Citizenship and Immigration committee  I promise you.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Okay. I'll give you one example. In the European Union in general, we have anti-Roma riots, homes being burned to the ground. Just in Italy a few months ago, 200 homes were burned to the ground. In Bulgaria there are non-stop Roma riots, homes being burned to the ground, people

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That was too much.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Okay.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I do a lot of public education around gypsy fiction and Roma reality. A lot of people, even some people with double degrees, still don't know who the Roma are. They've heard of gypsies and know all the stereotypes, the negative connotations, that go along with being a gypsy. I g

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm sorry. It's just too much information.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm sorry. Can you repeat that one more time?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, absolutely. The question is not about seeking a better place to live or finding a more comfortable place to live. The question is about human rights and persecution. The question is about people—the state protecting the citizens. That's what it's about. It's not about Roma

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Let me just explain that. In 2010 there absolutely was a 91% withdrawal rate of refugee applications. For those that made it through to the end there was a 26% acceptance rate. When the Roma come here they don't have the skills to navigate this complex refugee system. They come

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think that most of the EU countries will end up on the designated safe country list, and it happens to be that Roma are the largest minority in Europe. There are 15 million of us in Europe and we're throughout European countries. Romania and Bulgaria are two countries that have

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I appreciate what you said. Let me just explain a little bit. The last large wave of Roma refugees with these same numbers came in the late 1990s, early 2000s, and it was the first time after the fall of communism that Canada had removed the visa restriction from these countries.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would like to add something, please. What we see at the Roma Community Centre are people who are bruised, battered, and broken. They need time. I get calls and e-mails on a regular basis from school social workers and community social workers. They say that a lot of these stud

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Do I? I'm sharing—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Okay.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I am.