Assessing the Right of Forcibly Separated Romani Families to Compensation: Lessons from the Canadian Experience
Assessing the Right of Forcibly Separated Romani Families to Compensation: Lessons from the Canadian Experience

Summary/Abstract: History shows that members of minority groups have been targeted by government practices, both official and unofficial, which appear to aim at the destruction of family units and minority culture. Being Canadian, the Canadian government’s history with regard to its treatment of members of Native Canadian groups typifies this notion for me. After having worked in Europe for 7 years on Roma rights issues, I see many parallels which can be drawn between the experiences of Native Canadians and Roma in Europe. With specific regard to the policies targeting and the treatment of Native Canadian children, striking similarities can be seen between the Canadian and the European experience. This article offers an exploration of Canada’s residential schools for Native Canadian children, its parallels with regard to child protection practices targeting Roma in Europe, and seeks to build the case for compensation for Romani families forcibly separated as a result of child protection systems which can be seen to directly and indirectly discriminate against Roma.

• Details
• Contents