Daily Archives: May 16, 2014

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16.05.2014 Status report about Neukölln: Rroma are exposed to exploitation

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The current, fourth Roma status report on the district of Neukölln comes to a sober finding regarding the social integration of Rroma. Members of the minority are exposed to abuse and exploitation, the study concludes. Many are said to work for dumping wages as cleaners and under inadequate working conditions in the building sector. In addition, they are exposed to exploitation in the housing market through the rental of junk properties to unreasonable prices: “People attracted to Neukölln, mainly come from precarious conditions into precarious conditions”, says the study. Nationwide averages of highly skilled migrants from Romania and Bulgaria are not very helpful, when one has to decide what to do on the actual site, the authors note critically. […] “Debt and lack of housing” are mentioned as most urgent problems. Around 40 percent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants in Neukölln receive social benefits.” The argumentation repeatedly makes use of statistics, which are cited at the same time approvingly for the authentication of receiving social benefits, however perceived critically regarding the proportion of highly skilled immigrants. This reasoning shows that statistical findings can be interpreted in different ways, depending on the need, and this is also done so here. Interesting is also the title of the study as “Rroma Status Report”, as it is explained that the vast majority of immigrants are Romanians and Bulgarians. This finding is important because in German statistics ethnicity is not captured. Rroma politicians like Romeo Franz argue the exact opposite: only just 10% of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants are Rroma. Nevertheless, the problems described should not to be negated. It is important to address them. However, it is very problematic to identify them as specific “Rroma issues”. Thereby, poverty problems are ethnicized (see Flatau 2014, Lombard 2014, Vogt 2014).

The district councillor of Neukölln, Franziska Giffey, notes critically that it is not the high- skilled immigrants who are coming to Neukölln, but mostly poorly educated immigrants, who are marginalized in their countries of origin. To foster their successful integration, more funding is needed: “There are various measures that should be implemented, but in reality we are missing financial resources and personnel”, said the SPD politician. Only 500,000 Euros for language and cultural mediators were allocated, which should then be inplace throughout the city – far too little, Giffey thinks. “Of course, in a 3 1/2-million city, leaving out the fact that we have over 10,000 Romanians and Bulgarians Roma alone here in Neukölln, with such numbers and sizes there is of course not a lot you can do.” Regarding the promtion of integration, the politician is absolutely right that combating nuisances contributes nothing to improve the situations. However, also here the dictum applies that the problems should not be treated as specific Rroma-problems (compare Runfunk Berlin Brandenburg 2014).

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16.05.2014 Romeo Franz criticizes the German and European Rroma policy

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EurActiv (2014) gives a voice to the German European Parliament candidate Romeo Franz. Franz is a German Sinto who has campaigned for the social recognition of the minority for many years. In 2011, he joined the Green Party. Franz criticizes in the interview both the German and the European Rroma policy. Too little is done and many things only half-heartedly, he criticizes. Many journalists have no sense of the discrimination that takes place due to naming ethnicity: “I have been discriminated my whole life as a Sinto. But as a 14-year-old, I was already demonstrating for our rights. It is my duty, as a German Sinto, to get involved and fight racism. […] There are deep-seated clichés and prejudices, which are being passed along within German families. […] such racist prejudice can even be stirred up in the media and politics. In daily local reporting, for example. If someone is a criminal, their ethnic affiliation is not mentioned in the news report – except regarding Sinti and Roma. In that regard, there is no sensitivity at all among journalists.” He sees is as particularly concerning that also Germany consciously promotes the segregation of the Rroma: in his constituency Ludwigsburg, a Rroma container village is under construction that wilfully marginalizes the Rroma. These double standards are also found in the German migration policy: While Angela Merkel just announced plans to better integrate the Rroma in Germany, at the same time the cabinet declared Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia to safe countries of origin. This allows the deportation of immigrant Rroma: “The German government wants to make it easier to deport people from the countries mentioned. At the same time, the Roma situation in Serbia is even worse than here – no access to running water, education or healthcare. They are constantly suffering from racist encroachment. Their life is in danger. In Brussels far to little for the social acceptance and integration of minorities is done, Franz criticizes. He wants to change this by pursuing a policy of human rights.

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16.05.2014 Pew-polling institute: Rroma are the most despised minority

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On the occasion of the upcoming European parliamentary elections, the Pew polling institute examined the opinions of the French, Germans, Greeks, Italians, Poles, Spanish, and English about the European Union, as well as on general social topics. The opinion research institute came, among others, to the finding that Rroma are the most despised minority in Europe, with prejudices in Italy, France and Greece being the greatest: “The most negative views in Europe aren’t directed toward Muslims or Jews. Rather, it’s Roma. [The] chart is really quite remarkable, showing that Spain is the only nation where more people hold positive views of Roma than negative. In Italy, just 10 percent have positive views about Roma, while 85 percent have negative views. Unfortunately, it’s not entirely surprising. Roma, often dismissively referred to as “gypsies” in Europe, have suffered discrimination in Europe for centuries, and some estimates suggest that 70 percent of their European population was killed during the Holocaust.” The study can also be interpreted as meaning that in countries with strong ideological debates about the minority, more people rejecting. Moreover, in the countries with the highest rejection – Italy and France – the media only report about Rroma living in Slums, which promotes a biased view.

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16.05.2014 Diocese of Lille cannot accommodate the displaced Rroma of Roncq

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Several French newspapers report on the fate of a group of displaced Rroma in Roncq. They were expelled last week from their accommodation without having been offered any alternative place to stay. Some families settled on the site of the church Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. The diocese of Lille has now announced that it does not possess the means and possibilities to accommodate the Rroma in reasonable terms: “The church has neither the necessary human nor the financial resources to find long-term, stable solutions for these families”, said the archdiocese in a press release. “That does not mean that we are indifferent to their fate! We have a team that could accompany the families.” “We cannot protect them. It is not an absence of charity (…) One seeks solutions for land and one doesn’t have any” the archbishop of Lille announced.” According to local Rroma organizations, the eviction of 700 to 800 Rroma in Lille is planned for July, following a court’s decision. Likely, there will be no alternative accommodation provided to them either. Around twenty Rroma, who settled near the church, can pitch their tents on a private estate in Haubourdin, through the mediation of ATD Fourth World. Another twenty have joined other illegal settlements in Lille (compare Belaïd 2014, France 3 Nord Pas-de-Calais 2014 I/II, Le Monde 2014, Le Parisien 2014, La Voix du Nord 2014 I/II). 

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16.05.2014 700 Rroma in Seine-Saint-Denis are evicted from their settlement

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In Seine-Saint-Denis, the largest illegal Rroma-settlement is being evicted. Located next to the A3 motorway, the settlement included more than 700 people. The majority of the inhabitants had left the camp prior to the arrival of the police forces, as the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis announced. On the site, about 200 huts had been built, which are now being demolished. Accommodation has been organised for a dozen ill persons. A representative of the local Rroma organization criticised the eviction as hasty and as the result of a politics and change of camp in the communities involved: “According to Anaïs, a member of the support group of Rroma in Blanc-Mesnil, who did not want to state her name, the families  “hastily packed their bundles on Sunday.” “When we visited them on Sunday, many were already gone and many others were hastily on the move. This rash evacuation is the result of a political change in the two communities”, she regretted.” Both newly elected mayors of Blanc-Mesnil and Aulnay-sous-Bois thus continue a rigorous eviction policy as demanded repeatedly by Manuel Valls. Although this expulsion policy corresponds to the legislation, as the Rroma were residing illegally on the premises, it prevents and hinders a long-term integration of Rroma, which should be aspired (compare Dumontier 2014, Le Figaro 2014, Le Monde 2014, Le Nouvel Observateur 2014, Metronews 2014).

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