International Roma Day is celebrated worldwide every year on April 8th.
It is the day that celebrates Romani culture, art, language, as well commemorates the prosecutions and human rights issues that this largest European ethnic is/was facing.
On April 8th, 1971 the first World Romani Congress was established with an urge to acknowledge non-state Roma nation. This pursuit, however, was put under the carpet by the European lawmakers who feared that it might cause numerous conflicts in between the Roma and the nation states they live in.
The confusion also arose around the claims of what would it mean to claim the belonging to the non-state Roma people; would it mean that Roma's integration to other cultures would slowly dissipate?
On April 8th, it is not only important to note the need for cultural, artistic and linguistic preservation (which is supported by that EU Treaties and the Council of Europe Charter for Regional and Minority Languages), it is also essential to ask questions that go beyond ethnology and reach the political identity of Roma. A place of powerful courage, dignity and hope has to be find, so that we can move away from the place of apathy for Roma. It is therefore of the outmost importance to find common grounds, combine strength in order to reach political goals that Roma, just like any other minority group, urgently need.
Source:
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/international-roma-day-call-courage-and-clarity
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