OSCE's Andrezej Mirga: Education of Roma key to everything

Senior advisor for Roma Issues visits Helsinki

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"Education of the Roma is the key to everything", said Andrezej Mirga, Senior Advisor for Roma Issues for the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe during a visit to Helsinki on Thursday.
     Mirga is in Finland to learn about the situation of the Roma in Finland, as well as that of Roma who have come to Finland from different East European countries.
     He hopes to learn from the experiences of Finnish policy, and to pass those experiences on to other countries.
     
Mirga, a Polish Roma himself, says that it is important to go to the roots of the problem. For instance, in Romania and Bulgaria, the Roma suffer from discrimination and a lack of education", Mirga said.
     "The European Union should invest in educational opportunities where the Roma live. It takes money, but will pay for itself once the Roma get jobs and start to pay taxes", Mirga says.
     "The education should extend to the Roma already at the preschool level, because Roma children are behind those of the population at large already when they come to school."
     Mirga has visited the Transylvania region of Romania where the Roma who have been seen begging on the Helsinki streets come from. He describes their living conditions in the Cluj Napoca area as "substandard".
     
Mirga sees that officials of different countries have tried to deal with the problem of poverty among European Roma by pushing it out of sight.
     However, this does not work.
     "If we push the problem away here, it will raise its head elsewhere."
     He points out that the EU has a principle of free movement, which means that as EU citizens, the Roma cannot be tied down to one location against their will.
     
In the coming days Mirga, and Nina Suomalainen, advisor to the Minority Ombudsman of the OSCE, are examining the plight of the Roma who have arrived in Finland from other parts of the European Union.
     They will also meet with some of the beggars who have come to Helsinki.
     Earlier this week, an unofficial discussion among various ministries was held at the Ministry for Social Affairs and Health. At the discussion, a representative of the Ministry of the Interior noted that the presence of Roma beggars from Eastern Europe is not a very big problem from the point of view of the Finnish police.
     The situation is considerably worse in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and Britain.
     
Next week a delegation of officials from Helsinki will travel to Romania to learn about that country's policies and strategies toward their Roma population.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Migrant Roma beggars in centre of Helsinki live in tents under bridge (5.2.2008)
  Police clear out Romanian beggars´ camp in Helsinki (20.2.2008)
  Finn working with Roma in Romania does not expect flood of beggars in Helsinki (13.2.2008)
  Helsinki sends beggar mothers back to Romania on child welfare grounds (11.2.2008)

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