The report ‘Statelessness, Discrimination and Marginalisation of Roma in Albania’ set out to better understand the nexus between discrimination, statelessness and its consequences for Roma in Albania. The report drew on interviews with affected persons and key stakeholders, to identify and analyse the main contributing factors and consequences of (the risk of) statelessness.

Romani and Traveller children in England are much more likely to be taken into state care than the majority population, and the numbers are rising. Between 2009 and 2016 the number of Irish Travellers in care has risen by 400% and the number of Romani children has risen 933%. The increases are not consistent with national trends, and when compared to population data, suggest that Romani and Traveller children living in the UK could be 3 times more likely be taken into public care than any other child. 

Based on the numbers that are available, it appears Romani children are much more likely to be separated from their families than children of other ethnicities. In Belgrade, for example, around 30% of the children in foster care are Romani, yet Roma make up 2% of the population. It’s hard to judge the full scale of the problem, because not all centres record the ethnicity of the children in their care.