Green MEP for London, Jean Lambert has recognised the role Newham can play in delivering greater equality for Roma migrants and refugees and ending the prejudice and isolation faced by the community at a special film screening in Canning Town.
The documentary ‘Vortex’, which was handed the Premier Award by the British Film and Video Council at the Learning on Screen Awards in March, follows the lives of young Roma children and their families living in poverty in a remote village in ruralHungary. Often denied their rights to housing, employment, healthcare and education, Roma suffer massive discrimination throughout Europe, evidenced by forced evictions, racist attacks and police ill-treatment [1].
Newham is now home to the largest Polish Roma community in the UK, some of whom have suffered persecution in their home country as well as some from theCzech Republic, Slovakia and other former Soviet Union countries where discrimination is still rife. Following the screening, there was an in-depth discussion to explore how east London boroughs such as Newham can help shape policies at both a national and European level to help improve the quality of life for Roma communities across the UK.
Speaking after the screening, Jean, a member of the European Parliament Anti-Racism Group, said: "At the European level, concrete measures are being taken to consign Roma discrimination and prejudice to the history books. Initiatives such as the EU Roma Strategy will require Member States to put in place robust measures to tackle Roma exclusion by the end of the year, which offers local groups, like those in Newham, an opportunity to both influence and monitor policy.
"Newham, with its vibrant and thriving Roma community, now has a real part to play in making recommendations to the EU on how to deliver greater equality for Roma and end the prejudice and isolation faced by many across Europe. We all have a role to play in developing a community in which intolerance is rejected outright and now is the time to renew our pledge to continue to fight for true Roma equality in both Newham and the UK."
Notes to Editor
1. For more information, please visit: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_21165.pdf
2. The documentary was screened at The Hub in Canning Town by Newham New Deal Partnership as the forth in a series of evenings on ‘Eastern Europeans in Newham".