1. Training course
”Combating discrimination towards migrant
and Roma minorities”
Give it a chance!
Roma people in Romanian prisons
Sorina LUPU
Bucharest, Romania
Rosheim, France – 22 September 2012

2. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Structure
Purpose
to outline the Romanian programs for
integrating Roma people from prisons
Good
Context Programs
practices

3. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Context of Roma people
• Roma people: 619,007 people or 3.2% of the
total population of Romania
• second-largest ethnic minority in Romania
after Hungarians
• 30,000 total number of people in prisons from
Romania (Romanians, gypsys etc)

4. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
28 August 2012
In prisons from Romania
there were
declared 1999 Roma people

5. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
<18
18-21
21-60
>60

6. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Level of education
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Illiterate primary secondary technical secondary high school university
school highschool

7. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Criminalities

8. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Criminalities

9. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Psyche
Social
Education
work

10. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
The program
“Over obstacle with
hope and faith”
• Description
• Objectives
• Target group: 150 Roma
people in prisons

11. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Activities during the programme
• renovation of spaces;
• IT, vocational courses;
• juridical and psychological counseling;
• support in finding and keeping the work place
for both Roma prisoners and their families;
• organization of campaigns;
• providing financial support.

12. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
The international day of Roma people

13. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Dancing and singing

14. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
National Anathema and Flag
• “Gelem, Gelem”

15. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Feedback from Roma people in jail
• There is no discrimination between Romanian
and Roma people
• They are treated equally and participate in all
the activities for them

16. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
Feedback from Roma people in jail
• They accept their status
• Most of them discovered new abilities in the
prisons like painting or sculpturing
• They have their own TV programme which is
transmitted inside the prison

17. Structure | Context | Programs | Good practices | Conclusions
One more thing ...
It is easy to say you know what
people feel behind bars when
you have never been there ...