The situation of Roma in Ukraine - not despite, but because of the war. What he sees reveals an urgent need for action.
"The Roma live where the asphalt ends," they say, as the road in Uzhhorod, a city in Ukraine, abruptly turns into a dusty dirt road: Radvanka, a district of 3,000 inhabitants. Because the Roma, as an unrecognized and structurally disadvantaged minority, suffer the most from the situation.
It is estimated that up to 400,000 members of the Roma-speaking minority live in Ukraine, mainly Roma from various ethnic groups. They are disadvantaged at all levels: in education, in health, in the job and housing market, in the authorities. The Roma, who were undocumented even in Soviet times, have to overcome enormous obstacles to obtain identity cards, and their situation is particularly precarious. According to NGOs, 30 percent of these Ukrainians live integrated in the cities, but most deny their identity for fear of discrimination. 70 percent live in built-up areas - in middle-class conditions, adequately cared for or in severe poverty.
