Roma mediators carry out consultations to identify cases of discrimination.

Roma mediators carry out consultations to identify cases of discrimination. The mediators are based in different localities in the country and their job is to meet with the local community and find cases of discrimination to report to the relevant institutions. The Roma mediators are well known to the community they work among, yet it is difficult to find cases of discrimination to report. This does not mean that there is no discrimination reported by Roma mediators, but it is due to the fear in people that if they report a case of discrimination against them, they may be removed from their work or be threatened. The Roma mediators will continue to go to municipalities with a concentration of the Roma community, but we also encourage victims of discrimination to contact us or the Roma mediators or the relevant organisations.

Here is what one of the Roma mediators shares, explaining to the community what discrimination is and how it can be recognised and reported:

I hold meetings /consultations/talks with community representatives. I explain to them what direct and non-direct discrimination is, because most people don’t know exactly what discrimination is, even though they have faced it. In most cases where people say they have been discriminated against it is by institutions but they were not aware of it. Also, most people said that they had heard of, or had themselves been discriminated against, by not being allowed into restaurants because they were more ethnically diverse. They were indirectly discriminated against when applying for jobs. We do these consultations with a team of lawyers on the project. Our job is to make primary contact with people in the neighbourhoods because we are from the same community. We continue to work on the project to consult and find new cases until the end of the project. Our aim is to make as many people as possible understand what discrimination is and who to turn to if they are discriminated against.