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In an official ceremony on July 4,
Bulgaria took over the presidency of the 2005-2015 Decade of
Roma Inclusion. The pomp and circumstance of Bulgaria's
ascendance to the Decade's presidency contrasts sharply,
however, with the squalid living conditions of the Roma
throughout the country, including Sofia, where municipal
authorities are threatening anew to raze their squatter
settlements. Despite plans to improve Roma living
conditions, reduce discrimination against Roma and improve
their standard of living, the GOB can point to very little
tangible progress in the last year. With the government
distracted by EU accession goals and NGOs facing funding
cuts, we can expect little progress in 2006 on this perennial
human rights problem. END SUMMARY

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POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE, BUT NO REAL PROGRESS
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2. (U) In an official ceremony on July 4, Bulgaria took the
reins from Romania of the presidency of the Decade of Roma
Inclusion 2005-2015. Eight Central and Eastern European
countries launched the initiative in April 2005, with the
financial support of the World Bank and Open Society
Institute, to speed Roma integration by overcoming
discrimination and poverty. The Initiative targets four
priorities: integration in education, equal access to health
care services, accessible housing, and job creation.
Attended by several high-ranking members of government,
including President Parvanov and PM Stanishev, the event
offered the GOB an opportunity to highlight efforts it has
undertaken in the past year to better integrate the Roma
population. Instead, Stanishev observed that integrating the
Roma -- and generally improving their social status and
standard of living -- was a challenge throughout the region
and required a joint effort. Pledging Bulgaria's commitment
to guaranteeing the equality of all citizens, the PM stated
that this goal was a focus for all cabinet policies. "For
years, Bulgaria did not have a comprehensive state policy of
Roma inclusion," he acknowledged, adding that the government
is now aware of the need to coordinate and fund such a
policy.


3. (SBU) Left unmentioned in Stanishev's speech was the
ten-year action plan -- developed by the GOB after the
Decade's launch and approved by the Council of Ministers in
April 2005 -- which included pledges to build and renovate
tens of thousands of homes and allocate 1M leva (USD 657,000)
for education and social inclusion projects to benefit the
Roma. Little real progress has been made on these goals. A
statement released by the Council of Ministers after the PM's
speech cited the GOB's development of a health strategy for
the underpriviledged, establishment of a Center for
Educational Integration, and approval of a national program
for improving minority conditions. The National Coordinator
for the initiative, Deputy Labor and Social Policy Minister
Yavor Dimitrov (one of two Roma deputy ministers),has
announced the creation of a Roma Inclusion Council, although
its specific role has not been fleshed out.


4. (SBU) Although the GOB has built 11 new apartment blocks
in Sofia and Plovdiv with the financial support of the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, NGOs report
that many of the new units have been put to commercial use.
After living in the apartments for approximately a week, a
number of Roma families moved out -- presumably back to the
ghettos -- and rented their units to private companies. In
fact, when asked whether the Roma themselves are pushing for
integration, the head of a local Roma NGO acknowledged that
they "want to keep the ghettos, as long as living conditions
improve." A recent outbreak of hepatitis in a Roma ghetto in
Plovdiv, which has sickened more than 100 people, bears
witness to the squalid living conditions, often exacerbated
by infrequent or nonexistent garbage pick-up and sewage
services.

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MAKING MATTERS WORSE
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5. (SBU) Adding insult to injury, the PM's expressions of
commitment to Roma issues came the same week as Sofia
municipal authorities planned the demolition of illegal Roma
settlements in one of the city's Roma ghettos. Although not
all Roma residences are fully illegal squatter camps -- some
Roma houses were built without construction permits on land
they have the titles to -- Sofia has issued repeated threats
to raze a number of homes. The threatened demolitions are
not without precedent: 150 Roma were left homeless by the
August 2005 demolition of 22 Roma houses lacking legal deeds
in the Hristo Botev district of Sofia. A series of appeals

from the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee resulted in a recent
ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court that the forceful
eviction of illegally settled Roma is legal, which paves the
way for future demolitions.


6. (U) The current target of Sofia officials is the
30-year-old Vazrazhdane ghetto, home to more than 200 people
who live with minimal infrastructure or access to basic
services. Although some of its residents have houses in
their native towns and villages, many would have nowhere to
go if they were displaced from their Sofia homes, where some
of them have lived for decades. Despite promises by the
Ministry of Social Affairs that single mothers will be placed
in temporary shelters and families with children will receive
one-time social benefits, monetary compensation will be no
more than 275 leva (USD 183),and some families would receive
none at all.


7. (U) Sofia's plans have prompted outrage at both the
international and local levels. Four members of the European
Parliament wrote PM Stanishev to oppose the planned
demolitions and urge a permanent solution to the problem.
Only then did Sofia Mayor Borisov halt the demolitions
scheduled for July 7. The MEPs' letter sent city officials
scurrying to find a temporary housing solution for the Roma
who would be displaced. Plans have been announced to house
displaced Roma in preselected areas of town in prefabricated
homes or even caravans, to be funded by the Ministry of
Regional and Public Works. The decision to shelter the Roma
in temporary houses has roused the indignation of city
residents, who gathered on July 10 to protest the planned
resettlement of Roma in their neighborhoods. In a measure of
the unmitigated prejudice against Roma, similar
demonstrations have been held around the country to protest
plans to send displaced Roma back to the towns and villages
of their official residence.

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SOFIA AUTHORITIES: CHASTENED AND FRUSTRATED
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8. (SBU) In a July 27 meeting with poloffs, Sofia Deputy
Mayor Tsvetan Tsvetanov acknowledged EU pressure to deal with
the situation humanely, but emphasized that the national
government should be the one developing policy on this issue.
Tsvetanov said that the increased migration of Roma to Sofia
over the past few years had exacerbated uderlying ethnic
tensions by straining resources nd creating substandard
living conditions. "Wha kind of city has horse-drawn
carts?" he asked, ith clear frustration. Municipal
authorities exect to have a clearer idea of how they will
deal ith the Roma "situation" by mid to late August. Te
City Architect has identified a new location - the site of
former outdoor market -- to relocte Roma displaced by
demolitions, although Tsvetnov asked us to keep the location
confidential toprevent further neighborhood protests. When

SIPDIS
askd whether resettled Roma would be provided with muicipal
services like electricity and waste dispoal, he responded
that they would receive service that would meet their
standards, including electicity and running water. The city
has included the Roma Public Council in its discussions.
However, the Deputy Mayor made clear his distrust of such
NGOs, calling for stricter monitoring of the funds they
receive from the EU.

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NGOS FACE GRITTY REALITY WITH EMPTY POCKETS
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9. (U) The strongest voice for Roma rights belongs to the
NGO community, which has been muffled in recent years by a
downward trend in donor funding for Roma programs. Several
organizations asserted that governments have turned off the
tap for bilateral assistance to Bulgaria in the expectation
that EU structural funds will soon begin flowing down the
pipeline. Programs focusing on Roma tend to be limited in
scope, and they are confronted with the challenge of
achieving sustainable results within the typical one-year
implementation period for grant-funded projects. The
projects with greatest potential are those backed by the
government and multiple donor agencies. An example is the
business center for Roma that recently opened in the coastal
city of Burgas to foster job creation by supporting small
businesses and agricultural producers. The center has been
financed by the Swedish International Development Agency and
constructed on land provided rent-free by the city, and is
being implemented, with the support of the UNDP, by the
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy.

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COMMENT
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10. (SBU) In recent years, Bulgaria's Roma policy has
vacillated between extremes: the GOB has either ignored the
problem of social and economic inequality altogether, or
responded reflexively to its side effects with overly
aggressive measures such as the demolitions. A commitment to
addressing the problem -- honestly, humanely, and over the
long-term -- is sorely needed. To develop and implement a
comprehensive plan of action, the Government must involve all
relevant ministries in the dialogue, putting an emphasis on
identifying solutions that are sustainable. The Roma
themselves are often accused of being the biggest impediments
to social reforms. The GOB must therefore find a way to sell
its reforms to ethnic Bulgarians, who will be suspicious of
any programs they perceive as discriminating in favor of an
ethnic minority. The GOB has been sidetracked by its EU
accession goal, which has its own set of seemingly
intractable problems. Real progress on this issue will
likely have to wait until after EU accession, when Bulgaria
will have more time and funding to address this ongoing human
rights problem -- if the political will is there. END COMMENT

Beyrle