Hindus ask Europe to address issue of stateless Gypsies urgently

Nevada (US), Jan 23 (ANI): Hindus want Europe to do something concrete to improve the plight of stateless Roma (Gypsies), who suffer rejection day after day.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that this issue should be urgently addressed and insisted that stateless Roma around Europe needed to be protected from severe and continuous violation of human rights.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that access of that stateless to health services, employment, education, property ownership and travel was severely restricted and they faced detention and inability to obtain identity papers. They were denied the most basic of rights and were vulnerable to trafficking.Leaders of various religions/denominations, including His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, should also come forward and advocate on behalf of stateless Roma and highlight their plight as religions told us to help the helpless, Rajan Zed stated.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says, "Statelessness refers to the condition of an individual who is not considered as a national by any state". (ANI)