Petition to Segregate Romani Schoolchildren

21 July 2005

According to a May 19, 2005, report by the Roma Press Center (RSK), non-Romani parents in the central Hungarian village of Sződ in Pest County, were petitioning to force Romani students to attend a school in a different village. Sződ city council had reportedly begun proceedings to send Romani pupils from the village of Csörög attending school in Sződ to schools in the nearby town of Vác. The city council has cited the poor condition of the school and traffic issues as reasons for the move. Mr Iván Rostás, president of the Csörög Roma Ethnic Minority Self Government, told RSK that the local government had not informed either them or the affected Romani parents of the plans. Rostás also believed that the reasons cited by the city council were not the motivating factors behind the planned move but that the planned move was a result of the petition. Mr László Hertel, the mayor of Sződ, denied the existence of a petition and the plan to move the Romani children.

(RSK)