Roma community group gets apology from Belfast Health Trust
- Published
The Romanian Roma Community Association for Northern Ireland (RRCANI) is based in south Belfast
A Romanian Roma Community Association has received an apology from the Belfast Health Trust in connection with a dispute about claims of community exploitation earlier this year.
The trust moved parent and children's services away from the Romanian Roma Community Association (RRCANI) in south Belfast in May, after claims it was charging families for benefits advice which should have been free.
The trust also brought the claims to a specialist fraud and Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit in the PSNI.
Romanian Roma families attend the RRCANI centre, on University Street, for help and support.
'Fear repercussions'
Until May of this year, part of that support came from a partnership between the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the early years support group, Surestart.
The project helped Roma parents and their young children to get essential services, including benefits advice for families.
The RRCANI offers advice on issues like housing and benefits
At the beginning of the year, Surestart raised concerns.
It revealed that some Roma families had made claims to its workers that staff at RRCANI had been charging them "for the provision of advice services that should be free".
Then in April, it was claimed that none of these Romanian families or individuals were prepared to come forward and make formal statements to the trust and that "they fear repercussions in Northern Ireland and Romania."
The following month, it was claimed that a "growing number" of Roma parents had claimed that people associated with RRCANI were "filling out benefits applications without their consent".
On 23 May, the trust removed its community health workers from RRCANI, citing concerns about "governance, exploitation and community control".
'Not illegal'
The services were moved to a nearby church.
According to the trust, the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency (NISSA) advised in May that charging for benefit advice was not illegal and that unless people were prepared to make statements there was nothing they could do.
RRCANI has now told BBC News NI that the trust has apologised for its handling of the situation at the end May.
The RRCANI centre is based on University Street, off the Lower Ormeau Road
In a statement, RRCANI said it wishes to "publicly refute" all allegations about "governance, exploitation and community control".
The association has also presented the BBC with a document relating to a meeting between its members and officials from the trust, held at the end of August.
According to the RRCANI document, the trust "recognised that they dealt with the removal of services from RRCANI in the wrong fashion and apologised to the RRCANI board members present".
"The trust stated that they would and should have dealt with it differently."
'No evidence'
In response to this, the trust has described the document as a note of the meeting and not a minute.
In a statement, it added that the apology was in relation to not having spoken to RRCANI in advance of the relocation and not about the decision to relocate the service.
'They're from the community of Roma, they look bad to us'
A week after the trust removed its staff from the RRCANI centre in May, officials from the trust met the PSNI's modern day slavery unit and economic fraud unit.
In a statement to the BBC this week, the PSNI said: "Information brought to the attention of specialist fraud and Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit (MSHTU) officers during a meeting with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust on 31 May have been addressed through the appropriate channels.
"No evidence of fraud or people trafficking was identified and no complaints have been made."
Speaking to BBC News NI on Wednesday, a spokesperson for RRCANI, Yasmina Vente, said the Roma community was upset by the actions of the trust in May
"RRCANI didn't like it, no one of our community did like it. Everyone said it was bad," she said.
In broken English, she added: "When we were going on the street, people are watching us and saying, 'ah, they're from the community of Roma and they look bad to us'.
"We don't look any more good to them."