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DROM Network for Gypsy Social Rights

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Press Release, 15-11-2000

Subject: What Law, what Constitution, what compassion will stop “indignant” citizens?

 

           The facts are simple: the Parents and Guardians Association of the Halastra Public School decided to shut down (!!!) the school as of Monday 13-11-2000 in a show of militant mobilization against the attendance there of 32 Roma children from the “Aghia Sophia” settlement. Just two (2) days before, the country’s Prime Minister Costas Simitis, in the presence of top-ranking cabinet ministers and over 100 governmental officials, inaugurated this very settlement, declaring that “our government’s priority and special concern is the housing and education of their children.” From statements made by the president of the Parents Association (“Angeloforos” newspaper, 15-11-2000), it appears that the Association decided to close the school because these 32 Roma children will irreparably tax its already overcrowded conditions.

             The DROM Network denounces this act as illegal, inhumane and racist. The 32 Roma children are among the 136 children from the Aghia Sophia settlement attending the city’s 4 schools. They were sent to Halastra on the order of the Prefecture of Thessaloniki following a written suggestion and recommendation by the Thessaloniki Bureau of Primary Education. Therefore, the decision to consign the 32 children to the Halastra school was made by authorized agents of the Ministry of Education, who evaluated the availability of classroom space. It was not the arbitrary will of the Prefecture – whom the indignant parents are charging. Let’s not forget that the Roma are Greek citizens, and that the state has a constitutional obligation to ensure by every means their access to Public Education.

             Still, once again we see how local communities of “indignant” citizens forget and trample the Constitution and the Laws of the State when it comes to turning against the (in the end, defenseless) Roma population. The Public School is not the private property of any Parents and Guardians Association; it cannot be closed on the basis of opinions, whatever they may be. According to the Constitution and the Law of our land, the operation of the Public School is the exclusive authority of the official organs of the Ministry of Education and no other body. Nor will the child’s sacred right to education be subject to the discretion of any majority of “indignant” citizens. The fact that 27 Roma children already attend the Halastra school (“so, we’re not racists,” the Parents and Guardians Association proudly proclaims) is a flimsy excuse. Does this mean that the human rights of a particular social group are to be respected by quota? 

Still, what does all this signify? To this date (15-11-2000) the Halastra school has remained closed on the whim of certain individuals. What would be a matter of course in any civilized, well-governed country – that the state would compel the school’s operation in adherence to the Constitution and the Laws – here seems to be a utopian request. What does the Government, which 48 hours before celebrated in front of these same 32 children, do in the face of this flagrant violation of the Constitution and human rights? What does the Minister of National Education, who speechifies about karate and other philosophical issues, do? They do what they’ve always done in instances when the Constitution and the human rights of its Roma populations are trampled by bands of “indignant” citizens. That is – they do nothing. In effect, on an institutional level, they have left the Prefecture of Thessaloniki to navigate on its own (for as long as it can) the tortuous straits of racism.

             We believe that the act of Parents and Guardians Association of the Halastra Public School and the Government’s tolerance of such blatant violations disgrace the Greece of compassion and solidarity we all seek. We also wish to express our profound sadness that the local committee of the Synaspismos Party, the Coalition of the Left and Progressives, the political party that for the past three years has fought more than any other political body alongside NGOs for the protection of Roma social rights, did not directly denounce the illegal closing of the school. Rather, it published an unfortunate bulletin that essentially justified the act by speculating in opposition-party rhetoric against the Government.

             The DROM Network will seek recourse in Justice for criminal offences committed by the closing of the Public School in Halastra, which are described in the articles on public order of the Criminal Code and the Law 927/1979 against racism. We believe that racism also flourishes in our indifference and apathy: The taps in the parks and cemetery locked by the Evosmos municipal authority (1995-1998) yielded the burning down of Roma shanties by the Aspropyrgos municipal authority (1999), the expulsion of the Roma from Paralimni Ioannina (1999), the fascist inspired defense squads and the racist pogrom of Nea Kios lead by the municipal authority (2000), and the raising of Roma shanties in Nea Zoi Aspropyrgos by the municipal authority and the Police force, without a judicial decree. How, then, does this chain of self-propagating racism stop? Together with other NGOs, we have sued, filed charges and protested as much as we can against these incidents. We have made proposals to the government and to society. Likewise, we will file charges against the illegal closing of the Halastra Public School. Still, we feel very much alone in our anxious anticipation of the next racist incident against the Roma population – with an apathetic government, an indifferent society, and a contented citizenry.