A Romanian gypsy association said Thursday it would sue the state for discrimination after a publicly funded employment agency in Bucharest included a warning that "no Romanians" need apply on a job advert.
"This job advert shows that Roma are discriminated against not only by individuals but by state institutions," said the association, Romani Criss, in a letter to the employment ministry.
A growing number of adverts for jobs and services, and for accommodation to rent include such remarks, said Costel Bercus, a Romani Criss official, adding that Roma are banned from some restaurants and discotheques.
Romania's gypsy community, a large proportion of which is illiterate and jobless, numbers 425,000 according to the last official census in 1990, although community leaders put its size at 1.5-2 million.
Bercus, meanwhile, welcomed the fact that Romanian police have recently stopped keeping statistics on crimes committed by Romanians and mentioning the ethnic background of a suspect only when it involves gypsies -- BUCHAREST (AFP)
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