Daily Archives: May 21, 2014

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21.05.2014 The political schizophrenia of the acid attack perpetrator

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=The forty-year-old man, who had doused the mattresses of homeless Rroma in Paris with an unknown liquid was acquitted. The court came to the conclusion that there was no clear evidence that it was actually acid. Rather, one assumes that it had been a mixture of soft soap and Javel, as the special hospital for poisoning confirmed. Therefore, the charge of deliberate use of force was not met. The victims had recorded that their mattress was showing traces of corrosion and therefore assumed it to be acid. This version was endorsed by the charity organisation, which supported the Rroma: “A few weeks before this process Laurent P. told his story to Libération: he was only 10 years old when in 1983, he participated in his first demonstration together with his parents, a pair of the militant syndicate: the Beurs’ March, from which later SOS racism emerged. Laurent P. graduated in 1994 in political science, three years he joined the PS (Parti Socialiste) and spent the next ten years in public service, including some time as special representative of the treasury department. Before the judges, Laurent P. displayed a form of political schizophrenia that surrounds his gesture and said that he understood to “have set a very strong symbol, which I did not ascribe any importance and what I’m sorry for. Wanting to hurt these people would be in total contradiction to my education” (Le Monde 2014, Tassel 2014).

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21.05.2014 Rroma and the Jobbik in Tiszavasvári

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Legrand (2014) reports about the Rroma policy of the Hungarian city Tiszavasvári, in north-eastern Hungary. In October 2010, the right-wing nationalist Jobbik gained most of the votes and appointed a mayor from the party. However, this did not lead to any significant change regarding the segregation and oppression of Rroma in Tiszavasvári, Legrand concludes. Already before, the minority had been marginalized and ostracized. Under the new Jobbik mayor, Erik Fülöp, no significant change has occurred in this regard, Legrand states. He didn’t destroy their homes or tried to evict them, as he had promised during the election campaign, however in return, the social exclusion has increased dramatically: The Rroma are more often harassed by the police, some even from the local doctor. The social assistance counter is located at the other end of town, so that Rroma have to go as far as possible. Their district is sealed off like a contaminated zone. In 2011, an attempt was made to revive the militia of the city, but failed due to the intervention of the Fidesz government. It was declared illegal. The local militia “Tiszavasvári Csendőrség” was involved in the deportation of Jews and Rroma under National Socialism. The “big Rroma Plan” of the new mayor is designed not to evict the minority openly, but to isolate them more systematically in their quarters and harass them: “In the first phase, the party organized a massive clean-up campaign in the neighbourhood Valak. “Now, if someone is throwing away garbage in the outside, he has to hand in social assistance”, says Anna, who fears an excuse “to confiscate the last incomes of the families.” The following stages are kept secret and the mayor and his assistants reject any media stress. Before the community centre, funded by the European Union, [is] a big house with exposed bricks, Anna sighs: “Even that comes to us, everything is done to avoid that one get out of here.” On can therefore question whether Legrand’s assessment is correct, when she concludes that the policy of the Jobbik mayor is a continuation of the earlier policy of exclusion. Rather, it seems that he brings the marginalization of the minority to a whole new level.

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21.05.2014 Once more: north migration is an economic and not a Rroma phenomenon

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Peters (2014) reports on Rroma in Sofia and Berlin. She portrays the famous image of marginalized Rroma below the poverty level, for which the conditions in Germany represent a major development step, even if it is only by receiving a minimum wage. Thereby, she characterizes a fairly accurate picture of the economic causes of migration, but mixes these too imprudently with ascribed characteristics of the Rroma. Although she also mentions the large proportion of well-qualified immigrants and the discrimination against Rroma in Germany itself, she only covers these issues very marginally. The reductionist, defamatory statements of the Bulgarian deputy prime minister, Zinaida Zlatanova, are cited as evidence for the strong marginalization of the Rroma in Bulgaria, what is identified by Peters as the main reason for the northern migration of the minority: “Bulgaria is home to many different ethnic groups. We have problems only with Roma”, says Zlatanova. “And these problems exist in every country that is home to Roma. This is not a Bulgarian problem. In France, Hungary – the same.” The exclusion of Roma children in ghettos and their own schools? “We should not tear the Rroma from their natural environment. Better they go to segregated schools than never.” Whether Germany benefits from identifying the phenomenon “poverty migration” as a “Rroma problem”, is very questionable. Also in Germany the Rroma are exposed top exclusion. The exclusion of the Rroma must not be concealed that is out of question. However, the marking of migrants as Rroma migrants creates more problems than it solves. The Rroma want to integrate and not undergo special treatment, which excludes them additionally. This only creates new resentments, as can be read in Peters’ own assessment: “We must take care of the Roma, who come to us”, says Giffey [councillor for education in Neukölln]. The dilemma is this: If you do that – then more and more come.”

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21.05.2014 Memory of Rroma revolt in Auschwitz-Birkenau

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On May 16th 1944, the prisoners of camp sector II B of Auschwitz-Birkenau actively rebelled. Rroma detained there were supposed to be led into the gas chambers by SS: “Armed with stones and tools, they barricaded themselves in the barracks. They managed to escape extermination for the time being. […] The uprising in the camp sector II B of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the “Gypsy camp”, was a highlight of the resistance that Sinti and Roma actively held in many ways against the persecution and extermination by the Nazis. But their resistance was broken: after the selection of all prisoners capable of working, the “Gypsy camp” was dismantled in early August. The remaining 2900 people died in the gas chambers.” In Auschwitz-Birkenau, around 23,000 Rroma were detained, half of them younger than 14 years old. Almost all of them were murdered. On the occasion of the commemoration, Deutschlandradio Kultur spoke with Silvio Peritore, from the Central Council of German Sinti and Rroma. Peritore complains about the lacking reappraisal of the genocide in the post-war period, the detentions were legitimized as “crime prevention” in continuity with the Nazis policies, and the continuing tolerance of racist slogans under the guise of freedom of expression, which reveals ambivalence towards ones own history. The Administrative Court of Kassel decided in September 2013 that the posters of the NPD with the slogan “Money for grandma instead for Sinti and Roma” had to be tolerated under the paragraph on the freedom of expression. The statement of facts didn’t qualify as demagoguery: “How can it be that after a recognition of the genocide – with exhibitions, with monuments, educational events – again today, people continue to be defamed with a similar language. Last year before the federal election campaign, now for the European elections again, these NPD election posters are tolerated under the guise of party protection and freedom of expression. The state or the judiciary does not evaluate this form of misanthropy as demagoguery and regularly slams complaints from citizens, from people affected, and from Sinti and Roma, who don’t want to put with that. On one side one has the historic confrontation in the form of monuments – which are important, which are essential – but on the other side, one has this contradiction that allows populist parties, right-wing extremists, to do their propaganda against minorities, especially against Sinti and Roma.  They use them as scapegoats for perceived or real nuisances, which is very frightening.” On one side, Peritore speaks about a legal loophole, the tolerance of discrimination by the rule of law under the freedom of speech and press, on the other hand, the problem of the social tolerance of these hostilities. It is therefore every single citizen responsibility to work and pursue a just society (compare Barbezat 2014, Deutschlandradio Kultur 2014, Die Presse 2014, Stoll 2014, Von Billerbeck 2014).

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21.05.2014 Fire of Rroma settlement in Villeneuve d’Ascq

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In the night from 17th to the 18th of May, a Rroma settlement in Villeneuve d’ Ascq was the scene of a fire. Fourteen barracks were destroyed by the flames. One of the residents died in the fire. The fire had originated inside his hut. It is assumed that the incident is an accident: “The victim, whose age could not be clarified, passed away after a fire had started inside of his shack, at about two clock in the morning, in the night of Saturday to Sunday, the fire fighters stated [ … ] “It was not criminal, as it seems, but purely accidental. The man supposedly went to bed with a candle, Father Arthur Hervet, a priest from Lille who helps the inhabitants and was on location Sunday midday, told AFP.” Before the investigations are complete, one should not jump to conclusions. A special feature of the settlement of Villeneuve d’Ascq is that it is not illegal. The local Rroma live on the premises in agreement with the municipality of Lille. The settlement is equipped with running water and toilets. The children go to local schools (Le Figaro 2014, Hardy 2014, Libération 2014, RTL France 2014).

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21.05.2014 Daily Mail portrays Rroma as unscrupulous traffickers

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With his one-sided reporting, Enoch (2014) confirms a pejorative image of Rroma as unscrupulous traffickers. Without wanting to trivialise real human trafficking, which must be fought by all means, mixing different topics and the ideological instrumentalization of the event raises questions. On one hand, Enoch reports about a Polish Rroma family, who is said to have lured several Polish families to England, where they were forced into slave labour. The situations described are awful, and range from repeated use of force to sexual assault and modern slavery. On the other hand, it is sufficient for Enoch to describe the perpetrators as Rroma. Other motives for the crime are not mentioned. Nor how the Poles were lured to England. Instead, the ethnicity of the perpetrators is cited as a self-explanatory motive for the crime. Thus Enoch suggests a clear link between the ethnicity of the perpetrators and the offences committed by them, what is openly racist. Mentioning of an ethnic group in connection with criminal offences is extremely problematic, because it promotes a highly one-sided picture of the portrayed group. This does not conform with the lifestyle of a vast majority of the minority. That Enoch’s article is also biased by ideological and political values can be seen from the terminology used and the reasoning of the journalist. He states: “A family of Roma gypsies tricked three fellow Poles into moving to London, where one was forced into slavery and subjected to beatings – and all had their National Insurance numbers used to rip off the benefits system, a court heard.” The accusation that all Rroma from Eastern Europe want to apply for social benefits in England in order to enrich themselves, can often be read in the newspaper (compare Reid 2014, Reilly 2014, Jay 2014). Through these articles it becomes evident that the newspaper is not interested in a factual, scientific treatment of the events, but willingly mixes these with stereotypes and ideological opinions.

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