Croatian Lawmakers Urged to Include Protection against Segregation in Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Law

27 June 2008

27 June 2008, Budapest: On 20 June 2008, the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and the Roma Education Fund (REF) send letters to key Croatian authorities urging them to include protections against segregation as a form of discrimination within the scope of the comprehensive anti-discrimination law currently under development in Croatia. The draft law, being discussed in the Croatian Parliament today, would transpose the EU Race Equality Directive 2000/43/EC into the domestic legal framework, as required prior to Croatia joining the European Union.

In their letter, sent to Croatia's Vice Prime Minister, the Government Office for Human Rights, the Committee on Human and National Minority Rights and the Council for Development of Civil Society, the ERRC and REF highlighted that segregation is a very specific and particularly severe form of discrimination which is prohibited under international human rights law and that segregation in education as a form of discrimination tends to particularly and disproportionately impact vulnerable minority groups, such as Roma in a number of European countries.

The ERRC and REF urged Croatian authorities to include segregation as a specific form of discrimination in the law proposed for adoption.

The full text of the letter and its explanatory annex are available on the ERRC's website at:
*Letter:
*Annex: