The Limits of Solidarity: Roma in Poland After 1989

30 September 2002

The Limits of Solidarity: Roma in Poland After 1989

ERRC monitoring of Roma rights in Poland has established that Roma in Poland are the targets of racially motivated violence, police abuse and systematic racial discrimination. The human rights of Roma are frequently violated in Poland.

The proportionally small number of Roma in Poland - at least in comparison with other Central and Eastern European countries - has been used by Polish authorities to downplay the problems that Romani communities face and to deny the persistent and pervasive nature of anti-Romani sentiment among the majority population. Throughout the 1990s, Polish authorities have systematically failed to respond to a wave of anti-Romani crime, as well as to ingrained patterns of racial .discrimination. Measures to date to remedy the human rights situation of Roma in Poland have been inadequate, where such measures have been taken at all. The government has thus far failed to act to guarantee Roma equal rights and to take effective measures to overcome the exclusion of Roma from Polish society.

The Limits of Solidarity: Roma in Poland After 1989 in English