Category Archives: News Western Europe

France News Western Europe

25.01.2015 The case of the dead Rroma baby in France:

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In a further development in the case of the dead Rroma baby in France, Jacques Toubon, in charge of the defence of the rights, stated that the order of the mayor denying the burial of the baby was illegal. He added that this constituted a discrimination. That Toubon, a rightist politician not know for his love of minorities in France says such things is a sign of progress, albeit a slow one!

Netherlands News Western Europe

25.01.2015 The Dutch King will read the names of all Dutch Holocaust Victims

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Wilheml Alexander, King of the Netherlands, will read the names of victims of the Holocaust as part of a remembrace that will read out the name of 102’000 Jews, Rroma, and Sinti that were deported to concentration camps during the war. He will be part of 700 people reading these names on the 27th of January.

Niederländischer König verliest Namen von Holocaust-Opfern. Handelsblatt, 23.01.2015. http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/willem-alexander-niederlaendischer-koenig-verliest-namen-von-holocaust-opfern/11275470.html

France News Western Europe

25.01.2015 UK Commissioner Eric Pickle looses a case against Rroma in the UK

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London Green Belt Commissioner Eric Pickle lost a landmark case against two Rroma. The judge stated that Pickle’s department breached both human rights and equality laws in denying Rroma to pitch in the green belt. This case highlight the current policies in England but also in France of evicting Rroma settlements, even, if in this case, these existed for generations.

News Western Europe

25.01.2015 Exhibition in Trier on the Nazi persecutions of Rroma and Sinti

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For the remembrance day of the victims of the Nazis on January 27th, a series of NGOs in Trier organises an exhibition and series of conference on the topics of the persecutions of Rroma and Sinti under the Nazis.

France News Western Europe

14.01.2015 France and Integration: Yes, Rroma Can be Integrated

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In an editorial, the Huffington Post advocates the acceptance of migrants and minorities in France, stating that they contributed to the enrichment of the country and that they contribute to cement the idea of Europe. De Gouyon calls for people to fight against racism anf eork towards the integration of Rroma.

However, again, as usual, Rroma are reduced to the migrant part of the population, to the 10 to 15 thousands who live in Ghettoes and camps on the outskirt of the big French cities. There are more Rroma than that in France (and elsewhere).  Stating that the problem is limited to these 15 thousand people is a great first in France, a country where the discussion on immigrations often takes an irrational path, and where one could easily get the impression, reading the press, that there are millions of Rroma migrants. There are very few, this is a fact worth stating!

De Gouyon Matignon, Louis. Oui, les Roms sont intégrables. Huffington Post. 6 January 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/louis-de-gouyon-matignon/oui-les-roms-sont-integrables_b_6417666.html

France News Western Europe

14.01.2015 France and Rroma

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Hounding Rroma in France, titles the New York Times following the refusal of burial for burial of the young Rrom who died on New Year. The NYT stresses that the current government continues the repressive policies started by Nicolas Sarkozy although, according to the article, France received EU funds for the integration of minorities and for Rroma in particular.

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

14.01.2015 Nicolas Dupont Aignan … Is ignorance an excuse?

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Interviewed by Metro News on January 5th, the Mayor of Champlan, Essone (France), Mr. Noicolas Dupon Aignan stated “Rroma should be in Romania”. This clearly show that his understanding of the subject   is limited if not non-existent. We do wish that people who obviously have little if any understanding would rather simply avoid the subject rather than blabber the same platitudes and stereotypes as have already been heard for ages.

Roma are not Romanian, although there are Romanian Rroma, and not all Rroma are uneducated migrants begging in the street… Please take note.

France News Western Europe

14.01.2015 Rroma Baby burial in France

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A Rrom baby died in France over the New Year and was denied burial in the town of Champlan. The mayor of that town, who in the meantime claims he has not prevented the burial, has been unanimously condemned by the press and politics, among which, Prime Minister Valls. Vall, who, as we have repeatedly written in this blog is himself not beyond populist racism, for once stated this was an insult to France.

We hope that this insult to France doesn’t stop at dead Rroma and that the living ones will also be allowed to stay.

Meanwhile, the young Maria Francesca was buried in a neighbouring town… May she rest in peace.

France News Western Europe

31.12.2014 France: Segregated classes for Rroma

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The movement against racism and for the friendship between people (Mrap) has denounced the creation of a segregated class for Rroma children in Bron (close to Lyon) for the children living in an illegal camp there.

We cannot stress enough that segregated classes and segregated education is an absolute no go. This has proven to be the way to create an underclass rather than to integrate people.

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

31.12.2014 Migrant Rroma Abuse Welfare

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Another Rrom is presented in the UK Press as abusing social welfare and building himself a “mansion” for 60 thousand pounds that he managed to get from the UK. Looking at the picture of the afore said mansion, one can doubt whether the story is actually true, as in Romania, houses of this type are certainly cheaper than this.

In addition, this article perpetuates a view that all Rroma are poor, are poverty migrants, and as such, abuse our “generous” western welfare. This is far from being the case, as even in the UK, there are many invisible and integrated Rroma who do not fit this pattern.

Last but not least, the use of “Roma Gypsy” clearly shows the lack of knowledge and intellect of the journalist who wrote these words.

News Western Europe

31.12.2014 Paying for the Bride

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Another article in the UK Press referring to the allegedly common tradition of paying for the bride… In fact, only Vlax Rroma pay for the bride, but in traditional families, the bride receives the money as a guarantee and dowry that she will keep in any case.

Again, stereotypes and single cases are presented here as being the common factor among all Rroma.

Germany News Western Europe

31.12.2014 Prejudices against Rroma

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Milan Jaeger interviewed the social worker Sonia Böttcher in Frankfurt and quizzed here on her work and on Rroma generally.  She stresses that there are common and long lasting prejudices against Rroma that portrays them as poor, uneducated, dirty, etc. She states that while there are certainly Rroma who fit the picture, the majority of the population is certainly not like this.

Meanwhile, the Süddeutsche Zeitung interviewed Andreas Zick, a researcher from the IKG, Institute for the interdisciplinary research on  conflict and violence of the University of Bielerfeld on the fears of the general population in the face of a perceived increased number of asylum seekers in Germany. This in spite of the fact that Germany is not really taking more refugees in proportion to its population as compared to neighbouring countries.

The NZZ reports on the march of the Pegida and their fear of foreigners, refugees and other migrants. One of the main often unmentioned fears are the potential hordes of Rroma who may invade Germany to benefit from a liberal social system. That these hordes never materialised in the years since all EU citizen are free to move and settle in all Eu Countries is never actually stated. There are very few Rroma, according to all official statistics who settled in Western Europe following the free travel agreements in the EU.

  1. Jaeger, Milan. Vorurteile gegen Sinti und Roma. In Frankfurter Rundschau. 28. Nov. 2014. http://www.fr-online.de/frankfurt/roma-vorurteile-gegen-sinti-und-roma,1472798,29187018.html
  2. Schulte von Drach, Markus C. Vom Vorurteil zur Fremdenfeindlichkeit. In Süddeutsche Zeitung, 10. December 2014. http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/fluechtlinge-in-deutschland-vom-vorurteil-zur-fremdenfeindlichkeit-1.2251706
  3. Lahrtz, Stephanie. Verängstigte und unverstandene Mitläufer. In Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 16 December 2014. http://www.nzz.ch/international/deutschland-und-oesterreich/veraengstigte-und-unverstandene-mitlaeufer-1.18445463
Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Serbia

31.12.2014 Serbia as Safe Country: Gall goes …

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Südwest Presse reports on the visit of Reinhold Gall, Interior Minister and SPD party member to Serbia following the declaration of Serbia as being a safe country. According to Gall, following his visit, no refugee is being sent back into the “void” as stated by critiques of this move.

During his visit, he spoke to Osman Balic, the president of the Liga Roma, a Roma NGO in Serbia. According to Balic, Rroma would go to Germany for economical reasons and Gall concludes that there are no real reasons for political asylum for Rroma from that country.

We would like to remind him that this is a bit like travelling to the Southern United States prior to the session war, and stating that no, there are really no reasons why black would want to leave. While not that extreme in Serbia, there is an extreme segregation that has increased a lot due to the nationalism of the Milosevic years. And while one cannot say that all Rrom from Serbia should get asylum, there is not yet a real good reason to declare that all are safe there.

News Western Europe

31.12.2014 The Pope and Rroma

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The pope urged Roma to “get a job” and to “integrate” into civic society. Speaking during a visit to a Roma community, the Pope told 40 Rroma: “Seek work and integration, without ever succumbing to despair. I greet you and I wish all good things for you. That you will always have peace in your families, that you have work, that you have joy.”

While we certainly greet the pope’s words, we would like to remind him and all who do not want to know, that most Rroma do have a job, are integrated and are living what can be said to be a normal life. They cannot say they are Rroma, because of the very strong prejudices and stereotypes that exist against this minority.

France News Western Europe

31.12.2014 France – Between Expulsions and Integration : The Integration Attempts

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While expulsions are going on, there are nevertheless some efforts in France to try to integrate the migrant Rroma who are currently living in ghettoes at the outskirts of the major cities of that country. For example in Tourcoing, the Church is inviting to a debate on Rroma and their place in Society. The priest who initiated the debate stress their exclusion and lack of integration.

Meanwhile, RTL reports on the successful integration of more than 400 Rroma, 219 of them minors, in the region of Lyon. This article is one of the few so far in France showing that integration of these Rroma is feasible, in spite of what Valls stated last year, namely that Rroma cannot be integrated. (RTL)

In the department of Essone, a group of volunteers is working to integrate Rroma and is fighting the current expulsion policies of the French state. (Essonne Info)

While this is true of the minority of Rroma who are migrants and part of the current migration issue in France, there are many more Rroma in that country who are integrated and live “normal” lives. These should not be forgotten in this debate.

France News Western Europe

31.12.2014 France – Between Expulsions and Integration : The Expulsions

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Again, and this in spite of the usual republican reprieve over the Winter period, the French authorities expulsed migrant Rroma from illegal camps in various places. Le Monde reports about these blanket expulsions, from Le Havre to Saint Denis (Le Monde, 28 Nov.); and more articles report on other expulsion such as in Saint Denis (Libération Dec. 12); in Bobigny, the Rroma who were expulsed of their camp have “vanished” (Le Monde, 29. Nov.); In Stains, Rroma are being forced to leave, and this, in a communist town where one could expect a bit more tolerance (Liberation, 18 Dec.); in Haubourdin as reported in la Void du Nord; and in Champs sur Marne, Rroma left their encampment prior to an announced eviction.

These evictions do not resolve any issues. They just displace the problem from one location to the next. And in addition, the press, by just reporting on these Rroma, who, by all accounts make up roughly 15 thousand people of the more than 150 thousand living and integrated in France, give a very biased and dangerous picture of the minority and play in the nhands of populists and extremists.

France Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

05.12.2014 Prosecutor of Paris: criminal court not competent to judge Manuel Valls

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Libération (2014) reports on a recent decision of the Paris prosecutor. The investigation covers statements by Prime Minister Manuel Valls, in which he claimed that Rroma had the inclination to stay in Romania or to return there, and they had a very different lifestyle than the French, which was inevitably in confrontation with the French one. The Paris prosecutor’s office now judged on December the second that the criminal court was not competent to judge the statements made by Manuel Valls. The criminal chamber will pronounce its verdict in this regard on December the 19th. However, the plaintiff against Valls, the organisation “La Voix des Roms”, wants that his statements are not judged independently of his function as the then Interior Minister, but are recognised as demagoguery: “For the lawyer of Manuel Valls, Mr. Georges Holleaux, the statements of his client are adjacent to “his ministerial competence”. In his view, the facts thus reverse the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the only institution empowered to judge members of the government, for deeds which they have committed in the function of their office. Moreover, he pointed out that that Mrap (Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l’amitié entre les peuples) had filed a lawsuit against Manuel Valls at the the Court of Justice of the Republic in September 2013, which was dropped it without further consequences.” Manuel Valls is not an isolated case with his racist remarks against the Rroma. In recent years, numerous French mayors and politicians have gained public attention with racist remarks about Rroma. Some were sentenced to mild fines, others were completely acquitted, referring to the freedom of expression. In the French public, Rroma are equated with 15,000 to 20,000 Rroma who live in illegal settlements. The 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma who are integrated in France since generations, are continuously ignored. The Rroma are also repeatedly exploited by various parties for political purposes and blamed for social ills that have their origins in society as a whole, and not in a single minority. Unfortunately, this scapegoat policy finds approval among a shocking number of people (compare L’Yonne Républicaine 2014).

Bulgaria Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

05.12.2014 “Roma does not equal poverty migration”

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Selke (2014) spoke with Prof. Max Matter, a Swiss folklorist, about his new publication “Nowhere Desired: Poverty migration from Central and Eastern Europe into the countries of the EU-15, with particular reference to members of the Roma minority”. In his book, Matter addresses the mixing of prejudices with ethnic ascriptions and political viewpoints. Many politicians and journalists used the term “poverty migration” as a synonym for the migration of poor Rroma to Western Europe. With the expansion of the free movement of persons to Romania and Bulgaria, one increasingly spoke about well educated Romanians and Bulgarians, who also migrate to Western Europe. However, opponents saw this argument as trivialising the real situation. In his publication, Matter tries to deconstruct reductionist ascriptions that portray Rroma as poor travelling beggars: Rroma are not a homogeneous mass, are mostly sedentary since centuries and have no kings. In addition, many other ethnic groups also migrate to Western Europe. The assertion of a “mass immigration into the German welfare system” is not supported by the facts: “According to the Institute for Employment Research, there are just over 500,000 people from Bulgaria and Romania in Germany. As I said, some have very good school and vocational qualifications. Many of them work. All of them counted together, they just constitute six per mil of the German population. Therefore, one can hardly speak of a mass immigration into the welfare system.” Matter also refers to the majority of well-integrated Rroma that have been living integrated in Western Europe since generation and speak the local languages. At a meeting of scientists and politicians on December the fist in Berlin, the majority of those present demanded a de-dramatization and objectification the debate on “poverty migration”: There is no widespread welfare fraud. The existing social problems are not the result of immigration, but problems already existing before. In addition, one should be cautious with the use of ethnic attributions (compare Bade 2014 MiGAZIN 2014).

Bosnia News Eastern Europe News Western Europe North Macedonia Serbia

05.12.2014 Administrative court of Münster: Serbia not a safe country of origin for Rroma

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Die Zeit (2014) reports on a recent judgment of the Münster administrative court. When assessing the application for asylum by a Serbian Rroma family, the court reached the verdict that Serbia does not constitute a safe country of origin for the Rroma minority. The judges justified their judgment, among others, by pointing out that unsuccessful asylum applicants can expect to be criminally prosecuted upon return. Thereby, the court also questions the new law, which declares Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina but also Serbia to safe countries of origin. Several administrative courts had agreed to the asylum applications of Romany families in the recent past: “The administrative court (AC) of Münster questions the constitutionality of the new asylum reform of the federal government. The judges granted an urgent application for asylum by a Serbian Roma family, and stopped their imminent deportation, said the AC. The court has thus set itself in conflict with the federal government, which declared the Balkan countries Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to safe countries of origin in November. The AC wants to clarify now in main proceedings, whether the law should be submitted to the federal constitutional court for review. When declaring a state to a safe country of origin, the legislators must make an overall assessment of the significance of political persecution conditions in the relevant country. Decisive are the criteria prescribed by the constitution. The legislator maybe did not sufficiently comply with this regarding the Serbian Roma and the negative Serbian emigration requirements. Moreover, the legislative history did not show that the decisions of administrative tribunals were taken into account. For instance, the administrative courts of Stuttgart and Münster upheld the urgent complaints of Serbian asylum seekers in a variety of cases.” Rroma are not politically persecuted in Serbia. However, that does not mean that they are not exposed to repeated discrimination in everyday life. Particularly the Rroma already economically marginalised. The assessment of the individual case should always be favoured against a reductionist assessment of the social situation in a country. Rroma have been provably integrated in Southeast Europe for centuries – as, Ottoman tax registers, among others, show ­ and form part of all strata of society and professions. However, since the Yugoslav wars and the strengthened nationalism, Rroma increasingly face discrimination. Furthermore, there is the mentioned law of the Serbian criminal code that threatens asylum applicants with criminal prosecution upon return (compare Prantl 2014).

France News Western Europe

05.12.2014 Bron: Mrap criticises planned segregated class for Rroma children

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Bevand (2014) reports on the latest matter of the French movement against racism (Mrap). The organisation criticises the decision of the mayor of Bron, to set up an extra class for Rroma children in the community. The class is supposed to encompass the children of a local Rroma settlement and to include Rroma children already enrolled in school. The movement against racism justifiably criticises that the children are thereby intentionally excluded and disadvantaged: “Towards a new controversy? In any case, the movement against racism and for the friendship between people (Mrap) condemned in a statement on Monday the decision of the mayor of Bron – a statement near Lyon – to open an “ethnic class” to receive the Roma children of a local slum. […] Without distinction, it groups together children who were already enrolled in previous years and speak French well, with other children who have just arrived in France, MRAP continues, which wants “to invoke the defenders of rights to finish this additional ethnic segregation.” Segregation is inevitably the wrong way to promote the integration of migrant children. Rather, it promotes the exclusion and marginalisation of the children as well as the immigrant families. As Bevand himself points out, so far, children with weak knowledge of the French language were additionally supported, but could attend regular classes. This is a much more elaborate method, which aims at integration and support, and not to at a special treatment and exclusion. – According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, in France there are between 100,000 and 500,000 Rroma. The vast majority of them is integrated, goes to work, and sends their children to school. The estimated 15,000 Rroma living in informal settlements are a minority of the minority.

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