The overall position of the Roma population within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s society needs to be further improved and any discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion or race is utterly unacceptable. This was the main message sent out from the joint celebration of the International Roma Day in Sarajevo, organised by the EU Delegation to BiH/EUSR, the OSCE Mission to BiH, and World Vision BiH. More than 150 representatives of international and local organisations and a large number of representatives of Roma associations from Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zenica, Bihać, Brčko and other BiH cities were present at the event, which was led by young Roma.
Aldina Fafulović, one of eight young Roma professionals employed at the OSCE Mission to BiH, opened the event by calling for a minute of silence for Roma killed during World War II and during the recent conflict in BiH. This was followed by children from the Poljice primary schools, who attend World Vision workshops. They performed a drama highlighting the importance of integrating Roma children in the education system in BiH. Afterwards, the young Roma ballerina, Dragana Seferović, gave a dance recital and then spoke about her own struggle as an abandoned child who went on to become a successful student, a ballerina and a teacher at the Bosnian National Theater in Zenica. Nazif Mujic, winner of the best-actor award at this year’s Berlinale for the film ‘An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker’, addressed the participants after the film’s trailer was shown, emphasizing the importance of education for Roma children as a means of addressing the many problems which this community faces in BiH. This was followed by the screening of the OSCE documentary, “A Step towards the Future” on young Roma professionals employed at the OSCE Mission to BiH.
The program concluded with a panel discussion that included the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH/ EUSR, Ambassador Peter Sørensen, the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Ambassador Fletcher M. Burton, US Ambassador to BiH, Patrick Moon, Coordinator for Roma issues at the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, Hedina Sijercic, and Maja Grujic of World Vision BiH.
BiH needs to become a country in which everyone has equal political rights irrespective of how they declare themselves, Head of the EU Delegation to BiH/EUSR Ambassador Peter Srensen emphasized during the panel discussion. Sorensen stressed the necessity to implement the ruling in the “Sejdić-Finci” case as soon as possible, so that BiH can become a country in which not only Roma rights, but the rights of all citizens are respected. “We want BiH to join the ‘club’, but if it wants to become a member state, then it needs to adhere to the rules. In this case, they are about respect for human rights and the implementation of the Court ruling. And in order for the ruling to be implemented and for certain changes to be made, political will is essential”, said Sorensen.
The Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Ambassador Fletcher M. Burton, emphasized that the OSCE is actively implementing programs designed to help improve the situation of Roma in BiH.
US Ambassador Patrick Moon stated that multi-culturalism should be the driving force of every country and that the US supports the social inclusion of Roma in every segment of society.
Ms. Sijercic expressed congratulations on the occasion of International Roma Day while noting that although the national action plans for education, housing, healthcare and employment are being implemented, they have not yet raised the quality of life of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina to a satisfactory level.
