Monthly Archives: June 2015

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Czech town wants the army to deal with migrants

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The city of Usti nad Labem, which is already known for issues with Rroma and general racism (they once built a wall around a Rroma settlement), has called for the army to deal with the problem of Rroma, be they locals or migrants, often from neighbouring Slovakia.

Are they totally out of their mind? The army is not there to deal with migrants, nor to improve security, this is the affair of the police and of the law.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Prejudice against Jews and Rroma in Bulgaria

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A US State department report on Bulgaria notes the increased prejudice against Jews and Rroma as well as the increasing number of incidents related to ethnicity. The press, according to the report, describes Rroma and other minorities in “discriminatory and abusive language”, thus contributing to the issue.

Scary…

News Eastern Europe

European Roma Right Center slams Slovak Government

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The European Roma Right Center (ERRC) slammed the Slovak government on the second anniversary of the police raid in the Rroma settlement of Moldava nad Bodvou on June 19, 2013. The police violence and actions have not been investigated at all, especially the question of the necessity of such a raid.

News Western Europe Portugal

Portugal: First Rroma Survey

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Portugal just released the result of the first ever Rroma survey. Around 1’600 Rroma were interviewed as part of this survey. The results show a lack of education, poverty, but also among one group of people, some level of integration ad work.

Such studies are always problematic, as they usually only survey visible Rroma, i.e. the ones who conform to the stereotypes. One should therefore be really careful about extending the results to all Rroma in Portugal where 40 to 50 thousand live and to all Rroma in Europe. There are many who are integrated and who obviously did not make it to this study.

News Western Europe

Manchester Integration Program forges ahead

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The project MigRom, started by the University of Manchester in collaboration of with the city has already made significant inroads in helping the city to engage with its Rroma community. It is now entering a new phase. The new group “Roma Voices of Manchester”, which was set up with the help of the project is now recognised as the principa channel of communication with the Rroma.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Council of Europe wants clear goals for the inclusion of Rroma and disabled

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While we certainly greet the fact that the council of Europe wants to advance its Human Rights Goals as well as the statements of its commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, the journalists should have taken care of his formulation in the title… The story is somewhat different if you are disabled or if you are Rrom in Slovakia.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe News Switzerland

Switzerland pays 8 Mio CHF to Bulgaria for Rroma Integration

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Switzerland just signed an agreement with Bulgaria providing 8 Mio Swiss Francs to the municipalities of Burgas, Ruses, and Sliven to further Rroma (and other minorities) inclusion, centring on education and basic health care. In view of the more and more extremist views of the general population towards minorities and Rroma in particular, this in a country that used to be tolerant, one wonders whether this is the right approach.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Plovdiv Rroma ask for the resignation of the Bulgarian health minister

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Rroma in Plovdiv asked for the resignation of the minister of health in Bulgaria because of his xenophobic statements. In one of these, he compared Rroma to “stock” and to “horses”.

Germany News Switzerland News Western Europe

Rroma Wedding in Switzerland

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First news since a long time in the Swiss Press about “foreign travellers”, i.e. Rroma. 500 of them camped in a village in Thurgau, North East of Zurich, to celebrate a wedding. Finally they left as one of the members of the group die in a car accident in Germany and the wedding was cancelled.

The journalist was not particularly sensitive: He used the word “Sippe” [clan], said that people were afraid that the same issues as a fews years back in the French speaking part of Switzerland would occur, etc. In brief, he or she regurgitated the usual stereotypes. Shame.

Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Serbia

Serbian Rroma being deported from Germany

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An article on a Rroma family from Serbia who had asked for asylum in that country and now faces deportation back to Serbia. Germany, since it declared Serbia to be a safe country now regularly deports Rroma from that country who ask for asylum.

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Slovakia

Human Trafficking in UK

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Two Roma from Slovakia are in court, being accused of having trafficked women from Slovakia for weddings to migrants from non EU countries, mostly to Asians. The scheme flew off after one of the women was raped by a Pakistani man to whom she had been “sold”. While it seems that not all the defendant are Rroma, they were “assisted” in recruiting the women by a Rroma family.

This, once again has nothing to do with Rroma and all to do with poverty and crime…

Greece News Western Europe

Media promote stereotypes

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An article, mostly centred on the story of the blond Rroam girl in Greece, a story that was prominently featured in the press, shows that the press promotes stereotypes on Rroma.

Unfortunately the article itself is not devoid of stereotypes, calling Rroma “nomad”, which cannot be further way from the actual truth.

Italy News Western Europe

Italian Government wants to close the Rroma camps

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The camps and barracks in which many Rroma live in Italy will be closed if the current initiative from the government takes hold. Rroma will be re-lodged in social apartments but will have to sign a covenant legalising their situation in Italy.

This is quite a surprising initiative, as those camps are run by the state together with NGOs and are watched over by the police which checks who comes in and out. Let’s see how this is going to be implemented.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Increasing Getthoisation in Bulgaria

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Interesting article about the situation of Rroma in Bulgaria and their increasing victimisation and isolation based on observations on the Rroma Mahala (neighbourhood) of Iztok in the city of Pazardjik.

Bulgaria France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

Another Article on the rising tensions in Bulgaria

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A summary of the events and latest developments in the rising tensions in Bulgaria and on the increasing instrumentalisation of Rroma among rightist parties.

News Western Europe

Basic Racism …

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Another of these articles equating Rroma with criminals and poverty… This time on the houses where Rroma migrants are currently lodging in Berlin. No word, of course, of the fact that these are rented to them by unscrupulous owners at high prices, that poverty is prevalent, etc.

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

UNHCR Report: An interview of its author

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Rita Iszak, the author of the UNHCR report on Rroma that investigates the situation of this minority in terms of human rights is interviewed on the report.

A worthy read!

News Western Europe

Eric Zemour condemned

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The French polemist Eric Zemour was condemned to a fine of 5’000 EUR for incitation of racial hatred. On live radio, on May 6th 2014, he said among others:

“les grandes invasions d’après la chute de Rome sont désormais remplacées par des bandes de Tchétchènes, de Roms, de Kosovars, de Maghrébins, d’Africains qui dévalisent, violentent ou dépouillent” [ The big invasions after Rome’s fall are now replaced by groups of Chechens, Roma, Kosovars, North-Africans who steal, rape, or rob.]

France News Western Europe

Meanwhile in France …

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In France, the summer is the season for expulsions. The reason being that the arguments that children are in school do no longer work due to the fact that the summer holidays have started.

Amnesty reports on this and the general issue of children in Ivry, and in Ris-Orangis in Evry, both near Paris. The last locality, Evry was the municipality that refused burial to a Rroma child a while back, something that is noted in Liberation as being an attack against Rroma. Other news contain the fact that Rosny and Montreuil, near Paris refuse the installation fo Rroma; that in Grenoble, on the initiative of the church and Rroma, a dinner was organised between the two communities; while in Wissous, the situation is getting tense a month after a judge ordered the expulsion.

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