An interview in the Czech press of members of the Barcelona Gypsy Balkan Orchestra, a music group that while not Romano, plays many Roma songs from the Balkans.
A reportage in Arte about the discriminations that Roma refugees from the Ukraine are facing in the country.
Two articles in Polish about anti-Roma racism incidents in Germany. In 2023, 1,233 anti-Gypsy incidents were recorded in Germany, almost twice as many as the year before, when there were 621 such cases. The latest data was published on Monday (June 17, 2024) by the Antigypsyism Information and Reporting Center (MIA) in its latest report.
A portrait and interview of the Burgenland Romni Danijela Cicvaric, the director of the Vienna Association Romano Centro. Romano Centro has been working since 1991 for helping Roma, combatting discrimination, and promoting integration.
Some more positive news in France this week (at least some …). An association called Rencont’Rom (A French play on rencontres – meetings, and Roma) was funded by the Occitanie Region as part of a project for a more inclusive region. In Grenoble, in the Apls, an Exhibition is trying to counter the stereotypes. The rest is more of the usual. A fire in a Roma camp in Montpellier is the South was probably a criminal act; in Toulouse, tons of garbage on the site of a former Roma camp is partly attributed to them; and finally, in Nantes, in Western France, a tribunal judged the construction of a site for Roma to be illegal.
An article about the history of Roma in Finland, from their arrival in the 16th century via Sweden to the present day. Discrimination in the Swedish Kingdom was very strong, and after Finland’s annexation by Russia in 1809, continued. They are now recognised as a minority in Finland, but still face strong prejudice.
Conner Rousseau, a Belgian politician and now former chair of the Vorruit (Social Democrat) party made racist statements against Roma last September. A mediation was proposed and initially accepted, but Roma organisations withdrew from the agreement.
He is now set to be judged but will not attend the proceedings.
A few news this week about Roma in France: a 26 year old man has been arrested for the murder of a pregnant Romni in Haute Savoie, close to Geneva. The crime seems to have been racially motivated. Other news are about EU Funds for the integration of Roma and the closure of a camp in Strasbourg.
Eighty years ago, in May 1944, 578 Roma and Sinti were rounded up in a major raid and transported to Camp Westerbork. Of these, 245 were deported by train to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp in Poland. Only 31 returned alive.
A commemoration was held on Sunday on the site.
The traditional yearly horse fair at Appleby, UK will open in less than three weeks. The Shero Rom for the fair is appealing to all travellers not to come to early to avoid the strain on the resources and the village.
Sami Džemailovski is the founder and president of the Association Roma Carmen e.V. from Dusseldorf. He is a social worker by profession and speaks six languages. DW reporter Danko Rabrenović interviewed him.
Sami is originally from Tito’s Veles (Veles), and he came to Germany for the first time in 1973 with his parents, who were temporarily working in Düsseldorf. At home they spoke Romani, Turkish and Macedonian. Along the way, he also learned Serbian, German and English.
The decision made public on May 13, 2024 by the European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe, which unanimously concluded that Italy had committed serious and systematic violations of the European Social Charter with regard to housing situation of Roma communities, must herald a change in Italy’s discriminatory policies on access to housing, Amnesty International said.
Not much in the news. A fire in a camp near Angers, in the Loire Valley and in Bordeaux, Roma go to court to prevent an expulsion.
Not much this week in France about Roma. There were enough other themes this week …
An association helping Roma to access schools in the Lyon region; a relocation in better condition for a Roma camp in Strasbourg; and the closure of a camp near Paris.
According to this article in the Bulgarian press, there was a fight between rival Bulgarian Roma families in Naples, Italy.
Bad for all…
Not much, this week. The usual. A new Roma camp near Nantes; a camp closed near Angers, and the removal of garbage; and young Serbo-Croatian Romnja burglars arrested.
Klaudia Wioletta, an academic, and not a whistleblower learned that the Norwegian police had created a register of Roma, a national minority in Norway, and had no choice but to subject it to public and legal scrutiny.
She first came across the Norwegian Roma “family tree” compiled by police officers during a meeting she was invited to on crime prevention activities in Oslo in the fall of 2023. The police officers wanted to expand their knowledge about Roma and invited her because in her research she dealt with issues related to Roma. She photographed the “family tree” and, suspecting that there was a register behind the graphics, accepted the invitation to another meeting with the policemen who presented it.
Her suspicions were right. During the next meeting, the officer showed her the log on his computer and explained how he created it. The register includes 14 people who have been charged in ongoing criminal cases, 74 are their close relatives and 567 other people. The register even includes Holocaust survivors, deceased persons, and Roma children.
Unfortunately, the usual news in France about Roma this week. A so-called Transition village near Montpellier in the South of France closed after two years. The fate of the 165 Roma who still were there is uncertain. Other news: Near Nantes, a landowner is trying to get rid of a Roma camp on his lands by himself; another camp near Paris is increasing in size; and near Marseille, a fire in a camp.
Tate Britain has today announced that Romani artist Delaine Le Bas is one of the four artists who have been shortlisted for the prestigious Turner Prize in 2024, its 40th year.
Well Done!
An article in the Italian press about the role of Roma in the Italian resistance during the fascist era. Their contribution was not recognised and forgotten.
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