Monthly Archives: May 2023

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenian Mass Murder

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The first mass murder of Slovenian civilians by communist partisans took place on May 17, 1942, when they murdered 53 people in the Iška gorge, south of Ljubljana. The victims were mostly Slovenian Roma. The event has been thoroughly researched and historically documented, as the Government Commission on Covert Graves excavated the remains of the victims in 2017. The perpetrators were partisans of the 1st company of the Šercer battalion, who murdered 53 people that day, of which 49 were Roma and four were Slovenian. The only Romani woman who escaped the massacre in Iška was later murdered in Gornji Igo.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma

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Urška Klakočar Zupančič, the speaker of the Slovene Parlaiment, received representatives of the Association of Roma Councillors of Slovenia. They pointed out that the situation of the Roma is still bad, and they are also concerned about the low reputation of the Roma in society.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Auschwitz: Commemoration

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On Tuesday, Roma representatives commemorated Roma inmates in Auschwitz who, 79 years ago, rebelled in the so-called Zigeunerlager, which is part of the German KL Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

“Today we celebrate the 79th anniversary of the Roma rebellion. On May 16, 1944, one of the most heroic events during the functioning of KL Auschwitz-Birkenau took place in this area. (…) Today, by laying wreaths and lighting candles at the monument to the murdered Roma, we pay tribute to all the heroes of that day and honour the memory of those murdered here,” said Władysław Kwiatkowski from the Roma Association in Poland.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine Roma Strategy

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The Roma Women’s Foundation “Chirikli” initiated a discussion of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy for Facilitating the Realization of the Rights and Opportunities of Persons Belonging to the Roma National Minority in Ukrainian Society for 2024-2025.

The discussion took place online on May 12, 2023. It was attended by Roma mediators (Valentyna Zolotarenko, Zhuzhuna Duduchava, Maksym Jum, Bublyk Marina, Rada Kalandia) and representatives of 15 Roma organizations from Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Zakarpattia, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Donetsk, Kirovohrad regions (Yulian Kondur, Vasyl Bilous, Vira Drangoy, Eleonora Kulchar, Myroslav Horvat, Kostyantyn Musenko, Oleksiy Padchenko, Mykhailo Bilyavskyi), as well as the representative of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Zemfira Kondur.

https://www.facebook.com/Chiricli/photos/a.1337218203040379/6029698317125654/

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Weapons

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According to this article, there are more and more weapons to be found in Roma settlements in Slovenia. Why this is the case is not explained, nor is the source of those weapons.

Bad for all.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Role Model

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Roma university student and futsal talent Dominik Balog says he want to show the way to Roma children. He is completing his bachelor at the university in Prague, where he is studying criminology and will also play in the finals of the Czech futsal league. He was also a member of the delegation of successful Roma students, with whom the presidential couple recently discussed the possibilities of better integration of Roma into Czech society at Prague Castle.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech President on Lety

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Czech President on Lety

Petr Pavel, the new Czech president says the state carries responsibility in not having acted faster to buy the pig farm on the site of the concentration camp of Lety.

News Eastern Europe News Switzerland Ukraine

Roma Refugees from the Ukraine

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An article and video on Roma refugees from the Ukraine. According to the article, there could be as many as 100’000 of them. This number is probably too high an estimate. The article focuses on Roma from Transcarpathian Ukraine in the Czech Republic, a problematic issue.

France News Western Europe

French Chronicle …

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Little news this week in France on Roma. The Barvalo exhibition in Marseilles, a camp closed near Fos also in the Marseilles region. Finally, the story of a Romni whose child was forcibly removed based on the testimony of a man who turned out to be a racist. Bad.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Republic: Paroled

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In 2009, Václav Cojocara and Ivo Müller participated in an arson attack Roma on a home in Vítkov in the Opava region. They were caught and condemned to a prison sentence. Now, they have been conditionally released as they purged part of their sentence and showed good behaviour.

Whether this is a good idea remains to be seen…

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Judgement

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The staff of a cafe in Lučenec, Slovakia, made a mistake when they refused to serve a guest because he was  Rom. After almost six years of litigation, the Bratislava I District Court issued a judgement condemning the café to pay 1,500 euros and apologise.

In August 2017, a refused to serve Ladislav Rácz and his friend. He said it was because  he did not have a club card which costs 300 euros. Ladislaw said “When I asked him if it was by chance because we are Roma, gypsies and we are darker, he said that it is not for such a reason and that we should leave the area immediately.”

Ladislaw friend, non-Roma, went to the cafe. They served her without any problems. “She asked the waiter that she saw on the door that entry was only possible with a club card. The gentleman clearly told the camera that it is only for Roma, that they cannot serve Roma.”

Germany News Western Europe

Romno Kher

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Romno Kher (Roma House) sees itself as a place of learning, commemoration and encounter. Here, education not only means supporting children on their educational path, but also providing materials on the history and situation of the Sinti and Roma for schools and for the majority society. For example, based on the exhibition on the entire 600-year history since the Sinti were first documented in Germany in the 15th century: A history of discrimination that culminated in the Nazi genocide. But the exhibition also tells of survival strategies, of jobs, music, storytelling, right up to current topics such as the State Treaty and the Berlin Monument.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany Greens and “Secure States”

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The German Greens are against the proposal to qualify Moldova and Georgia as “secure states”,  a measure that would allow Germany a speedy dispatching of refugees from those countries back in their homeland.

Germany News Western Europe

Housing and Roma in Germany

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Two cases of houses in Berlin which are mostly rented by Roma, where the residents have been expelled and need to go, making space for newer constructions.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Integration

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907 Mio EUR have been secured from the next period of the integration of Roma in Slovakia. The money will contribute to improving the situation of marginalized Roma communities (MRK). The changes also strengthened the position of the plenipotentiary office, as well as the centralization of the entire agenda, which should lead to a more efficient use of funds. Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma communities, Ján Hero, stated this in response to Wednesday’s (May 10) press conference of the member of the Slovak National Council for SaS Vladimír Ledecký, who criticized the state’s current actions in the area of MRK inclusion.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Discrimination

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The District Court of Bratislava ruled in the case of discrimination against a Rom, Ladislav Rácz, who was refused service in a cafe in Lučenec in 2017. The defendant must apologize to him for the discrimination and compensate him financially, the court’s decision is not final, as the defendant can still appeal.

France News Western Europe

Barvalo

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Several articles are devoted to the new exhibition in Marseilles in the museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisation entitled “Barvalo”

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