Head of the Polish Roma Association, Roman Kwiatkowski has asked the citizens and children’s ombudsmen to assist in legal proceedings after a Roma family was attacked in the southern town of Limanowa.
In a letter to Irena Lipowicz, the Citizens Ombudsman, the local Roma minority in the town state that the “rough conflict [was incited] by national and ethnic differences.”
The letter refers to an incident which happened last week in the southern town, after residents claimed a member of the Roma community had been acting aggressively towards other inhabitants and allegedly allowed a dog to attack a pregnant woman, and tried to break into an apartment inhabited by a Roma family as an act of retribution.
“The conflict between the residents of this small town has taken on […] a racist, nationalist and xenophobic character,” the letter states, adding that previous comments made by the Limanowa’s mayor, Marek Czeczotka, are false.
“The statements made by Limanowa local authorities, including the mayor, that the root cause of this incident is behaviour of one Roma […] member of the community, is not true,” the letter continues, concluding with a plea to Lipowicz: “in the name of defending the ethnic Roma minority [we] ask for help and support.”
In another letter to the Children’s Ombudsman Marek Michalek, Kwiatkowski underlined that the underlying conflict between the Roma minority and other residents in Limanowa is due to “unsolved problems of the Roma minority with greater society.”
Kwiatkowski also criticises the Limanowa mayor’s decision to move the family to a temporary home on the outskirts of the town, especially as the Roma family, which numbers 11 members, contains a number of small children. (jb)
Source: PAP
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