Monthly Archives: January 2014

31.01.2014 The Rroma in France and French politics

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The Schweizer Fernsehen (2014) discussed the rejection of the asylum application of the Kosovar Rroma family Dibrani as well as the French asylum policies and regulatory measures concerning Rroma. The uncompromising deportation of the family had resulted in numerous demonstrations against the French asylum policies, which were denounced as inhumane. The articles addresses both the political instrumentalisation of the Rroma and the invisible, integrated Rroma in France that are not discussed in the media: “The group of Roma comprises a total of around 10 million people, of which about 400,000 live in France. Most Roma are well-integrated French citizens and are employed. Only a minority of around 15,000 Roma is living in precarious conditions.”

The NZZ (2014) complements that the French administrative court rejected the request of family Dibrani to asylum on the grounds that the parents didn’t show any efforts to integrate in France. The family’s last legal change is an appellate court. Leonarda criticized the authorities for not considering her family’s real life situation in their decision. She stated that she didn’t see any future for herself in the Kosovo, and that France was her home (compare Tagesspiegel 2014 , Swiss Television 2014/II ) 

31.01.2014 The Rroma identity as a taboo

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Bollmann/Kloepfer (2014) draws an analogy between being gay and belonging to the Rroma ethnic group. Whereas the taboo around homosexuality has nearly disappeared and gays and lesbians are predominantly socially accepted, the Rroma still face great reservations: In the current debate, some authors only use the words Romanians and Bulgarians, although they are talking about the Rroma. Bollmann and Kloepfer do not state that this method is not only correlated with political correctness but with the prevention of further prejudices. It is repeatedly pointed out by Rroma representatives that ethnicity is usually mentioned within a negative context and thus discredits the Rroma and maintains a pejorative image of them. On the other hand, the authors are right when they state the maintenance of prejudices, who are caused by a negation of the subject: “The mechanism of concealment worked earlier with gays and lesbians as perfidious as it is today with the Roma. He who doesn’t call things for what they are plays – consciously or unconsciously – with hints and prejudices. The wider public then perceives only those exponents of the minority that correspond to the popular stereotype and thus appear as “fancy”. These are the “poverty refugees”, the “immigrants into the social system” who pile up garbage – or with benevolence the musician who sings “Gypsy Songs”. The successful lawyer from a Roma family remains as invisible as until recently the gay leaders in general. “I didn’t want to be a Roma, I was ashamed” said a lawyer from Essen last year to a journalist.” But the apparent taboo about Rroma should not obscure the fact that it is most appropriate to use great caution when applying ethnic terms and ascriptions. Imprudent statements free from any taboos can equally contribute to the spread of prejudice as a too politically correct handling of a subject. Not the ethnicity is crucial, but the identification of a problem and the recognition of poverty. If Bollmann and Kloepfer think they need to identify poor Rroma as Rroma in order to help them, they have misunderstood something significantly: “A particular Roma strategy is not required here”, the German government propagated just recently.” Here the federal government is perfectly right. The debate on immigration is not a debate about Rroma, but one that exploits and politicizes the Rroma for their purposes.

31.01.2014 The Hungarian Reformed Church, the Orbán government and the Rroma

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Wipfler (2014) addresses the question of the implications for Rroma from the partnership between the Hungarian Reformed Church and the Orbán government. The Reformed Church of Hungary shares many conservative values with the ruling party:  “The harsh criticism from the West on Viktor Orbán’s government is not shared in Hungary. This at least is the view of the reformed Bishop of Debrecen, Gusztáv Bölcskei. [ … ] Orbán represents “Christian values”, one cannot be opposed to that, explained Bölcskei. That Orbán took values such as fatherland, Christianity, family, loyalty, faith, love and national pride into the new constitution is highly valued and beliefs shared by many Hungarian Reformed.” Wipfler states that Antiziganism is widespread in the Hungarian Church. The exclusion of the Rroma from the majority of society is upheld and not fought against, even though the church should do so as a social actor. One reaction to this is an increased emigration to the West. Ethnic racism is particularly strong on the streets. Wipfler’s article is very critical of its subject, but neglects the fact that there are certainly also dedicated clergy who are committed to the integration of the Rroma (compare Wipfler 2014/II ).

31.01.2014 Rroma in Hungary are still taught segregated

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Le Point (2014) discusses the continuing segregation of Rroma in Hungarian schools. The article criticizes the ongoing discrimination against Rroma children by the Hungarian school system. Particularly outrageous about the segregation is, that it mixes ethnic categories with poverty. With this logic, a Rroma child is automatically mentally handicapped because he comes from a socially disadvantaged environment. Healthy Rroma children are attested disabilities based on flimsy arguments: “In this country of 10 million inhabitants, Roma make up about 8% of the population. One third of Roma children attend mixed schools, one third attend schools only for Roma, and one third is allocated to schools for the mentally disabled, according to unofficial estimates. There are no statistical studies based on ethnic criteria in Hungary.” The EU has repeatedly cautioned Hungary on its racist methods within the school system. Only mixed schools can ensure the integration of Rroma and educate all parties to become tolerant citizen.

31.01.2014 Rroma Holocaust commemoration

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The 27th of January is the official day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism in Germany. On the 27th of January 1945, the Red Army liberated the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The state chairman of the Hessian Sinti and Roma, Adam Strauss, warned in his speech of the importance of civil courage and the danger of spreading false information about Rroma. He further noted a continuity of prejudice against this minority, which persists and is jointly responsible for the genocide. The Deputy Prime Minister of Hesse, Al-Wazir, pointed on the danger of intellectual arson and the way it is fuelled by ill-considered remarks: “He directly pointed to the current debate on poverty refugees from Romania and Bulgaria, who come to Germany. Al-Wazir called it “important that we do not build new walls due to reckless words.”  Prudence and respect are important “to us Germans in this debate.” On the same day Bouffier, in a newspaper interview, took a similar view of the debate on poverty migrants. It is important “to use appropriate words to designate the facts”, he stated” (von Bebenburg 2014).

In his text, Hagemann (2014), addresses the discrimination of Rroma by German teachers during and after the Second World War. NSDAP compliant teachers wrote students from ethnic minorities “characteristics of their race” into their testimonials and managed to obtain their deportation. During the memorial service in Menden, the secondary school students read frighteningly many names of young children. They were infants who were born after 1940 and were nonetheless deported in March 1943. It is particularly shocking that many of the teachers were allowed to teach after the war had ended and were supported by public institutions such as the Catholic Church: “The students called the names of the teachers who were allowed to educate the children of Menden in the post-war years. They criticized the Catholic Church, which did not protect these Catholics, the archbishops, who did not respond to petitions, although the brutal extermination of the Sinti and Roma was described in them in dramatic terms. […] One student described the terrible conditions that were faced by the Catholic Gypsies of Menden in Auschwitz, where they were branded as “asocial” with a black triangle on the clothing: they faced typhoid and diarrhoea, abuse and rape. Those who survived, were led into the gas chamber.”

31.01.2014 Rally for a humanitarian asylum policy in Erfurt

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Thüsing (2014) reports on a rally of around 120 young adults in Erfurt. The protesters demanded a more humanitarian asylum policy and the unrestricted right of residence for needy immigrants, particularly for Rroma. The rally was organized at the initiative of the groups “Roma Thüringen” and the Thüringer Refugee Council. A spokeswoman from the committee declared: “Particularly in the current populist debate about flight and immigration and against a background of racist expressions even in the Thüringer state parliament, it is important to show solidarity to the people affected by discrimination and to set an example for a humanitarian approach and a human rights-based refugee policy [ … ].”  Rroma are exploited in the polarized debate over and over again for political purposes and stylised into biased caricatures.

Thüsing, Matthias (2014) Flüchtlingsrat fordert Bleiberecht für Roma-Familien. In: Thüringer Allgemeine online vom 27.1.2014. http://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/startseite/detail/-/specific/Fluechtlingsrat-fordert-Bleiberecht-fuer-Roma-Familien-641336188

31.01.2014 Media attention on immigrant Rroma in illegal settlements continues

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Huguenin (2014) of France 3 reports on a recently evicted illegal settlement in Languedoc- Roussillon, near which Rroma have again resettled. The article reproduces – despite its emphatic perspective – a negative image of poor, uneducated Rroma, as the French right so often portrays.

In Val-de-Marne, a Rroma settlement with 1000 to 2000 inhabitants is being evicted. Residents were informed a week before the eviction about the upcoming action. The majority of the children are enrolled in Bonneuil. This clearance challenges the continued schooling of minors (Le Parisien 2014/I). The one-sided media focus on Rroma in slums increases the biased public impression that all Rroma live in such conditions. It is constantly neglected that there are many Rroma in France who lead an integrated and unobtrusive life.

The mayor of Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Luc Jousse, doesn’t have to fear any sanctions from his party, the UMP, which dropped all charges against the mayor. Jousse had stated in December 2013, that a fire in a Rroma settlement was reported too early to the authorities, which from his point of view was a pity. For this tasteless statement, Jousse had been suspended until further notice (Le Parisien 2014/II , Francetv info 2014 Nice Matin 2014/I, Nice Matin 2014/II).

Guévart (2014) from the Courrier Picard meanwhile mocks himself without shame about the fate of the Kosovar Rroma girl Leonarda and her family. He accuses the left-wing supporters of the family of blind humanitarianism and sees the rejection of the asylum application as a just conclusion to this matter: “The left has criticized the evictions as being managed like an industry in the era of Sarkozy-Guéant, being continued now in its his own camp [through Manuel Valls]. What now? Not applying the law to avoid controversy? Hold a press conference to reach out to a teenager who stands up to the president of the French state, and offer her … what to do? Home, studies, all expenses paid by whom?” Guévart is totally indifferent towards the situation Rroma face in Kosovo. He doesn’t care that they are confronted with the aftermath of the civil war and all its consequences.

Paupe (2014) meantime questions the effectiveness of the French migration policy regarding Rroma. Manuel Valls ordered 20,000 deportations of Rroma in 2013. The number of foreign Rroma in France meanwhile stays around 17,000 people. The numbers are misleading because the same people were often deported multiple times, the author states. The organization Romeurope criticizes the usefulness of a rigorous deportation policy. What is really wanted is constructive solutions, improving the conditions of all actors involved. To only remind continuously of the necessity to cut down public spending isn’t solving anything, Umberto Guerra from Romeurope criticized. The evictions indeed exacerbate the long-term improvement of the life situation of those affected. They complicate a regulated access to health, education, and labour institutions.

31.01.2014 Immigration debate in Germany

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Wragge (2014) raises the question why the debate about the supposed mass immigration from Romania and Bulgaria ever evolved. There are plenty of reasons to refute the arguments of the proponents of mass migration as the experiences with the free migration policy with Poland and the Czech Republic show. Also, the EU law protects Germany against excessive payments from the social security system. Wragge sees the origin of the debate in polemical statements by conservative politicians and in the dissemination of distorted images through the media: “An attempt to explain the existence of this debate leads to the images that we have of Bulgarians and Romanians. If one speaks of the predicted 80,000-200,000 newcomers – do we see only low-income families in Duisburg’s “problem houses” in front of us, or also the engineers, doctors and nurses who come to us? Around these images there is a raging “semantic battle” in the media […].”  Furthermore, the responsibilities of the EU and the German government are repeatedly mixed in the debate and a false image the various actors is spread. Wragge identifies the debate as permeated by fears and taboos, such as naming problems as the immigration of Rroma by their name. He is, however, clearly wrong if he means that the immigration debate is a problem with the Rroma. The Rroma are exploited and instrumentalised by politicians and journalists for their purposes. They create a distorted, negative caricature of the Rroma, what makes them the real aggressors in the debate.

The district Reinickendorf in Berlin has been allocated 130,000 Euros for the years 2014 and 2015 to support immigrant Rroma in their integration process (Schindler 2014). The integration assistance is supposed to encompass language courses and the teaching of general social competences. The awarded funding is surprising in the sense that the ethnicity of immigrants is not identified. The figures are based on estimates and speak of 900 to 1000 immigrant Rroma in Reinickendorf. Schindler reproduces a one-sided image of needy, uneducated Rroma, which has been spread the media for over a year.

25.01.2014 Canada: A Hungarian Rroma Family that may be deported back is fearing for their security.

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The asylum case of a Rroma family from Hungary in Montreal continues to make the headlines. Facing an imminent deportation back to Hungary, the Horvath family fears for their safety in Hungary in view of the extreme racism against Rroma in that country and in view of the activities of rightist extremist such as Jobbik and the Hungarian Guards. In spite of what is being said by the Hungarian Government and by its Minister Balog, little has improved for Rroma.

Une famille de Roms qui doit être déportée craint pour sa sécurité. In Metro News Canada. 21.01.2015. http://journalmetro.com/actualites/montreal/706448/une-famille-de-roms-craint-pour-sa-securite/

Montreal Gazette: Roma family fearful of deportation to Hungary. In Politics.hu. 22.01.2015. http://www.politics.hu/20150122/montreal-gazette-roma-family-fearful-of-deportation-to-hungary/

24.01.2014 The Rroma and the integration debate in France

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Le Nouvel Observateur (2014) reports on the lawsuit on the right of residence for the family of Leonarda Dibrani, whose deportation made national media coverage last autumn and led to strong criticism of French migration policies. The spokesman of the French administrative court stated that the application of the Dibrani family for a residence permit will be most likely rejected. The final verdict is still pending. The court criticised that Mr. and Mrs. Dibrani could not point to any real integration efforts. They isolated themselves and Mrs. Dibrani cannot speak any French, the court added. Leonarda and her family nonetheless still hope to be granted a residence permit for the whole family. France was her home, not the Kosovo, Leonarda stated. Also, she doesn’t speak any Albanian, which makes her integration in the Kosovo more difficult than in France. 

Dubasque (2014) takes the events of Leonarda as an opportunity to reflect on the French Rroma policies. The approximately 15,000 Rroma in France are and were the target of a rigorous order-policy, which takes no account of their historical exclusion and marginalization. The Rroma are being represented – Dubasque criticizes –  as if they uphold illegal migration, are not willing to work and want to live in degrading conditions voluntarily. Poverty is therefore being ethnicized: „Si l’on peut comprendre les problèmes que ces occupations sauvages peuvent poser aux maires et aux riverains, il convient de rappeler que ces installations constituent des occupations par défaut, conséquence du manque d’hébergements et de logements accessibles aux personnes à très faible revenu […].“ [While one can understand the issues of these illegal occupations can cause to mayors and to neighbours, one needs to state that these occupations occur by default, as a consequence of the lack of housing for people with very low income]. The continuing evictions of Rroma from illegal settlements strongly impairs their access to educational and health institutions and the labour market. Because basic human rights are withheld from them, for many Rroma, a successful integration is a highly demanding task.

24.01.2014 The invisible Rroma of the United States

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Strochlic (2013) discusses the role of the Rroma in the United States on the basis of the reactions of American Rroma to the case of the blond Rroma girl Maria. Maria was taken by the Greek authorities in the fall of 2013. As it turned out, she is from a Bulgarian Rroma family. The blonde girl sparked a debate about persistent racism and prejudice against the Rroma. In the U.S., the Rroma are clearly better integrated than in Europe. But most of them keep their identity a secret because they fear discrimination and exclusion. The integration of the Rroma in the U.S. therefore primarily works by secrecy and an absence of history: „In the U.S., they’re scattered: coming from a multitude of countries, speaking many dialects, practicing disparate traditions, and observing various levels of traditionalism. But few Americans realise that there are Roma living in their midst […] Undocumented by the U.S. Census, American Roma may keep their heritage under wraps, but when it does emerge, they’ve faced discrimination from friends, landlords, waiters, classmates, strangers, cops, store clerks, and professors. Many were raised with warnings not to tell others of their ethnic identity, and so they remain a hidden ingredient in America’s melting pot.” As their European relatives, the American Rroma fight with massive prejudices that persist in the minds of many people. The negative stereotypes are confirmed by most media and are even increasing. Strochlic presents a chronology of American Rroma activists who fight against prejudice and exclusion. To remain silent and to accept the defamations is not the right way to go.

24.01.2014 The French Rroma policy and the mayoral elections 2014

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Le Nouvel Obervateur (2014) reports on the increasingly restrictive Rroma policy in connection with the upcoming mayoral elections. The French mayors, the article states, see themselves in a clinch between a vastly Rroma-hostile electorate and the need for a just social policy. Mayors who work for the integration of the Rroma are putting their re-election at stake: „Mais à quelques mois des élections, les mairies refusent pour la plupart d’ouvrir de nouveaux villages d’insertion ou terrains aménagés. “Ce n’est plus jouable maintenant: un maire qui veut se faire réélire, s’il dit “je vais accueillir trois familles roms”, il perd déjà pas mal de voix”, note Bruno Mattéi, de l’association ATD Quart Monde en métropole lilloise.” [But a few months away from the elections, the mayors’ offices refuse to open new insertion villages or to open newly laid plots of land. “this is no longer possible now: a mayor who wants to be re-elected, if he says “I want to settle three Rroma families”, he looses quite a few votes”, notes Bruno Mattei, of the ADT Quart Monde association in the Lille agglomeration.” The socialist mayor Frédéric Marchand has for example received massive threats after he let several Rroma families stay on some unuse space. If a majority of French politicians agree to an opportunistic policy of the majority opinion, the long-term integration of the Rroma will be significantly delayed and aggravated (compare to La Voix du Nord 2014).

François Hollande meanwhile defends the French policies towards Rroma. It is essential – he argued – to enforce the laws and to clear illegal camps. The French government, Hollande emphasized, is well aware of the plight of many Rroma immigrants (Romandie 2014).

Le Monde (Vincent 2014) adds that the restrictive Rroma policies of the French government have not changed the number of Rroma residents in France. Moreover, the living conditions of the Rroma have deteriorated significantly: „Toutes les enquêtes ont démontré que les expulsions n’avaient pas fait baisser le nombre de Roms en France – de l’ordre de 15 000 en France, un chiffre stable – et qu’elles avaient surtout participé à dégrader leurs conditions de vie sanitaires et sociales.“ [All surveys have demonstrated that expulsions haven’t reduced the number of Rroma in France – a number of the order of 15,000 in France and stable – but that the expulsions have contributed to degrade their sanitary and social conditions.] The report of the League of Human Rights and the European Roma Rights Center criticized in particular the deportation policy of the French authorities. The real aim of the French Rroma policies was to send as many Bulgarian and Romanian Rroma as possible back to their homelands. The fact that there are also many integrated Rroma living in France, who are never heard of in the media, is once again ignored. The circular of Jean-Marc Ayrault from the summer of 2012, which demanded a more humane approach to evictions, has been predominantly neglected till today: There is a lack of political will among prefectures, mayors and other institutional actors to apply the more human eviction methods (compare MYTF1 News 2014, Lombart 2014, Piquemal 2014, Vincent 2014/II). 

24.01.2014 The Focus magazine propagates the mass exodus from Romania and Bulgaria

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Dometeit/Lehmkul (2014) report from Romania. Armed with dubious facts they argue that there indeed a mass migration to Western Europe and especially Germany is taking place. They portray poorly trained Rroma in western Romania who hardly earn a living and see their future opportunities in Western Europe. According to the authors, all Rroma that have a reasonably decent life have been abroad for a shorter or longer period of time: “When the labor markets in the EU open at the beginning of the year, everyone will go”, predicts Stefan and grins. “Then we will all meet like on a huge wedding party.” The big goal: North Rhine-Westphalia. Tens of thousands of Romanians and Bulgarians migrate annually. 30’000 people from the two countries came in 2012 (comparing to 18 500 people emigrating). 2013 there will be even more immigrants, the Ministry of Labour, Integration and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia predicts.” Dometeit/Lehmkul totally ignore that the statistics, as has already been discussed several times, count seasonal workers and therefore are massively exaggerated. That all Romanians and Bulgarians living in poverty will migrate to Germany is very unlikely, as the expansion of free migration to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland has already shown. Masses of immigrants didn’t show up. Dometeit/Lehmkuhl provide a highly one-sided picture of Rroma. Those who have become rich are immediately associated with illegal activities: “On the so-called rose park there are palaces Roma clans have built through business in Germany. Most of them are empty, the shutters are lowered. Two or three times a year the families come to celebrate. Then the Porsches and Ferraris show up. Two years ago, the police raided some of the villas at the request of the German prosecutor’s, based on suspicions of tax evasion, money laundering and human traffeking.” Such reporting is simplistic and patronizing. Dometeit/ Lehmkuhl completely ignore that there are well integrated, upright Rroma

This one-sided perspective is shared by the Schweizer Magazin (2014). The online newspaper favors polemical generalizations and simplifications: “Sinti and Roma, as well as other social welfare benefiters from Romania and Bulgaria – the two poorest countries in Europe – are ready to flood Germany and to enrich themselves with the social benefits. Only the economy may approve, since every immigrant from these poor countries depresses the wages and thus complicates the lives of all Europeans and only increases the profits of the companies.” To designate the Rroma people generally as social welfare benefiters is racist and stupid. Much more need not being said about this.

The Baltische Rundschau (2014) strengthens fears of a mass immigration from Eastern Europe. The article is openly racist and speaks of social parasites and brown rats who are supposedly coming from Serbia to plunder the German welfare state: “After the wave of Roma who migrate as official EU citizens from Romania and Bulgaria to the German welfare state, more and more Gypsies are now coming from Serbia. However, these do not use the “privileged” status as EU citizens to flood the labour market and welfare system, but make use of the German asylum law. In 2013, the asylum applications from Serbia increased by 40 percent, almost all asylum seekers are Roma.” The Rroma Contact Point has stated very often that the prognosis of a mass immigration to Western Europe is wrong. Moreover, not all immigrants automatically become welfare cases. A reduction of the west migration to the case of the Rroma is racist and ethnicizes poverty problems.

The right-wing populist platform unzensuriert.at (2014) is even more racist. It propagates the concept of a culture war and the collapse of the German welfare state. The pretentious statements are one-sided, distorted, highly selective interpretations of the real situation. The platform forecast an additional influx of 200,000 Romanians and Bulgaria to Germany for the current year: “The city of Duisburg is paying dearly for the unrestricted immigration of Roma clans. For the year 2014, the city administration predicts additional costs of at least 12 million Euro for the “integration” of immigrant Gypsies from Romania and Bulgaria. Meanwhile, some 10,000 Roma live in the Ruhr city. Entire neighborhoods such as Duisburg-Rheinhausen are firmly in the hands of the Gypsies. Germans, but also guest workers from Turkey and former Yugoslavia living here for many years, already feel as strangers.” With such polemical statements unzensuriert.at does intellectual arson and endangers social peace. Such xenophobic statements have nothing to do with freedom of speech and freedom of the press. 

A differentiated and liberal attitude towards the immigration debate is taken by Maike Freund (2013). She argues for complexity and rationalism concerning the predictions of a mass immigration: “Who goes through Neukölln in Berlin or the northern city of Dortmund, knows that such scenes or similar belong to the reality in Germany – but they are only one part of the truth. Because the numbers say: there are many highly educated immigrants, also from Romania and Bulgaria, and Germany relies on these professionals.”

Mappes-Niediek (2014) speaks of the conflicting reactions to the polemical predictions about the mass immigration from Romania and Bulgaria. Thus, ethnic Romanians and Bulgarians often separate themselves from the Rroma in response to the Western European criticism: “That’s not us, that’s the Roma: This is still the first reflex when some of the German and British debates over poverty migration spill into the Rumanian and Bulgarian public.” Mappes-Niediek criticizes that a poverty problem is turned into an ethnic problem by distinguishing between ethnic Romanians and the Rroma. After the collapse of the socialist system, the ethnic Romanians were given back the possessions of their ancestors, who had been collectivized. Since a large part of the Rroma had possessed nothing before socialism, they emerged as losers from the change of system: “Only the Roma got back nothing because their grandparents hadn’t possessed anything. They moved into the slums, from which the poverty immigrants of today emerge. This allows both the German and the Romanian public to keep the poverty problem a Roma problem – which it is not. If there were no Roma, there would not be any more jobs.” The migration debate is also dominated by a double standard: one hand, one likes to get the well-trained professionals for the German economy – especially doctors – on the other hand one wants to keep out the less well-off.

Antiziganism researcher Markus End criticizes the term “poverty migration” as being negatively charged and equated with Rroma in the public debate. The Rroma are discredited as being lazy and social parasites. End criticizes this depiction and reminds one of the integrated, invisible Rroma: “They were sweepingly referred to as lazy and welfare scroungers. It was said that they are noisy, produce garbage, and are prone to crime. People who follow the media regularly have learned that Roma are poverty immigrants. [ … ]. In the debate, Roma are represented as strangers, even though many have being living in Germany since generations. Also that there are educated and uneducated Rroma, rich and poor, is totally neglected in the debate. The term Roma is used almost synonymous with poverty, crime or waste.” Liberal journalists are also spreading antiziganist stereotypes, even though they welcome the immigration of skilled workers. A liberal journalist from Die Welt compares well-educated, ethnic Romanians and Bulgarians with criminal, antisocial Rroma, producing a value list of welcomed and unwelcomed immigrants. End comes to the conclusion that the coverage of the Rroma is the most biased of all minorities (Grunau 2014).

24.01.2014 Structural violence and the Rroma

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Habek (2014) discusses the structural violence against Rroma in Croatia based on the destiny of young Rrom Cazim Haliti. Haliti has a degree in radiology, but cannot finds a job anywhere. Again and again he is invited for interviews and then rejected without clear justifications or simply no longer contacted: „En d’autres termes, Ćazim Haliti, un des rares Rroms – un des dix premiers de sa génération – à avoir fait des études universitaires, a été bloqué dès la première étape. Beaucoup y voient un message adressé à la toute communauté rrom. „Je n’ai pas été choisi, ok, mais ce qui me pose problème c’est qu’ils ne m’ont pas averti, pour que je puisse continuer mes recherches […]““[In other words, Ćazim Haliti, one of the rare Rroma, one of the ten first ones of his generation to completed university studies was blocked at the first step. Many see in it a message addressed to the entire Rroma community. “I was not selected, ok, but what disturbs me is that they didn’t tell me, so that I could continue my search.]  Haliti’s case is an example of the continuing exclusion of Rroma by the majority society. When young people are excluded despite good qualifications just because of their ethnicity, some very questionable social signals are given.

24.01.2014 Rroma in Great Britain and the Schengen policies

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Clark (2013) criticises the Romanian government for its Rroma policies. From his standpoint, it is not appropriate that Romania criticizes the UK for its restrictive migration policy. Romania itself, he emphasizes, has large shortcomings in its policies concerning Rroma. The remark of the Romanian Rroma commissioner Damian Draghici that one should not be angry with Rroma beggars but rather be angry at bankers, Clark considers to be arrogant and as distracting from the abuses in Romania and Bulgaria itself: „Over the past decade municipal [Romanian] authorities have ethnically cleansed their city centres of Roma and relocated them to shanty towns on the fringes. In Cluj-Napoca, in a case which has aroused the interest of Amnesty International, 300 Roma people were moved to a site next to a landfill and chemical dump, where families have been made to share one room. […] The inevitable result is a westwards flow of Roma fleeing from discrimination and poverty. The EU’s open borders policy should be suspended until Romania and Bulgaria have improved living conditions for all their citizens.“ Clark fails to recognize in his analysis that there are no overnight solutions for the social ills in Eastern Europe. In addition, the integration of the Rroma is a pan-European task requiring a pan-state solution. Isolation is therefore clearly the wrong answer to social and political shortcomings.

The forced relocation of several Rroma families in Cluj-Napoca onto the site of a former chemical factory was judged illegal by the local court. The incumbent mayor was convicted  for having exceeded his authority in authorizing the relocation. The decision was welcomed by many organisations, such as the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) that had supported the action against the forced relocation (Ekklesia 2014).

An antithesis to Clark’s presentation is Kelley’s (2014) article in The Journal. It reminds about the prejudices, the Rroma genocide, the fear fostered by politicians and journalists: A flood of immigrants hasn’t come to Great Britain so far and the British voters have proven to be less anxious than some politicians and journalists prophesied: „A survey revealed 68% of Britons welcomed Eastern Europeans who work hard, pay taxes and speak English. And, according to Martin Keles, a spokesman for the Roma community in Newcastle, that is exactly what they intend to do. “We just want the opportunity to provide for our families,” he said.“ Kelley further emphasizes the strong institutionalized racism against Rroma in countries like the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia. But not only in Eastern Europe, but in Europe as a whole, the Rroma have experienced a history of exclusion since their arrival in Western Europe in the 14th century. The human rights organization “A Living Tradition” conducted a survey among Rroma migrants on behalf of the council of Newcastle. It revealed that the Eastern European migrants are fleeing rampant racism in their home countries and appreciate the English educational institutions and the open society. Kelley’s article is a welcoming change to the many negative articles about Rroma and the European migration. His positive journalism helps to reduce prejudice and promotes the integration of the Rroma.

Knight (2014) from Gentlemen’s Quarterly takes an ambivalent position concerning the debate about immigration in Europe. On one hand, he propagates the idea of an impeding exodus of impoverished Rroma to Great Britain, on the other, he acknowledges their discrimination. He describes Rroma living in the streets of London, having to cope with very modest incomes. Again and again they are asked by the authorities not to beg and to no longer sleep on the streets. Knight sums up: „Courtesy of the ever-expanding European Union, the UK, and London, are finally waking up to one of Europe’s biggest embarrassments: that after the better part of a thousand years, our continent still does not know how to live at peace with its largest ethnic minority.“ Contrary to the generalising statements in the title, Knight recognizes that British society knows next to nothing about Rroma and that one cannot predict how many Rroma will come to the UK. The statistics on immigrants do not capture ethnicity. Knowledge about the Rroma remains dominated by many unknowns and wrong stereotypes. When Knight quotes a local resident of Bryanston Square, the landlady reproduces racist stereotypes and generalizations, even though her parents are said to be immigrants. She expresses the absurd image of culturally related crimes and otherness of the Rroma that they don’t want to integrate and deliberately choose a life in illegality. In the following paragraph Knight acknowledges that his presentation at the beginning of the article cannot hide is his derogatory attitude towards Rroma. He uncritically restates notions about organised begging, child prostitution, human trafficking and begging networks and qualifies the Rroma as having criminal habits: „Ever since, officers have wondered about the level of organisation within the group, and whether it is connected with more serious crimes, such as human trafficking or child prostitution. Hierarchical networks of beggars and street thieves – run by Gypsies, for Gypsies – have been on the rise in big European cities for the last decade: in Rome, in Milan, in Paris, in Madrid. London is a logical next target. Having spent day after day with the Gypsies this summer, I find they are never more than a few hours from their next visit from the police or their next arrest for begging.” His investigative journalism is biased and unreflective. He limits himself to what he could personally observe on the street and mixes it with crude culturalisations. The short trip to Romania is characterized by the common misery images that are often repeated in the coverage on Rroma: Large families crammed together in one two rooms and minor teenagers already being married and having kids. Knight quotes a Romanian historian, Viorel Achim, who no longer sees the future of the Romanian Rroma in training and the building of an educated, integrated middle class, but in emigration to Northern Europe. The therefore agrees with the predictions of conservative apologists, who warn of a mass migration to Western Europe. Knight cites a Rroma from Botosani: „You are going to be seeing a lot more of us in the future,“ says Manix. „We’re going to beg, do whatever we can. Anything to escape.“ Romanian Rroma commissioner Damian Draghici is particularly critical of NGOs who haven’t used the money entrusted to them. The next few paragraphs revolve around the prosperity gap between Eastern and Western Europe and whether this will result in strong migration movements. The fact that the opening of the border to other Schengen countries such as Poland and Hungary didn’t result in any mass migration is not assessed in any way. Knight communicates stereotypical notions of smuggler gangs and clan chiefs who tie off money for the adaptation to the new place and exploit poorer Rroma systematically: „You have to pay. You know from the outset. […] Everyone is controlled.“ At the end of the very long article, one impression dominates: A feeling of distrust from the journalist towards his informants, the Rroma.

24.01.2014 Rroma identity or identities?

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The young Rrom Filip Borev (2014) addresses the question of whether it is appropriate to speak of one or of several Rroma identities. Given the fact that Rroma belong to many different groups that have their respective characteristics, it seems appropriate to speak of several Rroma identities: “Every week without fail someone asks me “is the word Gypsy offensive?” There really is no simple answer. ­ How can there be when there are 12 million Romanies in Europe alone – all with their own opinions, experiences and identities. It is this fact which complicates almost every debate amongst and about the Romani people. […] in reality we are a collection of many different groups with varying cultures, languages, histories, and identities. What we have in common, however, is that together we are the Romani people.” A danger in the use of seemingly politically correct terminologies such as “travellers” is that they mediate misconceptions. Most Rroma are not travellers. In the UK, the Rroma are often confused with Irish Travellers, which have a completely different history. Borev comes to the conclusion that the devaluation respectively appreciation of an exonym depends on the person who uses the name.

24.01.2014 Rroma holocaust museum to be opened at the end 2014 in Hungary

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Radisic (2014) informs about the impending opening of a Rroma holocaust museum in the Hungarian city of Pecs. The documentation centre is the result of shared aspirations of the local mayor’s office and resident Rroma. The aim of the institution is to remind students and the public about the much-neglected genocide of the Rroma during the Second World War. Due to the largely oral traditions among the Rroma, the genocide is far from well documented. The estimated death toll rage from 220,000 to one and a half million dead: „West Germany recognized the Roma Holocaust in 1982, but formal recognition and marking of this Holocaust have generally proven to be difficult due to lack of recorded collective memory and documentation of the Porajmos among the Roma, a consequence both of their oral traditions and illiteracy, heightened by widespread poverty and discrimination in this day and age […].“

24.01.2014 Rroma convicted of Geneva court to long prison terms

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Le Nouvelliste (2014) reports on the judgment of the Geneva court against a group of Rroma who had committed a series of violent robberies against elderly people between August to October 2011. All participants were sentenced to long prison penalties: „Une bande de Roms qui avait commis des vols violents chez des personnes âgées a été condamnée plus sévèrement en appel à Genève. La peine de chacun des quatre protagonistes a été majorée de deux ans en moyenne. […] La bande a agi entre août et octobre 2011. Une dame alors âgée de 86 ans qui vivait seule dans sa maison de Lancy (GE) est leur première victime. Ils s’en sont aussi pris à un homme de 76 ans endormi sur son canapé. Il a été frappé et étouffé avec un coussin jusqu’à en perdre connaissance.”[A group of Rroma which committed violent robberies on elderly people was condemned more severely on appeal in Geneva. The sentence of each of the involved persons was upped on average by two years. The group acted between August and October 2011. A woman, 86 years old at the time in Lancy (GE), was their first victim. They also attacked a 76 years old man asleep on his sofa. He was beaten up and suffocated with a pillow, and lost conscience.] The otherwise objectively written article seems not aware that mentioning of ethnic membership is highly problematic, as it suggests connections between matters that have nothing to do with each other. Rroma are not more criminals as people of other ethnic groups (compare Focas 2014).

24.01.2014 Rroma as victims of torture and racist violence

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Metro News (2014) examines the role of torture against minorities based on a publication of the organization Action des Chrétiens pour l’ abolition de la Torture (2014). The Rroma in Hungary continue to be victims of the actions of paramilitary, right-wing extremist groups, with the authorities alarmingly often closing their eyes to injustices: „Quant aux Roms qui ont subi des violences, ils n’ont quasiment aucune chance d’obtenir justice même quand ils disposent de certificats médicaux attestant leurs blessures. Les policiers refusent généralement d’enregistrer leur témoignage ou n’examinent pas sérieusement la plainte qu’ils ont déposée. De la même façon, les juges montrent de la mauvaise volonté à instruire ces affaires.“ [As for Rroma who are victims of violence, they have almost no chances to obtain justice, even when they have medical proofs of their wounds. The policemen generally refuse to register their testimonies or do not follow seriously the complaint they have registered. In similar fashion, the judges show bad will to instruct such complaints.]  In Greece, 20 % of the victims of violence by the authorities are Rroma, although they represent only 3.58% of the population. The number of crimes motivated by racial hatred against Rroma has also increased in Greece.

24.01.2014 Rroma and the economic crisis

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Lee (2014) discusses the handling of Rroma in Europe in the context of the economic crisis that plunged the world into recession in 2008. He criticizes the fact that many conservative politicians and citizens in Europe are abusing Rroma as scapegoats. Many people have learned nothing from the events of the past but continue to defame Rroma with impunity. They create an image of work-shy, children-rich Rroma families that put a burden on society and are criminals: „The Roma didn’t have anything to do with the banking crisis, but they’re being blamed for Europe’s new poverty now. […] From London to Bratislava you hear the public and politicians saying they don’t want the Roma because they’re a burden on society, on public spending; that they don’t want to work, they just have more and more kids and then don’t even send them to school; that they’re lazy thieves. This is what the Fascists said about them, too. But nowadays, apparently it’s OK for the mainstream to say these things as well.“ In the accompanying video post Lee (2014/II) speaks with Slovak passersby: they reproduce the stereotypes of lazy, thieving, asocial Rroma. They totally ignore that it is the massive exclusion, which hinders the Rroma to successfully integrate. The article also shows how expressions of suspicion make street beggars automatically to Rroma, although there are also many beggars who are ethnic Slovaks.

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