Roma in Greece:
The Council of Europe estimates that there are 265,000 Roma in Greece, representing approximately 2.5% of the overall population. The population of Roma in Greece is scattered and consists of heterogeneous, mostly contrasting groups with different levels of integration. Only a part of Roma are formally recognised as a minority – based on the religious ground, Greece recognises only the Muslim Roma in Western Thrace.
Key problems:
Formally, Roma, as equal citizens, have rights and obligations as defined by the Greek Constitution and laws. Half of the Greek Roma population live in social exclusion, often in segregated settlements without access to basic infrastructure, including water, and under threats of forced eviction. Greek Roma suffer from prejudice and discrimination from the public and authorities. The laws currently in place are not implemented satisfactorily and police and judges frequently fail to take racist motivation into consideration when investigating hate crimes. Discrimination also manifests itself through the educational and residential segregation of Greek Roma as well as through the increased rates of racist attacks against them.
Greek National Strategy and Action Plan for the Social Integration of Roma 2021 – 2030 (Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, in Greek; machine translated by Google available at OHCHR webpage)
RCM coordinator:
RCM coalition members:
- Roma Choris Sinora (Roma Without Borders)
- Art Bridges
- Cultural Association of Greek Roma of Eastern Thessaloniki
- “Megas Alexandros” Greek Roma Associations’ Federation
- Solidarity Now
- Hellenic Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN Greece)
- Ladies Union of Drama
- Faros tou Kosmou (Lighthouse of the World)
- ARSIS
- SEGE (Union of Greek Women Entrepreneurs)
RCM 2 (2021-2025) reports:
Roma Civil Monitor (2022) Civil society monitoring report on the quality of the national strategic framework for Roma equality, inclusion, and participation in Greece. ENGLISH – GREEK
Poster presenting main findings of the report (2022):

RCM 1 (2017-2020) reports:
Roma Civil Monitor (2017) Civil society monitoring report on implementation of the national Roma integration strategies in Greece: Focusing on structural and horizontal preconditions for successful implementation of the strategy. ENGLISH
Roma Civil Monitor (2018) Civil society monitoring report on implementation of the national Roma integration strategy in Greece: Assessing the progress in four key policy areas of the strategy. ENGLISH – GREEK