Author Archives: RF

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16.05.2014 Diocese of Lille cannot accommodate the displaced Rroma of Roncq

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Several French newspapers report on the fate of a group of displaced Rroma in Roncq. They were expelled last week from their accommodation without having been offered any alternative place to stay. Some families settled on the site of the church Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. The diocese of Lille has now announced that it does not possess the means and possibilities to accommodate the Rroma in reasonable terms: “The church has neither the necessary human nor the financial resources to find long-term, stable solutions for these families”, said the archdiocese in a press release. “That does not mean that we are indifferent to their fate! We have a team that could accompany the families.” “We cannot protect them. It is not an absence of charity (…) One seeks solutions for land and one doesn’t have any” the archbishop of Lille announced.” According to local Rroma organizations, the eviction of 700 to 800 Rroma in Lille is planned for July, following a court’s decision. Likely, there will be no alternative accommodation provided to them either. Around twenty Rroma, who settled near the church, can pitch their tents on a private estate in Haubourdin, through the mediation of ATD Fourth World. Another twenty have joined other illegal settlements in Lille (compare Belaïd 2014, France 3 Nord Pas-de-Calais 2014 I/II, Le Monde 2014, Le Parisien 2014, La Voix du Nord 2014 I/II). 

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16.05.2014 Pew-polling institute: Rroma are the most despised minority

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On the occasion of the upcoming European parliamentary elections, the Pew polling institute examined the opinions of the French, Germans, Greeks, Italians, Poles, Spanish, and English about the European Union, as well as on general social topics. The opinion research institute came, among others, to the finding that Rroma are the most despised minority in Europe, with prejudices in Italy, France and Greece being the greatest: “The most negative views in Europe aren’t directed toward Muslims or Jews. Rather, it’s Roma. [The] chart is really quite remarkable, showing that Spain is the only nation where more people hold positive views of Roma than negative. In Italy, just 10 percent have positive views about Roma, while 85 percent have negative views. Unfortunately, it’s not entirely surprising. Roma, often dismissively referred to as “gypsies” in Europe, have suffered discrimination in Europe for centuries, and some estimates suggest that 70 percent of their European population was killed during the Holocaust.” The study can also be interpreted as meaning that in countries with strong ideological debates about the minority, more people rejecting. Moreover, in the countries with the highest rejection – Italy and France – the media only report about Rroma living in Slums, which promotes a biased view.

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16.05.2014 Romeo Franz criticizes the German and European Rroma policy

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EurActiv (2014) gives a voice to the German European Parliament candidate Romeo Franz. Franz is a German Sinto who has campaigned for the social recognition of the minority for many years. In 2011, he joined the Green Party. Franz criticizes in the interview both the German and the European Rroma policy. Too little is done and many things only half-heartedly, he criticizes. Many journalists have no sense of the discrimination that takes place due to naming ethnicity: “I have been discriminated my whole life as a Sinto. But as a 14-year-old, I was already demonstrating for our rights. It is my duty, as a German Sinto, to get involved and fight racism. […] There are deep-seated clichés and prejudices, which are being passed along within German families. […] such racist prejudice can even be stirred up in the media and politics. In daily local reporting, for example. If someone is a criminal, their ethnic affiliation is not mentioned in the news report – except regarding Sinti and Roma. In that regard, there is no sensitivity at all among journalists.” He sees is as particularly concerning that also Germany consciously promotes the segregation of the Rroma: in his constituency Ludwigsburg, a Rroma container village is under construction that wilfully marginalizes the Rroma. These double standards are also found in the German migration policy: While Angela Merkel just announced plans to better integrate the Rroma in Germany, at the same time the cabinet declared Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia to safe countries of origin. This allows the deportation of immigrant Rroma: “The German government wants to make it easier to deport people from the countries mentioned. At the same time, the Roma situation in Serbia is even worse than here – no access to running water, education or healthcare. They are constantly suffering from racist encroachment. Their life is in danger. In Brussels far to little for the social acceptance and integration of minorities is done, Franz criticizes. He wants to change this by pursuing a policy of human rights.

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16.05.2014 Status report about Neukölln: Rroma are exposed to exploitation

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The current, fourth Roma status report on the district of Neukölln comes to a sober finding regarding the social integration of Rroma. Members of the minority are exposed to abuse and exploitation, the study concludes. Many are said to work for dumping wages as cleaners and under inadequate working conditions in the building sector. In addition, they are exposed to exploitation in the housing market through the rental of junk properties to unreasonable prices: “People attracted to Neukölln, mainly come from precarious conditions into precarious conditions”, says the study. Nationwide averages of highly skilled migrants from Romania and Bulgaria are not very helpful, when one has to decide what to do on the actual site, the authors note critically. […] “Debt and lack of housing” are mentioned as most urgent problems. Around 40 percent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants in Neukölln receive social benefits.” The argumentation repeatedly makes use of statistics, which are cited at the same time approvingly for the authentication of receiving social benefits, however perceived critically regarding the proportion of highly skilled immigrants. This reasoning shows that statistical findings can be interpreted in different ways, depending on the need, and this is also done so here. Interesting is also the title of the study as “Rroma Status Report”, as it is explained that the vast majority of immigrants are Romanians and Bulgarians. This finding is important because in German statistics ethnicity is not captured. Rroma politicians like Romeo Franz argue the exact opposite: only just 10% of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants are Rroma. Nevertheless, the problems described should not to be negated. It is important to address them. However, it is very problematic to identify them as specific “Rroma issues”. Thereby, poverty problems are ethnicized (see Flatau 2014, Lombard 2014, Vogt 2014).

The district councillor of Neukölln, Franziska Giffey, notes critically that it is not the high- skilled immigrants who are coming to Neukölln, but mostly poorly educated immigrants, who are marginalized in their countries of origin. To foster their successful integration, more funding is needed: “There are various measures that should be implemented, but in reality we are missing financial resources and personnel”, said the SPD politician. Only 500,000 Euros for language and cultural mediators were allocated, which should then be inplace throughout the city – far too little, Giffey thinks. “Of course, in a 3 1/2-million city, leaving out the fact that we have over 10,000 Romanians and Bulgarians Roma alone here in Neukölln, with such numbers and sizes there is of course not a lot you can do.” Regarding the promtion of integration, the politician is absolutely right that combating nuisances contributes nothing to improve the situations. However, also here the dictum applies that the problems should not be treated as specific Rroma-problems (compare Runfunk Berlin Brandenburg 2014).

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14.05.2014 Call for more political commitment for Rroma and Yeniche in Switzerland

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Several articles report on the claims of Rroma and Yeniche for more recognition of their concerns. However, the focus of the reporting is clearly on the demands of the Yeniche for more camping spot and permanent stands. The Rroma problems, who have mainly to do with racial prejudice, are only discussed in passing. On the occasion of the International Rroma day of April the 8th, a coalition of various organizations – including the Roma Jam Session Collective, the Yeniche organization „schäft qwandt”, the Randgenossenschaft der Landstrasse, the Society for Threatened People, Amnesty International, Caritas Zurich and Miret Switzerland – turned to federal councillor Alain Berset, demanded more commitment of the federal government and asked for a better implementation of the framework convention for the protection of national minorities. The federal government has now made a first move towards the organizations. The director of the federal office of culture, Isabelle Chassot, will listen to the concerns of the coalition in a joint meeting. However, it should not go unmentioned that the stated organizations represent only a portion of the minorities. Other organizations represent different political views and have different conceptions of an adequate representation and promotion of the Rroma and Yeniche. The two communities share a story of exclusion and persecution, but have individual migration histories, languages and customs (compare Burri 2014, Renz, Fabian/ Schmid, Simone 2014 I/II).

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14.05.2014 Ethnic profiling involved in Rroma child removal Ireland

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The soon to be published special report by the Irish Obudswoman for children, Emily Logan, identifies ethnic profiling in the context of the child removals in October of last year. In response to case of the blond Rroma-girl Maria in Greece who taken into care, in Ireland, two child removals also took place. These were based on racist criteria: The children who were removed were light-skinned and blonde and had dark-skinned, dark-haired parents. That this is genetically possible, though not frequent, was completely neglected. The Rroma parents were rather subordinated to a general suspicion of child trafficking, which is another racial prejudice. DNA tests confirmed the legitimate parenthood of the children taken away. The Irish justice minister admitted the issues in the child removals, but portrayed the circumstances of the removals in a rather belittling fashion: “On occasions people . . . adapt stereotypical images of individuals from minority communities [and] don’t always behave in a manner that’s appropriate,” Mr Shatter said. “Indeed on occasions [they] will jump to conclusions that the basic factual background does not warrant, had they been dealing with individuals who were perhaps born in Ireland and whose families had been in Ireland going back many generations,” he said” (compare Duncan 2014, Irish Examiner 2014, Irish Independent 2014, Newstalk 2014, O’Doherty 2014).

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14.05.2014 Eviction of Rroma camps in Roncq

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Lefebvre (2014) reports on the eviction of two illegal Rroma camps in France in Roncq. A group of about forty people were quartered in a former school. They had to leave their accommodation at the insistence of the police. On the location, a building project will start. For lack of alternatives, the evicted will stay in the street for the near future, within sight of the former school. The vehicles and caravans that some residents had available were confiscated by the police. The eviction took place in the early morning. The second camp that was cleared consisted of makeshift assembled barracks that were destroyed by excavators after the eviction. The approximately fifty people from both camps had found shelter at the current location after the eviction of settlements in Lille Sud, Croix and Roubaix. A negative event overshadowed the current location: at the exit of the camp, a car driver overran a small Rroma girl who died. A few days later, a funeral march with the participation of Rroma and residents took place: “The forty persons, among them twenty children and infants, found themselves without a roof and means of transportation on the road, next to the former school. Some members from associations came to help them every day and found them severely at loss to find them a new home for the umpteenth time. “There are three infants, five children are less than three years old. We have no means of locomotion, all will sleep in the street until the authorities meet their obligations”, said Louis Minne, one of the breadwinners of the family Lingurar. At around five o’clock in the afternoon, the Roma start to pitch up the first tents, under the gaze of the still present police.” The evacuation of the camp of Roncq is typical of the continuing expulsion-policy towards immigrant Rroma. On several occasions it was pointed out that the systematic expulsion obstructs a long-term integration and deteriorates the hygienic and sanitary conditions of those affected. Consequently, the reactions to the evictions turned out very differently. While some welcomed the drastic measures by the mayor of Tourcoing, representatives of the French Human Rights League had harsh words against the expulsion of the Rroma and denounced the action as an act of demagoguery (compare Rebischung 2014).

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14.05.2014 “Ghetto blasting: Hungarian city pays “emigration bonus” to Roma”

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Pester Lloyd (2014) reports on a new type of Rroma policy in Miskolc, in Hungary. According to the new decision, the residents of the local Rroma ghetto are induced to move away from the city into social housing in the periphery with a bonus of 1.5 to 2 million forints: “Condition [for the emigration bonus]: the receivers are not supposed to sell the newly acquired residence for five years. How they plan to deal with the case of people, who, for whatever reason, decide to return to Miskolc, something that cannot be forbidden, the city council remains silent about. Emigration bonuses by mayors have been seen in previous years, they caused a kind of bonus tourism and had additionally the effect of increasing conflicts due to the influx of strangers to local communities that previously had a lower proportion of Roma. Representatives of NGOs and Roma associations protested fiercely against the decision of the Fidesz-dominated city council. In the boardroom of the town hall, posters were displayed with the slogans “Don’t vote for deportation!” and “There will always be poor people!” The new policy of the Hungarian city of Miskolc recalls the attempts of former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to force immigrants to return their home countries by the distribution of a return bonus. What is needed in fact, are no expulsion and marginalization policies, aimed at ethnic homogenization, but active efforts for a successful integration of the Rroma.

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14.05.2014 Racist statements of Eric Zemmour have consequences

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Several French newspapers report the verbal attacks of journalist Eric Zemmour against criminal gangs of Rroma, Chechens, Maghrebians and Africans. He accuses the members of these groups to plunder, to steal, and to rape in France. Zemmour further argued that multi-ethnic societies have a higher potential for violence than ethnically homogeneous communities such as Japan, which he sees as better protected against mass immigration due to natural borders. The council of associations of the French Black (Le Cran) condemned Zemmour’s remarks as racist mania, calling for his immediate dismissal: “Le Cran is totally baffled by the violence of this xenophobic madness”, stated the association, which added “if you listen to Éric Zemmour, you get the impression that the current France is immersed in a kind of medieval nightmare, destroyed by alien hordes that are inevitably thieves and criminals.” “I urge RTL to consider the severity of Zemmour’s statements”, who “indirectly calls for a policy of ethnic cleaning”, the president of Le Cran, Louis-Georges Tin, announced.” Le Cran has also filed a complaint against Zemmour at the audiovisual council of France (compare Nabet 2014, Le Nouvel Observateur 2014, Le Point 2014). Metro News (2014) points out that Zemmour has repeatedly attracted attention due to radical views. In a television program, he asked for face controls by the police and urged the abolition of abortions in favour of political and economic empowerment of France. In another program, he favoured discrimination as an ability to choose and therefore as a liberal tool.

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09.05.2014 Again racist propaganda against Rroma in Daily Mail

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Allen (2014) reports on the plans of the Chinese government to send security forces to Paris to protect its tourists. The reason is said to be an increase of attacks by criminal Rroma on Chinese tourists. The Chinese prevention troops are supposed to deter the Rroma from their offenses, in consultation with the French Ministry of the Interior. The article suggests the highly racist idea that the ethnic group of the Rroma is responsible for an increase of crime in the French city: “Romanian police are already working in Paris to try and catch members of the Roma gangs, many of whom come from Romania. Gangs of young Roma, including women and children, can regularly be seen harassing tourists. Many of the Roma beggars who congregate around cash points and banks have very young children with them, including babies. Most of them live in large shanty towns on the outskirts of Paris, but more and more are setting up new camps in central parks and squares.” Daily Mail conducts with its ongoing series of racist articles against Roma xenophobic propaganda that equals demagoguery. What for journalists such as Peter Allen is the demonstration of reality, is in truth intellectual arson against the integrity of the Rroma.

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09.05.2014 Foreign Rroma as an uncivilized horde

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The latest article of the Weltwoche by Alex Reichmuth (2014) claims a feud between Swiss Yeniche and foreign, travelling Rroma. However, Reichmuth argues with such absurd evidence that he actually refutes himself. At the beginning of the article, he states: “The camp Augsterich in Kaiseraugst, Aargau, is hidden between a main road and the railway line. […] Behind bushes there is a small gravel area: the so-called cleansing place. Here, foreign travellers, who because for cultural reasons don’t use toilets, do their businesses. […] Augsterich is the only place in Aarau, which is open to foreign travellers. In the summer, it is mainly used by French Roma, who usually stay for a few days or weeks. […] With the place, it was intended to prevent the chronic wild camping by foreign travellers in the lower Frick Valley, and related problems such as waste and faeces.” Reichmuth applies a highly reductionist reasoning, by presenting the foreign, travelling Rroma as a wild horde. To ascribe them a cultural alterity that prohibits the use of toilets, due to individual extreme cases, is totally absurd. Hygiene, on the very opposite, has a very high priority among Rroma, as it is reflected in the tradition of ritual purity. Most Rroma, as Reichmuth also states for the Yeniche, are not travelleres. By repeatedly talking of asocial, unhygienic Rroma, the article conveys the impression that this is a cultural feature of the Rroma, what is false and racist. In addition, the terms “foreign travellers” and “Roma” are largely used interchangeably. The enemy stereotype is also confirmed by the interviewed Yeniche: “The social control works. But it upsets them that the population does not distinguish between Swiss and foreign travellers. Fatal for their reputation was a Roma wedding in the Lower Valais two years ago, says one of the Yeniche. At that time, about 400 foreign travellers illegally occupied a field, threatened the landowner with death and left a terrain strewn with garbage and faeces.” Foreign travellers are also held responsible for the hesitant creation of new camping places, because reservations under of the local population are said to be large. In places where only domestic travellers stop, as in the canton of Aargau, extensions and new camps are said to be much easier to realise. Jörg Hartmann, from the building department of Aargau, supports this racist view. More eyewitnesses are cited to document the bad experiences with foreign, travelling Rroma. These experiences interpret single events in an ethnic and racist context. In addition, they automatically take for granted the suspicious fact that the foreign travellers are Rroma. How they identify the ethnicity remains unclear.

Reichmuth takes a completely different viewpoint. Authorities as lobbyists are accused of sugarcoating and moralizing the real problems, as is Stéphane Laederich, director of the Rroma Foundation: “Think about whether you really need to wirte “Roma” each time, recommended Stéphane Laederich […] in a journalists magazine”, or whether it would be possible, for example, to denote people as Romanians or Hungarians.” Reichmuth interprets this recommendation as an invitation to cover up nuisances. Rather, Laederich wants to protect the reputation of the majority of the Rroma, who are living integrated and unobtrusively in Switzerland. This invisible Rroma are denied their existence by the Weltwoche. Instead, it presents a minority of problem cases as general cases and requires a rigorous implementation of the mass immigration initiative for foreign travellers, what is said to help the Swiss travellers.

The issue is addressed more diplomatically in the Tagesanzeiger. There, representatives of the new Yeniche protest movement “Movement of Swiss Travelers” have their say. These emphasize that the distinction between Yeniche and foreign Rroma is important for their reputation, because the views of their minority has declined in recent time: “While the Swiss travellers use chemical toilets and showers in their caravans, the foreign travellers prefer a meadow for their business. “We do not want to be racist”, says [Silvan] Waser. But the Roma, who travel through Switzerland in large groups of cars and leave the places in a mess, harm the image of the Swiss travellers. “We are tired of being responsible for something which we did not do.” A minority who argues against another minority, that’s disconcerting. And not all are of the opinion that one should do this. “The Roma are travellers like us, they have wives and children and are looking for places to stay” say some women later” (Schmid 2014). The biased distinction between integrated Yeniche and asocial, foreign Rroma can be found in numerous other articles. They also spread prejudiced knowledge as objective facts or point to this very fallacy (compare Ferraro 2014, Fuchs 2014, Jecker 2014, Waldmeier 2014, Wanner 2014).     

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09.05.2014 Integration support in Ennepetal loaded with prejudices

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Scherer (2014) reports on the advice on integration of the association “future-oriented support” of Duisburg in Enneptal. It had been invited by the local working group in order to get advices on integration of immigrated Rroma. Unfortunately, in this case also, the prevailing habit is to talk about Rroma, but not with them: “A major issue will be schooling. “The test will reveal which children have already been vaccinated, which have ever been to school and what type of school is fitting”, says [mayor] Wilhelm Wiggenhagen. For the enrolment of about 50 school-age children, there are also first thoughts and considerations. Integration classes – which do not exist in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis so far – could be a solution […] A concern is: the Roma are historically not very sedentary people. “In the worst case, we therefore take a lot of money and personnel for children, who after a few months live in a different country”, says the mayor of Ennepetal.” Wiggenhagen assessment mixes two different phenomena. One is the stereotypical view that most Rroma are travellers, which is wrong. The other is the migration to Germany because of societal and economic reasons. This migration has nothing to do with a travelling lifestyle. The article also conveys a picture of Rroma who are difficult to integrate, when the association “future-oriented support” speaks about the necessities of clear rules for the immigrants: “What the Roma need, are clear rules and consequences, if these are not adhered to.” Here, once more characteristics that are the result of poverty and lack of education, are mixed with cultural features (compare Scherer 2014/II).

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09.05.2014 Lawsuits against NPD because of harassment and demagoguery

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Gensing (2014) reports on a complaint by the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma against the right-wing nationalist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). The occasion is the announcement of a panel discussion of the party, to which it wanted to invite Heinz Buschkowsky, Thilo Sarrazin and Romani Rose to discuss the immigration of “criminal East Europeans”. Rose never agreed to his participation in such discussions and forbids himself any contact with the right-wing party, which is why the Central Council has filed a lawsuit: “The Central Council filed complaint because for harassment to the public prosecutor against the Berlin state chief [of the NPD], Sebastian Schmidtke, who signed the letter. With the public promotion of the alleged discussion, the NPD untruthfully conveyed the impression that there is actually a contact between the Party and the Central Council, the complaint reads. This suggests the assumption that Rose was actually ready to discuss with the NPD on their racist slogans, which is absolutely not the case.” Gensing interprets the action of the party as an attempt to catch media attention, so far without success.

Schmidt (2014) reports a further complaint against the NPD by a German Sintiza. In Würzburg, on numerous locations one could find posters with the slogan “Money for grandma instead of for the Sinti and Roma”. The Sintiza Perla S. filed a complaint on demagoguery. In Würzburg, the posters were then removed, but not because of a verdict of the courts. Several administrative courts on the contrary approved the posters, on the grounds that they do not openly incite discrimination against Sinti and Rroma. Perla S. contradicts this decidedly. The racism against the minority is still widespread: “Perla S. […] knows what discrimination is. “Already in school I was treated with hostility”, she says, “Hitler forgot to gas you, the children said to me.” This hurt the Sintiza. Especially because in her environment “some older people” live “who lived through the Holocaust.””

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09.05.2014 Survey shows desire for integration among immigrant Rroma in France

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The study conducted by the association “Les Enfants du Canal” surveying 120 Rroma, points to a desire for integration among immigrant Rroma. The survey results largely contradict the views of Manual Valls, who had proclaimed at the end of 2013 that the only viable solution was to evacuate the settlements and to bring the residents back to France’s borders. 53% of respondents live in France since more than five years. 95 % of the respondents want to obtain a stable paid job, 86 % would like to live in their own house, and 82% want to live forever in France. None of the respondents would like to live in a slum or in a caravan. Meanwhile, a predominant proportion of the interviewees has no access to toilets, running water and electricity and has no health insurance. Despite the opening of the labour market for Romanians and Bulgarians since January 2014, only 7.6 % of the respondents have a job. Regarding this, the lacking skills in French represent the biggest obstacle. To overcome these obstacles, Les Enfants du Canal suggests the following five measures are taken: 1. A permanent moratorium on forced evictions of informal settlements to provide sufficient conditions in terms of hygiene and safety. 2. An effective access to the housing market. 3. An ambitious integration policy, among others by learning French. 4. Accompaniment appropriate to the job. 5. Access to accommodation corresponding to the state law. – Les Enfants du Canal demands with its catalogue of measures a paradigm shift in the Rroma policy of France. This was until now dominated by repression and expulsion. An active integration policy indeed produces costs, but in return it offers promising long-term results for all persons involved (Les Enfants du Canal 2014).

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09.05.2014 When the homeless are automatically assimilated to Rroma

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Several newspapers in Salzburg report on homeless Rroma who have took shelter under bridges after the closing of the emergency shelters. They are now being evicted again. Newspapers present once more a highly biased image of impoverished Rroma, which is regularly interpreted by right-wing nationalists as deliberate anti-social behaviour. The mentioning of ethnicity in newspaper articles is mostly counterproductive to the social position of the represented group. In addition, beggars, thieves or homeless are often automatically assimilated to Rroma through the view from the outside, although the ethnic membership is far from obvious: “The church aid organization has announced to provide the Roma beggars 15 to 20 beds now once more. [ … ] The Caritas had opened the night shelter “Arch South” in the district of Herrnau until January 11. In this emergency shelter,  only men were admitted. After that, the emergency shelter moved into the vacant care institution of the archdiocese in the district of Mülln, where ten men and up to 15 women were housed. At the end of March, this accommodation was closed” (Salzburg 24 2014). How the newspapers know about the ethnicity of the homeless, which is anything but easy to determine, is not discussed (compare Salzburger Nachrichten 2014).

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07.05.2014 Immigration from South-Eastern Europe is an economic and not a Rroma phenomenon

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Demir (2014) discusses in the MiGAZIN once more the role of the Rroma in Europe’s debate on immigration from Southeast to Western Europe. He insists that immigration from Eastern Europe is not a Rroma problem but an economic phenomenon. Many skilled workers from Romania and Bulgaria have come to Germany for economic and social reasons, without provoking questions on whether they are Rroma or not. This only happens with so-called “poverty immigrants”, who are usually hastily referred to as Rroma. It is important to emphasize, Demir states, that the German Rroma-organizations are not contact- but dialogue-partners for the debate on immigration: “Not to be forgotten is the question of what the self-organization of my people can contribute. This includes the willingness to be available as a dialogue partner. In addition to that, the council of experts recommends entering into dialogue with the Roma self-organizations. It is important to emphasize: a dialog partner is not a contact-partner. The self-organizations justifiably see themselves not as a contact for immigration from South-Eastern Europe, precisely because it is not a Roma problem and should not be further ethnicized. [ …] It is unclear how high the Roma population of immigrant Bulgarians and Romanians is. Basically, it’s not even relevant. Because the membership to an ethnic group says nothing about the level of education or economic status of a person.” ” This viewpoint is contradicted by the opinion of many German politicians, also conservative ones: Rroma are heavily discriminated against and marginalized in Romania and Bulgaria and therefore come to Germany because they hope for a better life there. From this perspective, ethnicity is not entirely irrelevant. However, in the political debate it is unjustly intermingled with misleading culturalisms as Rroma clans, patriarchal structures or allegedly cultural-related anti-social behaviour and crime. In this context, Demir is completely to agree with that ethnicity should be kept out of the discussion.

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07.05.2014 Integration of the Rroma in the Czech Republic

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Schneibergová (2014) reports on the symposium „people on the margins“ in Brno. MEPs from Germany, Austria , Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic came together to discuss the marginalization of minorities. The presentations and discussions featured MEPs, ministers and local politicians. The focus was on the minorities and their position in society. Most speakers agreed that access to education should be facilitated and that the Rroma should finally be included in politics. Left-wing politician Ondřej Liska stated: “I think that one speaks too much in the Czech Republic about minorities instead of with the minorities. We should say goodbye to the concept of policy for Roma, because we need a policy with the Roma. We need children and young people who are educated, who can assert themselves in the labour market. We need young Roma citizens who participate in the dynamics of social processes. There are such people among the young generation. But an average Czech – although I hate using that term –  has not been informed about it.” To what extent Rroma representatives themselves also took the floor, is not discussed. Therefore, one gets the impression that also at the meeting one did not speak with but about the minority.

Nejezchleba/Waldmann (2014) report from Ústí nad Labem, in north Bohemia. There, on the first of May, a group of right-wing radicals demonstrated against the EU and the Rroma. The local Rroma organized a counter-demonstration, where they expressed their displeasure with the nationalists. This it a recent development, since usually Rroma preferred to stay away from the demonstrations of the right-wing extremists: “For years, the state agency for social integration had recommended the Roma to abandon the city during the Nazi marches, so to leave the matter to the police. A father in Ústí said on the sidelines of the demonstration, he feared for his children, that why he would not come into bigger appearance at the counter demo. Like him, many Roma prefer to remain silent. But the number of those who want to oppose the right-wing extremists with a new self-confidence increases. Around Konexe [a citizens’ initiative] a new alliance has formed; it brings together both anti-fascist activists from Prague and Saxony, as well as local Roma, priests and students.” Human rights activists such as Markus Pape see it as a positive development that the still highly marginalized Rroma in the Czech Republic increasingly resist their defamation and actively stand up for their self-determination (compare Schultz 2014).

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07.05.2014 Marseille: The importance of education for a successful integration

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La Provence (2014) reports on the work of teacher Jane Bouvier in Marseille. The teacher is committed to help Rroma children from the slums of the city to enrol in school. The hurdles are numerous, but it is important not to give up quickly, Bouvier states. Bouvier had to seek new accommodations after families were evicted from their homes. She must convince parents of the importance of education for their children and perform the administrative necessities. The children live in conditions that are not exactly conducive to a concentrated learning. Nevertheless, Bouvier is trying to promote them as good as possible. Another problem is teasing on the part of the students: “Resident in a caravan but visiting his cousins in the slums of Plombières, Santiago, 9 years old, testifies in his own words: “At school, there are some who are very nice, and some who are very angry. They tell us: You are Romanians and you rummage in the garbage cans. If I tell it to the teacher, Mohamed and Mourad grab me. Sometimes the girls say them they should cease to annoy us. They say: “He is like us, he is a man and if his family rummages in garbage cans, that is not your problem.””

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07.05.2014 “Remembrance ceremony at the memorial for the Roma and Sinti in Salzburg”

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Salzburg 24 (2014) reports on a memorial event at Rroma memorial in Salzburg. The memorial commemorates Rroma deported by the Nazis. In Salzburg, there were 300 of them: “They were rounded up in 1943 on the site of the former trotting course and then deported over the detention camp Maxglan to the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. To this tortured people a memorial is dedicated to in the small park at Ignaz-Riederkai. […] Mayor Heinz Schaden also addressed the current situation in his speech: the guiding principle for dealing with poverty migrants should be the universal human rights. However, the social problems of Roma and Sinti in several Eastern European countries cannot be solved on the streets and squares in the rest of Europe, he states. Rather, it requires a pan-European effort to enable the people in their home countries a decent life.”

Deutschland News Osteuropa News Westeuropa Rumänien

07.05.2014 The reportage Roma – Europe’s poor children conveys one-sided notion of the Rroma

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The reportage, awarded with the citizens media award of Saxony-Anhalt, reports about Rroma in Transylvania. It paints a sympathetic, but unfortunately also very normative view of the Rroma in Romania. The commentator states at the beginning of the reportage that the helpers of the association “Children’s Aid for Transylvania” would come to know the life and culture of the Rroma in a Rroma settlement. The fact that they confuse culture and a lifestyle resulting out of exclusion, is not discussed critically. Like many other reports in Germany, the coverage reproduces the idea of Rroma as victims in their countries of origin, but remains silent about well-integrated, invisible Rroma, who do not conform to the stereotypes. In addition, the discrimination against the minority in Germany is left out, where they are often portrayed as perpetrators. Instead, it is repeatedly referred to the fertility of the aid project, without giving the Rroma themselves a real voice. Therewith the aid project is staged as a success, but the person concerned appear as uncivilized that were in need of civilizing through the project: “When I think of the starting time, with the turbulence and unrest, and no values and norms within this group of the children of the centre, and now this development […] earlier communication was brute force, there were beatings”, the project manager Sebastian Leiter states biased. In contrast, the film also provides intelligent viewpoints as the views of the social workers Thomas Richardt, which emphasizes the importance of contact between the Rroma and Gadje and stresses that a society is only as good as it treats its weakest members. – The report shows once again that good intentions alone are not sufficient to convey a differentiated picture of the Rroma (compare Kinderhilfe für Siebenbürgen e.V 2014, Berliner Zeitung 2014, Focus 2014).

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