By Arianna Amehae
For the first time in its fifty-year history, the International Romani Union (IRU) has endorsed a US presidential ticket. “The International Romani Union is proud to endorse Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris for President and Vice President of the United States of America,” begins the statement issued by IRU President, Zoran Dimov.
The IRU is the oldest Roma cooperative council with worldwide reach. The IRU has an active office in the US led by IRU Vice President Anatoly Butakov. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the Roma population further stigmatized, particularly in Europe, where draconian measures imposed by several authoritarian heads of state have been denounced by Amnesty International. The far-right nationalist governments, some supported by the Trump Administration, have been spotlighted for a new round of coronavirus-related human rights abuses committed against Roma communities.
“The International Romani Union is confident that a Biden-Harris Administration will not stand idly by while far-right dictators and authoritarians in Europe continue a pattern of human rights abuses against the Roma,” writes President Dimov. “Such ‘politicians’ and state media have exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to perpetuate the stigmatization of Roma communities. For example, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary excluded the Roma from the country’s COVID-19 mitigation plan, and when asked to justify the action an Orbán spokeswoman simply offered a racist retort.”
In a 2014 speech in Kyiv, Ukraine, Vice President Biden put European government’s on notice that anti-Roma “bigotry” has “No place. None. Zero.” Speaking to then Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Biden continued, “The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms all threats and attacks against Ukrainian Jewish communities as well as Roma and others.”
The IRU endorsement of the Biden-Harris candidacy reads in full:
“The International Romani Union was founded at the first World Romani Congress in 1971. Approximately one million Roma people reside in the US, from California to Florida, and from Texas to the Great Lakes region. The International Romani Union was heartened to see the Roma recognized by the Biden-Harris Indigenous Policy working group for Global Affairs. We hope that this will be a precursor to a Biden-Harris Administration giving full recognition to the Roma as a distinct ethnic group. As one of the most ancient tribal societies in world history, such recognition is long overdue. It is surely time to end the ‘othering’ of marginalized and disenfranchised peoples who, against all odds, retain their unique cultural identity.
The International Romani Union hopes to work with a Biden-Harris Administration to build upon the progress that was made during the Obama-Biden Administration. Under President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary Kerry consistently acknowledged International Roma Day. President Obama also appointed Roma scholar, Dr. Ethel Brooks, to the US Holocaust Memorial Council. We look forward to consulting with a Biden-Harris Administration on the future appointment of a new Roma representative to the US Holocaust Memorial Council.
The International Romani Union is confident that a Biden-Harris Administration will not stand idly by while far-right dictators and authoritarians in Europe continue a pattern of human rights abuses against the Roma. Such “politicians” and state media have exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to perpetuate the stigmatization of Roma communities
‘A human rights tragedy is unfolding while the world community turns away, either by design or distraction. Simply put, the Romani people are existing in a system of apartheid, most especially in Europe, where the situation is grave. Some of the most extreme examples of abuse inflicted upon tribal people by nation states in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic have been suffered by the Romani.’”
The IRU endorsement was acknowledged by Rachel Wallace, Special Advisor to the Vice Chair of the Biden 2020 campaign, Ambassador Catherine Russell.
