Following the adoption of children's rights in 1990, Romania has taken an important step towards a modern, democratic state, in which children are protected from abuse and all conditions are ensured in terms of their safety, well-being and development in an beneficial environment. However, the granting and application of the main principles of children's rights in Romania are unevenly distributed, mostly when it comes to Roma children and children fom the lower classes. Roma children from the ,,Pata Rât" community (Cluj-Napoca) face the same problems they had before the state's accession to these rules and principles. The present reseach is qualitative, and it is based on a set of semi-structured interviews (N=7) with experts who had direct contact, either with the Pata Rât community or with other Roma communities from Romania, as the problems Roma children face here are the same as in other parts of the country. Following three major directions (education, heath and poverty) the present research aims to find out how the fundamental rights of children are reflected and transposed in the lives of Roma children, thus unearthing numerous problems faced by Roma children, caused by various phenomena such as racism, segregation, discrimination, antiganisms or non-state involvement.
Keywords: Roma children, children’s rights, Pata Rat community, discrimination, social exclusion
