Category Archives: Slovakia

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Settlements

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Osada, the Slovak name of Roma settlements, are slowly changing. Here the story of new hairdresser in a new house in the settlement in Medzev, Eastern Slovakia.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Fico and his Attacker

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Apparently, the person who shot the Slovak Prime Minister yesterday is a writer from a small town in central Slovakia who has also published racist statements against Roma.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Trnava, Slovakia, and Beggars

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A worrying article about an increase of beggars in the town of Trnava in central Slovakia. Most of these beggars are local Roma, and according to the article, people feel threatened by them.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Settlements

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Housing, water, sewerage, but also education and work are among the biggest problems of the marginalized Roma community. However, improving these issues is often slowed by the problem of land ownership, which is very often unresolved in such settlements.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Trebišov: At Last

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More than a year after a fire ravaged a Roma settlement in Trebišov, Slovakia, a more suitable housing has been provided by a NGO. Until then, many of the Roma had to live in tents, even through the winter.

The state is pretty much absent here.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Olah Roma, and Education

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The story of a Romni who is now a school teacher. That is really positive. What is less, is that they say that a rich wedding and a future as a housewife awaited her and Ildikó, a Roma a Vlach Romni, defied the rules.

According to the article, men have the decisive say and women’s role is to stay at home and take care of the household. Ildikó Kotlárová also grew up in the Vlach (called Olah in Slovakia) Roma community, refused to accept traditions – she did not want to get married without love in an arranged marriage and she did not want to be a woman whose word would not have weight in society. For not accepting the rules of her community, her life’s dream came true.

Again, the traditions of a very small group of Roma are generalised on all.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

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The infamous police raid in Moldov nad Bodvou, where Roma were beaten by the police, and then condemned for defamation against the very same police, is coming to an end, more than 9 years after the facts. Slovakia was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, and now has settled compensations for the victims of police violence.

But .. they did not acknowledge any wrongdoing. This is bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Settlement

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The story of a Roma settlement in Slovakia where people used to live in wooden huts with earthen floors. Now, ten years later,  they live in brick houses, and are beter off, but still no one there has completed high school.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: 55 Years

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They supported employment, folklore and football. 55 years ago, the first Roma “non-governmental organization” was established

The Union of Gypsies and Roma started the emancipation activities of the unrecognized national minority, writes ethnographer René Lužica.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia’s Settlements and Hygiene

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A local project in a Roma settlement saw the creation of a “hygiene centre”, a place where the residents of the settlement can come, take a shower, wash clothes etc. They have set up washing machines. In brief all sort of amenities that do not exist there.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Schools and Roma

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An interesting article about integration of Roma in Slovak schools. Most non-Roma parents would prefer Roma to be in segregated schools. This is precisely what the recent research of the Centre for Environmental and Ethical Education Živica and the non-profit organization Teach, co-financed by the EU, addressed. He revealed some interesting things, namely that the majority of the public have no problem with their children going to class with a child from socially excluded communities. However, they are convinced that it would be best for Roma children to be educated in separate classes or even schools.

For as long as this attitude prevails, it will be difficult to de-segregate schools.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Amnesty on Slovakia

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In its latest report, Amnesty criticised Slovakia for its discrimination against Roma. Specially, they also drew attention on cases of police brutality against Roma.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Marginalised Roma Communities

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An editorial on the disastrous conditions faced by some segregated Roma settlements in Slovakia. The author cites that it is totally unacceptable that people live in conditions of the 15th (sic!) century. He also states that nothing has been done in the last 20 years, and that segregated education is not acceptable either.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Volvo, Slovakia, and Roma

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After the announcement by Volvo that in their new factory in Eastern Slovakia they will employ Roma, the Slovak Government is pitching in … Fact is, the car industry will need up to 25’000 new workers, and the Volvo factory needs 7’500 by itself. This will not be possible without Roma.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

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A Czech reportage on the notorious Lunik IX Roma housing estate outside of Košice, Slovakia. According to the reportage, an average of 12 people live in each of the flats of the estate.

The article also recalls how this ghetto was created: Originally, there were both Roma and others living there. Ut from 1995 onward, the city relocated Roma from the centre to the estate, and non-Roma to the centre. In addition, people who did not pay their rent were also relocated there. So, effectively, the population in Lunik IX is almost entirely Roma.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

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According to Ingrid Kosová, member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Progressive Slovakia, it is very important that Roma have representation in political parties. At the same time, she emphasized that they must be experts. “Personally, I would like political parties to choose Romani candidates who are experts, and not just because they are Roma,” she said in an exclusive interview for the first Romani internet television, ROMEA TV, in which she spoke with Jarmila Balážová about her journey into politics, the importance of Roma representation in political structures and her priorities as a parliamentarian.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia Housing Estate

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 A housing estate on Dúžavská cesta in Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia, has about 1’000 residents. The kindergarten has only space for 26 children …

The town wants to do something about it and build a new one.

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