"The illiteracy level is exceptionally high and the unemployment rate is almost 100 percent," the head of the committee on human rights, civil, minority and status issues of the Roma, Ivan Rumbak said on Tuesday at a penal discussion on the rights of the Roma.
Although top government and city officials have been invited to attend the penal discussion, only a few came which showed the state and city's attitude towards the Roma, Rumbak said.
The event was attended by assistant culture minister Srecko Sestan, parliamentary deputy Nikola Mak, a Zagreb city representatives and representatives of the Croatian employment Bureau and the Croatian Foreign Affairs and European integration Ministry.
According to polls conducted by Roma associations, some 25,300 Roma people live in Zagreb and a large number of them have not been registered with the Zagreb authorities.