E/CN.4/1999/15 page 22 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Often when violence such as this is inflicted against Roma populations, even when the perpetrator is known, no action is taken by the police to rectify the situation. 3. Systematic racial discrimination 83. Roma suffer systematic racial discrimination in virtually all spheres of public life, education, employment, housing, access to public space and access to citizenship. Education 84. In the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, for example, disproportionate numbers of Roma children are relegated to second-class educational facilities - “special schools” - designed for pupils said to be suffering from intellectual or behavioural deficiencies. The result is a system of de facto racial segregation in education. In Tiszavasvari, Hungary in 1997, Roma and non-Roma children were assigned to separate classes, required to eat in the cafeteria at different times, and graduated in separate ceremonies. Public space 85. Roma in Europe are systematically denied entrance to pubs, restaurants, discos, sports arenas and other public places. Recent instances of racial exclusion have been recorded in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Spain and Sweden. Citizenship 86. Discrimination against Roma is of particular concern in the Czech Republic and Macedonia. The five-year criminal record requirement in the Czech citizenship law, inadequate efforts to publicize the possibility of a waiver, as well as discriminatory and inconsistent application of the law's provisions, have deprived thousands of Roma previously resident in the Czech Republic of citizenship and its attendant benefits - holding government office, voting, obtaining social benefits - and have exposed them to a criminal sentence of expulsion upon conviction of a crime. Similarly, in Macedonia, the 1992 citizenship law imposed, in breach of European standards, a 15-year-residence requirement, a physical and mental health precondition, and unreasonably high administrative fees. As a result, thousands of Roma who have genuine and long-standing ties to the territory of Macedonia are currently, de jure or de facto, stateless in their own land. 87. The Special Rapporteur is saddened by this region-wide trend towards discrimination against this ethnic group. He hopes Eastern European Governments will take the initiative of addressing this question and take positive steps towards educating their citizens and security forces on issues of multiculturalism and tolerance. He is considering using his mission to eastern Europe to focus on the study of discrimination against Gypsies.