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14.06.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Schelp (2013) provides information on the work of so-called Rroma mediators, who in Germany mediate between teachers and newly enrolled Rroma children. One of them is Valentina Asimovic. She helps a teacher in Berlin-Kreuzberg in her work with a class without any knowledge of German. The quoted sociologist Christoph Leucht sees a lack of education amongst many immigrant families. A majority of families rate the importance of education as low, because they themselves only enjoyed minimal training. To counterbalance this view into is important in order to offer the largest possible selection of options for the future of the children. In this perspective, one needs to add, that by no means all immigrants are from educationally disadvantaged social strata. There are also very educated immigrants, but not in the spotlight of media attention. That all parents want to marry off their daughters early and send their sons as early as possible to work also needs to be relativised. The work of the mediators has proved to be very helpful. They are far more than mere translators. They help in conflicts between teachers, students and their families and enable better integration of all involved. In spite of the positive perspective, the article does not succeed to alleviate many stereotypes about the supposed backwardness of Rroma. The impression remains that the great part of them consists of illiterates and women willing to bear child. The article ends with the not really positive statement: “A letter would make no sense: the Roma parents often cannot read it.”

Köhler (2013) covers the same subject with a focus on the “Welcome Class” for Rroma children in Neukölln. Already in the beginning of the article, she falls article in ethnic faux pas. She attests taht the children do not know what social rules are and how to behave in a group. The focus, however, is the visit of the Romanian Rroma responsible Damian Draghici, who was invited by the local education Councillor Franziska Giffey. Around 800 children from Romania currently go to school in Neukölln. The integration of children was very successful in terms of learning the language and structures. However, there were more problems among the children themselves. Many Rroma children were marginalised by children of Turkish and Arab descent. The centre topic of Damian Draghici’s book is, among others, the question of the inefficient integration policy in Romania: Why do so many subsidies are go unused, and how the bilateral policies on the integration of Rroma can be improved.

Kimmel Fichtner (2010) reported in 2010 about the Amaro Kher school in Cologne. There, Rroma children are prepared for the public schools. The goal is “to break vicious circle of misery, exclusion, lack of education and crime.” A media campaign representing Rroma children as thieves is the cause of the school creation. The city of Cologne then decided together with the association Rom e.V. to support the Amaro Kher school. During a year children are prepared for the have public schools and receive intensive preparatory German courses, learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. In addition, they should develop a resilience to difficult situations. According to the insiders, the project has been successful and allows many of the children a better future.

Borchard (2013) covers the situation of Rroma in Romania. He focuses on the fate of Neli Moc, who goes regularly for two months to do harvest work on a farm in Germany. With the money earned there – about 2,000 euro – she can live relatively well for the rest of the year: “Neli Moc is an example that most Romanians, also those from the poorest backgrounds, come to work in Germany quite legally.” As contrast, Borchard tells the story of the Grozav family. According to the mother, they went to France because of paid return assistance of 300 euro per person and stayed there several weeks. The short article concludes with the statement: “One thing is clear among Roma families in Apoldu de Sus [Romania]. As long as the conditions do not improve in Romania, they will keep trying to come to Germany or France either as harvesters, or in the hope of doctors visits or return premiums.”

Bogdal (2013) begins his article on the Rromadebatte with a quote from Thomas Mann. He set firmly in 1945: “A nation, with whom no one can live, how can it live itself” Thomas Mann did not mean anything about Rroma, but was speaking about Germans. After the end of the Nazi regime, many ethnic Germans in in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania, had a real image problem for the residents of their host countries. They were marginalized, displaced and forced to do the simplest work: “Exiled, despised because of their ethnicity, having become homeless, without possessions and shelter. millions [German] moved westward from region to region, suspiciously regarded, often exploited, often forced to beg and to do menial work until they could gain a foothold anywhere. The same could be said of Roma today.” Bogdal sees the fate of Rroma after the collapse of the socialist system as very similar. Many Rroma are attracted away to Western Europe where better economic conditions and less discrimination awaits them, a move encouraged by the removal of borders in the wake of the consolidation of the European Union. Bogdal criticizes that the issue is being hyped as security policy issue, rather than to be accepted as a socio-political challenge to master and to solve bilaterally with the countries of origin.

There follows a paragraph about their migration from India and arrival in Europe. After a short period of acquiescence follows a tradition of exclusion, contempt and negative identity attribution, leading, according to Bogdal to criminalization and ethnicisation of poverty. Since the Enlightenment, they are often described as illiterate with no history, science, and without their own state. Thus, the idea that living together with the Rroma is not possible was consolidated in the minds of many. Even their mere presence is a threat. In this context, phenomena such as mountains of waste, child labour, prostitution or bands of tugs can be described as cultural ones, even though they have nothing to do with culture. Bogdal sees it as a pan-European task to further integration and acceptance of Rroma. This has to happen in Germany but especially in countries with a large Rroma population such as in Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Bogdal’s article provides knowledgeable and eloquent to information about the situation of Rroma in Europe. He doesn’t present a simplified picture but attempts to address the complexity of the issue itself. We wish for more such articles.

Schmidt (2013) discusses the processing of the Holocaust by the German Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ). The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma has asked the ministry to investigate the discrimination of Rroma by the German post-war justice. Romani Rose, chairman of the Central Council clearly states that “The continuing exclusion and discrimination of our minority at the hand of former perpetrators in their new positions after 1945 continued almost unbroken and shaped the resentment against Sinti and Roma.” He refers to the continuity of the commissions and expert from before and after the war, which were maintained by embedding them within the Justice Department and allowing to continue their anti-minority policies. It was thus possible for the lawyer Franz Maßfeller, despite his support and participation in Nazi racial policies, to continue to work until 1964 after the war in a high position within the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Bauerdick’s (2013) book, “Gypsy: Encounters with unloved people” tries to find a direct path to the world of the Rroma. Bauerdick thinks little of intellectual discourses, deconstructions of external attributions and anti-Gypsy research. He shows to an almost radical pragmatism and, through his many years of research trips, promises to provide a realistic picture of the life of the Roma in Europe. He embarks on this tricky terrain and decidedly does not want to be politically correct. He reproaches the Rroma to lack responsibility. Many have made it so comfortable for themselves to be perceived as victims and have now taken this view as their own. In his very emphatic descriptions of life in the slums, which present Rroma as cheerful as well as apathetic and inactive about their own situation, Bauerdick commits the mistake of excessively culturalising his own experiences and of generalizing. He is generalizing in the preface when he states: “For there is also another truth. After countless meetings in more than twenty years, I remember nary a Rrom who wanted a piece of responsibility for themselves as the root of his misery, never mind who acknowledged it.” Compared to the complexity of the reality of Rroma, he falls short. This reality is not just consisting of Rroma in the slums of Europe, but also includes invisible Rroma in Western European countries, Rroma to which one can not just quickly go with the car and camera due to their integration and blandness. But they form part of the Rroma reality exactly as much as the visible Rroma Rroma, that Bauerdick describes in his book. If you read only Bauerdick’s book and not others such as like Bogdals’s book “Europe invented the Gypsies”, one can believe that all Rroma have many children, live in slums and wait for a better life that never happens.

On the other hand, one must agree with him when he denounces the fact that the reasons for many Rroma’s misery is only being looked at in the structures of society and xenophobia, but not among Rroma themselves. He is certainly right, but he does them wrong when he reduces it only to their own power of action, which is very limited in for many. To say that intellectuals and anti-Gyspsyism researcher do not trust Rroma to do something for themselves, simplifies reality too much. When Günter Grass says that Rroma have no voice, he means their weakness in relation to national policies, but not the ability of individuals to change something about their situation. Also, the statements that intellectuals would only ever see Rroma as victims and deny their own responsibility falls short. These statements do not take into account the evident imbalance of power in society, power consisting of structures, policies and spread of knowledge as well as from individual action. Bauerdick does not do justice to the complexity of these circumstances in his polemical descriptions. When he uncritically cites passages from Karl Gauss’ bok “The dog eaters Svinia”, where Rromakönige, begging gangs and mafia-like structures are described as part of the Rromakultur, he commits the very same mistake against which he actually writes: He ethnicises the poverty phenomena and describes the mutual exploitation of Rroma as a cultural problem.

Sources:

  • Bauerdick, Rolf (2013) Zigeuner: Begegnungen mit einem ungeliebten Volk. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.
  • Bogdal, Klaus-Michael (2013) Leben mit Hass und Verachtung. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung vom 10.6.2013.
  • Borchard, Ralf (2013) Warum Roma nach Deutschland kommen. In: Bayrischer Rundfunk vom 11.6.2013.
  • Kimmel-Fichtner, Tatjana (2010) Eine Schule für Romakinder. In: Zeit online vom 15.11.2010.
  • Köhler, Regina (2013) Neukölln ist in Berlin das Zuhause der Roma-Kinder. In: Berliner Morgenpost vom 14.6.2013.
  • Schelp, David (2013) „Er wird es schon lernen“. In: Die Zeit vom 9.6.2013.
  • Schmidt, Wolf (2013) Roma wollen Geschichte klären. In: Die TAZ vom 10.6.2013. 
Germany News Switzerland News Western Europe

14.06.2013 Street Prostitutes at the Zurich Sihlquai and Bilateral Cooperation

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Bracher (2013) reports on the plans of the Hungarian Minister of Education and Labour, Zoltan Balog, who visited Switzerland for a lecture at the University of Zurich last week, to improve cooperation between the Hungarian and Swiss authorities. After the lecture, he met with representatives of the Zurich police and the office for trafficking and migration to discuss an improved action against pimps. Goal of improved bilateral cooperation is an increased, protected exit from the industry with a professionalized protection program for those prostitutes who want to testify against pimps. Many of the women have children, around 60% of them,  (Bracher 2013/II) and will not testify against their oppressors due to fear.

In this context, Käppner (2013) discusses the legalization of prostitution in Germany that has not led to greater protection for women, but exposed them to the more brutal reality of the free market. Prostitutes have to accept for a pittance all interested suitors: “The good intention to strengthen prostitutes by law turned into the opposite. The woman is the resource that is used as efficiently as possible. Outside this exchange transaction she loses all value.”

In addition, despite the legalization of prostitution, trafficking of women is still moving in a gray area: between so-called voluntary prostitution for economic reasons, manipulation by intermediaries and effective human trafficking, the boundaries are often blurred. The legalization of prostitution really favours the exploitation of women, even if this seems to contradict the workings of the rule of law. In this context, the question of the ethics of an economy and a society that has so uncritically internalised the mechanisms of supply and demand needs to be raised. 

Sources:

  • Bracher, Katharina (2013) Ungarn fordert besseren Schutz für Roma-Prostituierte in Zürich. In: NZZ am Sonntag vom 9.6.2013.
  • Bracher, Katharina (2013/II) Angebot für Dirnen mit Kind. In: NZZ am Sonntag vom 9.6.2013.
  • Käppner, Joachim (2013) Die große Puff-Lüge. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung von 10.6.2013.
Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

07.06.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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The Bremen SPD politician Martin Koroll lost his membership rights in the SPD for the coming two years. On his website, in an opinion on his political goals, Koroll published xenophobic statements against Rroma. The judgment was pronounced by the Social Democratic Party’s arbitration committee. Koroll had proclaimed that Rroma live socially and intellectually “in the Middle Ages”, in an “age-old patriarchal society” in which men have “no inhibitions to send the children to work instead to school, their break their wives’ teeth and treat themselves to steel teeth [protheses].” Many of the young Rroma men, according to Koroll, “melt their brains by sniffing adhesives vapours” (Zier 2013). Koroll’s opinions were since a long time on his website, but only became a public topic after his entry into the Bremen state parliament. The SPD distanced himself decidedly from Koroll’s statements and expressly emphasized that these were his views and not those of the SPD. Therefore, procedure for his expulsion from the party was submitted and remains pending. The Young Socialists of Germany commented on the non-exclusion of Koroll as a non-logical decision. Koroll has “made populist slogans socially acceptable.” Koroll commented on the measures against him as a being “educationally and politically misplaced” (Zier 2013).

Frenzel (2013) provides information on the trip of the Neuköln Education Councillor Franczisca Giffey to Romania. Giffey travelled to Romania to meet with interest groups and politicians in order to assess the future development of the migration issues between the two countries. In her interview with the Daily Mirror, the Education Councillor confirmed the glaring poverty gap between Germany and Romania and the social disintegration facing the Rroma. She also noted glaring contradictions between statements by government politicians and those of NGOs. The state politicians stressed that there would be no significant increase in migration flows due to the persons agreement with the EU. The representatives of NGOs noted that there was no sign of a speedy improvement of the economic situation in the country, and that therefore, one should expect many poverty refugees in the future. With regard to life in both countries, Giffey sees a clear difference in terms of the education in Germany, but not in terms of housing situation. In this regard Rroma in Romania often fare better. The Education Councillor wants in particular to ensure that immigrant Rroma do not become welfare cases. The awareness that self-initiative is required needs to be promoted. The controversial issue in the debate in Germany, namely the extent the predicted immigration, is not discussed in the interview.

Barthels (2013) reported on the presentation series “Cineromani – Empowering Roma Filmmakers” in  the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin (CHB). To mark the event, current as well as older cinematic works on the life of Rroma are shown. They cover a broad spectrum ranging from self and external views of the Rroma, to religious and sexual identity and to questions the right to stay and to forced deportations. The presentation series can also criticized its renewed exclusion of the Biennale.

Sources:

  • Barthels, Inga (2013) Blicke hinter das Klischee. In: Die TAZ vom 4.6.2013.
  • Frenzel, Veronica (2013) „Es werden weiterhin Roma kommen“. In: Der Tagesspiegel vom 2.6.2013. 
  • Zier, Jan (2013) Ab in die Ecke, Genosse! In: Die TAZ vom 3.6.2013. 
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31.05.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Peters (2013) informs about the fate of Nizaqete Bislimi, a “poverty migrant” from South Eastern Europe, who now works as a lawyer. It addresses the different facets of her life, such as the difficulty to openly stand by her Rroma origin. She notes: “I’m not going to adjust my life. […] I did not want to be a Gypsy woman, I felt ashamed. […] When I confessed it once to a girl friend she said that: You? But you’re clean! And good in school!” Peters shows the bias contained in the politicians’ reasoning such as for example Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich: They distinguish only between economically interesting, elite-migrants and poverty immigrants. That the transitions between these two extremes is continuous and that poverty immigrants can improve their attractiveness to the labour market, is not taken into account in this simplistic views. There follows a detailed description of the regulatory hurdles that Bislimi had to overcome to study law and get a residence permit. The statistics on the predicted povertymigration are to be taken with caution: for example, the number of immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria from 2007 to 2011 passed “from 64,000 in 2007 to 147,000 in 2011 more than doubling” but this number ignores thousands of seasonal workers, According to Peters even up to two-thirds. In addition, 20.9 percent of the Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants have a college degree, a proportion higher than the one of the majority population in Germany, which is at 18.1 percent.

At the end of the article Bislimi confirms the issue raised by Contact Point Rroma on visible and invisible Rroma and the reduction of Rroma identity around poverty: “I personally know of lecturers at universities, students, entrepreneurs, doctors. But most do not identify themselves as Roma, fearing old stigmata, from which they want to especially to protect their children.”

Gürgen (2013) discusses the work of the regional office for job training, integration and democracy (RAA). The organisation is committed to the successful integration of immigrant children in German schools, the focus currently lying on immigrated Rroma children. After initial reservations, especially on the teachers’ side, the work of the organisation is now broadly recognised and brings a lot of positive experiences. The aim is to successfully mediate between immigrant families and public schools. On the families’ side, according to the project spokeswoman Susanna Ismailovic, there are deeply rooted reservations about state institutions. A positive fact is that all the active auxiliary teachers speak Rromanes.

Walther (2013) speaks about two “invisible Rroma” who have successfully studied political science and subsequently spent two months at the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) in Flensburg. The two young Rroma are a stark contrast to the usual stereotypes and image of Rroma propagated in the debate on poverty immigrants: They are not poor, uneducated, work-shy and criminal but hard-working and intelligent. Diana Iuliana Pirjol and Aleksandar Marinov come from a humble background in Romania and Bulgaria. They emphasise that their families support them in their efforts and see education as a valuable resource. Regarding the anti-Rroma policies in Western and Eastern Europe, Aleksandar Marinov states, “We have no national state, to which we can feel connected, and must rely on the support of the government.” This really simple fact has been lost on many European government so far.

Sources:

  • Gürgen, Malene (2013) Pilotprojekt für Roma. In: Neues Deutschland vom 31.5.2013.
  • Peters, Freia (2013) Die Roma, die unbedingt nach oben wollte. In: Die Welt vom 30.5.2013.
  • Walther, Antje (2013) Den Roma auf der Spur. In: Flensburger Tageblatt vom 28.5.2013. 
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24.05.2013 Rroma in the European Union

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Publicly, the German Euro MEP Cornelia Ernst criticized what she deems in her eyes to be poor policies of the EU members towards Rroma. Since the ratification of a Rroma strategy, the EU Commission has undertaken little to effectively achieve the set targets. Currently about 4% of EU Eastern European help is devoted to Rroma. Ernst calls for an active prevention against racism and discrimination towards Rroma, which have increased spectacularly in recent years (Finanzen.net 2013).

Ernst (2013) describes the Rroma in the Czech Republic as the losers of the changes and who lived in modest prosperity prior to 1989. Today, in the Czech Republic, there are about 300 Rroma ghettos while before the changes there were only twelve. Many live in homes for asylum seekers, the unemployment rate exceedingly high at around 90%. She also criticizes the European Rroma strategy as it is not binding and does not foresee any sanctions for non-compliance.

The University of Hildesheim held a seminar on the topic of the participation of Rroma of in public education. The seminar is led by the educationalist Viola B. Georgi and examines the mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion of Rroma, which lead to a weak representation of members of this minority in educational institutions. In addition, there is an exhibition on the Rroma persecution under Nazism (Long 2013).

In a recent publication, Amnesty International (2013) criticizes the non-application of basic human rights for Rroma especially in Hungary and in Kosovo. But countries like Germany are also involved, as they deport members of this minority back to their home countries without actually considering the discriminatory practices. These examples indicate a discrepancy between official country analyses, used to determine the local situation, and the real situation of minorities. The report also criticises illegal evictions in 36 states. It emphasizes the issues of Rromas settlements in France and Italy, which in recent months repeatedly were mentioned in the press and generated attention in politics. Politics are exploiting Rroma camps, especially in nationalist parties (n-tv, 2013).

Romani Rose, chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Rroma criticised the removal of a Holocaust memorial at a school in Wiesbaden. The exhibition presented the deportation of a resident Rroma family and was dismantled a first time in 2006 before being re-instated in 2008. This was brought to attention only through the actions of the school who requested the Documentation Centre of the Sinti and Rroma to remove this exhibition from the list of memorials. Rose criticized the closure of the memorial with the comment that this was an expression of irresponsible handling of history (Mueck-Raab 2013).

Bermeitinger (2013) reports on the construction of a Holocaust memorial in Mainz, which goes back to a commitment of Hildegard Coester. On 6 May 1940,107 Rroma from Mainz were deported according to records and sent to a concentration camp.

Pamperrien (2013) discusses the new non-fiction book by journalist and photographer Rolf Bauerdick. Bauerdick’s book “Gypsies: Encounters with an unpopular minority” is deliberately not politically correct. He distances himself from Klaus-Michael Bogdals thesis of a tradition of exclusion and of being considered alien and instead calls attention to the status of victim that Rroma themselves maintain. They are caught in their own apathy. He is belligerently states: “There is also another truth. I hardly remember a Rom who looked for a piece of responsibility among themselves about the roots of their misery, even less so one who found one.” With his political incorrectness, Bauerdick wants to highlight the need and to encourage Rroma to take their own responsibilities. But he forgets that unilateral action significantly depends on the one the available and structures and that there are very repressive for many Rroma. His simple distinction between real problems and intellectually produced pseudo-problems created by scientists falls short. It discredits the de facto interweaving of real events and social images and thoughts that fuel and spurns each other. Bauerdick is quite right in denouncing abuses among the Rroma themselves, when he speaks of exploitation by usurers who force their own people into prostitution, begging and theft. To use this as the determining discourse and to denotes it to be the dominant form of relationships among Rroma can heavily be doubted. A single journalist simply lacks the capacity for such a study among all Rroma. It perpetuates the picture of misery that he discredits the image of economically successful and inconspicuous, well integrated invisible Rroma. Bauerdick notes:

“All who intensively worked with Roma, have, as soon as this decade was announced[European Decade of Roma Inclusion], said that this would go down the drain. And so it did. It did so because the Roma are not taken seriously. One wants to help them without demanding something of them. This is how you behave towards people from whom you don’t expect anything. For me, this is the most insidious form of discrimination and exclusion at all” (Pamperrien 2013).

Brill (2013) sees the media discourse about Rroma as dominated by commentators who hide their ignorance of Rroma behind negative or positive biases. He refers in his remarks to the book “Poor Rroma, bad Gypsies” written by the Eastern Europe correspondent Mappes-Niediek. In spite their intention to defuse stereotypes,  Brill’s remarks lead to the production of new ones. It states in a generalising fashion “Community and a sense of the State you will be looking in vain. The differences with the majority population are enormous, from the limitations of the Roma language to the divergent conceptions of time and money, past and future, property and business, cleanliness and what is good and important in life.” So Brill constructs a picture of Rroma, which wrongly assumes their incompatibility with European values ​​and habits. He creates an “othering” in the meaning of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Whether these views stem from Brill or are versions of Mappes-Niediek views is not clearly apparent. The observations that Rroma look at journalists with suspicion and do not provide reliable information, is critically challenged.

Roucaute (2013) informs about the often contradictory policies of the French authorities towards Rroma. They base their rigorous policy of clearing camps on unacceptable conditions of hygiene and danger of fires that prevails in these settlements. One executed the plans of the minister Manuel Valls, said an official. You have to comply with existing laws. A circular of six ministers of the new government states that “„les opérations de démantèlement des campements illicites (…) sont pleinement légitimes, dès lors qu’elles interviennent en application d’une décision de justice ou pour mettre fin à une situation de danger ou de risque sanitaire immédiat.“ [the operations of removal of illegal camps are fully legitimate as soon as they are the result of the application of a legal decision or in a situation of immediate danger or sanitary risk.] De facto, this is a firmly established policy of the French government since a few months, as it considers the highly visible Rroma camps as negative to the French state and wants to be rid of them. The government invests in the development of infrastructure in Romania, where a portion of the migrated Rroma is originating. Many Rroma in turn see their future in France, however, because they see no future there for them due to the structural conditions in Romania. There are thus conflicting priorities between the bio-political objectives of the French state and the expectations of the Rroma for the future, and these seem unlikely to converge in the near future.

Sources:

  • Bermeitinger, Michael (2013) Stele erinnert an verschleppte Sinti und Roma. In: Allgemeine Zeitung vom 17.5.2013.
  • Brill, Klaus (2013) Von Roma-Slums und “Gipsy Industry”. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung vom 21.5.2013.
  • Ernst, Cornelia (2013) Weil wir Nachbarn sind. In: Neues Deutschland. Sozialistische Tageszeitung vom 24.5.2013.
  • Finanzen.net (2013) Neues Deutschland: Europaabgeordnete Cornelia Ernst kritisiert anhaltende Diskriminierung von Roma in der EU. In: Finanzen.net vom 23.5.2013.
  • Lange, Isa (2013) Seminar untersucht Bildungsteilhabe von Sinti und Roma in Europa / Ausstellung in Hildesheim. In: idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft vom 23.5.2013.
  • N-tv (2013) Roma in Ungarn und im Kosovo sind angeblich nicht sicher Amnesty prangert Flüchtlingspolitik an. In: N-tv Deutschland vom 23.5.2013.
  • Pamperrien, Sabine (2013) Gefangen in der eigenen Apathie. In: Deutschlandradio vom 23.5.2013.
  • Roucaute, Delphine (2013) Roms : à Lyon, l’attitude “schizophrène” des autorités. In: Le Monde vom 23.5.2013.
  • Mück-Raab, Marion (2013) Die Vitrinen-Affäre. In: TAZ vom 22.5.2013.
Germany News Western Europe

17.05.2013 Remembrance for the Deportation of Rroma in Germany

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The Faction “Alliance 90” and the Greens commemorated the 73 Anniversary of the deportation of Rroma in Germany and thought about the outstanding social and political task towards this still marginalised minority. The Alliance stated:

“The mention in the Constitution is a small but strong step. It is now important that Roma and Sinti in our society actually get all the benefits and rights and antiziganism comes to an end. We welcome the fact that a parliamentary committee for the interests of the Sinti and Roma was created as a direct consequence of the constitutional amendment. It will be our task to achieve concrete improvements for the Sinti and Roma in this committee”. (Jacob 2013)

Mueck-Raab (2013) reports on the secret removal of a memorial for the Rroma murdered under Nazism. In the Krautgarten school in Wiesbaden until recently on could find a small glass display case with photographs and texts about the fate of the deportees Maria Theresa Lehmann and her family. Along with about a hundred other Rroma the region, they were taken to a local jail, photographed and a number was tattooed numbered on their arm. This was followed by deportation to a concentration camp. The memorial was set up in 2006 under the initiative of the then headmistress. The showcase now contains football trophies. The children of Theresa Lehmann are outraged. The exhibits were not returned to them, contrary to the statements of a representative of the school. By email it was said: “A memorial has never existed in the Krautgarden school”.

The case to the removed memorial raises the question of the importance of remembering against the need to forget or to dispel. To truly forget, one needs to accept the past. This can only happen via the conscious recollection of the past.

Prime Minister Torsten Albig, in a speech in Kiel, spoke about the importance of remembering the deportation of Rroma in Germany. On 16 May 1940, 2.000 Rroma were arrested in northern Germany, “racially” evaluated and taken to concentration camps, where they were exterminated. The Prime Minister said: “We owe it to the victims of the Nazi genocide to keep the memory year after year. […] We remind with this ceremony a time where respect of others did not exist. We long for a fair relationship between majority and minority” (02elf evening paper). The request to consciously remember is contrary to the above dismantlement of a memorial in a school. Albig also stressed that the respectful handling of Rroma is a pan-European issue which requires a total commitment of Europe.

Sources:

  • 02elf Abendblatt (2013) Ministerpräsident Torsten Albig zur Gedenkfeier für deportierte Sinti und Roma: Erinnerung Jahr für Jahr wachhalten. In: 02elf Düsseldorfer Abendblatt vom 16.5.2013.
  • Jacob, Claudia (2013) Sinti und Roma endlich gleichbehandeln. In: Bundes Presseportal vom 16.5.2013.
  • Mück-Raab, Marion (2013) Ort der Erinnerung entsorgt. In: TAZ vom 15.5.2013. 
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17.05.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Schupelius (2013) is critical of the “Action Plan for the integration of foreign Roma” proposed by the Senator for Integration Dilek Kolat (SPD). Kolat worked together with several research groups in recent months to define steps for a successful integration of immigrant Rroma. Among the recommended measures one finds tenant counselling, promoting enrolment of Rroma children in school, prevention of violence and the psychological support for prostitutes. The action plan will very likely not be implemented due to lack of funds. Schupelius criticized the months of work of the working groups under Kolat, whose catalogue of measures, being obvious, does not justifythe required research time.

RBB (2013) reports on the planned shelter for 22 Rroma families in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Because the owner of the designated property does not share the politicians’ plans, the projected emergency housing did not come to be. The Integration Commissioner Monika Lüke accused the leaders to have acted clumsily in selecting the locality and to have presented the decision to the district authorities as a fait accompli.

Krampitz (2013) discusses the work of Duisburg’s pastor Dieter Herberth. He works for the successful integration and acceptance of immigrant Rroma. He sees the immigrants from Southeast Europe as poverty migrants who see no future in their homeland. Those who find any work, even modestly paid, tend to stay in their country. He sees the idea that immigration exists solely to benefit from social services social funds as flawed. “Only people in difficult social circumstances come to NRW (North Rhine Westphalia).” Herberth requests the residents more tolerance towards Rroma. Integration does not happen overnight. The immigrants are often members of Gurbets group who is be particularly discriminated against in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

Steeger (2013) gives information on a Rroma celebration in Neukölln. The “Herdelezi”, a festival in honour of Saint George and the patron saint of Rroma, was celebrated with lots of music and enthusiasm. It was organized by the youth organization Foro Amaro, an organisation where Rroma and Gadje are working together and committed to a tolerant, non-racist society. Herdelezi is celebrated by both Muslim and Orthodox Christian Roma all over the Balkan.

Sources:

  • Krampitz, Martin (2013) Pfarrer wirbt um Verständnis für Roma in Duisburg-Bergheim. In: Der Westen vom 13.5.2013.
  • RBB (2013) Notaufnahme für Roma-Familien nicht in Charlottenburg. In: RBB online vom 14.5.2013.
  • Schupelius, Gunnar (2013) Pläne für Roma-Familien sind unbezahlbar. In: BZ Berlin vom 12.5.2013.
  • Steeger, Gesa (2013) Balkan-Pop gegen Vorurteile. In: TAZ vom 12.5.2013. 
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17.05.2013 Documentary about the Self-View of the Serbian Rroma

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Majic (2013) reports on the work of Lidija Mirkovic, a documentary filmmaker who wants to present through her work a picture of the Rroma beyond certain foreign stereotypes. Mirkovic has interviewed countless Rroma in months of work and documented their everyday lives. She receives regular visits from journalists from Germany who are interested in her work. Usually she asks them two questions. First, what he or she wants to know about the slums and secondly, what he or she actually knows himself about Rroma. With this second question Mirkovic goes to the core of the issue. Her intention is to create new images that can compete with the entrenched stereotypes. Besides stereotypes, the essence of the slums lies at centre of the film “slumdogs”. Majic states: “What in the West is either glorified or branded a part of gypsy culture, is actually the result of unbearable misery. This reality cannot be banished away from one’s own doorstep, by simply declaring its consequences to be the nature of a particular ethnic group.” The film critically examines this ethnicisation of poverty as a self-chosen way of life, and take a look into the slums, not in a third world countries, but the middle of Europe.

Source:

  • Majic, Danijel (2013) Die Slums in der Mitte Europas. In: Frankfurter Rundschau vom 13.5.2013. 
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10.05.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany / Austria

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No case of enticement to racial hatred will be filed against the old politician from Bremen, who excluded from the SPD Bremen. Korol had published racist statements against Roma immigrants from Southeast Europe on his website, which prompted his exclusion from the SPD Bremen. The prosecution based its decision on the argument that what Korol stated fell under freedom of opinion could not be considered as an incitation to racial hatred. Korol had claimed on his website that Rroma live “socially and intellectually in the Middle Ages, their men have no inhibitions to send their children to beg instead to school or to kick their women’s teeth” (Stengel, 2013).

In Amstetten a group of travelling by Rroma wanted to set up a temporary camp in front of a former auction hall. Camping is however prohibited there. The group was evicted by the local police. The incident occurs at a time where in the debate in Europe around migration due to poverty, Rroma are increasingly discussed and simplifying stereotypes about them are in circulation (The Courier 2013).

In Nienberge in Westphalia, a group of a dozen Rroma settled on truckers’ stop. The site had been previously been locked. Social Councillor Thomas Paal is unhappy that this space is being used. It is unfit for this purpose, especially for families with children. Ms. Brigitte Hasenjürgen in charge of this place is committed to keep it open. The immigrants from Romania are planning to stay in Germany and enrol their children in school there (Peter 2013).

Around 5000 Rroma live and work currently in Schleswig-Holstein. The Commissioner for Minorities Renate Schnack asked the residents of the area in a public announce to support the Rroma in their efforts to integrate. As part of the project “Maro temm” (Our Land) of the Housing Association of the Sinti in Kiel, 13 housing units for needy Rroma were built (Shz 2013).

In the Neukölln district of Berlin on can currently see the exhibition “The Rroma Image Studio”. The exhibition gives Rroma artists the opportunity to present a self-view of the group whose identity is otherwise mostly represented by outsiders. The show is intended to enable a view beyond that of the “racist clichés, the supposedly criminal migrant workers or [the] kitschy images of Balkan and Gypsy folklore”. The black and white portrait series “Mas Vilag” shows for example a fragmentation and complexity rather than a clear, singular view of the Rroma self-identity (Oxen 2013).

The NZZ (2013) speaks on the Rroma debate in Germany. It commented that it was quite relevant, whether in the debate on poverty immigration, one talks about ethnic or social issues and background. In the first case one will speak about cultural tolerance and minority rights while in the case of “social issues”, of individual rights and social standards. The so-called “Rroma problem” is much more a question of poverty rather than a lifestyle choice. In the course of post-socialist transformation to capitalism, large masses of Rroma were impoverished. This themes should be the prominent ones, and not the questions of ethnicity.

Sources:

  • Kurier (2013) Roma-Karawane musste Stadtgebiet verlassen. In: Kurier (Österreich) vom 7.5.2013.
  • NZZ (2013) Die Roma und die «Armutseinwanderung». In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung vom 10.5.2013.
  • Oxen, Nicolas (2013) Weg vom Roma-Klischee. In: Neuköllner.net vom 8.5.2013.
  • Peter, Sandra (2013) Zwei Toilettenhäuschen für Mirgranten-Landfahrerplatz bleibt Notlösung. In: Westfälische Nachrichten vom 8.5.2013.
  • Shz (2013) Kommunen sollen Sinti und Roma unterstützen. In: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag (shz) vom 8.5.2013.
  • Stengel, Eckhard (2013) Hetze gegen Roma bleibt straflos. In: Berliner Zeitung vom 7.5.2013.

 

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26.04.2013 The Rroma, the EU and the Freedom of Movement

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Plüss (2013) reports on the plans of several EU member states – and also of Switzerland – to restrict the movement of persons in Europe. This freedom of movement allowed people, so far without a work permit, to settle in another state and to pursue an occupation and to a certain extent receive social benefits. The EU criticized the plans of Germany, Austria, the UK and the Netherlands, who want to clamp down on so-called poverty immigrants from Eastern Europe. From the perspective of the relevant EU Commission, mass immigration is a politicised perception of the concerned countries, but not a statistical reality in itself. The EU also has been working for several years on its own strategy to prevent the feared Westwards migration from Eastern Europe. It strives to better integrate ethnic groups such as Rroma in their home countries. However, many involved parties question the success of these ventures.

Kopeinig / Kramar (2013) report on a heated atmosphere on this debate in Berlin and Vienna. The interior ministers of Germany, Austria, the UK and the Netherlands complain about the abuse of the welfare by poor immigrants, who are frequently Rroma. The ministers of Germany and Austria, Hans-Peter Friedrich and Johanna Mikl-Leitner are currently in the middle of an election campaign and thus request in this regard a clear distinction between the treatment of nationals and immigrants. Even the conservative press in the UK warns against a mass immigration of Rroma from Eastern Europe, an immigration whose factuality is but hard to establish. In addition, the one-dimensional abuse of social welfare that is talked about is to be questioned. The contexts behind such migration as well as the sources and facts of the migration numbers are too little discussed.

In the still ongoing debate in Germany about the feared mass immigration from Romania and Bulgaria, the first concrete actions are being taken. Berlin’s integration commissioner Monika Lüke confirmed the plans of the capital to provide emergency shelter for up to 100 homeless immigrants. The city government wants to forestall the exploitation of immigrants by landlords, respectively prevent them from their questionable practices of high rents, low quality abodes. Integration Senator Dikel Kolat also adopted a so-called “Action Plan Roma”. There are already 160 welcoming classes for Rroma children to prepare their integration into German schools with a strong focus on German language courses. The planned shelters are part of the action plan. Resistance against this project is increasing. The City Council Carsten Engelmann for social affairs commented negatively against the plans, fearing that current local tenants and landlords would be negatively impacted or even forced to leave (Thomsen 2013).

Loy (2013) added further to the subject by pointing out that Kolat plans transition home for foreign newcomers whose financing it still pending. He also states that many Rroma have had bad experiences with government bodies and administration and thus have reservations in engaging with authorities. The Senator responsible for integration earnestly hopes on the successful integration of Rroma children through professional training programs. She also denies the controversy surrounding the welfare abuse. 80% of Romanians and Bulgarians in Berlin are employed and thus entitled to receive social security benefits.

Siebert (2013) presents an interview with Benjamin Marx, a representative of the organisation “Aachen Siedlungs- und Wohnungsgesellschaft” which works on the integration of immigrant Rroma. In the Berlin district of Neukölln, there are 600 Rroma families, most from Fântânele in Romania. Marx travelled to Fântânele to get an idea of ​​the life there. Life there offers few prospects and poor educational opportunities, which is why the migration to Germany is associated with hopes for a better future. Marx seems itself also not entirely free from prejudices. He is quoted with a statement bordering on defamation: “It is hard to imagine a situation in which families of Gypsies would be able to live in a good neighbourhood with someone else. Among them, own groupings emerge, they ‘arrange things’, ‘promise stay in Germany’, for which they ask for money.” Such statements are an unnecessary generalisation and one-dimensional representation of members of an ethnic group that can only be described as stupid. Especially the statement that Rroma are not be able to live together with other people can only be described as racist. Marx also questions the sense of the inclusion of Romania and Bulgaria in the EU. This was a terrible mistake, because the countries were not yet ready for it. Siebert leaves this statement without comments and therefore adds to the overall strangeness of this article, which can only be described as one-sided.

The Cologne City Gazette (2013) reports on defamatory statements of Cardinal Joachim Meisner against Rroma from Slovenia. He is referring to Rroma as not able to inegrate, and to Rroma families as having many children. The Cologne social critic Günther Wallraff sharply criticises these statements in the article. Meisner’s remarks reminds “of the propaganda from other times aimed directly at the forced sterilisation of women of so-called anti-social child-rich families.” In this Wallraff refers of course to the systematic destruction of Rroma under the Nazis, where they were branded as anti-social.

Christine Langenfeld, chairman of the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration, is committed to the successful integration of immigrant Rroma. There is a need for a successful mediator between immigrants, political authorities and local communities. She also engages herself to prevent the formation of lawless areas within economy, something that affects Rroma in particular. The Rroma have a right to protection by the law, since the EU is not only a domestic market but also a community of values ​​is (German Turkish News 2013).

Lehner (2013) reports on a podium discussion in Salzburg, where the correspondent and author Mappes-Niediek and the writer Karl-Markus Gauss debated on the impoverishment of Eastern Europe. Mappes-Niediek criticised the economic policies of Western European and international business leaders who have contributed with their massive measures to impoverishment of broad sections of the population in Southeast Europe. The EU needs to primarily promote local economies and not waste too much energy on poorly engineered social policies. The writer Gauss severely criticised the European banking sector, which consumed lots of tax money, thus preventing these funds from being used to boost the labour market. Mappes-Niediek also pointed to a little-known fact. Until the mid 19th century, Rroma in Romania were treated as slaves: “Roma were completely subjugated for many centuries, not even owning their own bodies. Families were torn apart, their members are sold separately. This influences the current situation, as they never possessed land, land that they could have passed by inheritance.” He also points to the deterioration of the situation since the fall of the Eastern Bloc. Previously many Rroma were working, albeit poorly paid. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the employment crisis means that unemployment increased massively. This impoverishment for many Rroma meant a return and a reliance on traditional economic and life forms, which often are no longer appropriate.

In Freiburg, 500 people demonstrated against the forced deportation of approximately 60 Rroma from Germany. The demonstration was organized by the action group “the right to stay”, against the deportation policy of the red-green government (Badische Zeitung 2013).

Bochtler (2013) reports on a Rroma family in Freiburg, which is affected by the deportation policy. The Sacipis family has successfully integrated, all family members go for a job, but now finds itself faced with deportation. Local activists are fighting for a more sensitive approach with members of the minorities and demand that one considers the history of German Roma policy in this question. The outcome of the conflict remains unclear for the time being.

Sources:

  • Badische Zeitung (2013) 500 Demonstranten protestieren gegen Roma-Abschiebung. In: Badische Zeitung vom 21.4.2013. 
  • Bochtler, Anja (2013) Etlichen Roma-Familien in Freiburg drohen Abschiebungen. In: Badische Zeitung vom 19.4.2013.
  • Deutsch Türkische Nachrichten (2013) SVR-Vorsitzende: Roma-Zuwanderung stellt Kommunen vor eine grosse Herausvorderung. In: Deutsch Türkische Nachrichten vom 23.4.2013.
  • Kölner-Stadtanzeiger (2013) Günter Wallraff kritisiert Meisner. In: Kölner-Stadtanzeiger vom 23.4.2013.
  • Kopeinig, Margaretha/Kramar Konrad (2013) Roma: Angst vor der importierten Armut. In: Der Kurier vom 26.4.2013.
  • Lehner, Gerhard (2013) Armut unter Roma: Schwere Kritik an EU. In: ORF vom 22.4.2013.
  • Loy, Thomas (2013) Senat plant Hilfe für die Roma. In: Der Tagesspiegel vom 23.4.2013.  
  • Plüss, Mirko (2013) Ventilklausel einmal anders rum. In: Tages-Anzeiger vom 25.4.2013.
  • Siebert, Armin (2013) Integration von Sinti und Roma in Deutschland: “Harzer Straße ist keine Lösung”. In: Stimme Russlands vom 23.4.2013.
  • Thomsen, Jan (2013) Notbleiben für Familien. In: Berliner Zeitung vom 26.4.2013. 
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19.04.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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In the context of the ongoing debate in Germany about Rroma,  DerWesten (2013) reports about the Rroma situation in the Balkans. In the course of the debate, some centre-right politicians have expressed the fear that large crowds of poverty migrants from Romania and Bulgaria would flood Germany. Key to the debate discussion on the freedom of establishment between Germany and the new EU member states Romania and Bulgaria due to come in force at the beginning of 2014. The journalist visited the Rroma settlement of Fakulteta in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. He presents the common image of misery in a suburban ghetto where there is much suffering and little prospects for the future. He cites young men looking for better living conditions in Western Europe, mainly in because they are marginalized in Bulgaria itself, and often cannot engage in any remunerated work. The Rroma settlement is also misused by local business as an illegal landfill, where they unload their trash next to the houses and huts of the Rroma. In addition, lack of sanitation leads to disease, especially among children. The journalist asks about the truth of the feared mass immigration due to poverty and concludes that it is not the case, referring to the low numbers of migrants quoted by the European Union and the Central Council of German Sinti and Rroma.

Neverthelss, the journalist of DerWesten fails to paint a differentiated picture of Rroma in the Balkans. He also falls into the pitfall of misery stereotypes and the portrayal of a parallel world. At the end, he tells of his encounter with a Rrom who runs a transport company, and who is angry at the lack of representation of integrated Rroma in the media. This remains a marginal statement in this article otherwise dominated by a presentation of misery:

The sun is slowly setting on Fakulteta. […] Some men are standing in a circle around two fighting dogs. With shouts, they fire the dogs and they pounce on each other head-on. For foreigners it seems required to leave the this place with the incoming darkness. Almost 400 kilometres to the northwest, right in the middle of the Serbian capital Belgrade, one finds the notorious Roma settlement of Belvil. There are no brick and mortar houses, no cars, no horses. Only crooked huts made of everything that can be found. And tons of waste.

Source:

  • DerWesten (2013) Niemand will sie haben. – Reise zu den Roma auf dem Balkan. In: DerWesten vom 17.4.2013. 
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19.04.2013 Rroma in Lausanne

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Maspoli (2013) reports on an elderly woman in Lausanne, who, during the cold winter months, supplied a Rroma family living in the street for 35 days with clothing and food. The pensioner was worried about the family, consisting of the parents, two sons and a pregnant daughter in law. After about a month, in December, the family told the pensioner that they wanted to go back to Romania and broke off all contacts. A month later, the woman discovered the family begging in the city centre, again in poor clothes. She feels betrayed. A friend of her had also given money to the family, money that had been used to repay debt to a usurer in Romania and for paying the smugglers for the travel between Romania and Switzerland.

The article is written in a very one-sided manner and presents an unbalanced view on Rroma, representing them as sneaky and unreliable. Such articles contribute to the negative view of society on Rroma and can only be described as unfortunate.

Bourgeoise (2013) reports on the views of the organization Opre Rrom that questions the existence of beggar networks among Rroma. Money earned begging is very rarely handed to mafia-like networks, and is rather intended for their own families in Eastern Europe. The debate about Rroma networks is similar to the current discussions in Germany about Rroma kings and strong self-oppression among the Rroma. The UDC party in Vaud is starting an initiative to criminalize begging in almost all areas in Lausanne. Motivation for the ban is the belief that the Rroma beggars are part of organized criminal networks that one does not want to support.

Sources:

  • Bourgeoise, Lise (2013) «Les Roms de Lausanne ne font pas partie d’un réseau». In: 24heures vom 8.4.2013.
  • Maspoli, Philippe (2013) «J’ai aidé des Roms et j’ai le sentiment d’avoir été arnaquée» In: 24heures vom 19.4.2013. 
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19.04.2013 Silence about one’s Origins

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Nadine Michollek (2013) from the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reported on the many young Rroma in Germany who conceal their origins. Reasons for this concealment are deeply rooted in the prejudices of the majority towards Rroma, which make it all but impossible to speak about one’s origins. Many fear the loss of jobs, friends or customers. For Michollek, the negative perceptions and some romanticized stereotypes come from movies, operas, and especially media reports. Michollek further exposes the problem of well integrated and of marginalized Rroma. A first group of Rroma arrived already 600 years ago in Germany. The Sinti make most of their descendants. Already during the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and later under the Nazis, they were victims of exclusionary policies. Michollek sees the Sinti as excluded from the labour market whereas immigrants from the 1960s arriving from Yugoslavia, Spain, or Turkey, are described as successfully integrated in the labour market, a statement that must be questioned. Sinti tend to demarcate themselves from newer immigrants which speaks against this statement. The testimony of a young Rromni who explains the problem of silence as follows should provoke some thinking:

Sometimes I’m worried about my apprenticeship. At my workplace, I would not tell anyone that I’m a Gypsy woman. I was afraid that if something is missing, I would be made responsible, that people say, maybe it was so, that is indeed one of those. […] There are just too many prejudices, for example, that we steal and lie. My boyfriend and my best friend know. But many of my friends have spoken in front of me negatively on Roma and Sinti, and I just do not want them to think wrong about me.

Source:

  • Michollek, Nadine (2011) Schweigen über die Herkunft. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger vom 27.10.2011. 
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19.04.2013 The History of Sufferings of Sinti and Roma

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Stankiewitz (2013) reports on the still poorly acknowledged destruction of Rroma under National Socialism. In the centre he presents the now eighty years old Hugo Höllenreiner, who is one of the few survivors of this crime of the State. Speaking at a memorial in the Munich town hall, Höllenreiner calls the horrors of the past back to life. About half a million Rroma were victims of systematic extermination policies of the National Socialists. Food for thoughts is the fact that theses crimes were only very insufficiently investigated. Stankiewitz emphasizes the often misinterpreted fact that the apparent wandering of the Rroma is not a willed way of life, but rather is the result from the fact that they were not allowed to settle anywhere. Forced to constantly wander, the stereotype of the vagabond Rroma was created. He notes:

It is certain in any case that the immigrant groups and extended families – like the Jews – were not allowed to settle, and he could only exercise certain professions. Thus, the stereotypes of the eternally wandering, nomadic, asocial, or the “free, funny gypsy life” were created. A kitschy representation in art, literature, film and operetta (“The Gypsy Baron”) which is maintained to this day.

At the end of the 19th Century, a systematic monitoring service on Rroma was established. The former police director Alfred Dillmann even set up a “Gypsy Police”, which was to be dedicated on the “containment of dangerous vagrancy”. In inflammatory articles published in the March 1912, “The Gypsy plague”, Rroma were accused of introducing epidemics and of terrorist activities. In Bavaria, in 1926, the “Gypsy and work-avoiders” laws, which among other things criminalised the “travel in hordes” were introduced. Besides this, however, there were always well integrated Rroma who were valued and respected in their professions,   mostly artisanal ones.

With the rise of the Nazis, the systematic criminalization of the Rroma in Germany began. Eugenicists such as Josef Mengele measured the physiognomy of members of the Rroma and presented abstruse theories of racial inferiority and relationships between physique and behaviour. Rroma were identified black triangles, the Rroma equivalent of the Jewish star,  and branded as anti-social and deported to concentration camps. After the war reparation were not paid, as it was claimed that no racial persecution had existed. Databases on travellers were continued well after the War and only disbanded in the 1970s. Stankiewitz concludes:

After the war, the persecuted Sinti and Roma had no political advocates in contrast to other groups of victims. The Höllreiner family, those who survived, were never compensated for their stolen property and for the time in camps. A reparation was out of the question after the Federal Court in 1956 decided that deportations of Rroma were not a racial persecution, but a “crime-preventive measure”.

Source:

  • Stankiewitz, Karl (2013) Es begann in Bayern. Vom Leidensweg der Sinti und Roma. In: Kulturvollzug vom 15.4.2013. 
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12.04.2013 Travel Ban for Serbian Rroma

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The TAZ reported on Rroma families in Belgrade who want to try their luck in Germany or have already done it and were expelled back. Jacob (2013) visited the families in the slums around Belgrade. He represents the common image of misery: Lots of waste, high unemployment, misery, little or no prospects for the future. Ajrija Demir already tried twice her luck in Germany. A total of seven years she lived there and had to leave again twice. Since the EU threatened Serbia to reintroduce a visa requirement, controls at the borders against potential asylum abuser were enforced by Serbia. The border guards are to identify “false asylum seekers” – on what criteria this is done, Jacob does not discuss – and send them back on arbitrary grounds. In December 2012, the Serbian judiciary introduced Article 350a into the penal code criminalising “help for wrongful asylum claim abroad or for wrongfully obtaining welfare”. Dadruch Rroma are able to consciously leave them held Serbia. This practice is contrary to the UN Convention on Human Rights where the right to emigrate from one country – one’s own or another – is postulated. Jacob laconically states that:

The civil rights activist Vukovic would be happy to challenge the exit restrictions in court, but can not find any plaintiff. “Rroma do not dare to go against the state,” she says. The visa waiver is the most important government’s asset, and it wants to retain it. “For this they sacrifice the basic rights of the Roma.”

Source:

  • Jakob, Christian (2013) An der Grenze zurückgeschickt. In: TAZ vom 9.4.2013. 
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12.04.2013 International Day of Rroma: Call to End Discrimination

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On the occasion of the International Day of the Rroma on April 8th, the Green Party decidedly demands an end to discrimination of Rroma in Europe. Too many Rroma are still excluded either by informal or explicit policies of social advancement and recognition. Since its inauguration in 1971 in London, the International Day of Rroma was celebrated 42 times, and the Green party criticized in particular the political exploitation of Rroma for purposes of election campaigns. This turns them into poverty refugees and makes them the targets of an emotionalised socio-political conflict. The Green Party calls for effective implementation of the EU initiated Rroma strategy, which up to now only had very modest successes.

The chairman of the Austrian Association of Rroma, Rudolf Sarközy stressed during the day, the constructive support of the Catholic Churchto bring the Rroma from the edge of society to get into its mainstream. Former Chancellor Franz Vranitzky openly criticized the anti-Roma policies in France, Hungary and other EU countries that are not really different from questionable practices usually found in emerging countries (Katholische Presseagentur Österreich 2013).

Stille (2013), on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of the Rroma day, draws sober conclusions: Although with some 15 million members, Rroma are the largest minority in Europe, they are shockingly underrepresented in politics. Exclusion, discrimination and physical threats are still the norm. One builds walls, to isolate them from other settlements, extreme right-wing citizen militias patrol Rroma neighbourhoods and provoke and abuse Rroma and Rromnja. Nearly 60 years after the genocide of Rroma under the Nazis, this fact, in contrast to the Jewish Holocaust is barely recognised. The negative stereotypes that are attributed to Rroma continue unabated. War refugees from Kosovo are afraid of deportation to a country that they no longer know and where they are discriminated against. Romani Rose, of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma warns against blanket criminalization of people who are not looking to become delinquent, but are looking for a future. Finally, Stille states accurately:

Today, on World Roma Day, it is time for us to think about why German Roma for decades – many of them well-educated, well-integrated people – hide their belonging to this ethnic minority.

Sources:

  • Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (2013) Internationaler Roma-Tag: Diskriminierungen endlich beenden. In: Düsseldorfer Abendblatt vom 9.4.2013.
  • Katholische Presseagentur Österreich (2013) Roma-Tag: “Viele wissen nicht, wie gläubig wir sind”. In: Katholische Presseagentur Österreich vom 9.4.2013.
  • Stille, Klaus-Dieter (2013) „Roma“ heisst Mensch. In: Readers Edition vom 8.4.2013. 
Albania Germany Kosovo News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Serbia

05.04.2013 Forced Return of Rroma in Kosovo

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Bahri Cani (2013) reported about the fate of some 2500 Rroma who left Germany in the last three years and had to go back to Kosovo. The forced return destroyed lives and families that were built up over years in the new home. Often these victims of forced returns speak little or only very poorly Albanian and Serbian, as they are grew up in Germany. The school thus becomes a major challenge. The deportations are the result of a bilateral agreement between Kosovo and Germany, which were ratified in 2010 and enables simplified deportations. Back in Kosovo, returnees are confronted with high unemployment rates and a lack of integration. Many of the deportees see no future for themselves in Kosovo.

Source:

  • Cani, Bahri (2013) Traum von der Rückkehr nach Deutschland. In: Deutsche Welle vom 1.4.2013. 
Albania Germany Kosovo News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Serbia

05.04.2013 Forced Return of Rroma in Kosovo

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Bahri Cani (2013) reported about the fate of some 2500 Rroma who left Germany in the last three years and had to go back to Kosovo. The forced return destroyed lives and families that were built up over years in the new home. Often these victims of forced returns speak little or only very poorly Albanian and Serbian, as they are grew up in Germany. The school thus becomes a major challenge. The deportations are the result of a bilateral agreement between Kosovo and Germany, which were ratified in 2010 and enables simplified deportations. Back in Kosovo, returnees are confronted with high unemployment rates and a lack of integration. Many of the deportees see no future for themselves in Kosovo.

Source:

  • Cani, Bahri (2013) Traum von der Rückkehr nach Deutschland. In: Deutsche Welle vom 1.4.2013. 
Bulgaria Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

22.03.2013 The Invisible Rroma from Germany

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The ARD report “How Roma experience discrimination in Germany” (2013) shows how strong the prejudices of the majority against the Rroma truly are, and are increasing now due to the current debate. The media hype about Rroma as social help recipients and as the cause of rising crime and littering, is contrasted in this report against integrated Rroma from Germany. They – except the protagonist of the documentary – keep their identity secret. There were too many bad experiences with negative stereotypes. The young Rroma student depicted in the report is an exception. She wants to make a difference politically, right the highly distorted picture that society has on Rroma. The report shows clearly, how strong the power of media and prejudices are.

Even articles such as the one of the TAZ (2013) confirm the public perception that neglected Rroma living on the border of criminality. Although the article highlights the positive efforts of the Berlin Integration Supervisor Monika Lüke who wants to build a dormitory for homeless Rroma, it is such a one-sided reporting resulting in an nourishing the problem mentioned in the above report, namely that of a unilateral construction of identity of the Rroma based on negative sterotypes.

Bulgaria’s President Rosen Plevneliev, in an interview with the German magazine Focus, disputes the existence of a mass migration of Roma to Germany (Epoch Times Germany 2013). The statistics are doubtful. On often speaks of millions of Rroma in Bulgaria, even though according to government statistics, only 300,000 Rroma live in that country. Bulgaria also has undertaken massive efforts to secure its border. He criticized that Romania and Bulgaria unfortunately always serve as convenient explanation for problems of the partner countries of Europe (Europe Online Magazine 2013).

The German President Joachim Gauck criticized during his visit to Schleswig-Hohlstein the hysterical debate on Rroma immigration from Romania and Bulgaria and the ignoble tradition of discrimination and exclusion (Spiegel Online 2003). He stressed that the people left their homes because of poverty and discrimination and stated it is wrong to stigmatize an entire ethnic group. Such prejudices are a disrespect for the well integrated Rroma living in Germany since the 1960s. The statement quoted at the end of the article stating that “in the first six months of last year, about 500,000” emigrated from Romania and Bulgaria to Germany is to be really questioned. This would truly correspond to the predicted mass immigration.

Dagmar Rosenfeld and Özlem Topcu (2013) of the Zeit see the feared mass immigration in Duisburg already having become a reality. They visited a high-rise building in the district Rheinhausen Bergheim, where mainly Rroma are living. 6’176 people from Bulgaria and Romania, mainly Rroma have immigrated recently to Duisburg. The report cited report on immigration from South-eastern Europe (Duisburg 2013) notes that Duisburg, because of its numerous, empty houses in poor condition attracts poor immigrants. Not every immigrant child can be offered a pace in school because rooms and teachers are missing and many of the immigrant children and adults cannot read nor write. In addition, there is also probably forced and child prostitution. The article concludes with the sober observation that social peace in Duisburg is in jeopardy. Emotional and hatred have taken hold.

Sources:           

  • Epoch Times Deutschland (2013) Bulgariens Präsident bestreitet massenhafte Zuwanderung von Roma in andere EU-Staaten. In: Epoch Times Deutschland vom 22.3.2013.
  • Europe Online Magazine (2013) Plewneliew: Keine massenhafte Zuwanderung bulgarischer Roma. In: Europe Online Magazine vom 22.3.2013.
  • Memarina, Susanne (2013) Wohnen ist das Problem. In: TAZ vom 21.3.2013.
  • Rosenfeld, Dagmar / Topcu, Özlem (2013) Das umkämpfte Haus. In: Die Zeit vom 14.3.2013.
  • Schayani, Isabel / Onneken, Peter (2013) Ausgerenzt: Wie Roma in Deutschland Diskriminierung erleben. In: Monitor (WDR) vom 14.3.2013.
  • Stadt Duisburg (2013) Zuwanderung von Menschen aus Südost-Europa. In: http://www.wir-sind-du.de/?p=5227 (22.3.2013).
  • Spiegel online (2013) Gauck macht sich für Sinti und Roma stark. In: Spiegel online vom 22.3.2013. 
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15.03.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Reinger Burger (2013) of the FAZ concerns himself rather one-sidedly with the topic of poverty migration to Germany. He focuses on the media hype surrounding an apartment tower in Duisburg, which is regularly visited by politicians and journalists. There is nothing really new that he can tell, but he lets the residents speak out in an emotionally loaded way without any context with residents complaining about littering and rising crime. The gloomy forecast from people responsible for integration in Duisburg, which says that because of the freedom of movement within Europe that will start at the beginning of 2014, they will need to spend an additional 15 millions, cannot be missing. Men mostly do undeclared work while many young women prostitute themselves. He brings a few new points to the debate namely that many in Germany believed that Rroma, as they are travellers, would only temporarily stay in Germany. The opposite is the case: Many want to stay and build a future for their children, because in Romania and Bulgaria they see no future for themselves. Hannes Swoboda, chairman of the SPD in the European Parliament demands a dedicated Commissioner for Rroma issues. To ignore the situation is not an adequate response to the prevailing events.

The Welt (2013) reports on the action of Saxony’s interior minister Markus Ulbig. He will travel from March 17th to 20th to Serbia, Macedonia, and Kosovo and talk to state, charities and Rroma representatives. His aim is to rationalise the debate about poverty immigration. Migrants from Southeast Europe are almost to 100% not political refugees but are fleeing poverty. This leads to the abuse of political asylum.

The Bremen SPD politician Martin Korol is being excluded from the local SPD fraction (Möller 2013, Hudemann 2013, Stengel 2013). After anti-Rroma statements were made public on Korol’s website, a public debate started centred on the content and intentions of this blog. Korol tried to appease it, which did not succeed with his party colleagues. From his point of view he wanted to start a constructive debate on the situation of Rroma in Germany. Since his statements go against social democratic principles, an exclusion proceeding has been instituted against him. Korol only just became a citizen of Bremen.

Arndt (2013) is writing a report for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on the situation of Rroma in Bulgaria. The article consists of a series of statistics which does not describe how they were collected and does not discloses their sources disclosed nor discusses them. Arndt distinguishes initially three dominant minorities in Bulgaria: Bulgarians of Turkish origin, Pomaks and Rroma. About the Rroma living conditions, he reports is fully in line with the standard misery views: the majority of Bulgarian Rroma live in closed communities, 55% in urban areas and 45% in rural areas. The number Rroma completing school is blatantly lower than among ethnic Bulgarians. Illiteracy, particularly among women, is also much higher. Many Rroma children speak little or no Bulgarian, when they arrive at school. This data may be correct, even though in the absence of any sources, criticism is almost impossible. The report becomes problematic when it starts to operate on the level of values. Arndt notes for example that: “Due to the shortcomings of their socialization they often lack the necessary social behavioural patterns required to be successful in school. […] The biggest obstacle to a successful integration is likely to prove to be the ghettos with their patriarchal and feudal, often criminal structures, less so the Roma culture.” What shortcomings in the socialization does Arndt mean? How is this justified? His article postulates facts without context and these are not explained. This approach is seriously to be questioned. 

Sources:

  • Arndt, Marco (2013) Geschlossene Gesellschaft. Zur Lage der Roma in Bulgarien. In: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung – Auslandsbüro Bulgarien vom 8.3.2013.
  • Burger, Reiner (2013) Das bessere Leben im Problem-Hochhaus. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung vom 11.3.2013.
  • Delius, Mara (2013) „Die Zigeuner“, ein imaginäres Kollektiv Europas? In: Die Welt vom 14.3.2013.
  • Die Welt (2013) Ulbig will Situation der Roma auf dem Balkan erkunden. In: Die Welt vom 14.3.2013.
  • Ebbinghaus, Uwe (2013) Europa erfindet die Zigeuner, um sie zu verachten. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung vom 13.3.2013.
  • Hudemann, Steffen (2013) Rassismus oder Denkanstoss? In.: Radio Bremen vom 22.2.2013.
  • Möller, René (2013) SPD meidet Martin Korol. In: Radio Bremen vom 8.3.2013.
  • Staats, Christian (2013) Kitsch und Hass. In: Die Zeit vom 28.2.2013.
  • Stengel, Eckhart (2013) Auch SPD-Fraktion will Rechtsabweichler loswerden. In: Frankfurter Rundschau vom 1.3.2013. 

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