Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

15.10.2014 Photo reportage on homeless Rroma: illustration of misery or favouring their exclusion?

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Mediapart (2014) comments critically on the photo-reportages of the French photographer Marc Melki. He portrayed homeless Rroma in the streets of Paris for two years, and published the photographs on the Internet, in exhibitions and in picture books. Mediapart criticises that the resulting photographs miss the intended aim of the photographer, without him acknowledging this aspect. Melki wanted to draw attention to the failure of the state and the public institutions that allow such misery, but at the same time he enables authorities and right-wing groups to identify the depicted persons and pursue them. In addition, the photographer does not get the consent of the portrayed families, but relies on the right to photograph in public: “According to several consistent testimonies of those managing the emergency shelters in France, they have repeatedly rejected the pleas of Roma families, who referred to the abandonment of an earlier accommodation, because of the publication of undated photos … In Brussels, families who were photographed without their knowledge, found themselves on right-wing extremist internet pages of their homeland. One can therefore completely wonder if these photos do not come to the aid of the police that comes at regular intervals to seize the impacts [possessions?] of the families, to throw them in waste containers and to drive them to their destruction…” Mediapart thus addresses an important point that is at times lost in the journalistic desire to document the “unvarnished truth”. Portraits and documentations are presented in a variety of contexts and with different intentions, whereby they are often given new meanings that do not need to correspond to the original photographer’s intent. For people who are heavily influenced by stereotypes about Rroma, the photographs of homeless Rroma can confirm their prejudices, rather than encourage them to inquiry and empathy, as the photographer intended. A discerning photographer should reflect upon the possible uses and interpretations of photos that can be used to the detriment of the portrayed persons. In France, there are an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma, according to estimates of the Rroma Foundation. The majority of them are integrated, go to work, speak French and have their own houses. Many of them have lived in France for several generations. The photographer negates these invisible Rroma  in his will to portray the “unvarnished truth”.

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Slovakia

15.10.2014 Racist hatred after “Rroma attacks” in a school of Sheffield

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Several British newspapers report on violence at the Hinde House School in Sheffield. Various students were victims of severe physical attacks in the last few weeks and months, for which Rroma youth from Slovakia are made responsible. While the school management states to get the situation under control, a group of parents calls for harder sanctions against the school violence. The school administration is deemed to show too much tolerance towards the “gang-like culture” of the Rroma community. In the case described here, problems that also exist at other schools are made in​​to ethnic issues. There is no “gang-like culture” of violence among Rroma. What the newspapers report are the actions of individuals, who could also belong to any other ethnic group. The cited parents, who accuse the school principal of Hinde House to do nothing against the Rroma adolescents for fear of racism accusations, see this differently: “Parents have accused an inner-city head teacher of turning a blind eye towards violent gangs of Roma pupils for fear of being labelled a racist. More than 1,600 people have signed an online petition claiming ‘children have been stabbed, mugged and nearly kicked to death’ at the school. It urges the head not to ‘be afraid’ to tackle the issue – and suggests he is failing to do so for fear of appearing racist because the majority of the perpetrators are of Slovakian Roma origin. […] The petition was launched after an attack last Thursday that left pupil Rhys Larkings, 14, battered and bruised with a broken nose after being allegedly punched to the ground by three Roma Slovak teenagers.” The adolescents responsible for the violence were excluded of the school as a consequence, and the police have launched an investigation against them. The complaint of the parents saying that the school administration does nothing for fear of racism accusations is therefore unfounded. Rather, the outrage of the parents cited seem to be influenced by the nationalism fuelled by UKIP, as one can read in the article’s comments section. Excessive ethnic divisions only occur when people are willing to be manipulated by nationalist rhetoric. Rroma are not more violent than other ethnic groups (compare BBC News 2014, Daily Express 2014, Lawton 2014, The Star 2014).

News Eastern Europe News Switzerland News Western Europe Romania

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Lichtensteiger (2014) provides information on a group of around 100 travelling Rroma, who had rented an empty meadow from a private citizen in Maischhausen. The community, which the journalist calls “clan”, had therefore settled legally on a private land and paid for it. Nevertheless, their presence led to turmoil and the engagement of the police: “They talk to each other in a Roma dialect, but with us in fluent German and French. Apparently, they are from the Alsace, which the number plates also indicate. “We are Roma, but not Romanian, write that! And we work here, not right here, but also in Zurich and the region”, says a traveller with a firm voice. On his red T-shirt emblazons the Swiss cross. They have a residency permit for one year and can work three months, it is said. […] The emergence of the strangers is perceived and commented on differently by the inhabitants. The opinions range from understanding, to indifference, to scepticism, to resentment and rejection. […] However, the landowner leased his land without the consent of the local authority. For this purpose, however, a building permit would have been required. […] Mayor Bruno Lüscher is on holiday. That’s why his deputy Roman Engelermeer took care of the matter. He did an on-site inspection and came to the conclusion that the stay was not tolerable in that way. Given the legal situation, the travelling community was asked to leave the place. They did this on the same day.” Lichtensteiger’s article clearly shows that Rroma often encounter massive resistance and are not be treated with kindness, despite the will to cooperate. Slightly more negotiating skills would have made the expulsion of the group unnecessary. It has also to be commented that the majority of Rroma are sedentary. Only a minority of the minority are in fact travelling (compare 20 Minuten, St.Galler Tageblatt 2014).

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

10.10.2014 Swedish Member of European Parliament wants special taskforce for Rroma issues

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EurActiv (2014) spoke with Soraya Post, Swedish Member of European Parliament for the social democrats and a Rromni. Post wants to establish a special taskforce for Rroma issues, in order to put emphasis on these topics and to be able to better sanction nations which don’t adhere to antidiscrimination laws. In EurActiv, she presents her objectives in more detail: “Needless to say that as a Roma MEP, I will work on having strong language on Roma issues in every piece of legislation the Parliament will be adopting. Secondly, I will make a suggestion to include Roma history and culture in the EU countries’ national curriculum. Apart from that, it is important to ensure that every event about Roma in Europe should offer translation into Romani. At conferences and meetings, it is often the case that Roma cannot contribute to discussions because of a lack of translation services. Lastly, my two main goals during this parliamentary term are to work towards appointing a EU Special Representative for Roma, and creating a Roma Platform. The EU Special Representative for Roma should coordinate the work that is done in the EU institutions on this issue. The person in charge should serve as a bridge between the Romani, civil society and politicians.” Using the example of Sweden, Post explained further who important a close collaboration between Rroma-representatives and government authorities is: for the White Paper that documents the history of the minority in Sweden for the period of 1900 till 2000, they hold intense talks for several months. The White Paper is now builds the basis for school materials and for the deconstruction of stereotypes.

Hungary News Eastern Europe News Switzerland News Western Europe

10.10.2014 The excluded Rroma of Miskolc

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Molnar (2014) reports, as Odehnal (2014) already did at the beginning of this week, on the eviction of a Rroma settlement in the eastern-Hungarian city of Miskolc. While those families who have a lease can apply for a replacement payment of up to 7’200 francs, all those who are in arrears for their rent or don’t have any official papers for their house, will not receive any compensation. The Rroma residents of this settlement in Miskolc were particularly affected by the decline of state-owned factories, Molnar states, where many of them worked. But the object of their anger are the reasons for the settlement’s eviction: the creation of a bus parking area for a football stadium, and the openly racial policies of the Fidesz and Jobbik parties, which even run campaign with the topic of “Gypsy crime”. Some of those affected hope for a better life in Western Europe, including in Switzerland: “We are poor, but we have rights. We urge the European Union, of which Hungary is a member, to take care of our case”, demands a Roma leader during a recently organised demonstration in Miskolc. “Our houses were not ruins, they were perfectly habitable”, confirms another, whose property was also destroyed. Witnesses, among them Barbora Cernušáková, of Amnesty International, share this opinion: “Gypsy Town” deserves not at all to be considered as a slum, they state. Many Roma have announced to want to leave Hungary. A group of several families is interested in Switzerland, “particularly known for its low unemployment rate”, one of them announced, who is close to Swiss Roma.” In Hungary, according to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 600,000 to one million Rroma. While many of them are affected by poverty and exclusion, there are also many well integrated Rroma, who belong to the middle or even upper-class. These are not perceived as Rroma.

Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

10.10.2014 Centuries-old prejudices exacerbate integration

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Petersen (2014) reports on the integration of recently immigrated Rroma families in Berlin. According to the journalist and the CDU (Christian Democratic Union), the findings are sobering. As reasons for the supposedly difficult integration, the journalist refers to common prejudices about Rroma, which are thoughtlessly reproduced: „According to the CDU, the integration of Roma in Berlin is threatened to fail! Meanwhile, approximately 10,000 Roma live in the capital, tendency increasing. However, often they cannot be integrated: centuries-old traditions and clan structures can rarely be influenced by western strategies of integration.“ Petersen conveys the notion of a culture as corset, to which all Rroma subject to. Tellingly he doesn’t mention the prejudices, which exist since centuries and essentially contribute to their marginalisation. A worldview that builds on prototypical conceptions of men, and reduces the possibilities of a person to his or her will to act, is very reductionist. Apart from the prejudices and discriminations that impede an integration, the following measures are supposed to be applied to better include the immigrant Rroma: „Representatives from the youth welfare and the public health office, the school board and the police from Berlin and Rumania shall together visit the Roma-families. In the process, proposals shall be made to the families and on the other hand, there shall be sanctions, if for instance the children don’t go to school. Only with decisive actions can the integration succeed, the youth and health town councillor of Neukölln, Falko Liecke (41), stated. “So far, the plan of action of the senate is a paper tiger.” Liecke developed the seven-point plan together with Christina Schwarzer (38, CDU), MP of Neukölln, after a trip to Rumania.“ The plan of action also includes registering the Rroma, not an unproblematic plan, as this would be an ethnic register, and the creation of more day schools and support in health insurance. According to the Rroma Foundation, an estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma live in Germany. The majority of them are well integrated, work, send their children to school, and have their own apartments.

Bulgaria Finland News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania Spain

10.10.2014 European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) wants to foster the civil society integration of the Rroma

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EurActic (2014) reports on the plan of the European Economic and Social Committee to better foster the civil society integration of Rroma. It recommends that the governments and aid organisations of the European member states should provide more social housing for marginalised families and should improve the cooperation with the minority representatives. The evaluation of the integration efforts of the different countries varies considerably. While the committee gives very good grades to for example Finland, the assessment of the Romanian Rroma-policy is very mediocre. Valeria Atzori, the EESC Representative for Rroma issues, states: ““Roma are not travellers by choice. They are obliged to leave because they are thrown out of their settlements,” she said. “When they have houses, they stay.” This is one of the first EESC conclusions following visits to countries with Roma minorities over the last few months. EESC experts met with the Roma community, NGOs and national authorities in Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, and Spain. Through these meetings, the EESC aims at exploring civil society initiatives in the Roma integration process, and provide recommendations to EU institutions in November. According to Atzori, the situations vary considerably between countries. […] In Romania, the government still lacks political will to help the Roma, despite the creation of a National Agency for Roma Integration. NGOs and the Roma were defensive in their meetings with the EESC, and blamed both the government and the EU for not doing enough. Romania is also confronting deeply rooted stereotypes about Roma. Atzori said that due to a few Roma that are exploiting the system, a lot of Romanians believe that the minority deserves the deplorable situation they are in now.” What is not mentioned in the analysis is that the different EU-countries are dealing with very different conditions. The economic situation and political stability in the states are not equal, and difficult economic situations facilitate mechanisms of social exclusion. On the other hand, the will of political and civil society to integrate the minority is without doubt a critical factor to a better integration of the Rroma. In Mid-October, the European Economic and Social Committee will be rewarding eight organisations that have been particularly committed to a better social integration of the Rroma.

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

10.10.2014 Jean-Marie Le Pen in court again because of racist remarks

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Paris Normandie (2014) reports that Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the rightwing-nationalist Front National, is again set to appear in court on October the 9th. Le Pen had claimed at a party congress in 2012 that the Rroma steal as naturally as birds fly. In French, the word “voler” means both “to fly” and “to steal”. Le Pen was subsequently sentenced by the criminal court of Paris on December the 19th, 2013, in the first instance, to a fine of 5000 Euros. Since he has appealed against the judgment, he must now appear before the court of appeal of Paris: “The attorney for the MEP, Mr. Wallerand de Saint-Just, refers among others to the “right to humour”. A law which “contains limits, and which must stop at the point where violations of human dignity and personal attacks begin”, the tribunal had reminded. If the last “has in no way has spoken about humour or word games of good taste”, the judges estimate that the controversial statements indicate to a willingness to stigmatisation, which degrade the Roma “with a comprehensive and severely insulting stereotype.”” Pierre Mairat, co-president of the anti-racism organization MRAP, which had filed the lawsuit against Le Pen, condemned his remarks as a disparaging and demagogic. The the court of appeal will communicate its verdict on November the 20th (compare 20 Minutes 2014, BFM TV 2014, Le Nouvel Observateur 2014).

Belgium France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Spain

10.10.2014 Rroma, Pentecostals churches and ambivalent morals

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Quambry (2014) reports on the increasing popularity of Pentecostal churches among Rroma communities in the UK and in continental Europe. With the example of the Appleby horse fair in Cumbria, in the north of Britain, she explains the effect of the Christian movement on the community: the “Life and Light Gypsy Church” recruits actively new members there, strengthens the social cohesion of the community and tries to overcome the discrimination against the minority: “There have been religious services at Appleby from the 1930s till the 1970s, according to local historian and town mayor, Andy Connell, but they were led by local Methodist or “Assemblies of God” ministers, rather than Gypsy pastors. Life and Light, by contrast, is a church for the Gypsy people, led by them. It is changing everything that we think we know about the communities, reinventing and redrawing the image of the Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people throughout Europe. They are presenting a new face to the outside world – one of forceful moral and political authority, as they seek to free their people from prejudice and poverty. This is a story of emancipation, similar to that of the Baptist church in the American Deep South, led by civil rights and religious leader, Martin Luther King. The movement has spread from Brittany throughout France, into Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, South America, Scandinavia, Britain and Eastern Europe. Around one third of all French Gypsies are now thought to be Pentecostal Christians – with about the same proportion in Spain and Portugal. Further east, in the former communist bloc, many Roma are Pentecostals […].” The self-empowerment of Rroma through the Pentecostal church can indeed be seen as something positive, if one focuses on the aspect of the strengthening of civil rights. However, one should be cautious when the Pentecostal morality is said to be superior to other social values. Many Pentecostal churches forbid contraception for their members, to abort and diabolise homosexuals as being possessed by demons. Such a morality is not based on an enlightened understanding of the world and independent critical thinking, but on Christian traditions, which in case of contradictions, put themselves above the traditions of the Rroma. An uncritical subjection to conservative role models and values should be questioned. They can also severely hinder a real self-determination.

Greece News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

10.10.2014 Rroma, role models and education in Greece

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Sutton (2014) reports on the Rroma community of a suburb of Thessaloniki. According to the author’s opinion, the access to education for the local Rroma is still very limited. Women and girls are particularly affected as they often get married early due to traditional role models, she states. Sutton tries to show the discrimination against Rroma, but also reproduces one-sided stereotypes about the minority, especially by focusing on marginalised Rroma that are, contrary to her assertion, not representative of all Rroma, but rather a visible minority of the minority: “Statistics on Roma women make for depressing reading. They have on average 10 years lower life expectancy than the rest of the EU’s populations, higher infant mortality, less access to healthcare, limited access to information, extremely high levels of illiteracy, far higher rates of addiction, far, far lower rates of employment, voting and education, poorer housing and sanitation. In addition, girls are married off at 13 and generally start having children immediately, most without any knowledge of material health, infant nutrition or how to read. Despite giving birth in hospitals, the medical system doesn’t work on their behalf. Greek doctors don’t inform social services for a 13-year-old Roma girl in labour, even though this is one place where the vicious cycles of bad health, poverty and disempowerment could be broken.”

The continuing discrimination against Rroma as well as role models and traditions that impede or prevent an individual conduct of life are massive problems, which must be decidedly fought. However, the image of Rroma that is conveyed here which portrays them as a mass of uneducated and illiterate persons, who bear children while themselves in childhood, represents only a part of reality. They are visible Rroma, who live mostly in segregated settlements and are therefore easy to reach for statistical surveys or aid organisations. The integrated Rroma, who have good education, belong to all strata of society and also form part of the minority, are hidden by this account. This is problematic, especially when starting from the liberal premise that the life situation of poor people results from a lack of individual initiative, or even connects the characteristics described here in a fallacy with the culture of the Rroma. Poverty and exclusion have nothing to do with the Rroma culture. The general assertion that Rroma girls are married of at the age of 13, applies only to traditional families and certain groups. Many Rroma want a good education for their children and question traditional role models and early marriages. Sutton also implies this, when she asks the portrayed girls about their own wishes for the future. Nevertheless, a more critical and differentiated presentation of the background and the heterogeneity of the minority would have been very appropriate.

Sutton, Ruth (2014) The young Roma women who are changing their communities. In: Open Democracy online vom 8.10.2014. https://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/ruth-sutton/young-roma-women-who-are-changing-their-communities

Hungary News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

08.10.2014 Forced expulsion of Rroma in Miskolc

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Odehnal (2014) reports on the eviction of around 600 Rroma from the North-Hungarian city of Miskolc. All the reasons cited for the eviction of the Rroma settlement, called by the locals the “numbered streets”, point to racist motives. On one hand, for nearby football stadium, which is to be developed into a Fifa-grade stadium, a bus parking for 400 buses is planned instead of the Rroma settlement. However, between the stadium and the settlement, there is a big, empty wasteland that would also serve this purpose. Much more obviously racist are the other reasons given. It’s the upcoming mayoral elections: “In the whole of Hungary, at October the 12th, local elections take place, and in Miskolc the campaign focuses completely on the topic of the alleged Roma crime. Also the coalition of the left parties participates in it. Their candidates campaign with the promise that they will “make order”: Miskolc should be returned to the natives of Miskolc [meaning ethnic Magyars]. Campaigns against the minority have been running in Miskolc for years. The former police chief of Miskolc, Albert Pasztor, stated in 2009 that exclusively Roma committed burglaries and robberies in the city: living together with the minority was “simply impossible””. Now Pasztor runs for election as mayor of Miskolc, as a socialist candidate. The incumbent city major, Akos Kriza of the Fidesz-party, justifies the destruction of the Rroma settlement on the grounds of wanting to improve public safety, which must be unequivocally interpreted as a deliberate expulsion of alleged “criminal Rroma”. The inhuman hierarchy of ethnic groups becomes most distinctly manifest among the far-right Jobbik: “One has to separate the constructive from the destructive people”, party leader Gabor Vona announced two years ago, when they organized a protest march through the Romani settlement. That the degradation of democracy and the rule of law in Hungary are not only propaganda by foreign media, as nationalist Hungarian repeatedly claim in newspaper articles and Internet forums, should be becoming clear. A state that does not want to protect its minorities from discrimination and expulsion, but even promotes it, is no longer a real democracy (compare Pusztaranger 2014).

Hungary News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

08.10.2014 Hungary: government holds back poverty report

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Pester Lloyd (2014) reports that the latest poverty report of the Hungarian central statistical office (KSH), which usually always appears in late September, will probably appear this year only after the municipal elections of October the 12th. According to the opposition, with high probability this is the result of wanting to conceal the significant rise of the poverty rate, which would cast a poor light on the ruling Fidesz party. The spreading poverty creates a fertile ground for nationalist ideas that are also directed against the largest minority of the country, the Rroma: “A survey of the OECD, together with Gallup, found that nearly half of the Hungarian households cannot buy regularly enough food for an adequate nutrition, around 40,000 children hunger on a regular basis (2010: 20,000) and 250,000 (120,000) children are not properly fed. The 2010 study the Fidesz government did by itself, to illustrate the failure of the predecessors; the numbers four years later were contributed the abovementioned foreign organizations. At this point, it is necessary to clarify that a child who is hungry, is done violence to by the state. It is a crime against humanity. The government has – also with EU funding – again launched a multi-million dollar aid program and intensified it in the face of the coming winter, which provides, among other things, subsidised or free cafeteria food for the needy and distributes food parcels and firewood to households. However, it is regularly reported of humiliating allocation practices, especially towards the particularly affected Roma minority, which is either excluded or only benefit from this charity under specific conditions.” Given this news, it seems not without irony that the minister for human resources, Zoltan Balog, demanded in a recent statement the better integration of Rroma into the European labour market and a better use of their work force. As the current situation demonstrates, in many cases, the will to work alone is not sufficient to get a good job, because the equal access to training and the labour market is not given. Moreover, to designate the Rroma as cheap labour, who could do non qualified labour, is an ambivalent appreciation of a minority who also encompasses many skilled members (compare Politics.hu 2014).

News Eastern Europe News Switzerland News Western Europe

08.10.2014 Stereotypes: Rroma as gangs of thieves

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Brönnimann (2014) reports on gangs of thieves, who especially steal the valuables of hospital patients who are not in their rooms at the moment of theft. After a detailed description of a recent incident at the canton hospital of Nidwalden, in which the perpetrators asked for a Mr. Müller – one of the most common last names in Switzerland – it is noted that a witness identified the perpetrators as Rroma: “Of the men, there is no trace yet”, says Lorenz Muhmenthaler, head of the Nidwalden security police in the newspaper. According to the testimony of a witness, the suspects are Roma.” The mentioning of the ethnicity of the perpetrators is not necessary, as it only encourages racist stereotypes about a culture of crime among the Rroma. Rroma are not more criminal than other ethnic groups, rather, this is suggested by the media through the explicit thematisation of the Rroma in connection with criminal offenses. Moreover, the statement that the perpetrators looked like Rroma is based on racist criteria: it is undoubtedly meant that they were dark-skinned. There are also many light-skinned Rroma. Whether the criminals were in fact Rroma is not assured. It is rather an expression of suspicion, based on prejudices. A cultural interpretation of the offenses is necessarily racist and ignores and discredits the majority of Rroma living respectable and integrated lives. More caution when using ethnic criteria and fomenting prejudice and resentment would be appropriate. The negative stereotypes about Rroma have become a generally unquestioned canon.

Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

08.10.2014 “The Roma have to stay”

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A primary school teacher from Ennepetal calls for the integration of immigrated Rroma families. He demands that the immigrant families be accepted and supported in their integration efforts, with special regard to the future of their children. The primary school teacher Folkert Köppe therefore decidedly speaks against a policy of expulsion, as the owner of the houses in which the families are currently located, intends to do. He announced a few weeks ago to terminate the lease of all families, although temporary leases have no legal basis in Germany. Folkert Köppe states: “Given the dubious behaviour of the owner of those dilapidated houses in the Hagenerstrasse, where the Roma currently live, it is time to address the children’s situation. They are the real victims of the current conflict, because a shift from here to another city would mean a new change of school for them. Here in Ennepetal, special collection classes have been established for these children, within which I am working as a teacher. And as such, I say in all determination: the Roma must stay! Because already now, some of them show significant academic deficits, caused by frequent changes of residency and thus of schooling. The exhaustive lessons show signs of success; the children are happy in school and we educators are gradually finding “the right turn”, to equip them with the basic knowledge important for their future. All this would be abruptly terminated by a departure, and the children would have to start all over again elsewhere” (Köppe 2014). According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation In Germany, an estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma. Before the genocide by the Nazis, there were many more. Many have been living for generations in Germany, speak fluently German, go to work, and send their children to school. They are the living proof that integration is possible.

Bosnia Croatia Kosovo News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Serbia

08.10.2014 Visible Rroma in Serbia

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Ivanji (2014) reports on visible Rroma in Serbia. In a Belgrade suburb, next to a refugee centre, where even two decades after the war, refugees from Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo are living together with other asylum seekers, there is a Rroma camp. Kameraj Sajin lives there with his family. He is one of those who is directly affected by the new status of Serbia of “safe country of origin”. Although the Sajins are not persecuted, they are affected by severe poverty and exclusion: “Eight months the family spent in Steinfurt, this year “three months and eleven days.” A few weeks ago, they were deported to Serbia. The stay was “really nice” tells Sajin. After the family had moved between several asylum homes, they received an apartment and around 1,200 Euros a month. At Caritas they could buy clothing and food for two Euros. The daughter went to school, the two sons to the playschool. “Not like here”, says Sajin […]. Here, in Krnjaca, his daughter has to go to evening school because, she lost her place in the regular primary school and he has no confirmation that she attended a German school. For the boys, there is no kindergarten, and from the state he gets only 10,000 dinars (around 85 Euros) of child benefit.” This article addresses the important question of whether one should not recognise poverty and exclusion as legitimate reasons for asylum, and not only political persecution. It must also be added that Rroma in South Eastern Europe, even though many are affected by severe poverty, are not living exclusively in slums. Rroma, especially in the former states of Yugoslavia, belong to all social classes, but are usually only perceived as Rroma if they conform to the stereotypes of the minority. But there are also Rroma doctors, policemen, teachers, etc., which are fully integrated, and have been so for generations.

Bulgaria Czech Republic Hungary Kosovo News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania Serbia Slovakia

08.10.2014 Wolfgang Benz: „The return of enemy stereotypes“

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The German historian and researcher on prejudices Wolfgang Benz has published a new book in which he thoroughly investigates the mechanisms of prejudices towards Rroma. Benz tries to comprehend the reasons for the emergence and adherence of the negative stereotypes, which are consciously instrumentalised politically by various protagonists. In his article for the Tagesspiegel, he conveys the most important theses of his book. Part of these are self-appointed experts, who blame Rroma living in misery for their own fate, by playing off liberal self-reliance against societal injustices: „Sinti and Roma are rejected and despised, because they are poor, are regarded as placeless and without culture. Cherished through fears of foreign domination, enemy stereotypes are being reactivated. Self-appointed experts argue that they have to blame themselves for their misery in Slovakia, in Hungary, in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Rumania or Serbia and the Kosovo. The situation of the Roma in Southeast Europe has become a tourist attraction, topic of hypocritical sensitive reports, which are being created with the point of view of master men – and confirm the majority in their rejection of the minority. Roma-foes call the object of their interest unashamed once more “Zigeuner”, even though (or because) it is hurtful. By the use of generalisations, fears are fuelled, and dubious knowledge about Sinti and Roma is spread, fears are evoked, which allegedly threaten us. The unpleasant characteristics, which are projected sweepingly on all Roma from Southeast Europe, are welcomed reasons for discrimination. Immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania are seen as the incarnation of a threat, which is usually equated with Sinti and Roma. The traditional stereotypes of the “gypsy” have sowed the seeds for generations, the new images of the slums from which they come, and the poverty in which they live, are seamlessly compatible. […] Xenophobia, racism, petty-bourgeois fears for their property and identity weaknesses condense into an enemy image of poverty migrants, whose feared attack on social funds, bourgeois order and the German way of life must be resisted. Right-wing populists and -extremists benefit from it, and operate their enemy image with success – in the middle of society.” The perpetuation of prejudices has become a vicious circle which is difficult to break. A possible way out is a public, media-catchy discussion of the integrated Rroma, the “invisible Rroma”. However, many of these integrated Rroma keep their identity a secret, for fear of discrimination among friends and colleagues, at work or in the housing market. Here again, there exists a vicious circle of legitimate fears that cannot be so easily overcome (compare Benz 2014).

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Slovakia

03.10.2014 Košice: Rroma-wall demolished by activists and rebuilt by the authorities

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Several newspapers report on a wall in Slovakia, in the city of Košice, which deliberately built to segregate the local Rroma settlement. The wall was declared illegal by the European Union, since its purpose is clearly the spatial delimitation of the Rroma minority in the city. In the night of the 9th to 10th September, unknown activists tore down parts of the wall. Shortly thereafter, the authorities of Košice rebuilt it. The European Rroma organization ERGO announced in response to the events that the establishment of numerous segregating walls was symptomatic of the continuing discriminatory treatment of the Rroma in Europe. Irvin Mujcic, campaign coordinator of ERGO, points out that 14 new walls to segregate Rroma were established in Slovakia in recent years: “The current situation is more like apartheid in South Africa than like in a modern democracy. However, the physical are by no means biggest problem. They are only a symbol to mark the line of social division among EU-citizens” (Mujcic 2014). As regards the re-construction of the wall in Košice, Mujcic states: “This behaviour sadly renders visible the walls in the minds of those responsible, which – though invisible – are huge obstacles to the integration of the Roma. Worse still, the trend to defend the walls or at least to tolerate them, intensified. 15 years ago, there were strong reactions towards the experiment to build a wall against the Roma in Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic. Today it is regarded as self-evident” (Mujcic 2014). ERGO also announced that it was disappointed that the dismantling of the wall was not perceived as a chance by the government of Košice to initiate a dialogue between the Rroma and non-Rroma in the town (The Slovak Spectator 2014).

Mujcic, Irvin (2014) Europa braucht keine neuen Mauern. In: Neues Deutschland online vom 2.10.2014. https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/947897.europa-braucht-keine-neuen-mauern.html?sstr=Irvin%7CMujcic

The Slovak Spectator (2014) ERGO denies connection to activists who damaged Roma wall. In: The Slovak Spectator online vom 22.9.2014. http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/55339/10/ergo_denies_connection_to_activists_who_damaged_roma_wall.html

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03.10.2014 Martigues: threatened eviction of a house occupied by Rroma

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Info Maritima (2014) reports on the threatened eviction of an empty house occupied by Rroma in Martigues. Martigues is a port town, 30 kilometres west of Marseille. The building is owned by the agency for environment, facilities and accommodation (DEAL), which has requested the eviction. The judiciary has approved the request, and ordered the eviction of the around 40 people within a month. It also points out that in the near future, a bypass is planned at the site of the building, and that the security of the place is not guaranteed. On the opposite side, the affected Rroma and their supporters point out that all children of the families are enrolled in local schools. The adults continue to educate themselves, have employment contracts, or are enrolled at the employment agency. An eviction would hinder these integration efforts with new obstacles that don’t foster an inclusion of the immigrant Rroma and significantly complicate their chances to a better future: “The young Simonia, 14 years old, did not speak French five years ago. Today, she speaks the language and leads the normal life of a grammarschool. “Everything is going well at school. I have friends. For me it is important to study, because I do not want to have the same life as my parents do. I want to have a job and my own house.” Because they support and guide a community that wants to integrate, the collective of supporters demands a longer time frame [for evacuation] at the meeting with the provincial office next Monday.” Once more, one needs to emphasise that the forced evacuations of informal settlements or empty houses complicate the long-term integration of the Rroma immigrants. The evictions reverse the integration efforts of those affected or exacerbate them. The rigorous expulsion of the minority reflects the unwillingness of the French government to engage in an active integration policy. In addition, through the one-sided media focus on the informal settlements it is suggested that there are only Rroma who belong to the underclass and are poorly educated. However, the Rroma from the slums – an estimated 17,000 persons – constitute only a small part of all Rroma in France. According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma live in France. These invisible Rroma are integrated, work, and have their own flats. They belong to the middle or even upper-class and are ignored by the French media, the public and politicians. For fear of discrimination, many of the integrated Rroma keep their identity a secret.

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03.10.2014 RACE in Europe Project: report on organised crime reproduces misinformation

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The research group “RACE in Europe Project”, a collaboration of several organisations which are involved in the fight against organised crime and trafficking, has presented a report on human trafficking in Europe for the purpose of criminal activities. The authors come to the conclusion that there is a serious lack of reliable information on the phenomenon. In spite of this acknowledged lack of reliable data, they arrive at very clear results: in many of the examined cases, the victims of trafficking for the purpose of criminal activities were identified by authorities as being perpetrators rather than as victims. Roma children are particularly often cited in this context. It is claimed that in the UK, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, but also in other European countries, Roma children are particularly affected by criminal networks: “The majority of persons trafficked to the UK for petty crimes, such as pick-pocketing and the sale of counterfeit goods, as well as for forced begging are from Central and Eastern Europe. Most are of Roma origin, and a high proportion are children. A host of socio-economic factors, such as high levels of poverty and discrimination in their countries of origin make Roma groups particularly vulnerable to trafficking. […] The RACE Project research identified that those who are most commonly trafficked for forced criminality and begging come from South-East Europe (many of them of Roma origin) and from South-East Asia (Vietnam and China)” (RACE in Europe Project 2014: 5, 11). As a reason for the high rate of Rroma among victims of human trafficking, the authors of the study name the increased vulnerability of the minority, which results from their discrimination and the consequential poor access to education, the labour market and public institutions. In addition, it is stated that extortionate loan sharks particularly affect members of the minority: “Debt bondage is cited as a major driver of trafficking. While some Roma communities will rely on neighbours (both Roma and non-Roma) for support, ‘their survival strategies are often for them to resort to informal money lenders (known as ‘kamatari’, essentially loan sharks), who charge exorbitant interest rates and use repressive measures to ensure payment’. These measures can include forcing them to undertake criminal acts such as begging or pick-pocketing, or to traffic their own children for the same purpose, in order to clear debts they may have accumulated” (RACE in Europe Project 2014: 13).

The characteristics of trans-nationally operating trafficker networks, as presented here, are questioned by research in social sciences. While their existence is not denied, their manifestation, number, omnipotence, and the motivations attributed to them have to be questioned. Ideological fallacies connected or even equated with ethnic groups such as the Rroma are often the source of those myths. Furthermore, connecting child trafficking to Rroma has to be critically examined. The stereotype of Rroma as child traffickers dates back to their arrival in Western Europe, and is in part based on the racist notion that Rroma actively recruit young people for their criminal gangs. Regarding the de facto trafficking of children, social science studies convey a more complex notion of this subject and point out that crimes such as incitement to beg and steal or alleged child trafficking are often permeated by various morals in the analysis and assessment by authorities, who don’t appropriately consider the perspectives and motivations of those affected, and instead force on them their own ideas of organised begging, criminal networks, or of child trafficking. Structural differences of the involved societies and the resulting reasons for a migration are given too little consideration. In reality, behind begging children there are simply often only impoverished families, in which the children contribute to the family income and who therefore do not correspond to bourgeois notions of a normal family and childhood. Furthermore, the incomes from begging are very modest, which makes it unattractive for actual organised crime (see Cree/Clapton/Smith 2012, O’Connell Davidson 2011, Oude Breuil 2008, Tabin et al 2012).

  • RACE in Europe Project (2014) Trafficking for Forced Criminal Activities and Begging in Europe. Exploratory Study and Good Practice Examples. Anti-Slavery online vom 30.9.2014. http://www.antislavery.org/includes/documents/cm_docs/2014/r/race_europe_report.pdf
  • Cree, Viviene E./Clapton, Gary/Smith, Mark (2012) The Presentation of Child Trafficking in the UK: An Old and New Moral Panic? In: Br J Soc Work 44(2): 418-433.
  • O’Connell Davidson, Julia (2011) Moving children? Child trafficking, child migration, and child rights. In: Critical Social Policy 31(3):454-477.
  • Oude Breuil, Brenda Carina (2008) Precious children in a heartless world? The complexities of child trafficking in Marseille. In: Child Soc 22(3):223-234.
  • Tabin, Jean Pierre et al. (2012) Rapport sur la mendicité « rrom » avec ou sans enfant(s). Université de Lausanne.
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03.10.2014 Rroma in Champs-sur-Marne: different notions of equality

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Kaps (2014/I) reports on immigrated Rroma in Champs-sur-Marne and Noisy-le-Grand, two suburbs, 20 kilometres north of Paris. In the cities, many informal settlements were created, which are not tolerated by Maud Tallet, the communist mayor of Champs-sur-Marne. Astonishingly, as a communist she has extreme views on equality, which categorically exclude any special treatment of immigrant Rroma. Since they have settled on private and on public land, she sees no reason why she should help them with services such as water or sanitary facilities. Rather, she demands their eviction. She also doesn’t foster the enrolment of the children, but hinders it: children of Rroma immigrants, such as those of Christian Bumbai, a Rrom from Romania, are usually only enrolled in school after the assistance by locals. Otherwise, it is difficult for them to attend school, because the Rroma families do not meet the minimum regulatory requirements, such as a permanent residency. Maud Tallet conveys very one-sided, stereotypical ideas about the Rroma minority: she calls them “travelling people”, who require empty space and enough trash containers, where bulky waste and household items can be found. She does not seem to understand that poverty and exclusion have nothing to do with the Rroma culture. Nor that Rroma are not travellers. Therefore, the mayor demands for equal treatment cannot be met by the immigrant Rroma and thereby, as a communist mayor, she creates inequality. Despite these obstacles, the portrayed Rroma families Bumbai and Lucan try to successfully integrate, to find work, to send their children to school, and to find an own apartment. In France, according to the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma. The majority of them is integrated, goes to work, speaks French and has its own accommodations. Many of them have lived in France for several generations. These invisible Rroma are not perceived by the media, the politicians, and the public, they are even denied existence. On the opposite side, there is a minority of the minority, approximately 17,000 recently immigrated Rroma, who get all the media attention, as in the report by Kaps. They live in informal settlements and are affected by extreme poverty, but also they only want to integrate, “to get out of the slum” (compare Kaps 2014/II).

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