organisation spent in the eastern Hungarian border town of Zahony at the beginning of March. “Roma arrived in separate coaches – the Ukrainian border guards organized it this way – and when they did arrive, Roma mothers were checked by Hungarian police many times, but non-Roma mothers were not. “Local mayors and Hungarians are not providing direct help, such as accommodation, and information, [for Roma] in their towns – that only comes if we ask for it and organise it. Roma did not get proper help, information, or support,” he told IPS. There have been numerous media reports of similar discrimination at border crossings in other countries, including incidents of Roma being refused transport by volunteers, and being refused accommodation. Jaroslav Miko, founder of the Cesi Pomahaji (Czechs Help) NGO, who has transported more than 100 Roma refugees from the Slovak-Ukrainian border to the Czech Republic, told IPS he had seen “discrimination of Roma among the volunteers who were picking people up at the border”. He said volunteers were picking up some refugees in vehicles and taking them to other places, but that Roma families were being turned away if they asked for help. In another incident, the head of a firefighting station in Humenne, in eastern Slovakia, where many Roma refugees have been sent to a holding camp, told a reporter that the refugees had “abused the situation”. “They are not people who are directly threatened by the war. They are people from near the border, they have abused the opportunity for us to cook them hot food here and to receive humanitarian aid,” the firefighter allegedly said, adding that Ukrainian Roma should not be allowed across the border. Slovakia’s Interior Minister Roman Mikulec and national fire brigade officials have refused to comment on the claims. But despite these incidents of discrimination, Roma refugees are getting local help – from other Roma. “Many Hungarian Roma living in nearby villages are providing accommodation for Roma. Due to the presence of groups like ours, and state representatives, the situation with discrimination is getting better,” said Racz. “There is a good network of Roma activist groups coordinating work to help refugees and also there are Roma mayors in many towns near the borders in Romania and Slovakia who are prepared to take Roma refugees and arrange shelter for them,” added Jovanovic. However, all those who spoke to IPS said the discrimination against Roma refugees was a reminder of the systemic prejudice the minority faces. Meanwhile, Jovanovic said he hoped that the problems Roma refugees were facing now would not be forgotten, as they had been in the past." Human Rights Committee, Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of Ukraine, 9 February 2022 " […] The Committee is also concerned about cases of Roma not being able to gain access to the courts to defend their rights because they lack identification documents (arts. 2 and 26). 14. […] In line with paragraph 4 of the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 701-r of 11 September 2013, the State party should intensify its efforts to assist Roma persons in obtaining identification documents. Hate speech and hate crimes 15. […] While noting the legislative measures taken by the State party to combat hate speech and hate crimes, the Committee is concerned about reports of intolerance, prejudice, hate speech and hate crimes against members of vulnerable and minority groups, including Roma, Hungarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Crimean Tatars and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender CCPR/C/UKR/CO/8 4 and intersex persons […] In particular, it notes with concern the slow pace of the investigations and lack of convictions in respect of the attacks on Roma settlements in Kyiv, Ternopil and Lviv in 2018 and the attacks that occurred in 2019 against seven members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community participating in a pride event in Kyiv […]" ERRC, FAR-RIGHT GROUPS TARGET ROMANI COMMUNITY NEAR KIEV AFTER FIGHT BETWEEN TWO ROMANI TEENAGERS AND A SOLDIER, 21 October 2021 “Around 50 members of Ukrainian far-right groups (including C-14, Right Sector, Svoboda, and the National Corps) attempted to attack homes belonging to Roma on Sunday 17th October. The protestors let off flares, threw smoke bombs, and chanted “death to drug-dealers” while police officers formed a 15