Wim van de Donk, chairman of the National Committee for 4 and 5 May, and the Sinti community are once again on the same page. Last year in May, the Sinti Roma Travelers’ Association of the Netherlands and Woonwagenbelangen Nederland demanded that the decision to appoint Van de Donk as chairman be reversed.
The former King’s Commissioner in Brabant was accused of discriminating against this group of people in the past.
‘Future Joint Mission’
The two sides have since spoken. They will be working on a future joint mission, they report in a press release. A spokesman for the National Committee would not say what exactly was discussed.
Van de Donk says that the conversations were intensive and that they motivated him to work with the Sinti and Roma for this group. He adds that this group suffers from prejudice to this day.
Achterbergh hopes for insight
Van de Donk sat around the table with Sabina Achterbergh, chairperson of the Sinti Roma Woonwagenhouders Nederland and Woonwagenbelangen Nederland. She has, she says, been able to make clear where the pain is.
“We hope that he now also sees what we still have to deal with every day when it comes to deprivation and discrimination,” reports Achterbergh. She is confident that ‘we can now continue to work together on recognizing what happened to us and on our future joint mission’.
This will provide space for stories of war victims, their children and grandchildren. The ‘National Committee’ will also help preserve the cultural heritage of Sinti, Roma and caravan dwellers. The two parties also want to work together in the fight against discrimination.
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