Author Archives: Roma Foundation

News Western Europe United Kingdom

Riots in Leeds

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There has been a large riot in Leeds, UK, with police cars overturned, a bus set afire, and reports of looting and other property damages.

Why did they occur: Apparently, a family with 5 children had a toddler admitted in hospital with head injuries. Social Services decided immediately to take over all 5 children while the parents were away working. This resulted in a clash, with police intervention, and the whole situation escalated rapidly.

There is so far no official statement on this, and the protagonists are reported to be of Romanian origins. Romanians on social media of course said these were Roma, which is probable.

Really bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Reaction to the Slovak Experiment

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A Slovak MP, Ingrid Kosova criticizes the project of the Ministry of Education to teach Roma children in Romanes. She says that up to 65 percent of Roma children encounter segregation during education. They do not encounter other children, they lose the opportunity to escape from the environment of generational poverty. It is not just a historical, cultural or economic question. It is first and foremost a deeply moral question. The consequences of segregation in schools are humiliating and dehumanizing. First of all, politicians can change it. However, they are failing miserably, and the result is that, according to the data of the European Union, Slovakia is the worst in terms of segregation among the member states. And the situation continues to worsen.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma Education

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The Slovak Ministry of Education launched a pilot project where Roma children are taught in Romanes. This is a scandal and cementing the segregation of Roma in school. It certainly will not help integration.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Hungary: International “Gypsy” Song Day

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On August 8, 2024 – the birthday of the legendary North Macedonian singer Esma Redžepova – the International “Gypsy” Song Day will be held for the third time. This year, 15 venues in six countries will participate in the event series and 50 bands will perform at home and abroad on the initiative of Mihály “Mazsi” Rostás. The face of the series of events is Mónika Lakatos, a Romani singer who won the Kossuth and WOMEX Lifetime Achievement Awards. The International Gypsy Song Day celebrates diversity with the participation of legendary Gypsy and non-Gypsy artists with a range of venues and programs that expand every year.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, and Health

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The Slovak Ministry of Health reacted to the comments of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’ Flaherty, who, after a recent visit to Slovakia, called on the Slovak authorities to urgently address the “terrible living conditions” of thousands of Roma, and improve their access to health.

The ministry said they would support programs for “socially excluded groups”.

Let’s see.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia: Brawl

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During the evening hours in Ljubić polje in Čačak, South Serbia, there was a massive brawl between Roma which left two people injured.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Jerzy Ficowski

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The Association of Roma in Poland reacted to the accusations against Jerzy Ficowski published in a book by Dr. Emilia Kledzik, who accused Jerzy Ficowski of excessive interference in the translation of the works of Papusza, i.e. Bronisława Wajs, using the word “forgery”.

The Association stated that “We believe that the allegations presented are unfair and require taking into account the appropriate historical context.”

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Oda na kames …

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Oda na kames [what you don’t like] is a two-year project of the Ara Art organization, which aims to map hate speech and violence against the Roma minority on the Internet and in real life.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Pilsen, Roma, and Ukrainians

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Jiří Winkelhöfer, Pilsen city councilor for security and crime prevention, said that Roma crime prevention assistants have been working in the Pilsen Municipal Police since 2013. “Since last year, four more assistants with knowledge of the Ukrainian language, because tens of thousands of refugees have found refuge in Pilsen,” he added.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

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After a recent visit to Slovakia, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty called on the Slovak authorities to urgently address the “terrible living conditions” of thousands of Roma. In the east of Slovakia, he visited Stará Tehelňa in Prešov, Jarovnice, Petrovany, Luník IX in Košice and Kecerovce, where he met with representatives of Roma communities, local authorities and groups working with Roma.

“Prejudice against Roma is deeply rooted in society. Discrimination affects all areas of Roma life in Slovakia: from placing Roma women in separate maternity wards to segregated Roma children in education. Many Roma are deprived of access to adequate housing and are rejected in job interviews, ” he stated.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Roma Gang

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Two articles in the Czech press about a gang of young Roma in the town of Šternberk who beat up a young girl and broke her nose.

This is bad for all Roma.

News Americas

Roma in the USA

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The Roma organization Rom Sam Yekh organized a debate in New York about the future of the Roma in the USA. The event was organized on the occasion of International Roma Day. The main meeting of activists and experts took place on April 22 in Brooklyn and discussed the education, identity, traditions and rights of the American Roma.

“This evening is not about me, it is not about my family, it is not about my community. This evening is intended to raise awareness of the fact that Roma are united, that is, all Roma are one nation. Even though we have different cultures, we are all one,” said Michael Ciuraru, the main organizer and co-founder of the Roma Sam Yekh group, which deals with the education, culture and history of the Roma in the United States, in an interview with ROMEA TV.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, the UK, and Roma

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A reportage in Spiš, Slovakia, where many residents of the Roma settlement work in the UK and return home with nice cars, luxury goods, and renovate their houses. The story from exclusion to integration, albeit in another country.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Amaro Fest

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Over the weekend, Nitra, in Slovakia, will host the eighth annual international Roma festival called Amaro Fest 2024 – open air gipsy festival. As the organizers from the civic association Roma Art Agency stated, in addition to promoting culture, the festival is supposed to support Roma identity and contribute to the social and cultural inclusion of Roma. “Amaro Fest 2024 will offer performances by professional Roma artists from abroad and from home. The audience will see dynamic dance ensembles and the world star from Germany Ricard Kwiek with a live band, Ján Bendig will come from the Czech Republic,” the organizers informed.

France News Western Europe

French Chronicle …

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A reportage in a Roma camp near Marseilles in the South of France. These are not necessarily productive, as they reinforce many stereotypes which are not valid for all Roma. Near Paris, a camp was closed due to the Olympic games, and it seems from another reportage, that besides Roma, others are also displaced due to the Olympics. Finally, an interview with the mayor of a suburb from Nates about an integration camp there.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Integration

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A Slovak journalist, Petra Strižková, went to two Slovak villages: Bystré and Hlinné. What they have in common is that they succeeded in what many only dream of or say is impossible! Roma-non-Roma coexistence is harmonious there – and has been for decades. The beginning of the successful story of integration was the demolition of a Roma settlement 50 years ago.

Well, that is clear: If you segregate people in a ghetto, you will definitively not integrate them.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Civil Protection, and Roma

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The Office of the Government declared that, in addition to focusing on the field of civil protection, it will make maximum effective use of European funds aimed at the restoration of cultural monuments. “The restoration of cultural monuments, […], also has an important social element, in the form of social enterprises that employ a significant part of members of marginalized Roma communities during the restoration of cultural heritage,” according to the document approved by the government on Wednesday.

It means, like in Hungary, that they hire Roma (usually at low rates) for unskilled work…

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Forced Sterilisations

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The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of the Slovak Republic wants to establish a working group that would prepare a legislative proposal for compensation for women sterilized in violation of the law. The Department informed about this in connection with the meeting of its State Secretary Katarína Roskoványi with the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Michael O’Flaherty.

It is about time. The practice continued even after the fall of the iron curtain.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma

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The situation is not getting better in Slovenia, especially in the South East of the country. The article starts with “After the municipal councilors met in an extraordinary meeting last Wednesday due to the increasing insolence, violence and crime of individual Roma or groups of Roma in the municipality of Škocjan, another meeting was also organized last night by the village community of Grmovlje, which in addition to Grmovlje also includes Hudenje, Dobruško village and Doljno Staro village, and also invited villagers from the village communities of Dobrava pri Škocjan and Tomažja village.”

In brief, bridges are burnt. And this is bad.

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