During the last discussion of the Action Week against Racism 2009 experts from state institutions and NGOs were searching for the answer as to whether Gypsies should be called Roma and why.
In the daily language and legal terminology of European countries various names are used to describe Roma people, for example, in Spain the word “Calé” is used, in Germany – “Sinti”, in Central Europe – “Roma”, France – “Manush”. Lithuania has used the term “Gypsy” for a long time but from around the year 2000 it has been gradually substituted by the term “Roma” mainly due to the EU and other international documents.
According to the series of interviews taken before the event and demonstrated on the screen at the beginning of the discussion, experts from the Commission of Lithuanian language, the Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, the Journalists' and Publishers' Ethics Commission, Tte Office of the Inspector of Journalists' Ethics, and the Center of Ethnic Studies stated that the term “Gypsy” is unlikely to have unambiguously negative meaning in Lithuanian language, however following recommendation by the International Roma Congress international practice has increasingly preferred the name “Roma”.
According to Edita Žiobienė, Chair of the Journalists' and Publishers' Ethics Commission, although there is no legislation prohibiting the usage of the term “Gypsy”, the goodwill and international practice encourages to use the term “Roma”, which is neutral, free of any negative context.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommends that Roma like any other ethnic group should be called according to their own preference. A recent survey carried out by the Center of Ethnic Studies shows that an increasing number of Lithuanian Roma wants to be identified as "Roma" and not as “Gypsy”. However, according to Danguolė Grigolovičienė, adviser to the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, the official classification of ethnic origins does not include "Roma". It means that Roma parents have no possibility to obtain a birth certificate indicating their child's etnicity as “Roma”.
Among other participants were Deividas Velkas, Adviser to the Inspector of Journalists' Ethics, Vita Petrušauskaitė of the Center for Ethnic Studies, Gražina Sluško of the Department of National Minorities, Aistė Pangonytė, Senior Expert of the Commission of Lithuanian language, and Josif Tyčina, President of the Lithuanian Roma Community “Gypsy Bonfire”. Jolanta Samuolytė, HRMI Research Director, moderated the discussion.
ELSA Vilnius (Vilnius Branch of the Lithuanian national group of the International Law Students Association) and the Human Rights Monitoring Institute organized the event. This discussion was a part of the Action Week against Racism 2009.
© 2012 Human Rights Monitoring Institute