Serbian School Authorities Ignore Ongoing Abuse of Romani Boy

19 June 2007

According to a report by the Association of Roma Students, a Muslim Romani student at Novi Sad's Secondary Mechanical School was attacked in November 2006 by non-Romani students, because of his ethnicity and religious beliefs. The incident reportedly took place during a break when the non-Romani students abused the boy by taking off his clothes and underwear to "check if he was Muslim." The Association of Roma Students reported that the boy did not return to school for some time and that his health has deteriorated, allegedly causing the school administration to tell his parents to pull him out of school. This was not apparently the first time that the boy, a Kosovo Romani IDP, had been abused at school. The school administration, however, continued to ignore the problem, according to the Association of Roma Students. The Association of Roma Students and the Italian Consortium of Solidarity (ICS) publicly condemned these actions and urged the administration to protect Romani children from further abuses.

(Association of Roma Students)