Press Release July 2007
Pavee Point rejects accusations of the Embassy of Romania in Ireland
23rd July 2007.
Accusation 1: Pavee Point {and Roma Support Group} are making 'mendacious assertions aimed at misleading the Irish public' and of 'attempts to manipulate the Irish public with a blend of untrue declarations and distortions of facts' ....and 'deliberate falsities'.
Pavee Point Response: The Embassy of Romania is rattled and is making increasingly hysterical accusations aimed at undermining any empathy or public support against the plight of the Roma community on the M50 Roundabout- a classic case of 'shoot the messenger'. It is disturbing that even at this stage the Romanian embassy could find no words to express any humanitarian concern at the plight of their own citizens.
The continuing the crisis highlights the failures of successive Romanian governments to address the basic needs of their own citizens. The Embassy in Ireland is clearly embarrassed because the plight of the Roma has been picked up by the Irish and the international media.
Ronnie Fay, Director of Pavee Point stated 'I reject the accusation of lying and media manipulation and the bullying of the Romanian Embassy. The Irish public and media can make up its own mind on this issue and we will not descend to a similar level of discussion or debate. We would make this one point. Over the 24 years of Pavee Point's existence no recognised body, other than the Romanian Embassy, has ever accused us of lying, no matter how much they disagreed with our point of view'.
Accusation 2: 'The Roma are not homeless in Romania, some of them having permanent addresses at apartments situated in blocks of flats' .....'The claim of living in makeshift tents in a rubbish dump back in Romania is a deliberately repeated falsity'
Response: No evidence has been offered by the Romanian embassy to substantiate these and other claims. While we can only go on the word and the circumstantial evidence of the M50 Roma, in general terms it should be noted that respected human rights bodies such as the Romanian Helsinki Committee have spoken out on this issue and sent a letter of concern to the Romanian Prime Minister highlighting the situation of Roma families in Tulcea, Romania being forced to live in mobile homes in a garbage dump. Further, the Council of Europe Body ECRI stated as recently as June 2005:
'ECRI has also received reports of Roma being expelled from municipal sites in the middle of winter, in the presence of the media'.
Would the Romanian embassy make the same accusation of lying against international human rights institutions?
Pavee Point will not be bullied or silenced by the representatives of the Romanian Government in Ireland and will continue to speak out on the needs of the men women and children on the Ballymun roundabout. ENDS
For further information contact Ronnie Fay (01) 8780255
Issued by Pavee Point Travellers Centre, 46 North Great Charles St, Dublin 1.
Further information:
- Opportunity for Ireland to Promote Human Rights Should Not be Missed - Crosscare
- Irish Traveller Movement supports Pavee Point in its role in highlighting humanitarian crisis of Roma at M50
- 26 July 2007 - Pavee Point Statement
- Statement from ATD Fourth World
- 24 July 2007 - Press Release: Roma Repatriation
- Romani CRISS reports and Photographs
- Statement by the Children's Rights Alliance: Roma Crisis
- 24 July 2007 - Point of clarification
- 23 July 2007 - Press Release: Response to the Statement from the Romanian Embassy
- 21 July 2007 - Press Release: Deportation Notices an Inadequate Response to Roma Crisis
- Press release: Inhumane Living Conditions in Ireland- Not Acceptable, Action Demanded Now.
- Press Release June 07: Pavee Point and the Roma Support Group calls on Government to offer humane support to Roma Families camping on roundabout.
- Case Study: Rostas Family
- Statement from Anastasia Crickley of the the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
- Social Workers call for action to reunite children with parents. Press release from the Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW)
- Social Workers call for government action on Roma family crisis in North Dublin
- Photographs from the scene at the Ballymun Roundabout
- Background context report by ERRC, Romania: State of Impunity Human Rights Abuse of Roma in Romania (PDF)
- Extract from Council of Europe/European Commission against Racism and Intolerence: Third Report on Roma (PDF)
- Campaign Support: How to support the Roma