Daily Archives: September 19, 2014

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19.09.2014 The forgotten victims of the Rroma-Holocaust

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With a joint letter, several institutions and scientists called attention to the continued ignorance of the Rroma-Holocaust that occurred during the Second World War. The authors call for an explicit focus on and recognition of the genocide of the Rroma by governments, international organisations, museums, scientists, activists, and by the media. The Rroma genocide should not be presented any longer as an event separated from the Holocaust, as it is usually done. This must be presented with a more in-depth research and discussion of the Nazi atrocities done to the Rroma, as well as an adequate representation of Rroma in committees and institutions, such as the council of the American Holocaust Museum: “Removing Roma and Sinti from Holocaust history by creating a separate genocide and by denying their voice in the Holocaust ceremonies signal a disregard for the memory and the dignity of the Romani people. Yet, the United Nations continues to dither about whether Roma and Sinti should be included in their annual Holocaust Remembrance ceremony. Furthermore, being designated as a victim of a separate genocide and not a Holocaust victim is precedent setting. For example, many Romani Holocaust survivors were unable to qualify for any type of compensation for the losses they endured, specifically because the German government failed to recognize them as part of the Holocaust for several decades after the War, long after many survivors had died. This is not an example that current governments and institutions should emulate. Only 10 percent of the hundreds of millions of dollars made available by the United Nations for the survivors, and which the U.S. Government was given the responsibility of disbursing, was set aside for non-Jews, and none of that found its way to the Romani survivors. When the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council was established in 1980, no Roma were invited to participate, and as mentioned above, it has no Romani member today. […] Objective and true information about Roma and Sinti can lead to overcoming stigma and embracing Romani people as equal members of society, deserving of dignity and respect” (Raeesi et al 2014). Especially with the last point, the authors of the letter address an important aspect of the historiography of the Rroma: the massive amount of false and inaccurate information that is spread about the ethnic group, which distorts their perception until today. For a long time, it was claimed that there had not been any systematic murder of the Rroma. The Rroma victims were said to be anti-social elements and criminals that were interned for regulatory reasons. Such an inhumane interpretation of history should in fact belong to the past.

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19.09.2014 Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are declared safe countries of origin

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On September the 19th, the decision as to whether Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina will be declared safe countries of origin on part of Germany will be made. The debate about the security against persecution and discrimination in the three states is discussed especially in reference to the fate of the Rroma. In this regard, there are major disagreements whether and how Rroma are exposed to discrimination. While the proponents of the new law assume that the Rroma are indeed affected by poverty in the three countries, they claim that they are free of persecution. Just the opposite is stated by many refugee and asylum organizations, and also by the central council of German Sinti and Roma. These different views concerning the security situation of minorities in Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina reveal that the assessment of marginalization and discrimination are based on very different criteria: supporters of a poor security situation refer to meaningful individual cases of discrimination – famous are cases that proof the difficult access to health care and other institutions, or show the harassment by government officials: “Already now, the reasons people have to flee from Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are examined too superficially, criticises the Frankfurt lawyer Reinhard Marx. […] Especially [application from] Roma of the Western Balkan countries are already now mostly rejected without detailed examination “as manifestly unfounded”, the lawyer says. He tells of hearing reports and decisions of the branch offices of the BAMF [Federal Office for Migration and Refugees]. Refugees have reported “racist assaults, attempted rape of girls and suchlike.” “In reasoning of the refusal, this was not addressed all”, says the lawyer, the reasons for flight are not carefully examined, “which for me is no longer the rule of law” (Grunau 2014). In contrast, the proponents of the new law refer to the recognition of the Rroma by the political establishment of the countries, the appreciation of Rromanes, and the historical evidence in all strata of society of the integration of the minority, especially in the countries of former Yugoslavia. Ottoman tax registers proof this already for the 15th century, where Rroma are listed as lawyers, doctors and policemen (Rroma Foundation 2002). This integration does not mean that there is no discrimination since 1989, through the strong growth of nationalism in the countries of South Eastern Europe. Again, different evaluation criteria are applied: according to the proponents of the new law, there is discrimination but no systematic persecution. How can one accurately measured and assess the severity of discrimination? In Bosnia-Herzegovina, because of the Dayton Agreement, there is only a constitutional protection of Bosnians, Serbs or Croats, but no official recognition of other minorities. But this does not mean that minorities such as Rroma are not discriminated against in everyday life, the critics claim. The different opinions reveal that the knowledge about Rroma is still dominated by a lot of uncertainties and gaps in knowledge, and that the discrimination of a minority in various countries is anything but easily to determine. Therefore, in doubt, the individual experience of discrimination should always be favoured over a general assessment of the security situation. One owes that to persons who indeed suffer of discrimination. – Neues Deutschland (2014) reports that the stricter asylum law is being adopted because of the approval by the red-green government of Baden-Württemberg. The Green minister president of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, is now criticised because of his decision in his own party. Other German daily newspapers confirm the decision: Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are now safe countries of origin from Germany’s viewpoint. This means that asylum applications from these countries will be handled in an expedited fashion in the future and that discrimination will no longer be recognised as a reason for asylum (compare Brey 2014, Deringer/Lierheimer 2014, Frenzel 2014, Handelsblatt 2014, Lang 2014, Mappes-Niediek 2014, MDR 2014, Möhle 2014, Scholz 2014, Wallraff 2014, Wölfl 2014).

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19.09.2014 Harassment of immigrant Rroma in Enneptal

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Gruber (2014) reports on the fate of some 100 Rroma in Enneptal. Many of them moved to Hasperbach after their expulsion from Duisburg. Now they face a renewed one. The landlord of the apartment building in the Hagener Strasse has informed the Rroma families that their leases will not be renewed. No clear explanation for the termination was given. However, it is assumed that reservations and discontent against the Rroma minority played a significant role. The decision is heavily criticised, in particular by social workers who were committed to a rapid and long-term integration of the families: “The social worker from the association “future-oriented fostering” (ZOF) however speak of a human tragedy, if the announcement should become reality. The Roma would exactly experience the same thing as in Ennepetal as this population experienced for centuries in all countries and places. They will be deprived of any chance to settle down permanently somewhere and to integrate into the society. This is unfortunate, especially in Ennepetal, said ZOF project manager Eduard Pusic, because here, in close cooperation with the city, politics, the food pantry, child protection, and residents, successful structures were created within a very short time which enabled the Roma a perspective that now is threatened to lapse.” The association ensured that the Rroma children were enrolled in local schools and that the women and infants received care. An expulsion would mean that the integration efforts of both sides will be unmade and that they have to restart at a different location from zero again.

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19.09.2014 European Commission: Rroma health status worse than the rest of the population – Is it really true?

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In early September, the European Commission (2014) has published a new study, which analysed the health of Rroma in the European Union. The study comes to the conclusion that members of the minority face more difficulties when trying to access health institutions, mainly due to the Rroma marginalisation. Women are particularly affected by poorer health care. Furthermore, life expectancy is said to be much lower than among other population groups, while at the same time the average age is significantly lower than in the European majority populations. With regard to infectious diseases, the survey found a lack of comprehensive, reliable research. However, some studies show an increased rate of infectious diseases among Rroma, which is thought to be connected to a lack of vaccination of the Rroma children. The proportion of chronic diseases (asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and high blood pressure) is significantly higher among the minority, the report states. Regarding a healthy lifestyle, the available information is said to be inadequate. The data available suggests that the Rroma lifestyle is less oriented towards an better health than compared to the majority population. Rroma are particularly affected by the economic crisis, which finds expression in an more difficult access to health care. The generally poorer health is thereby connected with a lower education rate, poorer infrastructure, and with greater unemployment among Rroma populations of the EU, it is claimed. The study repeatedly points to the lack of available data on the health status of Rroma in the European Union. Nevertheless, it comes to clear findings. From the Rroma Contact Point viewpoint, the authors of study questions far too little whether investigated Rroma were already marginalised and therefore relatively easy contactable persons for a research or whether they were integrated ones, who are generally ignored in such researches. Many Rroma are integrated, keep their identity a secret and are therefore difficult to contact for such a study. These integrated, invisible Rroma, which have generally good health, seem not to have been considered for this study, which cast doubts on the representativeness of the results. The authors themselves state a lot of uncertainties regarding the proportions of the Rroma population in Europe: “The debate over the size of the Roma population is a direct consequence of the lack of clarity regarding Roma identity, as it makes counting the Roma difficult or even impossible. […] As a consequence, it is impossible to make use of random sampling in research. A general lack of statistical data on the situation of Roma in all sectoral fields makes the planning, design, monitoring, and evaluation of policy and programmes difficult if not impossible. It is not possible to identify Roma ethnicity from national surveys, national demographic data or any kind of national health statistics” (European Commission 2014: 35). With this finding, the authors question the reliability and representativeness of their own study. While it is clearly important that health issues that are the result of exclusion and marginalisation are identified as such and fought against, this study also raises the question of the production of a negative image of the minority, which can be exacerbated by such research and then be exploited by politicians (compare EurActiv 2014, Meunier 2014).

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19.09.2014 Berlin: threatened child removal of Rroma evokes resentment

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Youth workers of the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg have threatened to take away the children of Rroma families if they continue to live outdoors. According to the journalist Long-Lendorff (2014), during the summer months Rroma migrant workers and their families have been living in and around the Görlitz Park and on a wasteland of the Kreuzbergian Cuvrystraße for many years. The concern about the children welfare is therefore exaggerated. However, this is seen differently by the youth welfare office: “Employees of the youth office presented the families earlier this week a letter in which they were asked to look for an accommodation at least for their children. These were in danger due to the outdoor life. “We’ll be back in a few days. If you still live overnight with your children here, we will take your children into care”, the letter says […].” Those responsible acknowledge that a child removal cannot be for the children’s good. However, there is too big a housing shortage in the district, so that one cannot simply provide housing for all families affected. The Rroma association Amaro Foro and the Senate commissioner for integration, Monika Lüke, criticised the planned action as totally inappropriate: if anything, one has to provide housing for the whole families and not unnecessarily destroy them. Moreover, child removal would also align to a very questionable historical continuity of earlier removals: Children were taken away from Rroma families in several countries of Europe during forced assimilation programs. Sterilisations and child removals often went hand in hand. The children trauma cannot in any way be compared to poor living conditions. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that most Rroma are committed to integration, but are hindered to do so by structural obstacles and mechanisms of exclusion (compare Berliner Zeitung 2014).

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