Spanish MP defends inclusion of Roma reality in public policy

Member of the Spanish Congress Sarah Jiménez has defended the incorporation of the reality of Roma into public policy, especially legislation on housing, employment and education, as a way to end the structural discrimination they experience.

The Spanish MP, one of the three Roma MPs – she considered this a “historical fact” – was in Portugal to participate in the international seminar of the Project of Local Plans for the Integration of Roma Communities, where she spoke about part of her life. history as a gypsy and the reality of a neighboring country in this regard.

“If the laws passed in parliament on employment, housing and education do not take into account the reality of Roma life [cigano]structural discrimination, of which the Roma themselves are victims, will continue,” said Sara Jimenez.

He explained that this recognition should be more than just recognition of the existence of people or their culture, it should go to the point where they recognize the problems that Roma face in all areas.

“And from territorial administrations, from local administrations there is an obligation to carry out these actions with the budget. Because it is indecent in any developed society that gypsies live in slums and places of exclusion,” he said. .

He emphasized that there are many Roma children who do not have access to quality education or equal opportunities, as “they are doomed to segregation in schools”, and recalled that one of the recommendations of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI, abbreviation in English) are precisely changes in national, local and regional legal frameworks.

“I consider it important that issues not remain only on paper, but are raised into state policy,” he defended.

He pointed out that if progress is not made at the level of the state itself, “it will not be possible for Roma women and men to have decent jobs”, while recalling that the professions in which the Roma traditionally devoted themselves are “no longer enough to live on.” “.

“We must make a significant leap in the inclusion of Roma in companies, in employment, in spaces that will give them access to a decent life, and for this it is necessary to work effectively with laws,” he stressed.

He stressed that there are “serious problems at the European level” in terms of housing in the Roma community, noting that there is not only “housing segregation”, with many Roma living in precarious housing or slums, but also discrimination in access.

“Many people, many gypsy families, even if they have money, no one rents or sells a house to them. This is the reality,” he denounced.

He noted that anyone who faces barriers in accessing education, housing, or employment is “doomed to social exclusion,” pointing out that these are three areas where changes need to be made if one is to fight “high levels of poverty.” from which the gypsies suffer. community”.

“There must be direct cooperation between legislators, because if we do not recognize the reality, if here, in their legal framework of employment, housing, education, they do not include the reality of the Roma, then they also practice indirect discrimination,” said Sara Jimenez.

The Spanish MP cited as an example what is being done in Spain, namely the new legislation on housing, which will include the reality of the Roma in the legal framework, something that will also have experience in education and employment.

He also added that a report on hostility towards Roma, which he said was “groundbreaking and historic”, was approved in parliament a few weeks ago, with measures to address structural inequalities.

He added that Spain had also been a pioneer in the recent inclusion in the Penal Code of anti-Gypsyism as a cause of discrimination.

“Another big gap, a lot of inequality. Gypsies want a decent life, they want their sons and daughters to live with quality,” he concluded.