A/HRC/29/24 has been carried out on the situation of Roma outside Europe. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues has therefore taken the opportunity to report on the severe socioeconomic marginalization that Roma experience worldwide. 7. In Turkey, data indicates that the Roma population ranges from 500,000 to 5 million.2 In Ukraine, 47,600 persons identified themselves as Roma, according to 2001 census data, yet the Council of Europe estimates there are between 120,000 and 400,000 Ukrainian Roma. In Belarus, the 2009 census indicated a population of 7,316 Roma, but the Government recognizes that that number does not necessarily reflect the true figure, which ranges between 50,000 and 60,000.3 The 2010 census in the Russian Federation estimated that there was a population of 205,007 Russian Roma, although Council of Europe data suggest a larger population of between 450,000 and 1.2 million. 8. Roma groups in Latin America have been arriving from Europe since the beginning of European colonization there, as well as during ongoing migration processes. Despite the lack of official census data, a 1991 study by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization estimated the Roma population in the region to be approximately 1,500,000. Recent government data indicates a population of over half a million Roma in Brazil.4 9. It is generally accepted that approximately 1 million Roma live in North America today; however that data is incomplete, as the census in the United States of America does not include Roma as a category. Furthermore, although the Canadian census includes “Other European Origins” – “Roma (Gypsy)”, there is a discrepancy between official census data, which in 2011 indicated a Roma population of 5,255, and unofficial estimates which indicate a Roma population of upwards of 110,000. 10. Roma groups are also present in Central Asian countries, where they are known collectively as Lyuli. While those groups are distinct from American and European Roma, they share the experience of exclusion and marginalization from local majority populations.5 Due to a lack of up-to-date data, there are no precise figures on the number of Roma in Central Asia.6 11. The Dom is an ethnic minority in the Middle East that shares similarities with Roma; its presence in the region dates back to the eleventh century. There is scant official information on the number of Roma in that region. Unofficial estimates indicate there may be significant populations in Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Syrian Arab Republic.7 2 3 4 5 6 7 4 www.amnesty.org/en/documents/EUR01/002/2013/en/; Bernard Rorke, Beyond First Steps: What Next for the EU Framework For Roma Integration (Budapest, Open Society Foundation, Roma Initiatives Office, 2013); and thematic reports by the European Roma Rights Center, available from www.errc.org/resource-centre. Council of Europe, Estimates on Roma population in European countries, 2012. Available from http://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000 1680088ea9. Response from Belarus to the questionnaire. See www.seppir.gov.br/comunidades-tradicionais/relatorio-executivo-brasil-cigano-1. See CERD/C/UZB/CO/8-9, para. 11; CRC/C/KGZ/CO/3-4 paras. 18, 25 and 55; CERD/C/TJK/CO/68, para. 13; and A/HRC/13/23/Add.1, para. 41. Response from Uzbekistan to the questionnaire. The few resources on the Dom in the Middle East include: Minority Rights Group, From Crisis to Catastrophe: the situation of minorities in Iraq (2014); Terre des Hommes, A Child Protection Assessment: The Dom People and their Children in Lebanon (2011); International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children International and