VZCZCXRO0160
RR RUEHBW RUEHPOD
DE RUEHPOD #0128/01 1021610
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111610Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY PODGORICA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0752
INFO RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA 0103
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 0144
RUEHVJ/AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO 0074
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 0341
RUEHPS/AMEMBASSY PRISTINA 0090
RUEHPOD/AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 0833

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PODGORICA 000128 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI KWMN MW
SUBJECT: CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL ROMA DAY IN MONTENEGRO 
 
REF: STATE 29991 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: On April 8, International Roma Day, the Embassy 
organized a roundtable discussion on issues that face the Roma 
population in Montenegro, which was held in a refugee camp in 
Podgorica.  Ambassador, local and refugee Roma, and 
representatives of the government and international 
organizations exchanged views on education, housing, health 
protection, and other issues of importance for the Roma 
population.  Ambassador also announced that the U.S. Department 
of Defense has donated 28,000 dollars to help reconstruct roofs 
in the camp, which provides shelter for 1,500 Roma refugees from 
Kosovo.  The event received positive local press coverage -- and 
an opposition swipe that the U.S. seems to care more for the 
Roma than the PM, who did not publicly mark Roma Day.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  With assistance from UNHCR and the Montenegrin Red Cross, 
the Embassy organized a tour of the Konik refugee camp for 
visiting DRL officer Dan Nadel.  The tour showed the terrible 
living conditions of local Roma and their accommodations either 
within the camp or in run-down homes built in illegal 
settlements. 
 
¶3.  To bring the focus back to the positive contributions of 
Roma in Montenegro, post invited a dozen Roma "success stories", 
running the gamut from a doctor from Kosovo to a scholarship 
winning law student.  Post also invited government 
representatives from the Bureau for the Care of Refugees and the 
Coordinator of the office for the Roma Decade as well as 
representatives of the OSCE Department for Minorities, UNHCR, 
Montenegrin Red Cross and the Montenegrin Ministry of 
Minorities.  Our first Roma International Visitor participant 
Fana Delija served as moderator of the roundtable discussion. 
 
 
 
¶4.  Many of the successful Roma participants noted that Roma 
face many problems in Montenegro including education, health 
care, living conditions, and the position of Roma women within 
the community.  Regarding education, many noted that there is 
sometimes a language barrier which stifles the success of Romani 
children.  Montenegrin Red Cross representatives added that 
without a supportive family structure, it is difficult for the 
schools to instill a strong interest in education in Romani 
children.  A Roma participant acknowledged that the Romani 
cultural practice of taking children out of school to work, get 
married or beg for money further complicates the prospect of 
Roma education. 
 
 
 
¶5.  All participants who lived at the refugee camp noted that 
medical assistance available there -- two hours every morning -- 
was insufficient to meet the medical needs of the camp's 1500 
residents.  A Roma doctor noted that new Ministry of Health, 
Labor and Social Welfare regulations delineating where people 
could seek health care prevented her from seeing patients at the 
camp and in the local health center.  She now has a quota of 
patients she is permitted to receive and she is no longer able 
to serve patients at the camp.  The moderator, who is a member 
of a local Roma NGO, also noted that Roma from the refugee camp 
are not permitted to receive health care elsewhere. 
 
 
 
¶6.  Everyone, including government representatives, acknowledged 
the deplorable living conditions within the camp.  One woman 
noted that she has been in the camp since 1999, when she was 
told she would only be there for five years.  Nearly ten years 
later, her large family falls ill frequently because of the 
leaky roof that covers the barrack they live in.  Post was 
approached by the Montenegrin Red Cross, which manages the camp, 
in December 2007 to fund a roof replacement project.  With 
funding from the Department of Defense's Humanitarian Assistance 
Fund, 28,000 dollars has been allocated for this project, which 
got under way April 7.  The Director of the Bureau for the Care 
of Refugees admitted that camp conditions were not good but said 
the government was trying to close remaining collective centers 
and move people to more permanent housing.  He added that the 
government had funded construction of 24 pre-fabricated houses 
for 180 people in Berane, in northern Montenegro.  According to 
the director, the government also agreed to construct additional 
pre-fabricated houses in Pljevlja, another northern town, but he 
did not address the housing needs of those in Podgorica.  A Roma 
participant born in Montenegro noted that local Roma faced the 
same living conditions as the refugees. 
 
 
 
PODGORICA 00000128  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7.  Participants noted that the position of women in the Roma 
community posed a particularly complex problem.  The common 
practice of early marriage coupled with large numbers of 
children made it difficult for Romani women to pursue 
educational or work opportunities.  Nevertheless, post noted 
that many of the most active roundtable participants were young 
women who had managed to achieve great academic success. 
 
 
 
¶8.  At the conclusion of the event, the Roma participants pushed 
government representatives for greater implementation of the 
Roma Decade Action Plan at the local level.  The Roma Decade 
coordinator emphasized that the government allocated 400,000 
Euro for implementation of the Action Plan, although 2008 was 
the first year the program had funding.  One Roma NGO 
participant told PolOff following the roundtable that the Roma 
Decade coordinator lacked a full understanding of the issues 
facing the Roma population, particularly those living in the 
refugee camp. 
 
 
 
¶9.  Press coverage of the event was extremely positive and all 
major newspapers quoted Ambassador's call for greater awareness 
of the situation of Roma in Montenegro.  Subsequent coverage 
noted that opposition leaders from the Socialist People's Party 
(SNP) used the International Roma Day event as an opportunity to 
criticize Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic for a lack of interest 
in Roma issues, particularly in contrast to the Ambassador's 
visit to a Roma camp to mark the day. 
 
 
 
¶10.  COMMENT.  Post was encouraged by the active participation 
of the Roma guests but disappointed by the limited response from 
government representatives. Despite acceptance of the invitation 
by the Ministry of Minorities, they failed to send a 
representative.  It was unclear what next steps would be taken 
by the Roma Decade coordinator to maximize the 400,000 Euro 
allocated for implementation of the Action Plan.  END COMMENT. 
MOORE