International Roma Day

The union for development and integration of Roma minority in Albania, “Amaro Drom”, has held a conference with the theme “For a society without prejudices”, with the participation of Albanian President Bamir Topi, many ambassadors accredited in Tirana and also of many government institutions representatives.

The chairman of this union asked more attention to this community’s education.

“Our children are those who used to wander without forgetting their elders. Let this be a message that education for us will be and will remain a priority”, said Skënder Veliu, representative of “Amaro Drom”.

Head of the State Bamir Topi said in the beginning of his speech that Roma community is an important part of our society.

“Today is a marked day, 40 years after the first London meeting, organized under the chants “gelen-gelen”, the first international conference after to be declared as the International Roma Day. This day is celebrated all over the world, even in Albania, and certainly it is one of most important attributes of these years in democracy. This day must be celebrated in full liberty, in full harmony with the rest of the society”, Topi said.

President Topi condemned the incident denounced by Top Channel, when Roma shelters were burned down.

“The recent case that you mentioned has to do with an unpleasant episode that took place in an area very close to the building where we are holding this conference, exactly at the Tirana Train Station. This certainly alarmed all Albanian institutions, because it was a real violent event, an isolated occasion event but that makes us think that there exist such elements that can damage the image of Albanian institutions, which have been very sensible to the minorities regard. This situation must be normalized”, Topi said.

Since April 8th coincides with the official launch of the local elections campaign, Topi encouraged Albanian Roma people to be more active in this important event for the Albanain democracy.

“Use your right to vote for contributing directly in the social climate improvement”, Topi said.

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