EU country apologizes for forced sterilization — Analysis
Slovakia apologized for forced sterilization of women during the communist regime, and in the decade that followed. This was to condemn the practice of controlling the number of births of socially disadvantaged Roma.
Wednesday’s government resolution condemned forced sterilization. The government also apologized to previous governments for their actions. “The government condemns sterilization as a means of regulating the birth rate of the socially disadvantaged, which took place mainly among Roma women,” the text of the resolution reads, according to Germany’s DW news.
This practice began in 1966, and it continued even after the fall of communism. It was just one of many force-related measures that were taken to stop the practice. “citizens of Gypsy origin,”It is aimed at “reduce the unhealthy population”By sterilizing women. This practice was continued up to 2004.
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Although official documents indicated that the state wanted to address health issues in the Roma community’s population, recent research shows that sterilization was often performed under threat and pressure without any understanding.
In a statement, the government’s official for the Roma community, Andrea Buckova, condemned the historic human rights violation. “What the previous regime was capable of in relation to Roma women is inadmissible,”She stated that, and added: “regulating the population of any minority or group is comparable to the methods of the Nazi regimes.”
Buckova pointed out that this was extremely troubling, as these were continued long after the collapse of communism.
Buckova suggests that there were many victims, even though the exact number is not known. The statement states that 1,823 people were sterilized in 1987.
She said the government’s decision to apologize was the correct one and that the next step would be compensating those who fell victim to the practice.
The marginalized Roma community makes up 9% of Slovakia’s population, according to EU figures. Pope Francis made a visit to the notorious Lunik IX slum, Kosice in September.
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