Romania: Police investigate group offering Romani women money for sterilization

Agence France-Presse reported today that the prosecutor in Timisoara, Romania has begun investigating a nationalist group called NAT88 for soliciting Romani women to undergo sterilizations. The group will be investigated on suspicion of "public promotion of a fascist and racist ideology".

NAT88 has several dozen members in Timisoara, located in the western region of Banat. The group offered through its website to pay "each gypsy woman from the Banat a reward of 300 lei [EUR 70] who submits to us a doctor’s confirmation that she voluntarily underwent sterilization this year". The website went on to claim that such a step would contribute to reducing the Romani community’s crime rate. Members of the group allege they have fallen victim to Romani criminals. NGOs fighting against the discrimination of Romani people in Romania, however, view the enterprise as an attack on democratic principles and called on the authorities to intervene.

According to official numbers, around 620 000 Romani people live in Romania, but it is estimated that the actual number of the Romani population is between 1.5 million and 2 million people. They live in poverty due to strong discrimination against them on the labor market.