Daily Archives: March 21, 2014

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

21.03.2014 Rroma in Saint-Denis can vote

Published by:

In Saint-Denis, a verdict was reached concerning the dispute around the right to vote of a local Rroma group. The socialist candidate Mathieu Hanotin had filed a complaint at the local district court, wanting to clarify the legitimacy of the voting rights of the Rroma in question, which where accused of not possessing a residency permit. The acting communist mayor of Saint-Denis, Didier Paillard, successfully rejected the allegations of Hanotins that the registration of the Rroma was a case of electoral manipulation. The legitimacy of the electoral rights of the Rroma group has now been confirmed by the local district court, which rejected Hanotin’s complaint as inadmissible. The complaint should have been filed within a period of ten days after the publication of the list of voters: “They [the Rroma ] were very moved by the polemic. This judgment is very important because it means that they can vote. It is a pride for them and us, the unions, Agnès Cluzel from the local collective in support of the Rroma announced.” It is said to be a pity that the court didn’t judge over the actual point of question, the residency permit. Saint-Denis is the last city with over 100,000 inhabitants, which has a communist mayor (Libération 2014, RTL 2014 Thréard 2014).

Villa (2014) points out in his article that Manuel Valls’ circular from July 25th 2013 is unconstitutional. In it, Valls encourages to exclude European nationals without permanent residence of the French mayoral elections. The French league for human rights (LDH) therefore calls for the invalidation of the circular: “All citizens have the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union. For that purpose, the exercise of the right to vote in the mayoral elections and the European elections is recognised for all citizens of the European Union, no matter in which member state they reside and with the same rights as citizens of that state.”

Gilman (2014) discusses in his article the efforts of the collective for solidarity with the Rroma of Roubaix. The collective has put together a list of questions for the candidates as mayor of Roubaix, based on the declaration of human rights and the rights of children declaration. Thus, the candidates are expected to express their views on the situation of the Rroma in Roubaix. In response to the submission of the questions two weeks ago, so far only two of the ten candidates have replied: Jean-Pierre Legrand and Philippe Delannoy. – This is astonishing in so far, as the Rroma have been a central topic of the mayoral campaigns so far, being instrumentalized as a reference in opposition to bourgeois values.

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

21.03.2014 Reference to “pickpockets and gypsies” results in internal investigation

Published by:

Several British newspapers report on a racist announcement in a train of the London Midland Trains. The train was carrying many fans of an afternoon soccer game. The train speaker is said to have tried to entertain them at every stop with a witty remark. This didn’t stop the speaker from making a racist remark about Rroma: “Telford Central – Please be aware of pickpockets and gypsies”, he announced when the train was entering Telford station. London Midland Trains stated that they would fully investigate into the incident. The Youtube video recorded using a mobile phone shows a group of mostly laughing passengers, in response to the announcement. This raises the question of how socially acceptable racism against Rroma still is in the UK. Les Walton from the BBC relativises this interpretation: people looked at each other in disbelief and laughed out of bewilderment that the train conductor could made such remarks. A spokeswoman for Midland Trains announced: „We are deeply sorry to anyone who was offended by the announcement. We do not tolerate comments of this nature being made by anyone on a London Midland train, and a full internal investigation is being carried out“ (BBC News 2014, Bartlett 2014, The Independent 2014, Wells 2014).

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

21.03.2014 Fire in Rroma camp in Fontaine

Published by:

France 3 (2014) reports on a fire in a Rroma camp in Fontaine, in the region of Grenoble. Most of the dwellings of the thirty residents were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable:  “The fire broke out in the Rroma camp behind the BUT store at around 15 o’clock, near the Gérard Philippe high school. The residents of the camp and the students who were present at the site were quickly evacuated. Firefighters believe explosions of gas bottles in the barracks caused the fire. Several of them in fact exploded but the firefighters were able to cope with the flames.” Two men were slightly injured. The residents of the camp were housed in tents by the city council of Fontaine (see Le Dauphiné 2014). – The safety deficiencies in illegal settlements are the subject of repeated political disputes. While certain politicians interpret these as a justification for rigorous evictions, others see them as evidence for the need to better supply the camps with water, electricity and sanitation, rendering improvised installations unnecessary, installations which indeed show security flaws.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

21.03.2014 Bohuslav Sobotka wants to fight discrimination against Rroma

Published by:

Acting Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka stated in a message to the Council of Europe that he wants to fight discrimination against Rroma in the Czech Republic. At the end of February, the human rights minister of the council, Nils Muiznieks, wrote a letter to Sobotka, in which he expressed his concern about the marginalization and discrimination against Rroma. Muiznieks called forth a firm approach of the Czech government against anti–Rroma demonstrations and pogroms that are taking place all over the Czech Republic and are often organized by extreme right-wing groups. Twenty-two Rroma were victims of racially motivated attacks in 2013. Sobotka announced in his reply that his government is striving to curb the exclusion and discrimination against Rroma. He wants to support all the mayors of the country actively in taking action against anti-Rrroma demonstrations and pogroms. The government is also working on a national Rroma integration strategy. The racism of the population is in part due to poor social and economic conditions, the prime minister said, but this does not justify in any way the scapegoating of the Rroma for these problems. The Council of Europe has repeatedly criticized Czech Republic for the marginalization of the minority (Prague Daily Monitor 2014). It is much to be hoped that these statements will be followed by concrete actions and not, as it unfortunately often happens, remain only intentions.

rroma.org
en_GBEnglish (UK)
de_DEDeutsch fr_FRFrançais en_GBEnglish (UK)