Roma Rights in the Time of Covid

09 September 2020

In early 2020, most of Europe began implementing social distancing measures in order to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. By the 11th March a global pandemic had been declared by the World Health Organisation and most countries entered into a state of emergency, severely limiting the freedoms and rights of citizens in order to prevent deaths from COVID-19.

This report exposes how these exceptional circumstances exacerbated already existing institutional racism against Roma, resulting in an increase in human rights violations by state authorities. It provides a summary of the most egregious human rights abuses which occurred against Roma during the period from February – June 2020, in 12 European countries (Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey & Ukraine); and provides recommendations to these states, as well as the European Commission, on addressing these issues of systemic discrimination.

Roma Rights in the Time of Covid (PDF)

The research carried out in Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and Slovakia was funded by the European Union's Rights, Equality, and Citizenship Programme (2014 - 2020)