Category Archives: Ukraine

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukrainian Roma Refugees

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According to this article in the Bulgarian press, about half of the Roma in the Ukraine are currently refugees and about a quarter of them have a relative fighting on the front. This statement was made by Ned’s Korunovska, of the European Institute for Art and Culture.

These numbers seem somewhat stretched. We doubt that many of the Roma from Transcarpathian Ukraine and Bessarabia fled. Some did, we can testify to this. This will need to be followed up.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine and April 8th

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A round table was held in Ukraine’s Commissioner’s Secretariat on the occasion of the International Roma Day. The discussion was attended by the management and representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman, Ukrainian state institutions, international and public organizations.

During the introductory speech, Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets noted that the issue of the status of national communities is one of the conditions for Ukraine’s accession to the EU, therefore this issue is extremely important for Ukraine as a whole and for the work of the Ombudsman’s Office. In particular, the protection of the rights of the Roma minority, which is one of the most vulnerable national communities.

News Eastern Europe Poland Ukraine

The Church and Refugees in the Ukraine

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Bishop of Kielce Jan Piotrowski in the company of the Latin Metropolitan of Lviv, Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki visited the parish of St. John Paul II in Lviv and the nearly hundred refugees who live there.

Despite the language barrier, Bishop Piotrowski also talked with Roma children studying in the parish school “Alav” (meaning “word”) organized for them, which, together with the parish priest, Fr. Grzegorz Draus, they sang their own original parish anthem and in Polish “Zielony Mosteczek”. It was a testimony to the success of students who speak Russian and Ukrainian, as well as Hungarian or Romani, on a daily basis.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Roma in Ukraine and Social Services

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Roma families in Kryvyi Rih (Ukraine) were visited by Juvenile Inspectors, Specialists of the Children’s Service of the Executive Committee of Dovhyntsivka District Council in the city, and teachers of Kryvorizka Gymnasium No. 84 to “assess their living conditions and education status.

According to the article, “preventive” discussions were held with the parents regarding “responsible parenting” and the need for children to get an education. It furthers with “The emphasis is on preventing the use of children for begging and involving them in illegal activities.”

This says a lot about what people think of Roma there.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine and Roma in the War

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Another article on Uzhhorod, in Transcarpathian Ukraine, showing how the war is influencing the attitudes towards Roma in the country.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Repression during the War

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A new book was recently published on the World War Two history of the Rivne region in the Ukraine. It presents the repression by the Soviet NKVD (the FSB and KGB) predecessor against Roma who had fled from Poland. In particular, the Lovara family Kwek (or Kvivk).

They were accused to be spies for the German.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Roma IDPs in the Ukraine

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A reportage of Roma from the Donetsk region who were displaced by the war and who settled in Vinnytsia region (Central Ukraine).  They bought houses and were allowed to use some others in the village of Potoky. All in all 68 Roma moved there.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukrainian Activists

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Portraits and discussions with Ukrainian activists, among which Ruslana Polyanska, a Romni who studied at the Central European University. They speak also about sterotypes.

Germany News Western Europe Ukraine

Germany and Ukrainian Refugees

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A rochade among refugees in Germany. A group of Ukrainian refugees was moved away from their current home to make space for Hungarian speaking Roma refugees from Transcarpathian Ukraine who were in a temporary camp. The original refugees will be put in better homes, apparently, rather than in that particular large home they were in.

A bit of a mess, and the Germans admit their communication was not optimal.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine: Two Brothers

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Volodymyr  and Radislav Mykhaylov are Roma from the Chernihiv Oblast to the northeast of Kyiv. Volodymyr sings at charity concerts while Radislav fights in the Ukrainian forces. Radislav came back from abroad to enroll in the army.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Transcarpathian Ukraine: A Portrait

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Eleonora Kulchar is an Ukrainian Romni who fascinates and fascinates with her desire to help everyone. She heads the “Blago” charitable foundation and is the national coordinator of the REYN-Ukraine network project, which deals with the early development of Roma children.

In her every word, you can feel how sincerely she is working for her cause and Ukraine. In half an hour, while we were talking, she was called several times, someone came to ask something important, and someone just to say hello.

And even while working in non-stop mode, she continues to radiate a huge force that can literally be felt in the air: “I know what I have to do. I ask God for help and I feel how he fills every cell of my body with strength.

Now Mrs. Eleonora is in charge of the first and so far the only shelter for Roma. About its everyday life, problems and residents – in our material.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Donbas – Shot

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In the occupied region of Makiivka, a family of 8 Roma was shot. The youngest victim, shot in the head, was a year old. Apparently, they were shot by Wagner Mercenaries who wanted to steal a car. Three of them have apparently been arrested.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine: Suspended Sentence

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The Sykhiv District Court of Lviv sentenced one of the perpetrators who, together with accomplices, attacked a Roma camp in 2018. The attack occurred in June 2018 when seven people attacked the Roma camp, which was located in a forest strip on the outskirts of Lviv.  As a result of the attack, one person died, and four others were injured. The attackers prepared the attack in advance. They bought masks and armed themselves with knives, metal pipes, wooden sticks, chains and hammers.

The man was found guilty of hooliganism and sentenced to 5 years in prison. However, he was released from serving a probationary sentence, having been placed on probation for 2 years.

Really? For premeditated murder?

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine’s Borders

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Another case of Ukraine’s border police stopping military age men from crossing the border illegally. The article mentions quite a few men doing that, but the onus is unfortunately on Roma – of which from 17, on 3 were men. Bad and not exactly nice to Roma.

News Eastern Europe Poland Ukraine

Poland and Ukrainian Refugees

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A large group of war refugees cannot be accommodated in the reception desk at the railway station in Przemyśl in Eastern Poland, and the time of stay, at the Humanitarian Aid Centre limited to 48 hours, is too short for them to find another place of accommodation or decide on their further journey. The problem mainly affects the Roma. Only people with a valid train ticket can enter the accommodation at the reception desk at the PKP railway station in Przemyśl. This was criticised by the Ombudsman.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

More on the Ukraine Killings

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More on the Ukraine Killings

This time in the Slovak Press, an article that cites the same sources as the Ukrainians regarding the execution of 28 Roma in Ukraine’s occupied territories by Russian troop.

Bad.

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