Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo plainly stipulates that the Republic of Kosovo is a multi-ethnic society, composed of Albanians and other communities, which is governed democratically, with full respects of rule of law through its legislative, executive and judicial institutions, in accordance with principles of equality before the Law of all people, full respect of internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as protection of rights and participation of all communities and their members.

The Ombudsperson has identified a certain number of problems which Roma community face such as: termination of social assistance, lack of appropriate co-operation with representatives of Municipal Offices for Communities and Return, lack of essential living conditions as well as temporary housing, problems with civil registration, high level of unemployment in the civil service and judicial institutions, disconnection from the electricity, lengthy court proceedings before the judicial bodies on cases related to property disputes, appropriation of property and obstruction to possession, pollution of the environment in their dwelling places, street begging by children of this community, inadequate health care (commonly children of this community fail to be immunized, and due to this they suffer very frequently from contagious diseases, etc.), the phenomenon of school dropping out, early marriages, as well as many other problems which have been addressed to responsible institutions. In a more comprehensive manner these problems were addressed to the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo through Ombudsperson’s Annual Report.

The Ombudsperson reiterates that the situation of rights of ethnic minorities is an indicator of democratic values of one society. Therefore, on the occasion of the International Roma Community Day, he draws attention on raising the awareness and particularly requires concrete actions from responsible institutions on implementation of the legislation and protection of rights of members of this community.