ROMA VIRTUAL NETWORK

FROM ROMA VIRTUAL NETWORK

Roma Parents Sent to Jail in Hungary Because Their Kids Skip School

18/09/2009 - Two Roma parents in the village of Sajokaza have received 16-month prison sentences because two of their children stopped going to school, the Budapest daily "Nepszabadsag" reported on September 11. The paper cited a child-protection officer who said that it is unprecedented in Hungary that both parents, who have six children including an infant, have been given simultaneous prison sentences. While three of their other children regularly attend school, the two oldest children have dropped out.

The Association for Freedom has petitioned President Laszlo Solyom to intervene in the case, arguing that the blame does not lie with the parents because the reason the two children avoided school is that they felt very unhappy there. "No doubt because of their Roma origin, they were often put in a disadvantage and, what is more, they were subject to violence more than once," according to the petition.

Source: Bigotry Monitor: Volume 9, Number 35