Daily Archives: May 31, 2013

Greece News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

31.05.2013 Segregation of Rroma in Greece

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123recht.net (2013) discusses the segregation of Rroma children in Greece. The European Court of Justice condemned the separate enrolment of Rroma  children as “ethnic exclusion” which goes against the prohibition of discrimination. The schools of the city Sofades have to pay the plaintiff 1,000 euro per family in damages. Whether this condemnation will change something  to the effective practice of segregated schools is questionable. 123recht.net (2013) states curtly: “According to the European Convention on Human Rights, signatory States must implement the judgments of the Strasbourg Court. Often, condemned countries simply pay the penalties without eliminating the abuses.” In Sofades there are four public schools, three of which are reserved to ethnic Greeks according to current practice.

Jezerca Tigani, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia criticising the Greek government for its inability to respect European court decisions, of which there are now already three, to repeal the segregation of Rroma children. In a statement, he proposes that the EU should use all available legal and political means to force Greece to comply with the anti-racism provisions. She noted: “EU institutions must use all the political and legal measures in their power against countries that fail to effectively implement the Race Equality Directive which prohibits discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin in many areas including education“ (Amnesty International 2013).

Sources:

  • Amnesty International (2013) European Court again chides Greece over discrimination against Roma schoolchildren. In: Amnesty International online vom 30.5.2013.
  • 123recht.net (2013) Menschenrechtsgericht rügt “ethnische Ausgrenzung” von Roma-Kindern. In: 123recht.net vom 30.5.213. 
Czech Republic News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

31.05.2013 Rroma in the Czech Republic: Anti-Rroma Pogroms in Duchvok

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Neumann (2013) reports about an anti-Rroma rally in Duchvoc, in the North Bohemian part of the Czech Republic. After a Czech couple was attacked by a group of Rroma, around 800 people protested against the Rroma in the Republic. According to Neumann, the pogrom is reminiscent of riots that happened in the same place two years ago. At that time a dispute between adolescents led to massive violence that could not be prevented by the authorities. Neumann assesses the situation as follows: “Experts have repeatedly pointed out that the situation since the events in Zipfel has not significantly changed. At any time, in any place in the Czech Republic, widespread antipathy can erupt into open violence against Roma. Conversely, long-term unemployment and the getthoisation of life for Rroma make for an uncontrollable social powder keg.” He looks in particular the risk of renewed exploitation of this situation by extreme right-wing groups.

Zimmermann (2013) provides information on Czech students aged 12 to 15 years views on ethnic diversity. The company Scio made a study of the students’ behaviour and tested it amongst other with the game “Multipolis”, which through role-plays allows insight into the situation of other ethnic groups. The conclusion of the study was sobering: A third of the students surveyed do not want to be friends with a Rrom. About 40 percent would even actively participate in a protest march against Roma. Among other reasons, the study criticized the reductionist views which are presented to children in their own families, in the media and in school. But it also points out to how deeply rooted social values ​​and attitudes are, and what weight social conformity has when it comes to questions of acceptance. A sobering finding. Zimmermann commented: “Students could also determine how they imagined an ideal friend. They were able to choose from a series of images and descriptions. The result was that most of the youth decided against people with a different skin colour, against overweight and against nerds. Therefore, the most important factor to respondents was as little deviation from the norm.”

Kachlíkova (2013) reported on the Khamoro Rroma festival in Prague. The festival focuses on musical entertainment, but also shows movies and organises discussion events on social issues such as active integration. Successfully integrated Rroma are to offer the younger generation insight in their work in national and international institution and thus motivate them for their own future.

Sources:

  • Kachlíková, Markéta (2013) Roma-Festival „ Khamoro“ feiert 15. Geburtstag. In: Radio Praha vom 28.5.2013.
  • Neumann, Steffen (2013) Angst vor Ausschreitungen gegen Roma. In: Sächsische Zeitung vom 31.5.2013.
  • Zimmermann, Marco (2013) Starke Abneigung gegen Roma bei tschechischen Schülern. In: Radio Praha vom 31.5.2013.  
News Eastern Europe Romania

31.05.2013 Rroma in post-socialist Romania

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Cartarescu (2012) provides information on the situation of Rroma in post-socialist Romania. He notes a massive dumbing down and dehumanizing among sensationalist mass media and their consumers. The eviction of a Rroma settlement is commented by a TV channel with the statement that this eliminated “a source of danger and of hostile acts against society”. In connection with the blatant racism against Rroma, Cartarescu reminds of their enslavement in Romania after their arrival from the East. But that it is this forced settling which led to today’s Rroma plight, and eradicated their culture and beliefs, as Cartarescu writes, is historically doubtful, as nomadism can only partially be seen as a natural way of life and is rather a product of persecutions. But that the enslavement led to flagrant abuses for Rroma cannot not be denied. Cartarescu presents these facts movingly, even though he reduces the Rroma too much to the role of victims. He further criticises the still used method of distinguishing between established lower and higher ethnies. This method also leads to racism against Romanians themselves, as they often rely on their differences towards Rroma using them as a counter-concept for their own identity. Cartarescu notes: “How easy is it to make the Roma responsible for Romania’s bad image in the world! Constantly one complains that foreigners mistake Romanians (honourable citizens, peaceful, industrious, preserver of all ancestral virtues) for Roma, the “ersatz-nation” as they appears in our stupid and racist jokes. […] Bound as serfs and multiplying like animals, the Roma population from the Romanian principalities has increased here more than elsewhere in Europe. We have therefore created the problem of our Roma. It is our historical debt.”

Source:

  • Cartarescu, Mircea (2013) «Gebt uns unsere Karren zurück». In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung vom 27.5.2013. 
Bosnia News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

31.05.2013 Rroma in Bosnia Herzegovina

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Fuster (2013) reports on the precarious ethnic politics in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The government accepted only considers three ethnic groups as relevant: Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Serbs and Croats. The rest, including Rroma are, according to Fuster considered to be deviant and politically discredited. Only the Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats have real opportunities to access management positions and other State jobs. Those who oppose to this ethnic categorization, fall both statistically and socially into the category of “others”, and are excluded and ignored. The new census of the population, planned for this October, which will also capture ethnic “neutrality” has become a much-publicized political issue. The present rulers they fear the new census because it could diminish their power or legitimacy and confirm the emergence of non-ethnic Bosnians. The responsible director of the Bosnian Statistics Agency is facing in a questions on the definition of ethnicity, language and religion, questions which have nothing to do with statistics. Fuster explains: “Political power is still defined by an ethnic key based on the census of 1991. At that time, 4.4 million people were counted, 44 percent were Muslims, 31 percent Serbs and 17 percent Croats. […] What would happen if Muslims would no longer define themselves as Bosniaks, Catholics no longer as Croats, and Orthodox no longer as Serbs? The idea of ​​ethnic federalism, based on only three ethnic groups could hardly still be justified.” Fuster sees a clear distinction between urban and rural areas in terms of ethnic identiy. In an urban context, there are more and more ethnically mixed marriages while in the country, ethnic categories still prevail in thoughts and are still politically exploited. For Rroma, the status quo means a continued lack of acceptance of their voice and concerns. They belong to the “others”.

Source:

  • Fuster, Thomas (2013) Das Leben der anderen. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung vom 28.5.2013. 
Bulgaria Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

31.05.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Peters (2013) informs about the fate of Nizaqete Bislimi, a “poverty migrant” from South Eastern Europe, who now works as a lawyer. It addresses the different facets of her life, such as the difficulty to openly stand by her Rroma origin. She notes: “I’m not going to adjust my life. […] I did not want to be a Gypsy woman, I felt ashamed. […] When I confessed it once to a girl friend she said that: You? But you’re clean! And good in school!” Peters shows the bias contained in the politicians’ reasoning such as for example Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich: They distinguish only between economically interesting, elite-migrants and poverty immigrants. That the transitions between these two extremes is continuous and that poverty immigrants can improve their attractiveness to the labour market, is not taken into account in this simplistic views. There follows a detailed description of the regulatory hurdles that Bislimi had to overcome to study law and get a residence permit. The statistics on the predicted povertymigration are to be taken with caution: for example, the number of immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria from 2007 to 2011 passed “from 64,000 in 2007 to 147,000 in 2011 more than doubling” but this number ignores thousands of seasonal workers, According to Peters even up to two-thirds. In addition, 20.9 percent of the Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants have a college degree, a proportion higher than the one of the majority population in Germany, which is at 18.1 percent.

At the end of the article Bislimi confirms the issue raised by Contact Point Rroma on visible and invisible Rroma and the reduction of Rroma identity around poverty: “I personally know of lecturers at universities, students, entrepreneurs, doctors. But most do not identify themselves as Roma, fearing old stigmata, from which they want to especially to protect their children.”

Gürgen (2013) discusses the work of the regional office for job training, integration and democracy (RAA). The organisation is committed to the successful integration of immigrant children in German schools, the focus currently lying on immigrated Rroma children. After initial reservations, especially on the teachers’ side, the work of the organisation is now broadly recognised and brings a lot of positive experiences. The aim is to successfully mediate between immigrant families and public schools. On the families’ side, according to the project spokeswoman Susanna Ismailovic, there are deeply rooted reservations about state institutions. A positive fact is that all the active auxiliary teachers speak Rromanes.

Walther (2013) speaks about two “invisible Rroma” who have successfully studied political science and subsequently spent two months at the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) in Flensburg. The two young Rroma are a stark contrast to the usual stereotypes and image of Rroma propagated in the debate on poverty immigrants: They are not poor, uneducated, work-shy and criminal but hard-working and intelligent. Diana Iuliana Pirjol and Aleksandar Marinov come from a humble background in Romania and Bulgaria. They emphasise that their families support them in their efforts and see education as a valuable resource. Regarding the anti-Rroma policies in Western and Eastern Europe, Aleksandar Marinov states, “We have no national state, to which we can feel connected, and must rely on the support of the government.” This really simple fact has been lost on many European government so far.

Sources:

  • Gürgen, Malene (2013) Pilotprojekt für Roma. In: Neues Deutschland vom 31.5.2013.
  • Peters, Freia (2013) Die Roma, die unbedingt nach oben wollte. In: Die Welt vom 30.5.2013.
  • Walther, Antje (2013) Den Roma auf der Spur. In: Flensburger Tageblatt vom 28.5.2013. 
France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

31.05.2013 Prejudice and Social Realities: Rroma in France

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Vincent (2013) speaks about the prejudices against Rroma found in France. The recurrent protests by residents against members of this minority give him the opportunity to do so. Recently, there was a demonstration against Rroma settling in a country house in Fontainieu. Vincent goes after some stubborn stereotypes that the opponents of Rroma refer to again and again: Aggressive begging, theft, poor hygiene and excessive noise. Regarding aggressive begging, he notes that the opinions of the answers of people cover a broad spectrum. Some massively irritated by the begging of Rroma and describe them as intrusive; others think it is restrained and not conspicuous. Conflicts are the exception. As for children begging, about which some residents complained, none was to be seen, simply because they were in school. Vincent sees the attribution of thefts to Rroma as undifferentiated. The surveys of local residents are often hastily written, and associate Rroma to poverty motivated crime. A resident in an interview stated that: “Je n’en ai jamais pris, mais on les soupçonne. Quand tu as 50 centimes en poche, tu ne fais pas le tour du magasin.“ [I never caught any, but one suspects them. When you have 50 cents in the pocket, you don’t go around the shops] The Police in turn denies that in the case of the crimes in Fontainieu one is dealing exclusively with the acts of Rroma. To note that these houses had been marked with a cross is implausible, because thieve gangs who did this years ago would incriminate themselves. Critics accuse Rroma to be responsible for a marked increase of disease cases, especially tuberculosis. With counter-studies, Vincent dispels this accusation: A local doctor finds no increase in cases of disease. In the centre and north of Marseilles, there will inevitably be more health problems than elsewhere, but this is due to difficult access to health-care and not to ethnic factors. The noise is also clearly more a product of structural conditions in the settlements than a result of cultural factors. Nevertheless prejudices and resentment persist among many residents. One wishes less benevolent policies towards countries of origin, such as Romania, because of the fear of a mass migration, as in other European countries or Western Europe or because one is convinced of the incompatibility of the Rroma culture with the French one.

Metro News (2013) provides information on the whereabouts of some 170 Rroma in Lyon, who, after a fire in a house they occupied, have been accommodated temporarily occupy in the gymnasium of a school. For unexplained reasons, the gym can no longer use as a. Sixty of those affected are being helped by a local program, the rest are literally thrown on the street.

Libération (2013) reports a demonstration of Rroma and people sympathetic to their cause in Paris. The protesters, including many children, have criticised the current practices of the French government who put Rroma on the street without alternative accommodation, who deprives them of the status as an EU citizen or forcefully deports them.

Source:

  • Libération (2013) Manifestation parisienne contre les expulsions de Roms. In: Libération vom 25.5.2013.
  • Metro News (2013) Lyon : que vont devenir les Roms après l’incendie mortel? In: Metro News France vom 30.5.2013. 
  • Vincent, Julien (2013) Tout ce que vous avez toujours voulu savoir sur les Roms… In: Marsactu vom 30.5.2013. 
Hungary News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

31.05.2013 Anti-Semitism in Hungary

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Odehnal (2013) conducted an interview with the publicist Paul Lendvai about the conflicting anti-racism policies of the Orban government. Lendvai, in his opinion, sees Orban as a Janus on racism: Towards the foreign press he represents a liberal, anti-racist view while towards the Hungarian press he presents a nationalist position. Lendvai sees the missing historical work on the Holocaust as a reason for the large upswing of right-wing nationalist parties like Jobbik. He also notes a “brain drain” of many young, well-educated Hungarians, who because of the political situation in their homeland see no future there. You hardly notice “the creeping erosion of democratic structures […] It’s all in the hands of the government. The National Bank was the last bastion. Which is now also fallen.”

Pester Lloyd (2013) reported on the continued segregation of Rroma children in Hungarian schools. A demonstration of the civil rights movement “The Constitution is not a toy” is opposed to the establishment of private school foundations within state schools, to the creation of pure Rroma classes and is against the segregation of children at events and in school buildings. Pester Lloyd criticises also the support programmes initiated by minister Balog as part of national Roma strategy as these are indeed and in truth promoting school segregation nor rather than to fighting it. The programme is reducing all Rroma to a concept and is not taking them seriously in their individuality. The focus agenda has not “educational, but rather racial standards.” As other media, the Pester Lloyd addresses the question as to whether the separation of powers in Hungary is still present or has now united under one roof a corrupt judicial, executive and legislative branches.

Sources:

  • Odehnal, Bernhard (2013) «Viktor Orbán ist ein grosser Zyniker». In: Tages-Anzeiger vom 26.5.2013.
  • Pester Llyod (2013) Demo gegen gesetzlich geförderte Segregation von Roma-Kindern in Ungarn. In: Pester Llyod vom 28.5.2013. 
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