By Mailstrom
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In Eastern Europe, modern ghettos are the legacy of both “communism” and capitalism predominantly populated by Roma. Anti-Roma prejudice, however, is even more endemic in the region than racism in the United States.

In May the European Commission announced that it will be launching an infringement procedure against Hungary for on-going discrimination against Roma children in schools. The European Commission decision is designed help break generations of injustice in the country once and for all, said a coalition of human rights organisations today. The European Roma Rights Centre and Amnesty International, provided extensive evidence of how Romani children face persistent discrimination and segregation in the Hungarian education system.

In Slovakia, school districts are gerrymandered to keep Roma children separate, and where that’s been impossible, administrators separate out Roma by floor within schools.

In Romania and Bulgaria, many Roma children don’t receive any education at all. The crisis is severe in Bulgaria, and it is even more severe for the Roma community, because the Roma have no land, no property. A lot of them are not educated and lack qualifications. They can’t start up their own businesses. They’re not competitive in the labour market.

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