AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
MEDIA ADVISORY
Start your day with justice and human rights! Roma breakfast at the Berlaymont
Date: 26 June, 2013
Time: 8:00 am – 9:00 am
Place: Outside the European Commission, 200 rue de la Loi/Wetstraat
Join us for a typical Romani breakfast to start your day with justice and human rights! Amnesty International, the European Roma Policy Coalition (ERPC) and Roma activists invite you to hear personal stories of forced evictions and discrimination over a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. An action by activists will take place at 8:30 am and will provide a photo and filming opportunity.
Commission officials and all those on their way to work will be invited to join us outside the Berlaymont to support our call for an end to the discrimination faced by Roma people across Europe.
Roma people continue to face widespread discrimination in many European countries. Forced evictions, hate violence and segregated schooling for Romani children are daily realities for millions. EU governments are failing to tackle this discrimination, which ultimately results in further exclusion and marginalisation of Roma communities.
On Thursday 27 June at the EU Roma platform, Roma activists will deliver a petition with over 93,000 signatures to the European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding. These signatures – collected over the last two months as part of Amnesty International’s “Human rights here, Roma rights now” campaign – represent the voices of thousands of ordinary people who are urging the Commission to use the legal tools available to push EU countries to do more to end the discrimination that Roma people face.
Spokespeople:
Roma activists as well as Amnesty International experts on discrimination will be available for interview.
For more information, and to arrange interviews, please contact:
Peter Clarke
Media & Communications Officer
European Institutions Office, Amnesty International
Tel: +32 (0) 2 548 2773