The Roma refugees of California, in Pennsylvania, seem to be doing quite well. They were the subject of many articles, many of which were full of racial stereotypes. Now it seems to have settled down thank to a few reasonable people.
Good.
– Refuge granted: Roma refugees are getting along in California, Pa. In: The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. 16.08.2017. http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2017/08/16/Refuge-granted-Roma-refugees-are-getting-along-in-California-Pa/stories/201708310028
The leader of the Jobbik partu, Gabor Vona, is asking the Orban Government to apologise to Roma for blocking any possibility of upward mobility. He is right in the statement, but Jobbik was associated with the Magyar Garda, a semi-military group which wanted to get rid of all Roma and Jews, a view shared by most of the Jobbik party.
– Jobbik leader calls on government to apologize to Roma community. In: Hungarian Free Press. 17.08.2017. http://hungarianfreepress.com/2017/08/17/jobbik-leader-calls-on-government-to-apologize-to-roma-community/
A long article on Laszlo Bogdan, the mayor of the small village of Cserdi in the South Western part of the country. He has been fighting against unemployment and getting the people of the village, of which 75% are Roma to work. He did so with methods that are often controversial and authoritarian, and the work is mostly manual and in the agriculture. He is also very much against the Roma establishment and politicians, who, he says have pocketed millions from the EU without doing anything.
Can his model be expanded?
– LÁSZLÓ BOGDÁN IS STILL THE ROMA MIRACLE WORKER OF CSERDI. In: The Hungarian Spectrum. 16.08.2017. http://hungarianspectrum.org/2017/08/16/laszlo-bogdan-is-still-the-roma-miracle-worker-of-cserdi/
The family of Dina Babbitt, an Auschwitz survivor who dies in 2009 and, while in Auschwitz was forced to paint portraits of other inmates, is trying to recover her art. Seven portraits of Roma she painted are know to have survived the war.
– In Auschwitz, she was forced to paint. Now her family wants her art returned. In: The Jewish News. 15.08.2017. https://www.jweekly.com/2017/08/15/auschwitz-forced-paint-now-family-wants-art-returned/
Italian Romnja are taking their future in their own hands and are fighting against discrimination, racism, and stereotypes.
Good!
– “Change can start from us”: Roma women in Italy fight for their rights. In: Open Democracy – 50.50. 16.08.2017. https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/claudia-torrisi/roma-women-rights-italy
On the 16th of August, in the Banská Bystrica Historic Town Hall, the largest Roma multi-ethnic event in Central Slovakia will be opened. It is called “Ľudia z rodu Rómov” [People of the Roma family] and will last until the 19th of August. A non-traditional home-based exhibition focusses on Roma women and their position in society in connection with the growing extremism and radicalism is part of the festival.
“The individual activities of the festival will be held in three cities – Banská Bystrica, Zvolen, Sliac and visitors can enjoy outstanding Roma artists from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania,” said Denisa Sciranková from Quo Vadis civic association.
– Rómsky festival Ľudia z rodu Rómov odštartuje netradičnou výstavou. In: Dobre Noviny. 14.08.2017. http://www.dobrenoviny.sk/c/108102/romsky-festival-ludia-z-rodu-romov-odstartuje-netradicnou-vystavou
Representatives of municipalities and non-profit organizations will share their positive experiences with Roma employment in the green economy in Košice. The workshop takes place on the 15th of August in Teledom on Timonova Street, will also include experts from Norway.
“The European Environment Committee has estimated that up to 860’000 new full-time jobs could potentially be generated by waste management – logistics, repair, sales and recycling by 2030. If this ambitious scenario could be met by reducing food waste, re-using textiles, furniture and recycling, by 2020, 425 million tonnes of CO2 emissions would be released into the European atmosphere and almost 61 million litres of water would be saved,” said Slavek Mačáková, Director of ETP Slovakia.
For Slovakia, this could mean an estimated 10,000 jobs and save our air from five million tons of CO2 and save 600,000 litres of water.
– Workshop v Košiciach bude o zamestnávaní Rómov v zelenej ekonomike, In: Dobre Noviny. 13.08.2017. http://www.dobrenoviny.sk/c/108021/workshop-v-kosiciach-bude-o-zamestnavani-romov-v-zelenej-ekonomike
An open letter by a Romani parish councillor on the lack of camping sites for Roma travellers.
– Letter: There Is A Lack of Provision of Gypsy and Traveller Pitches. In: The Guilford Dragon News. 13.08.2017. http://www.guildford-dragon.com/2017/08/12/letter-lack-provision-gypsy-traveller-pitches/
Two articles on the lead poisoning and its impact. And on the fact that many years after the fact, the UN refuses to apologise or to help these families. It is the UN who chose and ran the refugee camp for Roma on an industrial dump.
– Au Kosovo, les enfants du plomb attendent la justice. In: Euronews. 06.08.2017. http://fr.euronews.com/2017/08/06/au-kosovo-les-enfants-du-plomb-attendent-la-justice
– Les « enfants du plomb » attendent réparation au Kosovo. In: Epoch Times. 08.08.2017. http://www.epochtimes.fr/au-kosovo-les-enfants-du-plomb-attendent-la-justice-2-51010.html
Do you spot the issue? Two parties in schoolyards in Serbia. In the first scantily clad go-go dancers, in the second, a Roma wedding.
Against which were protests logged? Clearly against the “depravation” of a Gypsy Wedding.
– Schoolyards in south: Go-go dancers and Roma wedding party. In: B92. 07.08.2017. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2017&mm=08&dd=07&nav_id=102007
An Interview of Andreas Geringer, president of the Swiss Sinti and Roma Association on the issues with the camping site near the village of Wileroltigen and the ensuing controversies.
– Berührungsängste auf beiden Seiten. In: SRF. 10.08.2017. https://www.srf.ch/news/regional/bern-freiburg-wallis/beruehrungsaengste-auf-beiden-seiten
A report on the “Stolpersteine” in Salzburg, the small stones on the pavement commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. In Salzburg, there are a dozen of stones devoted to Roma, even though they were the largest victim group in that city.
Needless to say, these memorials are still controversial in Austria.
– Austrians tread carefully as underfoot Holocaust memorials remain controversial. In: The Times of Israel. 11.08.2017. http://www.timesofisrael.com/austrians-tread-carefully-as-underfoot-holocaust-memorials-remain-controversial/
Dire statistics on Roma in France: 4’382 Roma were expulsed in France in the first six months of the year from 50 camps or squats, 2’689 by the police, 867 after a fire, and 796 “voluntarily”… they haven’t been re-lodged, which is against the French law. This cat and mouse play has been lasting for serval years. In Marseilles, an article shows the impact of such constant expulsions on the families, while in Paris, the Roma in Montreuil are still on the street, a year after their expulsion. The fate of a family from Montenegro which will be expulsed gives a face to these policies.
– Des milliers de Roms toujours expulsés chaque année sans relogement. In: Boursorama. 10.08.2017. http://www.boursorama.com/actualites/des-milliers-de-roms-toujours-expulses-chaque-annee-sans-relogement-b483a202783105264df70980b4bc0c5a
– Marseille : la descente aux enfers, à force d’expulsions. In: La Marseillaise. 07.08.2017. http://www.lamarseillaise.fr/marseille/societe/62667-la-descente-aux-enfers-a-force-d-expulsions
– Montreuil : une année d’errance pour les familles Roms de la Boissière. In: Le Parisien. 10.08.2017. http://www.leparisien.fr/montreuil-93100/montreuil-une-annee-d-errance-pour-les-familles-roms-de-la-boissiere-10-08-2017-7186014.php
– Des familles monténégrines, bientôt expulsées, vont se retrouver à la rue. In: La Voix du Nord. 11.08.2017. http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/203322/article/2017-08-11/des-familles-montenegrines-bientot-expulsees-vont-se-retrouver-la-rue
An extremely disturbing article by the French essayist Xavier Raufer (a pen name since 1979 with his true name being Christian de Bongain). In this article he stresses the increase of break ins in France (a fact) and attributes it almost exclusively to Roma (a fantasy). Facts to that effect he doesn’t have. This is pure speculation and actually incitation to hate.
Not surprising for a man who spent his formative years in an extreme rightist movement called “Occident” …
– Hausse continue des cambriolages en France… mais qui en sont les auteurs ? In: Politico. 12.08.2017. http://www.atlantico.fr/decryptage/hausse-continue-cambriolages-en-francemais-qui-en-sont-auteurs-xavier-raufer-3134893.html
Welsh travellers in Cardiff are billed up to three time the average water costs of a family in Wales… Really?
– People on a Cardiff traveller site are angry they pay three times more for water than an average home. In: Wales Online. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/people-cardiff-traveller-site-angry-13461715
An article about the “fear of the Gypsies” in Germany, following the arrival of Irish Travellers in Düsseldorf.
– Die Angst vor dem “Zigeuner” In: RP Online. 12.08.2017. http://www.rp-online.de/nrw/panorama/irish-traveller-die-angst-vor-dem-zigeuner-aid-1.7007763
Shahak Shapira did an action in front of the Twitter Headquarters in Germany: he printed many racist comments found in Twitter about which he regularly complained on the pavement. Watch …
– This artist graffitied the worst tweets he could find, right outside Twitter’s office. In: Upworthy.com. 11.08.2017. http://www.upworthy.com/this-artist-graffitied-the-worst-tweets-he-could-find-right-outside-twitters-office
– Israeli artist trolls Twitter with hate graffiti outside headquarters in Hamburg. In: i24. 08.08.2017. https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/152526-170809-german-artist-trolls-twitter-with-hate-graffiti-outside-headquarters-in-hamburg
And here we go. Father sells his daughter into slavery in the UK. And this in the Times.
BAD.
– Roma girl, 12, was sold by father to work for British family. In: The Times. 11.08.2017. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/roma-girl-12-was-sold-by-father-to-work-for-british-family-bm0v57pgw
An example of what can be found in the Polish press… The account of an aggression of a woman by a “horde” or angry Roma, the poor woman just wanted to bring her car to the garage and parked it near the Roma housing estate.
This is more a reflection of the tensions in some part of Poland nowadays.
– Tłum Romów zaatakował Polkę. Byli wściekli, że „biała ku*wa” zaparkowała na ich ulicy (video). In: Pikio. 09.08.2017. http://pikio.pl/tlum-romow-zaatakowal-polke-byli-wsciekli-ze-biala-kuwa-zaparkowala-na-ich-ulicy-video/
A German article on Irish Travellers. Why? Simply because they travel way beyond the borders of Ireland and are often to be seen iN Germany and Switzerland over the summer.
– Wer sind die Irish Travellers? In: RP Online. 11.08.2017. http://www.rp-online.de/nrw/panorama/irische-landfahrer-in-duesseldorf-wer-sind-die-mysterioesen-travellers-aid-1.6998811
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