As Spain agrees to reach a state pact against anti-gypsyism, activists urge a united front for groups discriminated on the basis of work and descent
Gitanos seek protection from King Philip III of Spain. Photo: iStock February 16, 2023, was a day of great change in Spain. The Iberian nation’s Lower House of Parliament approved legislation granting ‘menstrual leave’, allowing teenage abortion and self-declaration of gender. But another development on the same day in the Congress of Deputies finds resonance globally, including India.
The Commission for Social Rights and Comprehensive Disability Policies debated and approved a report urging the government to reach a state pact against anti-gypsyism and the inclusion of the Roma people. It also agreed to ask the Board of the Congress of Deputies that the report be debated in the plenary session.
The report was prepared by a subcommittee created April 28, 2021 by the National Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales, for the same purpose.
A state pact in Spanish politics is a long-term agreement between parties represented in Congress that provides a general framework to address priority issues, according to an article in SAPIENS.
Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG), Spain’s premier organisation working for the rights of the Gitano, as the Roma or Gypsy are known in the country, welcomed the development.
“We value the incorporation of the Roma population among the ‘priority attention groups’ and the progress in recognizing the role that social entities play in promoting employment,” FSG tweeted.
“If the gypsy people advance in equal treatment and opportunities, we will build a better society,” Sara Gimenez, a prominent lawyer and Gitano parliamentarian, tweeted.
There were of course discordant notes from parties on the right such as Vox and the Partido Popular (PP). Vox voted against and PP abstained during the vote by the Commission, according to the Spanish newspaper, La Vanguardia.
The move by the Commission though is another step in restoring dignity to the Gitano, who like Roma across Europe, have suffered discrimination and marginalisation for centuries.
It is widely believed that the 12 million Romas or Gypsies found in Europe today, originated in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, specifically the historic Punjab region.
From the Punjab, they migrated west through the Middle East into Europe and spread across the Continent. They are called by various names such as Travellers in Ireland, Romanichal in Wales, Gitans in France, Gitanos in Spain, Ciganos in Portugal and Sinti and Roma in other countries.
The FSG website notes that the first mention of Roma presence on the Iberian Peninsula is found from a document dated January 12, 1425, which shows the arrival in Zaragoza (Kingdom of Aragon) of a group of gypsy pilgrims from France.
From 1499 to the rule of dictator Francisco Franco, nearly 200 anti-Roma laws were enacted in Spain.
The situation was similar in the rest of the Continent, reaching a crescendo with the Third Reich. Some 500,000 Roma from various European countries were murdered in concentration camps across Nazi-occupied Europe.
The Spanish Constitution of 1978 recognised the full equality of all Spaniards, including the Roma. But their performance on various social indicators like education, employment, housing and health remains abysmal.
To make matters worse, anti-Gitano sentiment is still very much present. Its latest manifestation was seen in July last year when Roma families were forced to flee the Andalusian town of Peal de Becerro, after attacks by locals over a murder which four Gitano men were accused of carrying out.
The position occupied by the Roma in Europe is not unlike the one occupied by Dalits in the Indian subcontinent. Both groups have traditionally been at the bottom of the social pyramid in their respective regions.
N Paul Divakar, convenor of The Global Forum of Communities discriminated on Work and Descent, told Down To Earth (DTE) that two Special Rapporteurs, Yozo Yokota and Chin-Sung Chung, had made recommendations on this issue in their final report to the Human Rights Council of the United
Nations way back in 2009 (A/HRC/11/CRP.3 18 May 2009).
They describe Discrimination based on Work and Descent (DWD) as:
Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on inherited status such as caste, including present or ancestral occupation, family, community or social origin, name, birthplace, place of residence, dialect and accent that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.
A handbook titled Towards a Unifying Global Identity: A Framework on Discrimination Based on Work and Descent, Including Caste published by Asia Dalit Rights Forum, notes that DWD including caste is not a South Asian phenomenon.
In fact, 260 million people globally are affected by it, with the highest number in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Other communities suffering due to DWD include:
Paul Divakar also stated that India already had a pact like the one that Spain is thinking of, in the form of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. “The problem is its lack of proper interpretation and implementation.”
He added:
We (The Global Forum) are trying to ask for a common framework which identifies these communities and accord special protective measures for them. We are asking for help in eight critical areas: identification of such groups; access to justice; gender justice; child rights; political participation; public financé and budgets; climate justice; anti-discrimination laws in employment, education and entrepreneurship. It will be interesting to see if the Spanish state pact incorporates all this.
Ganesh Narayan Devy, scholar, activist and linguist said a united front of such groups was the absolute need of the day as they suffered because of:
“There is a very strong and urgent need for bringing these people together, forming a global non-geographic state, a people’s state,” Devy said.
He also differentiated between the concepts of race and caste. “Race means people of a single genetic stock. This is not so in caste where people are of the same genetic stock. Caste-based discrimination is one arising out of theological, economic or cultural factors,” Devy told DTE.
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