Monthly Archives: October 2022

Albania Europe News Eastern Europe

Roma Tales and Legends

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Combating anti-Gypsyism and discrimination in its various forms and supporting access to quality inclusive education are two of the priority areas of the Council of Europe’s Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2020-2025).

Knowledge of the history and culture of the Roma and Travelers is still marginal or even non-existent among the general public and this misreading strongly contributes to the discrimination to which these populations are confronted.

There is an urgent need to highlight the contribution of Roma and Travelers to European societies through culture, arts and history. Educational policies on minorities are urgent.

Sead Kazanxhiu’s illustrated book, Roma Tales and Legends (published in trilingual: Albanian, English, Romani and separately in French) is an important contribution to the recognition and understanding of Roma culture, for Roma and non-Roma children and for the general population.

News Eastern Europe Romania

Romania and Racism

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The movie “N.M.R. » : welcome to Transylvania from Romanian director Cristian Mungiu stages a village in the depths of Romania to evoke community tensions and racism. A Romanian returns to his village in Transylvania, with Romanians, Hungarians, and Roma. Hungarians and Romanians are united to to chase Roma from the village. And almost all are determined do the same to three Sri Lankan workers, “low cost” employees who have just been hired in the factory.

To be seen!

France News Western Europe

French Chronicle …

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Pretty usual week in France on Roma. An exhibition on the Romanian slavery of Roma in Nantes; near Paris, Roma are getting support for them to stay in a camp near Bobigny from their neighbours, an exception; also near Paris, a camp is evacuated; in Lyon, Roma finally get water; two camps closed in the South of France; and finally, several Roma were condemned for having defrauded immigration candidates from the East.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Conference

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For over two hours, the Bulgarian Vide-President Iliana Yotova discussed with Romane girls and women the problems they face and possible solutions. Yotova was a guest at a national meeting of Roma women “Girls with dreams: let’s turn the page”, which was held at the University of Veliko Tarnovo “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”. The seminar, organized by the Amalipe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance, brought together participants from all over the country. The management of “Amalipe” thanked the vice president for his constant support over the years.

Germany News Western Europe

Zilli Schmidt

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The Holocaust survivor Zilli Schmidt, a German Sintiza, died in Manheim, Germany at the age of 98.

May she rest in peace.

News Western Europe Sweden

Stockholm Conference on Roma Genocide

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On October 20th and 21st, an international conference on the Genocide of the Roma and on Combatting Antigypsyism was held in Stockholm. The conference was both in person as well as online with over 100 participants online and ca. 50 in person. There were Roma representatives from Sweden, but also other Roma from Romania, Serbia, France, and other countries as well as researchers International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) members, as well as Swedish representatives.

The conference was held under the auspices of the Swedish presidency of the IHRA for 2022.

There was a very strong consensus among Roma who were present on the terminology: They clearly preferred the name of Roma Holocaust over the one of Genocide, having the feeling that using the latter belittles their sufferings during the period. An interesting intervention by Andrej Kotljarchuk from the Uppsala University explained that “Holocaust” has a subjective value while “Genocide” is extremely well defined. So maybe we should speak about the Roma Genocide during the Holocaust.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia and Roma

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Twenty-five years ago, on October 18, 1997, after fishing, basketball and family gatherings, the Saturday day of a fourteen-year-old elementary school student from Belgrade should have ended peqacefully. Instead, around nine in the evening, Dušan Jovanović was knocked to the ground in front of a store near Belgrade’s Slavija by attackers, where they kicked him in the head with a cobblestone, and then hit him with part of a torn gutter.

He was killed only because he was a Roma. The killers were only three years older than the boy and were sentenced to a decade in juvenile prison in Valjevo. Both were released from prison in April 2004.

“That was the event that drove us to the streets for the first time,” says Osman Balić, director of the Yurom Center from Niš and president of the presidency of the League of Roma – the permanent conference of Roma citizens’ associations, for the BBC in Serbian.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany and Racism

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According to Romani Rose, the head of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the corona pandemic have led to more antigypsyism. In the economic and energy crisis, the old tradition of “excluding scapegoats from society is being strengthened,” Rose told the Evangelical Press Service (epd). In this way, right-wing extremists offer society a culprit. Growing antigypsyism and antisemitism had reached a threatening level.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine: Roma Settlement

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An employee of the Secretariat of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine carried out a planned monitoring visit to the site of a compact Roma settlement, located on Pershotravneva and Radyanska Streets in the village of Ozerna, Safyanivska Rural Territorial Community, Izmail District, Odesa Region, in order to verify the observance of the rights and freedoms of representatives of the Roma national minorities under martial law.

During the visit, it was found out that residential buildings of representatives of the Roma national minority were at risk of collapsing into Lake Yalpug. Due to landslides, the coastline is decreasing. Today, the distance from the cliff to the nearest yard is less than five meters.

It has also been established that only eight of the sixteen houses are inhabited. They need to be resettled urgently. Another issue is the strengthening of the coastline to avoid further erosion of the coast.

Taking into account the above facts and circumstances, the situation requires the state authorities and local self-government bodies to implement a policy aimed at solving problematic issues. In particular, this is a solution to the issue of coastal fortification, provision of water supply and other communications, as well as the inclusion of these issues in the strategic development plan of the community where the Roma settlement is located.

Let’s see what effectively happens … Probably all Roma will be resettled, but not provided with new houses …

Germany News Western Europe

Deutsche Bahn and Roma

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Deutsche Bahn adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antigypsyism. Deutsche Bahn (DB) is sending a clear signal against antigypsyism. In the presence of the Chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, and the Special Representative for Holocaust Remembrance and International Affairs of the Sinti and Roma at the Federal Foreign Office, Dr. Robert Klinke, DB CEO Dr. Richard Lutz adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antigypsyism. Beforehand, DB laid a wreath at the memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe who were murdered under National Socialism and commemorated the approximately 500,000 victims of this minority.

By accepting the working definition, DB is following the constructive discussions with Romani Rose and the Federal Government’s Antiziganism Commissioner, Dr. Mehmet Daimaguler, May 2022. This came about after reports of cases of discrimination against Ukraine refugees who belong to the Roma minority.

Europe Hungary News Eastern Europe

Brussels, Hungary, and Roma

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Brussels, Hungary, and Roma

Géza Ásós, who opened Hungary’s first Gypsy restaurant in Békés 11 years ago, gave a presentation at the first International Roma Business Forum in Brussels. In an interview with the Hungarian broadcast of Euronews, he said that his restaurant connects Hungarians and Roma. According to him, integration is helped by the fact that there is a labour shortage in Hungary, as a result of which Roma workers are encountered in more and more places and in more and more positions.

The Roma Business Forum was held in the European Parliament. The conference was organized by Fidesz MEP Lívia Járóka in order for Gypsy businessmen and EU decision-makers to share their experiences of difficulties and best practices. It is to be noted that Lívia Járóka is somewhat contested, as she fully supports the Orban government in spite of its repeated statements and acts on Roma.

Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, Olivér Várhelyi, the EU Commissioner responsible for enlargement and neighbourhood policy, and Attila Sztojka, a member of the Hungarian Parliament, who as a government commissioner assists with matters related to the Roma, spoke at the meeting.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Roma at War

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The twenty-nine-year-old Rom Vasil Medvědenko, together with his brother, volunteered for the Ukrainian army after seeing the footage of the massacre in Bucha. He decided to defend his homeland. At first Vasil could not believe the news about the Russian invasion, but after a few days he was sure that it was really a war. “I realized that this is a big problem for my country, where I grew up and raised my children. At first I thought that it wouldn’t last long, maybe a month, maybe it would end sooner, but when I saw the news about Bucha, I realized that it would be for a long time. It was the terrible events in Bucha that forced me to act – to voluntarily defend my native country,” he told RomaUA, a Ukrainian Roma information site that reported his story.

Germany News Western Europe

Ake Dikhea

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The German Newpaper taz is giving away 2×2 free tickets for the 6th International Roma Film Festival “AKE DIKHEA?” for the film “Time of Silence and Darkness” on October 27th. at 7:30 p.m. AKE DIKHEA is an international festival with films by and with Roma and Sinti, which has been taking place in Berlin every year since 2017. It shows the world from their perspective and asks how they see themselves and how they want to be seen.

News Switzerland

Switzerland and Camping Sites

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Another article on the fight of travellers in Switzerland to get camping sites, this time in Thal, Canton St. Gallen. The commune voted against the required zoning changes to allow for sur a site to be constructed.

One needs to say also that there are  camping sites and that by and large, foreign Roma are parked in so-called “transit sites”.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Hungary: Fekete Vonat

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Hungary: Fekete Vonat

The music group “Fekete Vonat” [Black Train] has reunited and released a new album. They played together for only five years, and it has been twenty years since the band broke up.

The band was founded in 1997. It got its name from the train transporting workers during the Kádár era. The black train brought and took workers from Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county to the capital and the country’s major cities. Among the passengers there were many unskilled Roma helpers living in segregation.

With this choice of name, the Fekete Vonat band announced their support for the Hungarian Roma and the importance of the fight against segregation and racism. That is why around the turn of the millennium they enjoyed huge popularity among the Roma in Hungary and abroad, and the whole country was in love with their songs and soundscape.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: OMG!

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Very recently, a discussion started in Bulgaria as to whether the singer Preslava, who is famous in Bulgaria might be a part or fully Romani. She did not comment on it …

And frankly, so what?

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Hungary: Teachers Protests

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Katalin Törley, a teacher in the Ferenc-Kölcsey High School is one of five teachers who were recently fired for having circumvented a right to strike that had become impossible to exercise. These firings prompted unprecedented protests in Hungary.

What is less known is that Katalin Törley, on a part time basis is providing school support for young Roma.

France News Western Europe

French Chronicle …

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Not many news this week about Roma in France, which is not surprising, as there are more pressing subjects in France right now such as the strike in the oil refineries which are causing real problems …

First a reportage in a Roma camp on Paris’ outskirts and with the people helping the residents. Then, an article about ca. 10’000 children who are not enrolled in schools in France, in spite of the law requiring it. This led some Roma last week to sure mayors of towns who refused to enrol their children. Finally, the announcement of a festival in Toulouse.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria and Roma

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Bad journalism in Bulgaria. A title that says “Furious Roma action in Montana: Father and son killed their son-in-law and…” a picture that has nothing to do with the facts showing Roma with weapons, and finally a text that states:

“After a family scandal, a 47-year-old father and his 20-year-old son from the Roma neighbourhood “Kosharnik” beat up their 27-year-old son-in-law. As a result of the fight, the injured son in law suffered moderate physical damage, with 2 broken ribs, a concussion and a head wound.”

Bad enough, but certainly not dead.

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