Author Archives: Roma Foundation

Austria News Western Europe

Austria: Memorial

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Austria: Memorial

For National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ), the erection of a memorial to the Roma and Sinti persecuted and murdered under National Socialism is “a long overdue step.” “I very much hope that the ongoing search for a location will soon lead to a positive outcome,” he said in his opening speech at the event marking International Roma Remembrance Day in Parliament.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and International Roma Day

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Slovenia and International Roma Day

Some articles in the Slovenian press about the international Roma day. In one, a discussion with the German/Kosovar publicist, artist, photographer and human rights activist Behar Heinemann, and in the other, the more traditional dance and folklore.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Housing

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Slovakia: Housing

The city of Veľký Šariš today began installing new unimo cells for residents who lost theirs in the tragic fire on March 19th with five victims. After today’s installation of the connection on Thursday, the unimocells (container housing units) will be connected to the existing networks, and the tenants should start moving into them from Friday.

It is in such housing units that the fire started. And nothing has really been done to prevent a further tragedy. But this is at least something.

Italy News Western Europe

Rome – Demolitions

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Rome – Demolitions

A series of articles about the demolition of two villas in Rome belonging to “Sinti clans”. The houses were in violation of the building code and the legal proceedings go back to 2010.

As for the “Sinti clans”, well, there are a few doubts that these are “clans” and “Sinti”.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

LGBT+ Roma

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LGBT+ Roma

David Tišer is a well-known Czech Roma activist. He is the director of the Ara Art organization, which also supports LGBT+ people among the Roma. In his interview, he was asked why some Roma consider queer people ritually unclean and why coming out among Roma can be even harder than in mainstream society.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Illegal Houses

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Illegal Houses

The mayor of the village of Torysa near Sabinov has ordered the residents of the settlement to remove illegal buildings. They are using the land on which their homes stand without any legal title. The government’s plenipotentiary for Roma communities Alexander Daško is looking for a systemic solution with the mayor of the village of Torysa. The demolition of 77 illegal dwellings would deprive four hundred Roma of a roof over their heads. Miriam Žiaková, director of the media department of the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities, informed about this.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Politics and Roma

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Slovakia: Politics and Roma

The chairman of the political party “Progressive Slovakia”, Michal Šimečka, said: “Approximately 440,000 Roma live in Slovakia. A huge number of them face discrimination, open or hidden hatred or violence every day. And I am not just talking about the thousands of them who live in settlements without sewage and drinking water.”

According to the chairman of the Progressive Slovakia, by excluding them, we are unnecessarily losing the potential, wasting the talent and job opportunities of tens of thousands of people who could be an enrichment for our society – humanly, culturally and economically.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia: Education, Art, and Roma

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Czechia: Education, Art, and Roma

What is the power of words, culture and art in creating a feeling that one belongs somewhere and can be proud of oneself? This is a question that concerns not only minorities in Czech schools. The way to do this can be social support from the environment and art. For Roma students, it is offered, for example, by the Ara Art organization, which is dedicated to activist culture, or the Kher publishing house, which publishes children’s books on Roma themes. How to ensure that children’s talent and potential do not go to waste?

Roma children make up roughly three percent of all students in Czech schools. However, they are not enrolled evenly. According to PAQ Research data, in 2023 there were approximately 130 segregated schools where Roma made up at least a third of the students.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia and the International Roma Day

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Czechia and the International Roma Day

An article about April 8th, stressing its origins to the historic congress in Orpington, near London, UK, which took place from April 7 to 12, 1971, laying the foundations for international Roma cooperation and bringing symbols of Roma identity.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Illegal Buildings

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Slovakia: Illegal Buildings

The mayor of the village of Torysa near Sabinove has ordered the residents of the Roma settlement to remove illegal buildings. They are using the land on which their homes stand without any legal title.

According to the mayor of the village, Jozef Stedina, the residents of the settlement have not yet responded to repeated calls to legalize their homes and have not even paid a fine. For this reason, he sent them calls to definitively remove the illegal buildings within nine months.

This is a usual trend to remove settlements. The issue is that at the fall of communism, Roma were not given the land on which they lived. Thus, all buildings are illegal. The same argument was done in Bulgaria to remove Roma.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

International Roma Day

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International Roma Day

Several articles in the Slovak press about the International Roma Day on April 8th. They stress that 35 years have passed since the decision was made that April 8 would be International Roma Day. Ite was adopted in 1990 by delegates near Warsaw at the fourth World Roma Congress (Romano kongreso lumiakro), organized by the International Romani Union (IRU). The choice of the date of April 8 is connected with the commemoration of the first global meeting of the Roma, which took place from April 8 to 12, 1971 in Orpington near London.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Liberec: Vandals

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Liberec: Vandals

A vandal damaged a memorial of Roma children from the Czech city of Liberec who were murdered during the Holocaust. The memorial was only erected a year agao.

Shame!

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Prague: International Roma Day

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Prague: International Roma Day

During the Saturday concert at the Prague Jazz Dock, on the occasion of the celebrations of the International Roma Day, the singer, actress and presenter Alžbeta Ferencová, known by her stage name Zea, performed. In an exclusive interview for the first Roma internet television, ROMEA TV, she shared her impressions of the concert and her personal relationship to the celebrations of the Roma identity.

During the evening, Zea sang her own compositions as well as traditional Roma songs that have a deeper meaning for her. She sings in English, Slovak and Romani – each language has a different charm for her. “The most natural thing for me is to sing in English. But with Slovak and Romani, I see that people understand it more, it is more personal,” said the artist. However, she admits that writing lyrics in Slovak gives her more work: “I want the text to have a nice meaning, I don’t want anything quick and easy. I am not that good a lyricist, I have to admit that.”

France Greece News Western Europe

Greece: Romaland

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Greece: Romaland

A theatre performance about Roma in Greece, with Roma. The scenography, which, through its few elements, flouts expectations. A plastic chair, a wooden hut with a tin roof, grass and rocks, car seats, a guitar, and even a large, dilapidated billboard—which will serve as a projection screen—denote an environment that ticks all the boxes of stereotypes. Assistant director Avraam Goutzeloudis, himself Roma, introduces the setting.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Środa, Poland: Conference

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Środa, Poland: Conference

A special meeting dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Roma and Sinti Genocide during World War II will be held in the Środa Library Aprill 11th. The speaker will be Lucyna Matkowska, née Ondycz, a representative of the second generation of Holocaust survivors from Środa. She will share moving memories of her family, reflections on the memory and legacy of this tragedy, and the challenges facing future generations.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Łodz – Litzmannstadt Ghetto

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Łodz – Litzmannstadt Ghetto

The “Gypsy” camp in Łódź was the first ghetto intended exclusively for Roma and Sinti in occupied Polish lands. In the Łódź ghetto, it was located on Wojska Polskiego, Obrońców Westerplatte, Starosikawska and Głowackiego (in today’s street names). in November 1941 almost five thousand Roma and Sinti from Burgenland (the Austro-Hungarian border) were imprisoned.

A guided tour is organised on April 10th at 18:00.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poznan: Roma Ghetto

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Poznan: Roma Ghetto

There is a Roma settlement on Lechicka Street in Poland, a real ghetto. Fires often occur there, mostly due to the accumulated garbage. The Poznań City Office has been demanding that it be cleaned up for several years. As reported by Radio Poznań, city officials went to inspect. Apparently, the owner of the land, who is staying in the United States, has already been fined 4 times, amounting to several dozen thousand złoty. It seems that enforcing the clean-up is difficult.

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