Author Archives: Roma Foundation

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czechia: Documentary

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Czechia: Documentary

The documentary Dajori [small mother in Romanes], which won the audience award at the Jihlava Film Festival, is now in theatres. The film is ostensibly a story about a Roma foster family, but it also reveals the housing crisis, the trade in poverty and racism rooted in society.

The foster mother, Dajori Marie Hučkova, in the movie says “Ravens are like Roma. There are many of them and they are roaring. People don’t mind, so shoot them. An animal can take care of its children, and my sister, the mother, cannot take care of her children.”

News Osteuropa North Macedonia

North Macedonia: Kindergarten

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North Macedonia: Kindergarten

350 Roma children will be able to attend kindergarten free of charge in Centar and Gazi Baba in the periphery of Skopje. This is part of a project for the inclusion of Roma children in municipal institutions.

Knowing how many Roma there are around Skopje, this is a drop of water on a hot stone. Almost an alibi exercise. And the user of “Roma Nationality” is very much reminiscent of the old socialist notion.

They are North Macedonians …

Frankreich News Westeuropa

French Chronicle …

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French Chronicle …

A TV reportage in one of the largest Roma camps in France near Nantes in Western France. What is good, is that they say that these Roma only make about 20’000 people in the entire France, and that they are an essential pool of workers for the French agriculture… This is a real change of tone.

Other news are more of the usual: The government policies on Roma are being criticised (the news is that there seems to be one); the month for Roma action with a few events; a camp near Paris near a waste treatment centre; a project of a new site for Roma abandoned in Western France; and near Marseilles, some politics regarding drugs and Roma camps.

News Schweiz

Switzerland and Roma

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Switzerland and Roma

Another article, this time in the TV news about the formal complaint against a Bernese politician for racism. Since he sits in the government from the canton, the prosecutor had to ask for lifting his immunity. The decision will be taken on November 25th, but according to the article, the article, it seems he has little to fear.

Switzerland has a long way to go on racism …

News Osteuropa Slowenien

Slovenia, Roma, and Employment

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Slovenia, Roma, and Employment

The employability of Roma in Slovenia remains a challenge, as they face high levels of unemployment and limited employment opportunities. According to data from 2002, about 15% of Roma were employed, while 85% were unemployed. They are for bright exceptions that prove that this is also possible. This is the case of Đani Stojanovič, who works at Komunala Novo mesto.
Why no journalist ask how one gets at such numbers if governments do admit they do not know how many Roma live in a country?

Bulgarien News Osteuropa Slowakei

Elena Marushiakova

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Elena Marushiakova

Prof. Elena Marushiaková-Popová received the Slovak Science and Technology Award 2024 in the category Personality of Science and Technology for international successful scientific research in the field of Roma studies, the history of Roma as an ethnic minority in Europe.

Shee is currently continuing his work at the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava. The cooperation of Professor Elena Marushiaková-Popová with experts and institutions in Slovakia dealing mainly with Roma studies has been ongoing since the eighties. Its scientific contribution is considerable, it helps to get to know the Roma living in Slovakia and to understand them in a wider pan-European context.

News Schweiz

Switzerland and Ukrainian Roma Refugees

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Switzerland and Ukrainian Roma Refugees

Pierre-Alain Schnegg, a politician from Bern and member of the canton’s government made statements about Roma refugees a few months ago which prompted a formal complaint for racist statements. Now the Canton’s parliament has to vote to lift his immunity so that the prosecution can continue.

Let’s see…

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Integration

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Slovakia and Integration

Ivan Mako is 48 years old and comes from Banská Bystrica. He studied Roma culture at the University of Konstantin Filozof in Nitra. He is married, has two sons and both are studying at universities. He works as a manager in a multifunctional community centre in Valaska near Brezno and manages the successful social enterprise Wasco, a cooperative in the same village. The company is a transfer station for standard employment and currently employs more than 50 hard-to-employ people. In ten years, around 450 people passed through it.

Well Done.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Everyday Racism

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Slovakia and Everyday Racism

Roma boys were supposed to enjoy a friendly football match, but instead received a welcome that hurt at the local school. “Yikes, gypsy team! Kill them!” one student shouted at them. “That was a welcome from a little girl from the local school, where we came with the students for a friendly football match. The boys were very much looking forward to the match. But the welcome hurt,” said teacher and education activist Juraj Hipš on Facebook, who published the sad experience of his students. There has now been a huge wave of support on social media.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Baruvas Meeting

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Baruvas Meeting

From November 1 to 3, the 24th BaruvaS meeting took place in Prague. It focused on connecting young Roma with literature and art. The participants took a thematic walk around Žižkov with journalist and writer Patrik Banga, experienced his author’s reading, and the climax of the program was a visit to the performance of Romeo and Juliet at the ABC Theatre in Prague.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Lety: Building of the Year

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Lety: Building of the Year

The newly opened Roma and Sinti Holocaust Memorial in Bohemia became one of the significant buildings of 2024. He received the Prize of the Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic for extraordinary societal contribution. The memorial, ceremonially opened in May of this year, was created on the site of a former concentration camp where Czech Roma and Sinti were imprisoned during the Nazi occupation.

Architects Jan Sulzer and studio Terra Florida signed the architectural design of the area. An interesting element of the space is the forest symbolizing the Roma community and the empty spaces commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. The memorial circle then marks the original site of the camp.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czechia and Racism

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Czechia and Racism

The 50 Shades of Anti-Roma Racism campaign draws attention to the long-lasting expressions of hate and discrimination. It brings awareness, specific stories, but also instructions on how to defend yourself. The details and goals of the campaign are described in an interview by its leader psychologist Monika Mihaličková from the RomanoNet organization. She says that “Most people imagine manifestations of racism and discrimination in connection with very explicit situations, but quite often they also have a more subtle form.”

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Police Abuse

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Slovakia: Police Abuse

The most well-known case of police brutality in Slovakia in the media is from Košice. It happened back in 2009. Ten Košice policemen forced Roma boys from the Luník IX housing estate to slap and kiss each other under the threat of a fight, ordered them to strip naked and stand with their hands above their heads, barked at them with unmuzzled dogs, and put a gun to one of their heads.

The police officers, who were recording everything on their mobile phones, were accused of harassing Roma between the ages of 11 and 17, who were suspected of robbing a pensioner. The case dragged on in court for years, they were convicted several times by the courts, eventually they were declared innocent and some of the dismissed policemen returned to the force. The final word is with the regional court, a hearing in this matter has not yet been scheduled.

News Osteuropa Polen Rumänien

Roma, Romanians, and Poland

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Roma, Romanians, and Poland

After the fall of communism, in the early 1990s, a significant number of Roma migrants from Romania appeared in Poland. According to this article, they engaged in organised begging (and other stereotypes). But the result was that for many Poles, Romanians and Roma were two interchangeable terms, i.e. all Roam are Romanians and all Romanians are Roma…

No comments.

News Osteuropa Polen Russland

Russia, Roma, and the War

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Russia, Roma, and the War

A pogrom against Roma happened recently in Korkino, in the Cheliabinsk region. It happened after the murder of a 40-year-old taxi driver. She was killed by a teenage Rom. He probably argued with the woman about the fare. After her death, riots broke out in the city.

Seven Roma from Korkino have received summonses to report to a military recruitment centre. This was reported by Igor Dongauzer, the prosecutor of the Chelyabinsk region, during a regular meeting with the residents of Korkino. This is probably a punishment that is supposed to help the authorities rebuild their authority in the city.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Lety Memorial

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The Museum of Roma Culture received a prestigious award in the Building of the Year 2024 competition for the newly opened Roma and Sinti Holocaust Memorial in Bohemia, located in Lety u Písek. The monument received the Award of the Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic for an extraordinary social contribution. The award is recognition for an important step in the commemoration of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust and an effort to bring the historical events associated with the Nazi genocide of the Roma and Sinti in our country closer to the general public.

News Osteuropa Slowenien

Slovenia and Roma Workers

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Slovenia and Roma Workers

An article about Unemployment programs and their success in enrolling people in long term jobs. Well, for Roma it doesn’t seem to work. And in Slovenia, one often hears that Roma are not interested in working. Maybe it’s the employers who are not interested in Roma…

News Osteuropa Slowenien

Slovenia and Stereotypes

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Slovenia and Stereotypes

In discussions about the Roma community, there are constant warnings about the need to improve the educational picture. Available estimates on the involvement of Roma in education show that the gap between Roma and the majority population is very large. Despite this, the situation has been slowly improving in recent years, and there are big differences within the Roma community. There is no official data.

“The myth that Roma are uneducated is not true,” Jože Horvat Muc, president of the Roma Association, told STA. As he estimated, there are “quite a few Roma who are educated” in Prekmurje. In the southeast of the country, however, the reality is different, as there are more Roma who do not finish school, he admitted.

Bosnien News Osteuropa

Bosnia and Hercegovina – Romanes Day

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Bosnia and Hercegovina – Romanes Day

A very small number of Roma speak their mother tongue. The question is why this is so. Are the Roma additionally exposed to discrimination due to the use of the Romani language, or is it not being given enough attention? And the activities so far have not produced concrete results.

Ago and Beko from Kakanj speak the Romany language every day, thereby emphasizing their tradition, and the language is passed down from generation to generation in their family. “It’s important for us, it’s part of our tradition. The first language is Romanes, and then it gradually goes to Bosnian.”

Bulgarien News Osteuropa

Bulgaria, Roma, and Health

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Bulgaria, Roma, and Health

The regional health inspectorate in Pernik organizes free preventive examinations for children of Roma origin with a mobile office – the institution reports. The purpose of these examinations is to improve the health status and access to medical care of people from vulnerable groups, as well as those living in areas far from medical facilities.

rroma.org
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