At least a journalist who went inside the camp! A view on the Rroma who have been filling Swiss Newspapers with the wedding near Zurich. Some facts on life, work, and on religion, as these are evangelical, and on the fact that Rroma are not welcome on places for travellers in Switzerland.
Another article that shows that the fears of the population and the populism of some politicians and newspapers bears no relation to reality.
Closure of the Wedding story. After all it was positive, Rroma paid, didn’t leave a mess, etc. Much ado about nothing (showing the Swiss fascination with toilets).
The 2nd of August is the official international day of remembrance of the Holocaust on Rroma and Sinti. Several organisations (here just as a sample) are planning commemorations in Germany and Austria.
Unzensuriert.at, an Austrian web journal once again fell into blatant populism and stereotypes on the Swiss Rroma Wedding. Oh my, what a publicity for the newlywed.
An article in Watson pokes fun at the media fascination in Switzerland with the Rroma wedding near Zurich. Noting that where does Switzerland goes if Farmers do what they want with their land, but also noting that 20 Minutes said that as the population was on holidays, there were concern about potential thefts, clearly equating Rroma with thieves.
Let’s challenge these idiotic stereotypes!
At least some reactions to the fact that the Rroma were there legally. Dani Huber on the topic and generally on the press. But the article is pretty bad.
20 minutes, as usual. No content, crap news, and just sensation.
Still more on the wedding near Zurich. Too much, to say the least for the lack of news at all. This time, the reaction of the Rroma Foundation on the topic.
The Rroma wedding in Zurich filled the Swis German papers yesterday and probably will continue to do so for a while. 600 Rroma, nearly a 100 caravans, all for a wedding. A farmer rented them the field.
Again a case of a Rroma wedding near Zurich were roughly 70 caravans gathered to celebrate a wedding. These travelling Rroma are from France and Germany (with a corresponding passport) and are members of a pentacostal church. A farmer rented them his land for 5’000 Swiss Francs. People in the village are annoyed and are asking why nothing is being done by the police.
A typical controversy, including the fact that people defecate in the open, and thus befoul the region and adjacent wood.
But the WORST are the commentaries: Bigots and racists seem to love these news.
An article about a few Rroma who stopped in a field near Payerne and had to leave as the field’s owner did not want them to stay highlights the misinformation and confusion among journalists:
The title uses “Gitans” – who are not travellers, by the way, and are found only in the South of France and Spain (also called Cale); the text uses “Gens du Voyage, i.e. Travellers, which can be Rroma but could also mean Jenische (Swiss travellers) or French Travellers; and finally the police states that these are most probably “Roma” from neighbouring France. We are just missing Sinti in this article to complete the confusion!
There are apparently several beggars in Lausanne – Rroma – who are begging with a dog. A foundation for the protection of animals has accused them of drugging their dogs, an accusation that could not be substantiated by the cantonal veterinarian. This may be a new tack of these beggars, now that begging with small children is effectively forbidden.
In spite of all the drama in the Media, we speak here of a few scores of beggars, a very tiny number in comparison to the well established and integrated Rroma in Switzerland.
Totally inappropriate article which appeared a while back in a smaller paper in the Wallis region of Switzerland. It de- facto assimilates Rroma with thieves and burglars bands who will rob all houses and flats they can lay their hands on. Clearly, in the distorted mind of this journalist, these bands are also forcing their children to steal. The journalist is somehow cautious, stating that one is not sure that these bands are Rroma, but devotes a large excerpt about Rroma in general which leaves little doubt about his opinion.
PLEASE join our protests against this!
An article about newly arrived beggars in Lausanne, beggars who are more aggressive and younger that the “local” ones, i.e. the ones who have been in Lausanne for several years. It is not clear from the article where these new beggars are coming from nor whether they really all are Rroma.
Following requests for some camps for travellers in the region of Biel/Bienne in Switzerland, the unfortunately usual discussion about who is what started anew in the press. Who are Jenische (Swiss travellers, also present in France, Germany, Austria); Sinti, who in Switzerland are often intermarried with Jenische but otherwise come from France, Germany and Italy; Rroma, whom the Swiss understand as “Foreign Travellers”, who are mostly French and German Rroma etc…
Switzerland just signed an agreement with Bulgaria providing 8 Mio Swiss Francs to the municipalities of Burgas, Ruses, and Sliven to further Rroma (and other minorities) inclusion, centring on education and basic health care. In view of the more and more extremist views of the general population towards minorities and Rroma in particular, this in a country that used to be tolerant, one wonders whether this is the right approach.
First news since a long time in the Swiss Press about “foreign travellers”, i.e. Rroma. 500 of them camped in a village in Thurgau, North East of Zurich, to celebrate a wedding. Finally they left as one of the members of the group die in a car accident in Germany and the wedding was cancelled.
The journalist was not particularly sensitive: He used the word “Sippe” [clan], said that people were afraid that the same issues as a fews years back in the French speaking part of Switzerland would occur, etc. In brief, he or she regurgitated the usual stereotypes. Shame.
Until May 23, Yves Leresche’s exhibition in Lausanne depicts the lives of some of the Romanian Rroma beggars who came to Switzerland. It goes between Lausanne and Romania, and shows a very humane picture of these people, far from the criminal bands prejudices.
These picture should nevertheless not lead to the belief that this is the only Rroma reality. In fact, it is the reality of a small group of Rroma from a few villages in the same Romanian region. Many Rroma are integrated, especially in Switzerland where beggars, thieves and other stereotypical Rroma only make a tiny percentage of the overall Rroma population there.
The Swiss Travellers, the Jenische, are currently making the headlines in Switzerland. One of their organisations, the so-called “Bewegung” [Movement] has occupied an unused parcel in the city of Zurich to protest for the lack of camping places for travellers in the Canton and city of Zurich. This new organisation also walked out of a working group covering other Jenische and Rroma organisations and the Swiss Federal Authorities, stating that this working group was far to slow (due to complete in 2018) and anyhow was more of an alibi exercise.
The acute lack of camping places has led to other occupations, for example in Basle, but also to some excesses whereby the Swiss Jenische want “segregated” places, i.e. want foreign travellers and Rroma be quartered in other places. The rationale is that the foreign travellers do not comply to the rather strict Swiss regulations. In our opinion, this is not a reason to warrant segregation. This can be resolved by enforcement. But fact is: Lack of space leads to disputes and to such statements.
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