Romas Flee Ukraine Village After Girl's Murder

KIEV, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th August, 2016) : A Roma community was forced to abandon a village in southern Ukraine after one of its members was accused of stabbing a young girl to death, sparking riots. The decision to force out dozens of Romas was taken on Sunday by the local council of Loshchynivka, near Ukraine's southern border with ex-Soviet Moldova. It was triggered by the discovery of a local eight-year-old girl's body on an abandoned plot on the outskirts of the village on Saturday. After a swift investigation that concluded the same day, police reported detaining and accusing a 20-year-old Roma of murder. Roma representatives have neither confirmed nor denied the charge.

As news of the murder spread, dozens of enraged locals gathered on Saturday in the village centre before breaking fences and smashing the windows of Roma homes, officials said. Regional representative Gennadiy Kryshko told AFP that nobody was hurt as all the Roma had fled the village. It was unclear whether those who lost their homes will get new ones or receive compensation. According to the latest census in 2001, nearly 50,000 Roma people live across Ukraine, mainly in the EU-bordered Zakarpattia region. As in other European countries, the group often faces discrimination, being associated with poverty, cheating and crime.