Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

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01.08.2014 Trial: racist Facebook posts against Rroma

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Several Austrian newspapers report on a court case against the members of an anti-Semitic Facebook-group, who, in a series of messages against the Rroma openly called for violence against the minority: “Because of racist comments on Facebook about a tumultuous confrontation between locals and members of the Roma on September the 2nd, 2013 in Bischofshofen, on Wednesday seven out of eight accused men aged 18-39 years stood on trial. Some of the accused who are mostly coming from Salzburg are accused to have called for violence” (Salzburger Nachrichten 2014/I). Through extensive research work, the authorities were able to reconstruct all entries of the Facebook group that were deleted after the initiation of the lawsuit. The eight-mentioned members of the group were accused of racist abuse and demagoguery. Seven of them are now standing trial where they had to justify their hostility: ““Molotov cocktails” ought to have been thrown into the camp of the Roma and “the riffraff should be exterminated”, coud be read there. A defendant actually requested the “final solution” the [prosecutor] Neher stated disgustedly. These comments were visible to the 2,442-members of the Facebook group, the prosecutor blamed the accused. One asked for violence against the Roma and they were “insulted in inhumane, hurtful way. […] The reproached offenses are punishable by a sentence of up to two years” (Salzburger Nachrichten 2014/I). Most of the respondents replied that they didn’t mean it seriously and got carried away by the other entries. This raises the question as whether one can in any context be “not serious” with such inhuman statements. Telling is that most of the accused considered themselves immune from prosecution in the anonymity of the internet and didn’t expect any consequences for their actions. Only one of the accused was effectively present at the physical confrontation near the ski jump in Bischofshofen. During the riots the youths provoked around 200 Rroma who camped legally on the grounds near the ski jump. After initial verbal attacks the conflict quickly degenerated into a physical pogrom. As the Kurier (2014) communicated on the evening of July the 30th, all the accused were sentenced to suspended sentences of imprisonment, the maximum amounted to four years (compare Die Presse 2014, ORF 2014, Salzburg 24 2014, Salzburger Nachrichten 2014/II).

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01.08.2014 Baden-Württemberg: demand for a realistic Rroma image in schools

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Several German local newspapers report on the meetings of the council for the affairs of German Sinti and Roma in Baden-Württemberg. After a first meeting, the expert group stated that it wishes a realistic depiction of the Sinti and Roma in Baden-Württemberg’s schools. So far, the students were mainly taught clichés but not a critical, realistic picture of this minority: “[Daniel] Strauss criticised that the stereotypical image of the “Gypsy” is still widely used. If Sinti and Roma are at all a topic in lessons, they are often depicted as victims. Although there are many creative people [among them], not all of them out themselves as members of this minority. In addition, the future of the graves of Sinti and Roma who survived National Socialism was a central point of the discussion. The council agreed to maintain these graves in the long run. Their number in Baden-Württemberg is estimated at about 300” (Südwest Press 2014/I, compare Die Welt 2014, Südwest Presse 2014/II, SWR 2014). The predominantly pejorative stereotypes that ascribe the Rroma a culturally based delinquency and with hierarchical clans, are a projection on the minority of alleged knowledge that has prevailed the media and the public as the dominant narrative about the Rroma. However, these stereotypes are largely wrong. Rroma are not more criminal than other ethnic groups, many are well educated, settled and belong to the middle class.

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01.08.2014 Halle: alliance against right refutes prejudices against Rroma

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In response to racist abuse against Rroma on the street and on the Internet in Halle (Silverhöhe), the “alliance against the right” has issued a statement in which it refutes the racist prejudices against Rroma and gives context around the the xenophobic slogans: “Apparently, for quite some time now there were prejudices against several Roma families who rented apartments in Silberhöhe. In the Facebook group, anti-Roma prejudices are connected with inhuman comments and calls for violence. The spraying of anti-Roma and Nazi slogans and symbols in Silberhöhe in the night of July 18th, 2014, we see as a direct result of the coverage of the Facebook group” (Halle Spektrum 2014). A detailed refutation of the common stereotypes about Rroma and “poverty immigrants”, with whom the minority is often mistakenly equated follows: Rroma are not more criminal than other ethnic groups. The authorities have experienced no increase in crime, as members of the demagogic Facebook group claimed. Most children of Rroma immigrants go to school and are required to do so by German law. The prejudice of not wanting education is therefore also not true. Another racist stereotype is the accusation that Rroma only migrate to Germany to exploit social benefits and that the majority does not work. This prejudice is also refuted by critical studies: to receive social funds one has to provide evidence of previous work and of payments to social security. One is not automatically entitled to social benefits. In addition, there are also many well-qualified immigrants who are members of the middle class or even the upper class. Mistakenly, it is always assumed that immigrants from Eastern Europe are only Rroma: but there also are many ethnic Bulgarians, Romanians, Macedonians, Serbs, etc. Rroma constitute only a minority in these countries (Halle Spektrum 2014 I/II). An estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma live in Germany. The vast majority of them is integrated, has a steady job, pays taxes and lives in Germany since several generations.

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01.08.2014 Holocaust: “the saver in the long skirt”

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In an impressive article Hreczuk (2014) reports on the fate of the Romni Alfreda Markowska (Noncia) and of more than 50 men and women who owe her their lives. The reason for the article is the 70th day of remembrance of the evacuation of the Gypsy camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau. The systematic mass murder in the Gypsy camp cost nearly 20,000 people their lives. Markowska, whose entire family was murdered by the Nazis, worked with her husband for the Todt organisation who installed railway tracks in the occupied territories: “When somebody told Noncia about a group of Roma who was killed in a nearby forest, all her terrible memories came back. “When she heard that she went there immediately”, says Parno [one of the rescued]. In the remains of the camp in the woods, Noncia finds a child. It is her first. […] On that day, Noncia decides to rebuild her large family. Within a radius of 100 kilometres, she goes everywhere where the Nazis have murdered. She smuggles children out from the trains. She never gets discovered. “Nationality did not matter to Noncia”, says Parno. Some time later, when Noncia and her husband moved behind the front to the west, as far as Gorzow, they also took lost children from there. German children. […] Noncia is now almost 90 years old and too sick to receive unknown visitors. In 2006, she received the second highest civilian honour of Poland, the Polonia Restituta with a star. But she never received compensation for her persecution. Her little pension is barely enough for life and for pharmaceuticals.” This memorable article shows the importance of civil courage and action against the passive acceptance of prevailing circumstances.

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01.08.2014 Montpellier: integration village will not be realised

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Dubault (2014) reports on the status of the planned Rroma integration village in Montpellier. Hélène Mandroux,  the reigning socialist mayor of the city until the spring 2014, had initiated the project together with her assistant. The integration village would have cost around 2 million Euros: 20 motivated families, especially willing to integrate themselves would have been selected and been actively supported in their search for work, in improving their language skills, in their children’s education, and in the integration into the community. The newly elected mayor Philippe Saurel and the local council of Montpellier who were voted in the spring of 2014 have shut the project down. The costs are too high, the hoped-for success of the project too uncertain, they stated. Dubault states that stopping the project didn’t cause too much consternation among the collective in support of the Rroma. Most of the other integration projects in the Paris region were also characterised by failure, she concludes. These pessimistic estimates are contradicted by success stories like those of Indre (Loire-Atlantique), which was able to announce almost exclusively positive assessments of its integration project (compare Barbier 2014 Mouillard 2014 I/II). Aid agencies have accused the authorities and politics of deliberately not wanting to promote the integration of the immigrant Rroma, but rather wanting to deport them. In the French media and the French public, one never hears of the estimated 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma living in an integrated fashion, who form part of French society since generations and contribute to it. They are present examples that integration is possible.

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30.07.2014 Andrychow: pogroms against Rroma

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Zurawski (2014) reports on anti-Rroma pogroms in Andrychow, Poland. According to the journalists, last month, right-wing groups have begun with demonstrations propagandising “Cyganies out”  (Gypsies out). Andrychow is just a few kilometres from Auschwitz, where thousands of Rroma were systematically murdered during the Second World War. Roman Kwiatkowski, president of the Polish Rroma Association, called the latest incidents very disturbing. Many Rroma are worried and afraid: “In Andrychow last month, a pregnant Roma woman was attacked as she walked in the street. Soon after, two young ethnic Poles were beaten up in what many residents assumed was a Roma revenge attack. Anger erupted. Supporters of the local football club, Beskid Andrychow, set up a page on Facebook. It published accounts of what it said were violent attacks by Roma, and photographs of ethnic Poles it said had been beaten up. The page has now been “liked” by 14,182 people. One post read: “We’re not going to sit quietly and pretend that everything is OK. We are shouting long and loud: enough of Gypsy impunity!”” Critics see the new right-wing movement in Poland as influenced by the Hungarian Jobbik party. This has made racist comments against Rroma socially acceptable among more and more people. It is very alarming that racist slogans against the minority still find such strong echo. The defamation of a minority does not start when it is physically excluded and ostracized, but already when it is agitated against by demagoguery. This intellectual arson must be stopped. Policy makers from Poland are called upon to stop the spread of anti-Semitic thought (compare Zurawski/Lowe/Goettig 2014).

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30.07.2014 Finland: hard-working Rroma

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Kosonen/Woolley (2014) report on the successful integration of Rroma in Finland. The Finn Olli Toivonen has employed several Eastern European Rroma immigrants in his property management company, where they provide excellent services. The Romanian Rrom Ioan Ciurariu is named as a prime example. However, the integration of immigrant Rroma remains difficult, because the will to work is not sufficient in the competitive labour market: “Having a job makes Ciurariu an exception among the Romanian and Bulgarian Roma in Finland. Many of his Roma friends are envious of his good luck, asking Ciurariu to help them find work. Ciurariu wishes he could do more to help them but there are not many jobs available to the Roma. “We’re strong and want to work,” Ciurariu says about the Roma of his acquaintance. Mere desire to work is not enough to open the doors for an applicant without qualifications or language skills.” According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, there are 7,000 to 15,000 Rroma living in Finland. They are widely integrated into the labour market and bring higher qualifications. The prejudice of uneducated poverty immigrants, who migrate in masses to Western Europe, should be critically reviewed. Rroma are not more mobile than other population groups. Too often, economic circumstances are equated with the culture of the Rroma. However, there are also many Rroma who belong to the middle class. Rroma should not be classed with an underclass.

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30.07.2014 Marseille: last big Rroma settlement evicted

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Several French newspapers reported on the eviction of the last big Rroma settlement in Marseille. The camp near the Boulevard de Plombière housed about 150 people. Immediately after the evacuation of the remaining people, excavators started the destruction of the huts​​. Representatives of the Abbé Pierre Foundation offered the displaced people a one-week accommodation in hotels. The authorities stated to have applied the inter-ministerial circular from August 2012, which requires a social diagnosis before carrying out evictions. Nine families are part of a long-term integration attempt with permanent living quarters and ten families with pregnant women, small children, or old or infirm persons took the offer of temporary shelter. Nevertheless, many people are now homeless (compare Guillaume 2014, Fiorito 2014, Boursoram/AFP). It should be emphasised that the forced evictions of informal settlements significantly complicate the long-term integration of Rroma immigrants. With the evacuations, the problems and the pending integration are simply moved from one location to the next, but not solved. Also, with the media focus on the informal settlements it is suggested that there are only Rroma who are belonging to the lower class and who are poorly educated. However, according to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, there are 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma who are well integrated and live unobtrusively in French society (Rroma Foundation 2014). This majority of the Rroma is totally ignored by the French media, the public and politics.

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30.07.2014 Slovakia: walls against the Rroma

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Vincent (2014) reports on a radical policy of segregation in Slovakia. In recent years, more and more walls were built around Rroma settlements, separating the homes of ethnic Slovaks from those of the minority. Although the word “segregation” is being avoided, the walls are a clear expression of the fact that reservations and frustrations against the minority have prevailed in local politics. The criticism of the European Commission, which called for an immediate destruction of the walls, remained without effect: “In Slovakia, around 10% of the 5.4 million Slovaks are of Roma origin – one of the highest rates in Europe. But since the fall of communism in 1989, when work was compulsory, they have not ceased to sink into poverty. Only 20% of men have a job today. Many families are in debt and intolerance towards them has increased. […] On the side of the city of Kosice, one continues to defend oneself against any «racism» by declaring that the young Roma of Lunik IX were absolutely not the only ones who harassed the neighbourhood. The young Slovaks also had their habits for small machinations there. The controversy passed, the wall was tacitly approved. The detour imposed on the Rroma was considered minimal. The distant call towards its destruction by the European Commission did not change anything.” Vincent also sees a widespread cynicism towards an improvement of the situation of Rroma, which resulted in “pragmatic solutions” such as the erected walls. The Slovak commissary of the European Commission, Miroslav Sklenka, sees the problem of the continued exclusion of the Rroma not in the lack of money but in the lack of political will to change anything.

Vincent, Elise (2014) En Slovaquie, des « murs » contre les Roms. In: Le Monde online vom 28.7.2014. http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2014/07/28/en-slovaquie-des-murs-contre-les-roms_4463590_3224.html

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26.07.2014 Bucharest: exhibition on Rroma massively defamed

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Jacob (2014) reports on a racist hostility towards an exhibition of the Rroma painter George Vasilescu in Bucharest. Vasilescu showed a series of portraits of 15 contemporary Rroma musicians in the renowned Muzeul Țăranului Român museum (museum of the Romanian peasant). Even before the exhibition opened, the nationalist politician Bogdan Diaconu published a racist tirade against the portrait display on his website: “The member of the social democratic Romanian party USP, which otherwise primarily disparages the Hungarian minority in the country, called the exhibition a “irresponsible insult” to Romanian culture. The museum director Nitulescu has transformed his exhibition hall into a “rubbish dump” and thus “offends common sense”, [he stated]. “The culture” must “be protected from such damage and dirt”, [he added]. With the display of Roma musicians, “the museum promotes homosexuality.” It is significant that Diaconu cannot even have seen the exhibition as it only opened a few days later. His hostility towards the museum director and the exhibition is therefore clearly biased with by a massive racial prejudice. In his absurd, xenophobic argument, he equates interest and compassion with the Rroma minority with homosexuality, which reveals his pathological way of thinking. After Diaconu made his public statement, which received massive media coverage, Nitulescu received numerous hate messages and even a death threat. Nitulescu responded with an open letter in which he criticised the hostility of Diaconu and accuses him of demagoguery. The prestigious daily newspaper Adevãrul however rejected the publication of the letter.

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26.07.2014 Rroma settlements along the Tour-de-France evicted

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Various French daily newspapers report on the eviction of informal Rroma settlements along the route of the Tour-de-France. In the opinion critical observers, the closing of the settlements in Bondoufle (Essonne), each housing up to 50 people, is undoubtedly due to the media presentation of the Tour-de-France and the city. These are supposed to appear clean and tidy to the viewers from all over the world. However, the camps were evacuated under the pretext of security flaws and lack of cleanliness, whereby the Tour de France was said to be in danger. The affected Rroma families are now homeless, as no alternative accommodation were offered. The Rroma and the aid organisations are particularly upset because the mayor had insured in January of this year, that the settlements would not be evicted if they were well maintained, would not grow bigger and if the inhabitants actively collaborated with the social services. However, the mayor of Bondoufle, Jean Heart, denied this towards AFP. His statement was supposedly only valid for a single Rroma family. It has to be emphasized that the evacuation of the informal settlements complicates a long-term integration of the Rroma immigrants significantly. With the forced evictions, the problems and the question of integration are simply moved from one location to the next, but not solved. Furthermore, the media focus on informal settlements suggests that there are only lower class Rroma who are poorly educated. According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, there are 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma living integrated and unobtrusively in French society (Rroma Foundation 2014). They are totally ignored by the French media, the public and politics (compare 20 minutes 2014, Lesacq 2014, Le Parisien 2014, Le Nouvel Observateur 2014, Lemonnier 2014).

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26.07.2014 Stereotypes: fifteen Rroma sentenced for child trafficking

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Numerous French language newspapers reported about the verdict against fifteen Croatian Rroma in Nancy. The Rroma were convicted of inciting their children to commit about a hundred thefts in France, Germany and Belgium. The defendants were sentenced to prison sentences of two to eight years. While all Rroma were convicted for incitement to theft, individual defendants were indicted for trafficking and forced marriages. The court of appeal of Nancy thereby confirmed the judgment of the criminal court. The prosecution demanded maximum sentences of ten years. The evidence of the prosecution was based on the survey of 120 suspects, who confirmed the existence of organised, hierarchical gangs, let by a clan chief: “These children had no choice”, said the prosecutor in front of the audience. “It was not a matter of education and self-realisation, only one thing was important: to steal. It was a downright education to steal. Families borrowed children, according to their potential in theft and even bought wives for their sons to strengthen their teams” (Nicolas 2014, see 20 minutes in 2014, La Dépêche 2014 RTL 2014). The stereotype of criminal, hierarchically organised Rroma clans who commit thefts under the command of a clan chief, is widely spread. It cannot be critically evaluated at this point whether the judgment is justified, as the evidence is only discussed in passing. But it is important to emphasise that Rroma are not more criminal than other ethnic groups. The idea of hierarchical family ties traces back to the projection of the medieval caste system on Rroma and on the equation of Rroma families to criminal organisations. However, this is incorrect. While it is true that the family has an important place among Rroma, its organisation is largely egalitarian. The case discussed here is therefore an exceptional occurrence and not the norm. In addition, the stereotype of arranged marriages is conveyed, which also is only true for a minority of the Rroma. The phenomenon of child trafficking as it is presented here, has furthermore to be critically assessed. As social science studies show, social realities behind begging or alleged child trafficking are largely hidden. Similarly, structural differences between the involved societies and related reasons for a migration to France need to be highlighted. The research conveys a more complex, less black and white notion on the subject and points out that crimes such as incitement to begging or stealing are pervaded by a wide variety of morals views in the analysis and assessment by the authorities. The authorities often deny the perspective and motivations of the persons concerned and impose their own ideas of organised begging, criminal networks or child trafficking on them. Not uncommonly, behind the accusations one just finds impoverished families in which the children supplement the family income by begging, and whose way of life thereby contradict the bourgeois notions of a normal family and childhood (compare Cree/Clapton/Smith 2012, O’Connell Davidson 2011, Oude Breuil 2008).

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23.07.2014 Halle: agitation against Rroma

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German newspapers report on agitation against Rroma in Halle. Around 700 people have organised themselves over Facebook and deliberately incite hatred against immigrant Rroma. This happens both in the social network, as well as adds on public sidewalks, walls, and junction boxes, on which xenophobic slogans were attached. In the meantime, the authorities removed them. The prosecution has taken up investigations on suspicion of demagoguery: “But the anger of local residents become more intense and has gone public. On the weekend, doorways were smeared, among others with the slogan “Roma out”, with the S replaced by the runes of the squadron-SS. On a specifically founded Facebook group, expressions like “filthy pack” and “brutes” were posted. OnemMember of this group is also the CDU member of parliament Christoph Bergner – what has let to protest at the political level” (Wiemann 2014). Bergner, in return, tries to appease and dissociates himself from the xenophobic manifestations decidedly. He wants to take the concerns of local residents seriously but dissociates himself from the hostile comments, he stated. The message about problems with immigrant Rroma is symptomatic of a one-sided reporting, which usually portrays Rroma pejoratively. The difficulties with the immigrants seem to be exaggerated. There are also other voices, which don’t report any problems with the new residents. Not all immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria are Rroma, since they represent only a minority there. There are also ethnic Bulgarians and Romanians who migrate to Germany. In addition, a minority should not be equated with an underclass. There are also many Rroma who belong to the middle class. The negative propaganda against Rroma negates all these details. This is dangerous. Romani Rose, chairman of the central council of German Sinti and Rroma, meanwhile calls for stronger involvement of the authorities. The state is too lenient towards inflammatory language, as the last election campaign showed, when racist slogans such as “money for grandma instead for Sinti and Roma” were tolerated upon reference to freedom of expression, Rose states (compare Halle Spektrum 2014, Möbius/Prasse 2014, Wiemann 2014).

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23.07.2014 Hungary: dispute over a Rroma-hostile, socialist politician

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Bognar (2014) reports on a political debate around the socialist politician Albert Pásztor. Pásztor was nominated by the Democratic coalition as a candidate for mayor of Miskolc. But Pásztor is not without controversy as he repeatedly expressed racist view towards Hungarian Rroma. In 2009, at that time chief of police in Miskolc, he stated that the Rroma were responsible for most of the crimes in the city and its surroundings: “We can calmly announce that the thefts in public space are committed by Gypsies”. He added that he does not really believe that a coexistence between Magyars and Rroma is possible. Because of this clearly racist abuse, Pásztor is criticised among left-wing politicians. But not among all of them. Márton Gulyás, head of the Krétakör Foundation, learnt this during a demonstration of the democratic coalition against the incumbent Fidesz party in Budapest. Gulyás held up a banner saying “Left solutions instead of antiziganism”. Thereby, Gulyás wanted to give expression to his displeasure with the nomination of Albert Pásztor. The banner was snatched away from Gulyás and he was slapped by several demonstrators. Thereafter, several Hungarian politicians spoke up and either condemned the action or declared it as symptomatic for the disunity among the Democratic coalition: “The head of the Hungarian liberals, Gábor Fodor, in turn, explained that the left belies itself with the support of the candidacy of Pásztor. The politician of the party “common dialog for Hungary”, Gergely Karácsony, even stated that the left has “completely emptied” in moral terms.” Bognar’s article shows that xenophobic slogans against Rroma also occur repeatedly among left-wing politicians and question the ideas of a democratic state in which all citizens are truly equal. In this context, it should be mentioned that it is mainly the right-wing nationalist Jobbik-party, which promotes and disseminates racist ideas towards the Rroma-minority.

Pester Lloyd (2014) criticises that the democratic coalition now campaigns to the detriment of Rroma by nominating a Rroma-hostile candidate: “Pásztor is – even for the left spectrum – not an isolated case, racist stereotypes – against Roma mainly – are deeply rooted in Hungarian society, across the political spectrum and in all educational levels. But to make such a person the common top candidate of the relevant left-wing parties DK, MSZP […] is new, and a clear signal that the Roma are only an object of political speculation for the “left.”” Pester Lloyd accuses Pásztor to deliberately deny in his experience as a police chief the exclusion and marginalization of Rroma and to reinterpret it as a criminal mentality, which is clearly racist.

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23.07.2014 Paris: Lynch victim awakens from coma

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The young Rrom Darius, who fell victim of a lynching in the Parisian suburbs, has awakened from an artificial coma, as several European newspapers reported. Darius can speak and recognize his family. However, how he has experienced the incident himself, and what his views are, is not discussed. He was probably not yet interrogated. The perpetrators of the incident are still unknown. The prosecutor of Bobigny has initiated a proceeding for attempted murder: “The boy was nearly beaten to death in mid-June, in a case of severe vigilante justice of a dozen residents in a deprived district in the north of Paris. According to the police, he was violently abducted from a Roma camp, abused in a basement, and found a few hours later unconscious in a supermarket trolley. He suffered serious head injuries. According to data from legal circles, the victim was known to the police for theft” (Die Welt 2014). The exact circumstances of the incident are still not verified, as are the allegations with regard to the victim. The incident led to massive accusations on French politics, which negatively politicises against Rroma since years and instrumentalises them for election campaigns. Other critics, in return, point out that the lynch case is the result of many years of failed social policy that has created law free zones of misery (compare Le Monde 2014, Le Parisien 2014, Millot 2014).

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19.07.2014 Forced expulsion of Rroma in Meaux

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Duplan (2014) reports on the eviction of 75 to 150 Rroma who had lived in Meaux, in the Île-de-France, on an abandoned industrial wasteland. The new owner of the site, who purchased the property recently, requested the eviction of the property by the mayor. The lawyer of the displaced persons labelled the action as being illegal: “This arrangement is miserable and illegal, rants Julie Launois-Flacelière, the lawyer of the expellee. The president of the tribunal of Meaux declared herself competent of the matter, although she didn’t had to do it. Usually, it is the district court that must become active, because this concerns the evacuation of a building.” In the ordinance that forces the Roma to leave their refuge, only five residents of the occupied house are mentioned. The security forces, however, evacuated all of them: 145 people “who were not able to defend themselves before the hearing”, said Madame Launois-Flaceliere.” Since barely a week had passed between the act of the bailiff and the supposed hearing, the lawyer has filed an appeal before the court. On the part of the prefecture, one points out that the safety rules had not been adhered to on the site, there were in fact real dangers to residents. The argument to have acted for the good and the security of the displaced persons is found in many forced evictions in France. It cannot hide the fact that the welfare of the Rroma was not the priority of the major’s office. Otherwise, one would have indeed corrected these issues. In the French press, one only reads of Rroma living illegal settlements or occupied houses. That these visible Rroma constitute only a minority of all Rroma in France – according to estimates of the Rroma Foundation between 100,000 and 500,000, who predominantly live integrated, is completely negated by the journalists. In addition, the continuous evictions of immigrant Rroma complicate the integration considerably.

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18.07.2014 Rroma and stereotypes: problem house “In den Peschen” being evicted

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Several German newspapers report on the eviction of Duisburg’s “problem” house “In den Peschen”, which repeatedly made it to the headlines over the past year. Constantly, the press reported about dwellings occupied by Rroma families, about dirt, noise disturbances, and about increased crime. The allegations combined numerous reservations on immigrant Rroma: they are poor, uneducated, anti-social, abuse the German welfare system and cause social tensions in the affected districts.  However, not all immigrants are poor and many immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria are not Rroma. But the polemical debate about the so-called “poverty immigration” suggested just that: a mass immigration of low-skilled Rroma into the German welfare system. Thus, an economic phenomenon was presented as an ethnic problem, what doesn’t do justice to reality.

The large building complex which has 47 apartments has now been declared uninhabitable by the Duisburg city council. All remaining residents have to leave the house in the following two weeks. The building’s residents are also accused of having illegally obtained child benefits. Another common misconception, which is also projected onto the immigrant Rroma: “Although around 100 children from In den Peschen are registered in the clerk’s office, these were not found by the staff during their visit. This may indicate that the children have been reported only in order to receive child benefits. […] Duisburg is particularly affected by the immigration from Romania and Bulgaria. Currently, nearly ten thousand people from these two countries are reported in the Ruhr city. A task force implemented by the city will visit 50 more “problem properties” in the next few weeks, and if necessary issue “un-inhabitability-declarations”” (Frigelj 2014). Once again it must be stressed that there is no mass immigration from Romania and Bulgaria, as critical statistics excluding seasonal workers prove. In addition, immigrants belong to different ethnic groups and different social classes. However, the focus is – in the sense of sensational journalism – only on the problem cases that are falsely equated with Rroma (compare Frigelj 2014/II, Hänig 2014, Kaiser/Peters 2014, Cnotkaund/Mohrs 2014).

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18.07.2014 Informal Rroma settlement in Lyon was evicted

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Several French newspapers report on the eviction of an informal Rroma settlement in Lyon. The settlement, which was below and in the vicinity of a railway bridge, was home to about 250 people, including many children and infants, as well as pregnant women. Families with small children and expecting women were offered temporary accommodation. The settlement had been recently created. Most of the residents were living on the site only since a few months, the authorities stated. The anti-racist movement MRAP announced in a communiqué: “The few nights of hotel that the prefecture has proposed to six families cannot replace a correct diagnosis and support to the totality of people present, as the circular [of August 26th, 2012] states, which was signed by Mr. Valls himself when he was interior minister […]. [MRAP] “condemned” that this “forced evictions violate European and international law” and “recalled that France was sentenced several times for the violation of fundamental rights of the Rroma population” (Libération 2014). The ongoing evictions of informal Rroma camps have been criticised for quite some time now. During the summer months, the evictions of Rroma settlements always increase massively. In winter, many communities grant a humanitarian moratorium. Since most of the displaced join other informal settlements, the problem is just shifted from one place to another. Only few long-term solutions have been implemented so far. These include, for instance, the tolerance of the settlements, which enables establishing an existence, enrolling children in school, and the continuous search of a job. Another option is integration programs, which actively foster the social integration of immigrants. However, these are controversial since they specifically refer to Rroma and thereby ascribe the minority a special status. On the 100,000 to 500,000 integrated and invisible Rroma living in France, one almost never hears anything in the French media (compare RTL 2014, Rue89Lyon 2014).

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18.07.2014 Prejudices: Geneva security chief in search of the Rroma problem

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Habel (2014) reports on the visit of the Geneva security officer, Pierre Maudet, in Bucharest. Maudet laments the increasingly large number of offenses committed by Romanian citizens in Geneva, in addition to the already known begging Rroma. These are said to be combated most effectively through an improved cooperation between Romania and Switzerland. Unfortunately, a very one-sided notion of the Rroma is created: During his stay in Bucharest,  Maudet visited almost exclusively the Rroma district Ferentari where around 18,000 Rroma live in poor conditions. However, not all Rroma live in ghettos and are poor. In addition, it is very problematic to conclude that poverty leads to an increase in crime. As can be analysed in the article, Maudet sees the delinquent Rroma as involved in begging, stealing and prostitution networks. These are common stereotypes about Rroma: ““The delinquency originating in Romania is about to exceed the North African delinquency in Geneva, explains Pierre Maudet. Violence against older people or homosexuals, prostitution networks, burglaries, pick-pocketing, theft by deception and shop window theft, break-ins into cars… In the end, more than 400 arrests per year were made – “In 2013, we counted 1284 Romanian suspects”, clarifies the state counsellor […].“ However, begging is not to be equated with criminal begging networks, as critical studies show. In addition, begging income is very modest. Prostitution and human trafficking are not the same. Maudet indicates that he also sees economic grievances as a reason for migration to Geneva. But he also presents this problem incorrectly as a “Rroma problem.” Rroma are not more criminal than members of other ethnic groups.

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16.07.2014 A discussion about discrimination: „Why do Roma have it so hard?“

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Koetting (2014) speaks about the ongoing debate on Rroma in Germany. The interlocutors were the South East Europe expert Norbert Mappes-Niediek and the political scientist Markus End, as well as the audience. Here, a first problem is created: a listener speaks of the hospitality of Rroma in impoverished slums in Slovakia. Despite great empathy, the listener reproduces stereotypes, by equating Rroma with a life in poverty and a lack of education. She speaks of “ordinary people” that met her with much kindness. But that Rroma are not a social class, but rather belong to all strata of society, is not mentioned. There are many well-integrated Rroma, as the numbers of the Rroma Foundation show. The South East Europe expert Mappes-Niediek also confirms this false equation of Rroma with an underclass. However, he admits that tens of thousands of guest workers, many of them Rroma, came in the 1960s and 70s as guest workers to Germany and have integrated successfully. The program shows the problem that one only ever speaks about the visible representatives of the minority: the beggars, the slum dwellers, the criminals. However, the world consists of more than what you see at first glance: the integrated, invisible Rroma, which make up the majority of the minority, also build part of it. Regarding the importance of education, Mappes-Niediek notes critically that education in Romania or Bulgaria does not necessarily allow a social advancement, as in Germany, but that the economic and social exclusion is maintained in spite of good educational qualifications. Most listeners use their individual experiences – negative and positive – and equate them with the “culture” of the Rroma and thus ascribe them a robot-like habitus, which does not do justice to the heterogeneity and especially individuality of Rroma. Many reproduce the stereotypes of travelling, poor, music playing Rroma only apply to a portion of the Rroma. Markus End points out that the media convey a highly one-sided, value loaded notion of Rroma: for instance, an Internet newspaper headlined: “Not only Roma come, but also academics.” Through that, one undoubtedly assumes that there are no Rroma who are scientists, which is clearly racist.

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