Macedonia – Creating a
Padlocked Cage for Roma Called “Measures for False Asylum Seekers”
by Tefik Mahmut,
Zoran Bikovski
Zoran Bikovski
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Liberty and freedom,
taking the words in their most concrete sense, consist in the ability to come
and go, to choose and to participate. This includes choosing travel
destinations and your place of residence as well as exercising your own rights
whenever and wherever you want, within the confines of the law.Freedom of movement as
a human rights concept is enshrined in many State constitutions as well as in
international instruments for the protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms. However, it has been violated and obstructed by too many State
authorities, including a small country that looms large in the legal work of
the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC): Macedonia. This article focuses on obstructions that Romani Macedonian citizens face when they try to exercise their freedom of movement, i.e. their fundamental right to leave their own country, which is guaranteed by the Constitution3 as well as by several international treaties which Macedonia has ratified.