The president of the International Roma Organization (OIR) has revealed details of a new international identity card for members of the organization. The card can be used as a passport and will have details of the holder's country of origin.

“It is a passport issued by OIR, given to members of the organization, on request, only for those who want to join the OIR. It will be valid as a passport within the community [EU]. The card will show the OIR flag, as well as the name of the country where it was issued,” said Florin Cioaba, who was recently elected president of the International Roma Organization. Cioaba is an important leader of the Roma community in Romania and calls himself International King of the Gipsies. The recent congress of the international Roma was also attended by Romanian MEP Elena Basescu.

He also said that the card will allow Roma people to show their patriotism and pride in their community.

“We want to show who we are in this world. We want to show with this passport that we are a nation. We want to have our place, to be recognized in the EU and the European Parliament,” Cioaba said, adding that passports will be distributed throughout the world by the organization.

Although Cioaba stated the cards purpose as principally being for travel and identity, he conceded that in criminal cases, it would be possible to verify a person's nation of origin with the new card. He added that the OIR does not condone criminality and was keen to distance the organization from those who commit crimes. He suggested that although Romania is frequently given as a country of origin in criminal cases, it is often untrue.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Facebook)