In late June 2000, the Council of the European Union adopted Directive 2000/43/EC, "implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin" (the "Race Equality Directive" or "Directive"). The product of a ten-year campaign by Starting Line Group, a broad network of non-governmental organisations coordinated by the Migration Policy Group, the Race Equality Directive presents Europe with an historic opportunity to make a lasting contribution to the struggle for racial equality.

A serious obstacle to the exercise of basic rights by Roma in the countries of the former Yugoslavia is a lack of basic documents, including but not limited to: Birth certificates; Personal identity documents; Local residence permits; Documents related to (in most cases, state-provided) health insurance, as well as social welfare; Passports. And, in the most extreme of cases, a lack of citizenship in countries of birth or to which the individual at issue has legitimate ties, in the sense of international laws and standards on citizenship, and in particular citizenship in the context of state succession. In a disturbing number of cases, this has given rise to the anathema phenomenon of statelessness among ...