Incidents that are part of the Roma problem are becoming more and more frequent. Residents of areas at risk are desperate. On Tuesday, representatives of civic initiatives from areas where the Roma people live gathered in Kočevje to highlight the problems they face on a daily basis. They have written to the government with their proposals for solutions. They now expect to be invited for a discussion of the matter.
“We believe that those of us on the ground know the situation best and are therefore able to make suggestions. We also support the mayors’ proposals and believe that it is unacceptable that the government has rejected the proposals for amendments to the laws that came from 11 mayors from this region,” said Silvo Mesojedec, a municipal councillor from Novo mesto.
Civic initiatives from the municipalities of Brežice, Grosuplje, Ivančna Gorica, Kočevje, Novo mesto, Škocjan and Šentjernej have joined forces and sent a letter to the government, informing it of the problems related to the Roma issue and offering solutions.
What in the world is the government doing?
So far, the government of Robert Golob has done nothing to address the concerns of the local population that is affected by this issue. As Mesojedec pointed out, the situation is chaotic. “People don’t even report (incidents) anymore! And it is because of one simple reason – they never get feedback on what the solution to the problem was. I personally also found a bullet on my terrace, on the roof, which I passed on to the police, and then I didn’t get any information. I am still reporting the incidents myself, because we are still cooperating well with the police,” he said.
The representatives of the initiative expect to meet with the government within a month, but if the government does not meet with them, they have promised to find alternative solutions. As some have noted, the relevant institutions are merely passing the problem on to each other.
“The police say it’s a matter for the inspectorate, the inspectorate says it’s a matter for the municipality. The municipality says it is a matter for the police, the Human Rights Ombudsman says that our human rights are being violated, that the groundwater is polluted, that he will take action, that the government is already working fast on our case, but nothing concrete is happening,” said Nataša Cingerle from Grosuplje.
No one is taking action
Some representatives of the initiatives pointed out that the cornerstone of the solution is education and employment. Today, the Roma families receive high social benefits, which means they do not have to go to work. And while the children are enrolled in primary school, almost none of them actually finish school.
“These are children who, unfortunately, have no chance to succeed in life. Once again, this is about the children. The children are naked, even in winter, and nobody is doing anything about it. Meanwhile, their parents receive benefits for these children, which they use for all sorts of things. For God’s sake, these children have no chance to achieve anything later in life,” said Maksimiljan Vovk from the civic initiative “Stop the violence in Kočevje”.
Bogdan Palovšnik, the Vice-Mayor of the Municipality of Brežice, warned that residents affected by the Roma violence could soon “take matters into their own hands”. “There have been quite a few discussions about a Roma family already, as far as Majhna vas is concerned, who are actually terrorising the whole village,” he said. “In the end, there will be an incident,” he predicted.
Ž. K.
