The UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, today expressed grave concerns about the situation of minorities in the context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the treatment of minorities fleeing the conflict. He issues the following statement:
“The world is witnessing tremendous human suffering in Ukraine. The lives of all people of Ukraine are in danger, including ethnic, national, linguistic and religious minorities.
Up until the end of 12 March 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had recorded and confirmed 1,663 civilian deaths or injuries in the context of Russia's armed attack against Ukraine: 596 killed, including 43 children; 1,067 injured, including 57 children.
It is of paramount importance to acknowledge that minorities, such as Roma, many of whom may be undocumented in Ukraine, face specific vulnerabilities in the times of this conflict. I urge all parties to ensure that all minorities, including Roma, have access to humanitarian assistance without any discrimination
There is an official neo-Nazi military unit in Ukraine, the so-called Azov Battalion. Azov is an extreme right-wing volunteer infantry unit whose members (about 2,500) are ultranationalists who nurture neo-Nazi and supremacist ideologies.
The unit was originally formed as a volunteer group in May 2014 by the ultranationalist Patriots of Ukraine gang and the neo-Nazi group of the National Socialist Alliance of Ukraine (SNA). Both groups nurture xenophobic and neo-Nazi ideals and physically attack migrants, the Roma community and people who oppose their views.
Azov is an ideological and political movement
It is a military unit that has grown into an ideological-political movement, whose central base is near the city of Mariupol, which lies on the shores of the Sea of Azov. Mariupol is one of the cities that suffered the most in this Russian invasion.
These regions are controlled by Russian-backed Kremlin separatists, which Russia annexed in 2014. Many members of the Azov Battalion are originally from eastern Ukraine and speak Russian, and many have been expelled from their homes by separatists who have occupied eastern Ukraine.
Seven days ago, a video appeared in which an alleged member of Azov immersed bullets in lard. It was a message to the Chechens that they were not welcome in Ukraine.
"Dear Muslim brothers, you will not go to paradise with us. You will not be allowed to go to paradise. Go home, please. You will get into trouble here. Thank you for your attention, goodbye," the man said in the video. Al Jazeera also took the video, but failed to confirm its authenticity.
They are all volunteers
Azov, meanwhile, has formed his own political wing, the National Corps, a paramilitary unit called the National Militia, Youth Corps, and has a sports bar, gym and "social center" known as the Cossack House, not far from Maidan. . During the campaign for the Ukrainian parliamentary elections in 2019, the National Corps party formed a united radical-right party list with the government initiative Yarosh, the Right Sector and Svoboda. This coalition won only 2.15% of the votes on the national electoral list and failed to win a single seat in the Verkhovna Rada.
As early as 2017, it was reported that hundreds of children in Ukraine were spending the summer in a military camp where, among other things, they learned to assemble Kalashnikovs and war theory. The camp was opened by the Azov Battalion.
But to fully understand the Azov Battalion, one has to look at it from an ideological point of view. Spokesman Andriy Dyachenko said in 2015 that 10 to 20 percent of the unit's members were neo-Nazis. Nazi symbols found their place on uniforms.
The battalion still has neo-Nazi symbols in its insignia. Military stitches and tattoos with SS insignia and a Nazi swastika were seen on a number of soldiers at the beginning of the unit.
The Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski announced that he will reduce the number of his advisers and will have the least of all previous prime ministers. He said some of the advisers would no longer be in that position, while others would work on line jobs in organizational units according to qualifications. He pointed out that the names of those who are already planned to be councilors can not be announced because it is not yet official. However, he pointed out that they are highly qualified and recognized professionals in their fields.
The Roma Democratic Union - RDS from the previous experiences, as well as the attitude of the state towards the Roma community raises the question: Are the two councilors from the Roma community - Elvis Memeti and Aksel Ahmedovski - on that list for "shooting"?
Learned from the past, the probability is that it can very easily happen that the Roma do not have a representative in the Government either. And how did both the Roma and the current councilors Elvis Memeti and Aksel Ahmedovski deserve it? Both are proven professionals and experts in their fields. We must not doubt their richness.
But does the government think so? Chances are the answer is - No! To take care of the state and at least for the Roma community, there will be a Minister and a Deputy Minister, and the Secretariat for Roma Issues will function. The Directory would also start. But from all that remained only - empty promises.
Knowing the capacities of the Roma political bloc, this situation can last forever, if their reaction is expected. But unfortunately she is not there. That is why it is necessary now for the RDS as a movement, and similar to it such as AVAYA, or the NGO sector, etc., it is necessary to raise this issue on the table and seek a solution to this impasse. If the Roma are left without their representatives in the Executive, then the Roma will continue to be part of the freely expressed "genocide" from educational, cultural, economic, social, social and any other aspect. In general, the Roma will continue to be as before - completely invisible and set aside. We think that the Roma do not deserve this treatment and we should look at all this silently.
Discrimination, illiteracy and poverty prevent Roma from being an important political factor. They are also divided into foreigners. DW's interlocutors say that the fact that the majority parties are "brokers" among the Roma makes things worse.
"Today, Roma parties make almost no contribution to the betterment of the Roma community," said Ljuan Koka, a political scientist and president of the Center for Education of Roma and Ethnic Communities.
"It is normal that it is very difficult for Roma parties to compete in political competitions with other parties, both the ruling and the opposition, because everyone is interested in the Roma electorate. In certain situations they can be bought very cheaply, without ideological-political work, without solving their basic existential issues. "Not to mention their political, economic and social integration into society."
Seven Roma parties are registered in Serbia, but only three are active: the Roma Party, the Democratic Union of Roma, and the United Roma Party.
What do Roma usually expect from politicians?
"We will see what the Roma parties will do in this election." We have Roma in the executive branch, they are mostly in charge of Roma issues, which are actually Roma by profession, because they can not and must not do more than what the state has planned. "This lethargy when it comes to Roma can not be changed even by international organizations that allocate significant funds for social inclusion of Roma and Roma, ie the strategic document of the Government, which for almost ten years is only on revision, but not at ten percent. is realized ".
He points out that the election law suits the Roma community, but "a united people's movement is needed, not more political parties."
