Daily Archives: September 24, 2014

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24.09.2014 Vom Odenwald: one-sided praise of Zoltan Balog’s Rroma policy

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In his article for the Budapester Zeitung, Herrolt vom Odenwald (2014) criticises the Austrian writer Erich Hackl’s questioning analysis of Zoltan Balog’s policy. In his article “How to plough the sea?” Hackl (2014) criticised that Zoltan Balog denied that Rroma from Hungary were deported from Hungary to Germany during the Holocaust. This misinterpretation of history is totally inappropriate, so Hackl, and was criticised by many other newspapers. The Hungarian Rroma press centre reacted immediately with the publication of reports by Holocaust survivors. Rroma were deported with the help of Hungarian authorities to Nazi Germany, this is beyond debate. However, the criticism of Balog’s statement only takes a marginal role in Hackl’s text. The predominant part of the article deals with the struggle of the Rroma writer Marika Schmiedtberger and the Rroma activists Rudolf Sarközi against the oblivion of past atrocities. However, vom Odenwald sees this differently: from his perspective, Hackl’s entire article is a systematic discrediting of Balog, in which all positive achievements of the politician are deliberately hidden. And yet, he himself does exactly what he accuses the Austrian author of doing; he interprets his text in an extremely one-sided way: “the (upper) Austrian writer Erich Hackl just got lost in Hungarian politics, and from much that he believed to have to comment on, he negated reality. This concerns first and foremost the situation of the largest ethnic minority in the country, namely the Gypsies. I prefer this terminology to the consistently used term “Roma and Sinti” by solicitously politically correct (PC) media. […] Hackl however applied total poetic freedom in his article “How to plough the sea?”, for the (more left positioned) weekend supplement “Spectrum” of the “bourgeois” Austrian daily newspaper “Die Presse”, and was not concerned with ethno-linguistic subtleties from comparative linguistics. He and his publishing medium were in fact primarily concerned with denouncing the alleged disgraceful, racist politics of Hungary towards the Gypsies, especially under its Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. And, according to the popular saying “beat the sack, but mean the donkey”, do verbal bashing against Zoltán Balog, the minister largely responsible for integration and the Gypsies.” Odenwald’s statement that the term “Gypsy” is politically unproblematic is wrong. Rather, it would be correct to say that there is no consensus on the context in which the use of the term is appropriate. Many Rroma reject the concept because of its negative connotation. The criticism that Erich Hackl one-sidedly criticises Balog is also wrong. Balog has repeatedly attracted attention for his ill-considered and indiscriminate remarks about Rroma: for instance, in the Hungarian radio station Lánchídrádió he called the Rroma “unworthy poor”, because they actually were healthy and fit for work, but still burden the state as recipients of social benefits (Pusztaranger 2014). ­If one makes incautious remarks, one must be able to tolerate criticism. Odenwald then continues to enumerate extensively what Zoltan Balog has done for the Rroma: thanks to Balog’s effort, the “history and culture of the Roma” is now part of the national curriculum in the upper year education. Moreover, the minister for human resources champions a better economic integration of the minority. Nobody discredits these efforts. However, the extreme sensitivity of supporters of the incumbent Orban government to critique reveals that they want to suppress legitimate criticism themselves. Otherwise, they would not react as fiercely and emotionally to questioning or analysing comments. Pröhles Gergely (2014) response to Erich Hackl’s article also belongs to this category.

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24.09.2014 Stereotypes: Rroma and arranged marriages

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The British tabloid Daily Mail reports about arranged marriages among Rroma. It refers to the Channel 4TV documentation “The Gypsy Matchmaker”. At the outset, Styles (2014) claims that 250,000 Rroma from Eastern Europe have migrated to the UK in the past decade. This is an absurdly high number that makes no sense, and is not proven by any sources. Rather, it seems to be the result of the polemical debate about the alleged mass immigration of poor migrants to Western Europe. Thereby “poverty migrants” are often equated with Rroma, although ethnicity is not identified in most statistics. Building on this polemic, Styles claims that immigrated Rroma have brought their tradition of arranged marriages to the UK: more and more underage Rromnja would marry in exchange for bride money with older men, often at the age of thirteen. As a result, he stats that it is impossible for them to complete school or training. This tradition goes back to the traditional Rroma code “Pachiv”, Styles claims. The word “Patjiv” means “honour” in Rromanes and is indeed associated with the preservation of traditions. However, this does not mean that arranged marriages are the norm among Rroma. They are only found among traditional families and only in certain groups, mainly among the Vlax (Romanian) Rroma. Styles present this as if arranged marriages of minors is the normal case among Rroma: “Fresh-faced and delicate, Esme, from Oldham in Manchester, might be barely 15 years old but to many in the Roma gypsy community, she’s a catch. Originally from Hungary, she is just one of the estimated 250,000 Romany gypsies who relocated to the UK from Eastern Europe over the last decade. But with the influx of people has come their traditions – including the custom of marrying off girls and boys once they reach the age of 13.“ Although Styles points out that this tradition is questioned among critical Rroma, by citing the statement of an older Rromni, this remains a marginal note. The impression remains that of an entrenched tradition that makes it impossible to the married persons to shape their own life and violates the British law, which defines marriages below the age of sixteen as illegal (compare McDowall 2014, Steele 2014).

News Switzerland

24.09.2014 European Commission against Racism: continuing improvement potential of combating racism in Switzerland

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The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has published a recent report, in which it highlights the strengths and weaknesses of Swiss anti-racism efforts. The Commission commends the dedicated condemnation of xenophobia by Swiss authorities: “Mentioned honourably in the report are the cantonal integration programs for people with a migration background, better training of police officers in the area of ​​human rights or support services of individual cantons and municipalities for LGBT people (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender)” (NZZ 2014). In contrast, there is still a strong potential for improvement, especially regarding the political discrediting and exploitation of minorities. Various groups, among them the Rroma, are discriminated against in the labour market, the report states: “The political discourse is partly xenophobic and racist. This leads to the fact that the reputation and the lives of black people, Jeniche and other Roma groups are significantly degraded. Refugees, short-term residents and LGBT people are also affected. These groups are faced with significant discrimination in the labour market” (NZZ 2014). Here the distinction must be made that Jeniche constitute a distinct ethnic group with their own language and history. They are therefore not a Rroma group, as it is claimed here. The European Commission recommends continuing to expand the opportunities for integration. On should also aspire that the Federal Commission against Racism accepts and processes complaints in the future. In particular the police must ensure that identity checks are not carried out on ethnic criteria.

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