CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL ROMA DAY IN MONTENEGRO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PODGORICA 000128

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI KWMN MW
SUBJECT: CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL ROMA DAY IN MONTENEGRO

REF: STATE 29991


1. SUMMARY: On April 8, International Roma Day, the Embassy
organized a roundtable discussion on issues that face the Roma
population in Montenegro, which was held in a refugee camp in
Podgorica. Ambassador, local and refugee Roma, and
representatives of the government and international
organizations exchanged views on education, housing, health
protection, and other issues of importance for the Roma
population. Ambassador also announced that the U.S. Department
of Defense has donated 28,000 dollars to help reconstruct roofs
in the camp, which provides shelter for 1,500 Roma refugees from
Kosovo. The event received positive local press coverage -- and
an opposition swipe that the U.S. seems to care more for the
Roma than the PM, who did not publicly mark Roma Day. END
SUMMARY.


2. With assistance from UNHCR and the Montenegrin Red Cross,
the Embassy organized a tour of the Konik refugee camp for
visiting DRL officer Dan Nadel. The tour showed the terrible
living conditions of local Roma and their accommodations either
within the camp or in run-down homes built in illegal
settlements.


3. To bring the focus back to the positive contributions of
Roma in Montenegro, post invited a dozen Roma "success stories",
running the gamut from a doctor from Kosovo to a scholarship
winning law student. Post also invited government
representatives from the Bureau for the Care of Refugees and the
Coordinator of the office for the Roma Decade as well as
representatives of the OSCE Department for Minorities, UNHCR,
Montenegrin Red Cross and the Montenegrin Ministry of
Minorities. Our first Roma International Visitor participant
Fana Delija served as moderator of the roundtable discussion.




4. Many of the successful Roma participants noted that Roma
face many problems in Montenegro including education, health
care, living conditions, and the position of Roma women within
the community. Regarding education, many noted that there is
sometimes a language barrier which stifles the success of Romani
children. Montenegrin Red Cross representatives added that
without a supportive family structure, it is difficult for the
schools to instill a strong interest in education in Romani
children. A Roma participant acknowledged that the Romani
cultural practice of taking children out of school to work, get
married or beg for money further complicates the prospect of
Roma education.




5. All participants who lived at the refugee camp noted that
medical assistance available there -- two hours every morning --
was insufficient to meet the medical needs of the camp's 1500
residents. A Roma doctor noted that new Ministry of Health,
Labor and Social Welfare regulations delineating where people
could seek health care prevented her from seeing patients at the
camp and in the local health center. She now has a quota of
patients she is permitted to receive and she is no longer able
to serve patients at the camp. The moderator, who is a member
of a local Roma NGO, also noted that Roma from the refugee camp
are not permitted to receive health care elsewhere.




6. Everyone, including government representatives, acknowledged
the deplorable living conditions within the camp. One woman
noted that she has been in the camp since 1999, when she was
told she would only be there for five years. Nearly ten years
later, her large family falls ill frequently because of the
leaky roof that covers the barrack they live in. Post was
approached by the Montenegrin Red Cross, which manages the camp,
in December 2007 to fund a roof replacement project. With
funding from the Department of Defense's Humanitarian Assistance
Fund, 28,000 dollars has been allocated for this project, which
got under way April 7. The Director of the Bureau for the Care
of Refugees admitted that camp conditions were not good but said
the government was trying to close remaining collective centers
and move people to more permanent housing. He added that the
government had funded construction of 24 pre-fabricated houses
for 180 people in Berane, in northern Montenegro. According to
the director, the government also agreed to construct additional
pre-fabricated houses in Pljevlja, another northern town, but he
did not address the housing needs of those in Podgorica. A Roma
participant born in Montenegro noted that local Roma faced the
same living conditions as the refugees.



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7. Participants noted that the position of women in the Roma
community posed a particularly complex problem. The common
practice of early marriage coupled with large numbers of
children made it difficult for Romani women to pursue
educational or work opportunities. Nevertheless, post noted
that many of the most active roundtable participants were young
women who had managed to achieve great academic success.




8. At the conclusion of the event, the Roma participants pushed
government representatives for greater implementation of the
Roma Decade Action Plan at the local level. The Roma Decade
coordinator emphasized that the government allocated 400,000
Euro for implementation of the Action Plan, although 2008 was
the first year the program had funding. One Roma NGO
participant told PolOff following the roundtable that the Roma
Decade coordinator lacked a full understanding of the issues
facing the Roma population, particularly those living in the
refugee camp.




9. Press coverage of the event was extremely positive and all
major newspapers quoted Ambassador's call for greater awareness
of the situation of Roma in Montenegro. Subsequent coverage
noted that opposition leaders from the Socialist People's Party
(SNP) used the International Roma Day event as an opportunity to
criticize Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic for a lack of interest
in Roma issues, particularly in contrast to the Ambassador's
visit to a Roma camp to mark the day.




10. COMMENT. Post was encouraged by the active participation
of the Roma guests but disappointed by the limited response from
government representatives. Despite acceptance of the invitation
by the Ministry of Minorities, they failed to send a
representative. It was unclear what next steps would be taken
by the Roma Decade coordinator to maximize the 400,000 Euro
allocated for implementation of the Action Plan. END COMMENT.
MOORE