Recommended YouTube videos

The Roma Community Centre's channel on YouTube

Other videos regarding the Roma people

• Roma child segregation in European schools
  (Amnesty International)

This first video explains one of the least (physically) violent reasons that Roma people want to come to Canada as refugees. You can see how bizarre and harmful these educational practices are. They echo the past residential school systems in Canada for Aboriginal peoples.

There is also a common belief that Roma kids just aren't suited for school. We know that all kids want to go to school and all parents and guardians want them to be happy, safe and successful at school.

• Roma families living in uncertainty
  (Amnesty International)

There are Roma who have been able to stay in Canada, but recently many are being denied and tragically re-routed back to Europe. Since there is not an official armed conflict against them, the Canadian government seems to be not considering them as people who need to be here.

There are lots of kids in Parkdale (Toronto) who are Roma – some have been here for years – but lately, many families have almost resigned themselves to being sent back to segregated schooling, Neo-Nazi terrorist attacks on their homes and children, and in general – being hated. At the "best" of times, they are a group that Europe wants to "integrate" into educational programs to build "work skills".

The Roma Community Centre, among other organizations, works on a volunteer basis with an extended network of people who work to try and help them stay here in Canada and succeed and be safe in schools and neighbourhoods. The Roma work just as hard to meet goals and dreams of safety, acceptance, wellness and happiness.

Many Roma kids are going to school here in Toronto and are happy to be doing so.

The Roma Community Centre is working to support Roma families, inform school boards on Roma identity and learning, inform Citizenship and Immigration that Roma are horribly targeted in Europe and their refugee claims are for real.

• Confronting hate crimes against Roma
  (Human Rights First)

The Roma Community Centre also works to inform the Roma themselves that this is not Europe, this is Canada – and we don't hate them. Roma children and families are welcome in our schools and communities.

We hope to see you on International Roma Day or at community gatherings in the future. Thank you for reading and for your support.

Caitlin McIlveen, Board Member
for Gina Csanyi, Executive Director

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