<
https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-roma-discrimination-swimming-pools/32529839.html>
"KYUSTENDIL, Bulgaria — To beat the heat, Arso Ganev recently took his family
to a local pool in their hometown of Kyustendil on the western fringes of
Bulgaria.
Arriving late in the afternoon at a hotel with a pool open to guests and the
public, Ganev and his daughter approached a young woman working there,
enquiring what time it closed, hoping for a quick dip in the cool waters.
"She told me it was open until eight [o'clock], which sounded as if we had
enough time to use the pool. But then an older lady jumped in and said there
were over 50 guests currently at the hotel and said they couldn't let us in,"
Ganev said.
As they stood there, others whisked by and entered the pool complex unimpeded.
Figuring it could be a scheduling snafu, Ganev asked if they could come back
another day but soon concluded it was futile. He was sure that he and his
family would be denied regardless of the day. It all had to do, Ganev
suspected, with them being Roma.
"The [Romany] community is resigned to [discrimination]. They say that these
are private businesses and that it is up to the owner whether or not to let
them in. I don't agree. I think that once an establishment opens for business,
it would be open to all ethnic groups," said Ganev, an educational adviser, in
remarks to RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service.
Like elsewhere in Europe, Roma in Bulgaria face widespread discrimination.
Numbering at least 700,000 — although an exact figure is elusive as many fear
openly declaring their ethnicity — the majority of Bulgaria's Roma live on the
fringes of society, often facing widespread prejudice and hostility in public
life.
And now as much of Europe broils in some of the hottest weather on record,
cases of discrimination against Roma at public pools in Bulgaria appear to be
on the rise, with incidents reported in several towns and cities across the
country."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
