The Rroma Family from Hungary has been granted a reprieve. For how long, this is not clear.
An article on the Rroma palaces of Buzescu. For once, in spite of some clichés, quite differentiated. A few wrong facts, and we are missing the small note that not all Rroma are as Kalderaša. And Kalderaša they are, all of them, and showing off.
As we write, the Lakatos family will probably have returned to Hungary. Their permit expired yesterday, and bar a miracle, they will have had to leave.
A report on begging in Stuttgart and on the actions of the police against it. Again, Rroma are seen as the main source of beggars (from Bulgaria, Slovakia, and from Romania). Clearly an amalgamation of Rroma to beggars …
A follow up of what happened to Mitko, the young Rrom who made the headlines in April for being beaten up after having said he was the equal of a Bulgarian.
Chilling …
An article which summarises the interview from Viktor Orban in the Frankfurter Allgemeine. To quote him: “in Hungary we must integrate hundreds of thousands of our Roma compatriots into the labour market.” This is a good excuse for a lot of things. An in terms of work integration, they have come up with the mandatory Közmunka, a source of cheap labour…
A sad headline. In Romania, in a remote mountain village, nearly 40 young man and women were detained by a Rroma clan and de-facto held as slaves. The police indicted 38 people.
One can ask whether saying that the criminals are Rroma is relevant. We think not, as this only contributes to yet another negative stereotype. These are criminals, and should be judged as such. Ethnicity has lost nothing here.
Yet another family of Hungarian Rroma refugees in Canada is facing potential deportation back to Hungary.
Bad …
An interesting article explaining Eleie Wiesel’s views on Poland (a “Jewish Graveyard”) and on why Auschwitz was so much uniquely Jewish for him.
Even if one disagrees with him on this latter point, as the Holocaust is also a Rroma tragedy, he was and remains one of the voices of our conscience. May he rest in peace.
Bulgarian authorities started demolishing “illegal” housing in the Rroma neighbourhood of Stolipinovo in Plovdiv.
BAD … What do they want to achieve? Razing the entire neighbourhood?
Interesting interview of Alexander Mušinka, who co-authored the strategy for integration of Rroma in the Slovak Republic. He speaks about how many Rroma, whether they all live in Ghettoes (they don’t), whether they really have more children (not always, and more driven by socio-economic factors, i.e. being poor), etc.
Worthwhile read!
A long article about the Hotel Gračanica project, a hotel run by Rroma in a country that doesn’t want any Rroma … And lots of information about the current situation.
The Duden is at the centre of a controversy regarding the Ustasha. In its latest definition, they say “Croatian Nationalist movement who fought against Serbian centralism”. This prompted a backlash in the Web, as the Ustasha are definitively Nazis who killed all Rroma in Croatia (yes) and nearly all the Jews there.
A complaint has been filed by Rroma activists against a page in Facebook and against the person who posted the comments for requesting that “gypsies be set on fire”…
What a joke … According to Mr. Zoltan Balog, the Hungarian minister for Human Resources, the situation of Rroma improved over the last two years in Hungary. Specifically, 50’000 Rroma have found new jobs. What he forgets to say is that these jobs are in the so-called Közmunka – or mandatory work scheme that replaced social care.
This is total BS…
Hungary is fast approaching the deadline of its response to the European Commission letter on the segregation of Rroma in schools. The government is procrastinating… Janos Lazar, a prominent member of the government went as far as saying he has “no idea how the European Commission knows who is and isn’t a gypsy”. Well, if he ever set his foot in a village, and went to a school, he’d know.
Elie Wiesel, who just died, urged his native Romania to confront its past and acknowledge the deportation of Jews and Rroma from Romania. What this article misses, ist that most Rroma were not deported to camps but displaced to Transnistria n the North East where an unknown number died of hunger and illnesses.
More and more Rroma are being evicted from their lodgings to make space for new developments or tenants. This mostly without compensation.
A Rromni was beaten up by Skinheads in Zajecar for not obvious reasons other than her ethnicity.
BAD!
The European Commission report on Rroma integration calls for renewed efforts towards this goal. The First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, is quoted saying: “Roma are part of our societies, and they are part of Europe. This report comes as a timely reminder for Member States to show more political determination and implement their commitments to integrate Europe’s Roma communities. Member States should use to the full the relevant policy, legal and financial tools to ensure equal opportunities and Roma inclusion.”
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