International Roma Union
The International Roma Union or International Romani Union , in Romanes: Romano Internacionalno Jekhethanibe (IRU) is the main transnational advocacy group for Roma . It is the umbrella organization of numerous national and regional organizations and was founded at the 2nd World Roma Congress (WRC) in Geneva in April 1978.
history
An early attempt by Roma to organize themselves internationally was the founding of the Roma World Committee (CMG) in Paris by Ionel Rotaru in 1959 , in which French Roma of Eastern European origin, Manouches and Calé were represented. The CMG was dissolved by the French government in 1965. He was followed by the Comité International Tsigane (CIT) under the leadership of Vanko Rouda. It attempted to overcome the national, religious and fragmentation within the minority resulting from membership of different subgroups, which significantly impaired the implementation of social and political goals. CIT offices in various countries, contacts with foreign organizations and close cooperation with the Romani Evangelical Church founded by Clement Le Cossec in 1952 were established. The programmatic goals were to stop the ongoing international process of forced assimilation and to improve the legal and social situation of the Roma. The use of modern political methods of influencing politics and society (public relations, media campaigns, demonstrations and lobbying) was new.
In the course of the general upswing of the social and political movements in the western states since the end of the 1960s, there was also a "radical change", an "awakening of the so-called 'Romani movement'", which was stronger than ever before their concerns went public and aggressively made their demands.
The founding of the International Romani Congress (RIC) represented a "breakthrough in this new political movement". Delegates from 14 countries took part in the first meeting in London in 1971. The congress "was under the sign of striving for 'international unity'" in the fight against social marginalization and for an improvement of social opportunities and political participation. The delegates elected Slobodan Beberskis as president, the Czech-Swiss doctor Dr. Ján Cibuľa as Vice President and Grattan Puxon as Secretary General of Congress. Five commissions were set up to deal with the Nazi crimes, the social situation, the educational situation as well as the language and culture of the Roma. The language commission decided to use only the subject term Roma as a general term for the members of the minority, whatever subgroup they belonged to, and thus to replace all competing external names.
As a result of the London Congress, which encouraged the activation and organization of the Roma worldwide, further politically active Roma organizations emerged in and outside Europe. At the second "Romani Congress" in Geneva in April 1978, 50 self-organizations from all parts of Europe, the USA, India and Pakistan took part. The delegates elected Ján Cibuľa as their president . The London Congress led to the establishment of the International Romani Union. The participants in the congress and the founders of the IRU included Roma and Yenish representatives from the Swiss bicycle cooperative on Landstrasse .
The main objectives were the recognition of the Roma as an independent ethnic minority at the UN , the improvement of the legal status and the preservation of the Roma culture. Since 1979 it has been a non-governmental organization (NGO) with consultative status on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and also has advisory status in UNESCO . She has been a member of UNICEF since 1986. The focus of the work continues to be the commitment to the civil rights of the Roma.
Honorary President of the IRU was the well-known actor Yul Brynner in the founding phase . He played an active role in the efforts of the Roma to unite internationally and gain international recognition in the 1970s.
Remarks
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 28, 2014
- ↑ http://internationalromaniunion.org/home-en/ , accessed on August 28, 2014
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 28, 2014
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 28, 2014
- ↑ Donald Kenrick, Grattan Puxon: Sinti and Roma. The annihilation of a people in the Nazi state ; Göttingen 1981; P. 155.
- ↑ All information up to this point, unless otherwise stated, see: Rombase Universität Graz, [1] .
- ↑ Donald Kenrick / Grattan Puxon, Sinti and Roma - the annihilation of a people in the Nazi state, Göttingen 1981, p. 155; According to Mariella Mehr as a participant in the founding act in Geneva, quoted. after: Narachan. Magazine for pictures, texts, songs. Geneva Congress 78th Upre Roma, unpag., No. 4, undated. (1979?); Willi Wottreng, Gypsy chief, Orell-Füssli-Verlag, Zurich 2010, p. 52 [statements by Ján Cibuľa].
- ↑ Donald Kenrick, Grattan Puxon: Sinti and Roma. The annihilation of a people in the Nazi state ; Göttingen 1981; P. 155
