Spanish Romani Union offers to aid Gov't with Romani refugees from Syria and elsewhere

The Spanish Romani Union (SRU) sent a letter on 7 September to Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría offering the services of its Legal Department for working with Romani and other refugees about to be redistributed to Spain by the European Union. In the letter, the SRU praises the Government for publicly confirming that Spain will not turn away any asylum-seekers and for creating an inter-ministerial commission on the issue of refugee redistribution.

The letter, signed by former MEP Juan de Dios Ramírez-Heredia, asserts that while Syrian Romanies in refugee camps are not identifying themselves as such, the media has reported that Syrian Roma are among the refugees in the migrant reception center in Melilla on the Moroccan border. The letter also discusses Roma reportedly fleeing Croatia and Roma in Iraq who are too impoverished to attempt flight.