Serbia's Gypsies have few rights

Belgrade, December 14 (Source: B92) - Nearly half of Gypsies living in Serbia do not enjoy the rights to education, employment and healthcare.

A recent survey among a group of 36,000 Gypsies, showed 46 percent of them could not register their residence addresses as they live in cardboard shanties, often without water or electricity. With no address they cannot get ID cards, which are needed in communications with any state body.

Petar Antic, of the Serbian Center for Minority Rights, said Gypsies live in a parallel world beyond Serbia's system, Belgrade's B92 radio reported. Antic warned if this problem is not solved, in the next 10 years Serbia will have the biggest security-threatening ghetto in Europe, the radio said.

The Serbian government has adopted plans to solve Gypsy problems but representatives of Gypsy communities say laws also need to be implemented.

About 80 percent of Gypsies are illiterate and about 60 percent don't complete primary school.

Official statistics say there are about 150,000 Gypsies in Serbia but Gypsy leaders claim their number could top 500,000.

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