According to a November 2014 policy paper by the Institute for Financial Policy, nearly 40 percent of the adult Roma population existed entirely outside the labour market, as compared with 24 percent of non-Roma. Those who can work often do so in the black market. Citing widespread discrimination and low education levels, the paper found that the employment rate of Roma aged 15 to 64 sat at 17 percent. [...]
According to the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), Roma in Slovakia endure racism in the job market, housing and education fields and are often subjected to forced evictions, vigilante intimidation, disproportionate levels of police brutality and more subtle forms of discrimination. [...]
Although comprehensive statistics are unavailable, he says that there has been a general increase in anti-Roma hate crimes since 2008 and that segregation has continually worsened, alluding to at least eight segregation walls dividing Roma and non-Roma communities in the eastern city of Kosice alone. [...]
In a recent report, the ERRC and Amnesty International found that Roma children are sometimes segregated, bullied by teachers and incorrectly diagnosed as intellectually disabled due to the pervasive anti-Roma racism in Slovakia. The rights groups accused Slovakia of systematically denying Roma pupils their rights and thus trapping them "in a cycle of poverty and marginalisation". [...]
Despite access to water being enshrined in law as a human right by the United Nations, the European Union and the Council of Europe, Roma in both EU and non-EU states often struggle to obtain running, potable water, according to another recent report by the ERRC. That report - Thirsting for Justice - found that Roma are "often treated differently and discriminated against by local authorities when it comes to the provision of" safe and secure access to water and sanitation.
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