Roma Communities in Ireland and Child Protection Considerations — Summary
“In accordance with the case law of the Strasbourg Court, member states should ensure that no child is placed in institutional care solely on grounds relating to the poor housing conditions or financial situation of his or her family. Placement of a child in an institution should remain the exception and should have as the primary objective the best interests of the child.”
There are an estimated 5,000 Roma in Ireland, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe. In Ireland today, many Roma experience difficulties accessing education, health services and employment, and experience racism, gender inequality and poverty.
Why Child Protection? The vulnerability of Roma children in Ireland is an ongoing concern. Through engaging with Roma communities in Ireland, it is increasingly clear that many children are facing situations of poverty and exclusion.
— Thomas Hammarberg, Former Commissioner for Human Rights of Council of Europe, 2012.
CONTEXT The report, ‘Roma Communities in Ireland and Child Protection Considerations,’ is based on a series of seminars and interviews organised by Pavee Point and the Health Service Executive (HSE), which focused on child protection considerations and Roma communities in Ireland. Participants included a wide range of participants from statutory organisations, particularly the HSE, Roma and non-government organisations. The report is a resource that can provide guidance for policy-makers and practitioners in the protection and promotion of human rights of Roma children in Ireland.
The report aims to: • Give an overview of the experiences of Roma communities in Ireland • Summarise key child protection issues discussed in the seminars and interviews • Provide guidance for practitioners working with Roma
Roma family at M50 camp, 2007 Practitioners working with children have identified a need to inform the practice of working with Roma families. The focus on child protection was based on an understanding of the impact that restrictions on accessing social welfare supports have on Roma families; as well as potential implications of cultural differences which can raise child protection issues.
It was noted that Roma communities are not over-represented in child protection cases at present in Ireland. However, practitioners noted a challenge in trying to engage with families in a culturally appropriate manner while also maintaining standards of child welfare. Some practitioners felt they are not always supported in their work. There is a lack of guidance institutionally and they are responding as best they can within this context.
Key issues emerging from seminars “Social workers’ approach is to assess and to put a plan in place, but for most Roma families they cannot do this due to the lack of entitlements to services such as social welfare, medical cards etc. and the knock-on effect on school attendance and so forth. Taking children into care should be a last resort, but it may seem like the best option for Roma children.” —Seminar Participant
Poverty and lack of social protection A recurring issue at the seminars and in interviews with professionals working with Roma was the extent of the deprivation some Roma families are experiencing as a result of unemployment and not qualifying for social welfare assistance. HSE staff noted that the habitual residence condition is resulting in extreme child poverty among Roma children. Many practitioners expressed shock and concern at the living conditions of some Roma families, including substandard housing and lack of food, saying they have never seen such conditions before.
“I’ve been working my whole life and never see poverty like this before. We need to do something about it.” —Seminar Participant Where social welfare and housing supports are not available, this can put social workers under pressure to take children into care. They are often reluctant to take such action as they feel the family could look after the children themselves if supports were available.
Access to Services Poverty and exclusion are key factors that cause poor health status. Roma throughout Europe have a lower life expectancy than the general population. Participants noted that a lack of access to health services compounds this problem. There is a lack of awareness and information about services, partly due to the lack of confidence and trust in institutions and authorities, and partly due to language and literacy difficulties. Participants noted that a lack of access to social welfare can also restrict access to medical cards, where a person cannot demonstrate their means. The impact of poverty on accommodation and education is also important to note. Overcrowding, poor accommodation and a lack of resources to support children to attend school were also highlighted as issues facing Roma in Ireland.
“If a child is ill, we should not have to encourage the family to take her/him to A&E but there is no access to other services, so this is the only option. The only other realistic option is to take a child into care where they will instantly have access to the services they need, but as soon as they leave care, the doors will close again.” —Seminar Participant
Engaging with Roma - Trust Practitioners noted that it can be hard to engage and build up trust with families. Throughout Europe, many Roma and Travellers have had very negative experiences of authorities and it may take time to establish trust. Historically, throughout Europe, assimilation policies meant that Roma children were removed from their families. Today, Roma children in Eastern Europe are grossly overrepresented in state care institutions. A report by the European Roma Rights Centre finds that the underlying reasons for the high representation are poverty and discrimination. Similarly, in Ireland, Travellers have also been overrepresented in state care. Therefore, the topic of Roma and child protection is likely to have negative connotations for many Roma. This combined with negative treatment more generally by authorities has an impact on trust. Practitioners noted that it can be hard to track of families and that not been able to keep track of children is a concern. This is also a challenge to providing information and access to available supports and services. The importance of Roma employment in statutory services was noted.
“Direct contact with another Roma person means trust, Roma understand other Roma. Roma have the key and it is important for another Roma just to be there.” —Seminar Participant
Cultural ISSUES & PRACTICES
Identified Action Points
Supports identified
Some cultural practices were discussed in relation to child welfare and child protection.
• Active involvement and consultation with Roma at all stages of planning and implementing any initiative. Without Roma participation, strategies and initiatives will fail
• The need for institutional guidelines such as a code of practice or guidelines on Roma and child protections issues
Early Marriage
There are 10-12 million Roma throughout Europe. Roma participants were very clear that while Roma are a minority ethnic group with shared ethnicity, there is also huge diversity within communities, including within those from the same country of origin.
Some Roma may marry young and have children at a young age. This may clash with Irish legislation. Practitioners noted that sometimes parents were unaware of the laws in Ireland. It was also emphasised that changes in cultural practices cannot be imposed and efforts need to be undertaken to create opportunities, through community development approaches, to promote change from within communities.
Living Arrangements Practitioners highlighted that when visiting families they may observe ‘unclear boundaries’, where more than one family may live in a unit of accommodation. They also noted that for some Roma, it would be quite usual for children to look after each other at quite a young age. Practitioners expressed a need for guidance on how to deal with such issues.
Begging Roma participants strongly challenged any beliefs that begging is part of Roma culture. It was clearly stated that this is not a cultural practice for Roma. Begging is a response to a situation of poverty and the links between begging and a lack of access to social protection are significant.
Roma family at M50 camp, 2007
• Development of a national Roma policy framework • Collation of data and research on the experiences of Roma • Use of an ethnic identifier across services for evidence-based policy development • Use of the Human Rights Framework and the 10 Common Basic Principles on Roma Inclusion to guide action • Learn from experiences of Travellers in Ireland and focus on community development as well as a child protection approach. The Primary Health Care for Travellers Projects were cited as good practice to be replicated with Roma • Ensure that Roma ethnicity is valued and respected
for Practitioners
• A database of contacts for services and supports working with Roma communities around the country • Availability of Roma interpreters • Resources for practitioners working with Roma • Roma cultural awareness training for practitioners
“This is a human rights issue at the end of the day; there are children and young people in this country that are entitled to certain basic human rights that are not being fulfilled” —Seminar Participant
See full report at www.pavee.ie For further information contact siobhan.curran@pavee.ie