Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

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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 European elections: Greek and Muslim Rromni without chance

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Tzafalias (2014) reports on the candidacy of the Greek and Muslim Rromni Sabiha Suleiman for the European Parliament. Suleiman runs for the left-wing opposition party Syriza, but was dropped from the list again shortly after her nomination. The reasons for her being dropped, Suleiman Tzafalias describes as driven by ethnic disputes: Dimitris Christopoulos, who actively championed for the removal of Suleiman, referred to the supremacy of the Turkish Muslims in the region: “Suleiman’s candidacy would be a show of support for nationalism in an area of Greece which is plagued by it, to the detriment of those Greek Muslims who define themselves as ethnically Turkish. He [Christopoulos] even said that the Muslim minority in Thrace is a “unified Turkish thing”, and – initially – made no mention of those Muslims who define themselves as Roma or Pomak, a Slav-speaking ethnic group. […] Suleiman, who defines herself as a Greek Roma Muslim woman, said all this was happening because the Turkish consulate in Thrace was targeting her, as they wanted to ensure that the Muslim Roma were absorbed into the Turkish minority.” The case described by Tzafalias is a prime example of what is known in the social sciences as “intersectionality”: the simultaneous membership to different groups and the associated special features and difficulties. To better understand the case of Thrace, Tzafalias refers to the Lausanne Peace Treaty of 1923. As a result of the demise of the Ottoman Empire, two million people should be exchanged between Greece and the newly founded Turkey: the Muslim Greeks to Turkey and the Christian-Turks to Greece. The Rroma are still caught in the crossfire of political efforts to homogenize ethnic states. A worrying development (compare Wordbulletin News 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.”

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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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07.05.2014 “Toward a Roma Cosmopolitanism“

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Feffer (2014) writes about his encounters with the Romanian Rroma-activist and sociologist Nicolae Gheorghe, who died last August. Gheorghe was decidedly fostering a cosmopolitan view of the Rroma and their affiliation to the different states and turned against all nationalisms: “His widest ambition for the Roma, who had no land of their own, was that they should be a ‘transnational’ people, a grand pan-European federation of men and women, who, while proper citizens of their own countries, also represented a society broader, freer and more enterprising than that of nation states […].” But Gheorghe realized that the real challenge was not the work in the European institutions, but the implementation of integration policies at the local level. In the villages and cities the consciousness of cosmopolitanism, which had existed under the Ottoman rule and Communism, had been lost. At the same time, many Rroma did not manage to evolve into entrepreneurs, as Gheorghe had hoped. The people they helped in training didn’t go back to engage in community work, as planned, but rather accepted positions in the administration. They didn’t understand enough about the mechanisms of the free market and focused too much on the production of goods. The group companies Gheorghe had supported with the help of funding, did not function as desired. They should rather have supported individual business ideas, he remembers. In addition, a further portion of the support funds disappeared due to nepotism. But there had also been successful projects. In these cases, however, private property existed previously, property on which one could build for an enterprise: “Most of the Roma working in our project had no such patrimony. They’d been selling their labour. And they didn’t know what to do with money. They had no entrepreneurial skills. They imagined – and I imagined too – that if we gave them money entrepreneurial skills would just appear. And that was not the case. They wasted the money. We ended up generating personality problems: It was much more than they could mentally cope with.” Gheorghe therewith directly addresses the problems that arose during the transition from one economic system to another, which required completely different values and skills. However, in his account, Gheorghe negates that there were Rroma who worked successfully in the new system and accumulated wealth. There the stereotypes of Rroma kings and palaces come from, as they keep popping up in newspapers.

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02.05.2014 Eviction policy continues in France

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Several French newspapers report about the ongoing evictions of illegal settlements. In Bègles, a suburb of Bordeaux, a community of about sixty Rroma were evicted from a former industrial area. The eviction was carried out at the request of the landowner, the real estate company Aquitanis, which will build houses on the abandoned land. The displaced Rroma were offered temporary accommodation, but most of them rejected it. The eviction endangers the school enrolment of about a dozen children, whose further school career is called into question. A representative of the organization ‘Right to Accommodation’ (Droit au Logement) justifiably criticized that the evictions will only solve local problems, but nothing would change for the concerned people in the long term. In Grasse, a house occupied by immigrant Rroma was cleared by the police, and several inhabitants had to be carried away by the police (France Bleu 2014/I, Lebaratoux 2014, Nice-Matin 2014, Sud Ouest 2014/I).  

De Francesco (2014) reports on the eviction of three Rroma-settlements in Cran-Gevrier and in Annecy, in the Rhône-Alpes region, close to the Swiss border. The authorities carried out the evacuation in response to a court order from March. About 150 people had to leave their homes. The action was once again criticized by the organization ‘Right to Accommodation’, because it subverts and complicates the integration efforts of the Rroma. The local politician Anne Coste de Champeron justified the eviction with the untenable conditions in the camps. Politicians repeatedly use this reasoning to justify the many evictions. The fact that it is not the welfare of those affected, but the maintenance of order policy  that has priority, is most often concealed. For a long-term, successful integration of Rroma, tolerance and support of illegal settlements is desirable (compare France Bleu 2014/II).

Le Creurer (2014) reports on displaced Rroma after an eviction in Nice. The affected Rroma have no intentions to return to Romania, as is the wish of the French authorities. Rather, they want a future in France. Without integration in the labour market and appropriate training, this will be only difficult to achieve. The efficiency of the mentioned integration programs has been hitherto fairly little critically discussed in the media. The approach seems to be more promising than to simply evict the Rroma from one place to the next. Noël Mamère , the mayor of Begles, also wishes a long-term and collective solution for the integration of Rroma. However, for this purpose a collective policy of all the suburbs of Bordeaux is required (compare Sud Ouest 2014/II).

Several French newspapers moreover report on the eviction of two Rroma settlements in Saint-Denis. The European Rroma Rights Centre had filed complaint against the eviction at the European Court of Human Rights: “The ERRC referred to two articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (3 and 8), to appraise that the present eviction is a “degrading and inhuman treatment” and that it “undermines the right to a private and family life”” (Sterlé 2014). The court called the French authorities for information about the conditions of the evacuation, the future accommodation of the displaced persons and the dimensions of the expulsions. The prefecture of Saint-Denis replied that they applied the usual social diagnoses and offered the affected alternative housing. For Manon Filloneau, from the European Rroma Rights Centre, the intervention of the court is a success, despite the lack of consequences. It shows the interest of the court for the situation of the Rroma in France (see Breson 2014, Le Point, 2014, Sterlé 2014).

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02.05.2014 Germany wants to declare Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina safe countries of origin

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Several German newspapers reported on the pending draft bill of the federal government to declare Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina to be safe countries of origin. The new legislation would allow to process asylum applications from these Balkan states within a week, what according to critics would clearly happen at the expense of individual cases. Many journalists believe that the vast majority of the applicants coming from the Balkans – in 2013 there were more than 20,000 – are Rroma. How they obtained this information is not discussed any further. In its statistics, according to the law, Germany only records the national but not the ethnic affiliation. Since 2009, for citizens of Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina there is no visa requirement: “The right to asylum in Germany is awarded only to few of them – last year there was a total of three. 120’070 immigrants from the Balkans have tried to sue for the right of asylum in court. 39 Serbs, 26 Macedonians, and 17 Bosnians were then allowed to stay. In nine cases out of ten, the asylum applications of this clientele are “obliviously unfounded”, the authorities argue. Therefore, the federal government wants to declare these three Balkan countries as “safe countries of origin”” (Käfer 2014). With the new legislation, the federal government would lo longer have to justify why it rejects an application for asylum from the three countries. It assumes no profound persecution and exclusion of Rroma in Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. A very different notion is communicated by human rights organizations and left-wing politicians: Rroma in the three countries are still heavily discriminated against, both by the authorities and regarding the access to the labour market, schools, and health care. This view is also supported by several reports, such as the last activity report of the European Commission about the national Rroma strategies (Europäische Kommission 2013). The UN refugee agency criticizes the German Federal Government for focusing too much on the topic of political persecution, and thus neglecting discrimination against minorities and human rights violations. Tom Koenigs, former UN special representative in Kosovo, also emphasizes that the classification of nations as safe countries of origin comes at the expense of individuals who are de facto victims of persecution (Armbrüster 2014). Refugee fates are fates of individuals and have to be treated as such, he states, thus securing the protection of those who are actually in need of help. The Rroma Contact Point shares this viewpoint (compare Gajevic 2014, Geuther 2014, Rüssmann 2014, Schuler 2014, Südwest Presse 2014, TAZ 2014).

Ehrich (2014) furthermore points out that the declaration of Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia- Herzegovina to safe country of origin gives the states wrong signals regarding their minority policy, since they are also candidates for the membership in the European Union: “Apart from the consequences for individual Roma who actually need asylum, the declaration of the countries as “safe countries of origin” harbours a threat to Europe. Serbia and Macedonia are already official candidates for EU-membership. Bosnia-Herzegovina is a potential candidate. Declaring these states “safe countries of origin” could destroy incentives to improve the situation of Roma in these countries.”

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02.05.2014 Kosovo, Serbia: multi-ethnic police to strengthen confidence in the authority

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Petignat (2014) reports on the conscious promotion of a multi-ethnic police force in Kosovo and Serbia. It is supposed to consist of ethnic Serbs, Albanians, and Rroma. By this measure, it is hoped that the confidence of the population in the authority is to be strengthened. The project is supported by the OSCE and Switzerland. In Serbia, the reluctance of non-Serbian speaking population to contact the police was significantly higher up till now. The aftermath of the Yugoslav wars is not yet completely forgotten and often leads to disagreements, as lately in Presevo during the construction of a monument to the Liberation Army. The multi-ethnic police in Serbia is planned to include 270 Albanians, 130 Serbs and some Rroma who have so far been under-represented. In Kosovo, the project is less advanced: “The example of the multi-ethnic police has caught on in the Balkans. Quite contrary to the north-Kosovo, where the still divided city of Mitrovica gradually integrates members of the Serbian community into the mixed police force. These are former guards, previously paid by Serbia, that must be re-included into the Kosovar institutions in this region with a potential for secession, following an agreement signed on April 2013 between Serbia and the Kosovo. In this way, 300 “Serbian” policemen are progressively integrated into the regular police forces of the Kosovo.” Petginant’s article shows that the Rroma are also under-represented among the authorities. Only a few Rroma build part of the multi-ethnic police.

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02.05.2014 Undifferentiated article from Daily Mail confirms prejudices

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Enoch (2014) from Daily Mail reports on a court case in London. A Polish Roma family is accused of having trafficked several Polish nationals to England and to have abused them with forced labour. Which ethnic group the victims belong to is not stated. While the article precisely describes the offenses the Rroma family is accused of, Enoch remains vague regarding the motives and the relevance of ethnic membership. He indirectly suggests that mentioning of ethnicity is self-explanatory and explains the motives behind these actions. He thereby confirms racist stereotypes about criminal Rroma, who are said to be involved in human trafficking and forced labour. Naming group membership is completely unnecessary and encourages xenophobic opinions among the readers. Enoch states: “A family of Roma gypsies tricked three fellow Poles into moving to London, where one was forced into slavery and subjected to beatings – and all had their National Insurance numbers used to rip off the benefits system, a court heard. One female victim was constantly sexually molested and forced to shoplift and beg with her two children, who were kept in a locked room and also threatened with beatings, a jury at Croydon Crown Court was told.” Daily Mail regularly publishes articles about Rroma that consciously promote xenophobia against the minority. The newspaper is totally unaware of its responsibility for a differentiated clarification of the readership.

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30.04.2014 Civil courage against discrimination in Serbia

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Ernst (2014) reports two experiences of discrimination by Serbian Rroma. In both described cases, one the refusal of entry into a McDonalds store, the other the expulsion of a cleaning lady from a bank, the moral courage of those affected had an impact on the outcome of theses injustices. In the first case, the woman who wanted to buy sandwiches in the fast food store for three Rroma children in Novi Sad complained to the local ombudswomen. She in turn sued McDonalds and won. In the second case, the cleaning lady turned to the media: The store manager, who had expelled Mrs Uskokovic from the bank, was put in the pillory of the media. Ernst sees the two incidents as examples of the importance of civil courage against socially tolerated discrimination. Only through the commitment of each and every person, can the exclusion of minorities be ended in the long term: “These are two unpleasant stories that confirm what is known or suspected about Roma discrimination in the Balkans (Mrs Uskokovic, the street cleaner from Nis, has a dark complexion, but it is unclear whether she refers to herself as Roma). Therefore, they is nothing news. […] But what is crucial: citizens as Maja Rogic and Lidija Uskokovic give rise to hope  – because they do not put up with everything.”

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30.04.2014 Discriminatory views about Rroma in Romanian politics

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Bird/Candea (2014) inform about institutionalized racism in Romanian politics. Discriminatory attitudes towards members of the Rroma minority are common in all political parties of the country, they state. As a starting point they take a racist joke of the social democrat Dan Tudorache, who is said to have written during a winter storm earlier this year, that it was so cold that he had seen a “gypsy” with his hands in his own pockets. Rroma activist Ciprian Necula condemned Tudorache’s statement in the media, but was in turn confronted with a lot of negative comments. Rroma politician Damian Draghici announced on the occasion of the incident that Romanian politicians showed no skills or awareness about discriminatory statements: “When you are five years old and you put your hand on the oven, you know it burns,” he says, making a comparison, “but if you have never put your hand on the oven until you’re 30 years old – you will get burned at 30. […] What is necessary, he argues, is to educate such people about what discrimination means.” Bird/Candea see the situation more realistically than Draghici. They state that it is immaterial whether behind discriminatory remarks one finds naivety or bad intentions. What is crucial is the marginalization and degradation of the minority in the political and social everyday life, as the National Council Against Racism confirms. The pejorative attitudes towards Rroma are taught to the ethnic Romanians from an early childhood and repeated regularly, the authors state: “Prejudice is recycled from generation to generation and ingrained in Romanian children at an early age. In Romanian playgrounds it is common to hear elders tell their children they should behave or “the gypsies will come and kidnap you” and, if they have paint or mud on their face or hands, that the infant is “dirty like a gypsy.”” The segregation of the Rroma in the schools, in the labour market and in the residential districts of Romania continues to be present, Bird/Candea confirm. It is time to finally end this. This includes the better education of the general population, which allows to reduce prejudices which are based on ignorance.

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30.04.2014 “Merkel: Fair chances for Sinti and Roma”

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The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, argues in her latest podcast for a better integration of Rroma in Germany. This better integration is planned to take place through education, public relations work and increased contacts between ethnic Germans and Rroma. Moreover, one should decidedly take action against right-wing extremism in Germany. The chancellor stated: “The fight against right-wing extremism, racism, is part of our daily work. And there are also the necessary legal paragraphs, but they are, I think, not sufficient by themselves. We need a social climate in which everyone knows that racism and nationalism and other extreme movements, right-wing extremism, are prohibited and that civil courage must be shown when we face something like that in everyday life” (Video-Podcast der Bundeskanzlerin #11/2014). The interviewer, Marian Luca, counters that the latest study by Amnesty International shows that in many European countries the majority population accepts discrimination against the minority tacitly. The chancellor replied: “These hints by Amnesty International need not only be taken seriously, but also be pursued them. There are disadvantages and prejudices against Roma and Sinti; to deny this would mean that we do not face reality. This also exists in Germany. Therefore, the task for me is also to get to know each other better, so that one can do away with these prejudices, that one gets to know the biographies of many Sinti and Roma and sees how successfully they get involved in our society.” Another point of criticism is the lack of usage of available funding for integration by European member states. Merkel wants to improve this through specific discussions with government representatives. For this purpose, she will meet with representatives of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma next Monday. It is to be hoped that this will not just remain a lip service, but that concrete measures to improve the integration of the Rroma will be taken (compare Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 2014).

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25.04.2014 Call for a civil rights movement of the Rroma

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Umberto Guerra (2014), by the French Rroma organization Romeurope, takes stock of the history of France Rroma. He regrets that the Rroma, who have been living in France for centuries, are still not recognized by the public as part of French society. Instead, one discriminates them further. In the French public, the Rroma exist only in the form of visible immigrants from Eastern Europe. The Rroma who have been living integrated in France for generations, are not seen by the media. According to Guerra they are still victims of racism and discrimination: “There are also several hundred thousand Roma who are French citizens. We are the object of racism and discrimination. But our situation is better than that of our immigrant brothers and sisters whom the French state continues to exclude. Racism against Roma is fed by widespread stereotypes. According to the national commission into human rights 85 percent of French people think Roma exploit their children. The idea of French national identity also plays a role. The true French person is supposed to speak French not regional languages, for example, and to be settled rather than travelling. And the economic crisis has seen things get worse. That’s true of racism in general, but particularly anti-Roma racism.” Moreover, Viviane Reding criticized that the Rroma have repeatedly been used as scapegoats for social ills in the French election campaign, when politicians did not want to talk about more relevant topics. Guerra expresses his disappointment about the fact that the political parties and politicians, from the right as well as from the left, were not reliable in respecting the rights of the Rroma and to come to their defence. At the end, he calls for the concentration of the various civil rights movements and a special dedication to the betterment of the situation of the Rroma: “In the last few years new anti-racist movements have developed, including Roma movements. We are working towards a Festival of Gypsy Insurrection to celebrate the revolt of Roma people in the Birkenau Nazi concentration camp on 16 May 1944. People on the receiving end of racism have taken the initiative and created “specialised” movements against Islamophobia, anti-black racism, etc. These movements are at the stage of getting to know one another. To succeed in their just struggle they will need to coordinate. Roma organisations take part in these movements and we attempt to play a role in bringing them together.” By such a movement, it could perhaps at last be made clear to the majority population that the Rroma have been living among them for generations, invisible and integrated and that they should be allowed to display their identity publicly and proudly without being discriminated.

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25.04.2014 Daily Mail confirms stereotypes about Rroma

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In its latest post, the British tabloid Daily Mail supported racist stereotypes about criminal Rroma gangs who attack tourists in Paris. Allen (2014) provides information on a group of young Rroma – how he knows about the ethnicity of the perpetrators, is completely unknown – who wanted to raid a middle-aged man at a cash machine in the centre of Paris, and were filmed by a surveillance camera. Allen further reports on the internal police writing that last week triggered a flood of press articles. The letter called for the systematic eviction of all Rroma in the sixth arrondissement, which is illegal under French law. Allen comments about this: “Charity and human rights groups were furious last week when a leaked police memo called for the ‘systematic eviction’ of Roma from the centre of the city. […] A spokesman for Charity group Catholic Help described the note as a ‘scandal’, saying that it ‘stigmatised a poor community’ and amounted to ‘racial profiling’- something which is illegal in secular France. But other Paris officials argued that Roma are behind most of the crime in the city, involving themselves in everything from aggressive begging to muggings and burglaries. 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.” Journalists such as Peter Allen still share the opinion that they spread the truth about Rroma, because they assume that reality consists only of the visible facts. The fact that a large part of the Rroma is not criminal is completely ignored in this logic. The focus is solely on the deviant behavior that is associated with ethnicity. The fact that the ethnicity of the perpetrators is anything but clear becomes obvious in Allen’s own article. He proceeds on the assumption that all perpetrators are Rroma and naturalizes this suspicion to a journalistic fact. Thus ethnic prejudices are maintained based on suppositions that are anything but hard facts.

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25.04.2014 “Jobbik Takes Aim at Roma”

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Bendavid (2014) reports on the new electoral success of the right-wing nationalist and anti-Rroma Jobbik party, in Hungary. The right faction received 21% of the expressed votes in the elections earlier this month. The party accuses Rroma of culturally related antisocial behaviour and crime, even if it recognizes that not all Rroma stand out negatively: “Few parties have attracted as much attention as Jobbik, due to its sophistication and its influence within Hungary. “Jobbik has a pretty decent structure; they’re not just a bunch of thugs,” said Cas Mudde, a University of Georgia professor who studies far-right parties. “They have highly qualified people with university degrees.” Jobbik’s appeal, its supporters say, rests on a range of promises, from cleaning up corruption to reforming the education system. Its leaders vigorously reject accusations of racism. But human-rights activists say Jobbik’s candidates regularly exploit anti-Roma prejudice. Jobbik “has made anti-Roma statements a pillar of its political strategy,” the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency said in a recent report. The Jobbik platform, for example, criticizes Roma who “wish only that society maintain them through the unconditional provision of state benefits.” Not all Roma are criminals, another Jobbik statement concedes, but it adds, “’Gypsy crime’ is real. It is a unique form of delinquency, different from the crimes of the majority in nature and force.” It is dangerous to relativise a doubtlessly racist dominated party programme because it admits that not all Rroma are criminals. Their demagoguery is no less serious nor less problematic because of that. A fraction, which bases its policy on the exclusion and defamation of an ethnic group, and comes to a full 21% percentage of voters, must give pause to even die-hard optimists. Unfortunately, history has shown all too clearly that between political defamation and physical destruction there is only a narrow line. Only a year ago, the Hungarian publicist Zsolt Bayer asked publicly for an extermination of the Rroma, without being sentenced to any penalty.

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25.04.2014 The European Rroma-policy

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Bendavid (2014) reports a forced eviction of informal Rroma houses in Eforie, in south-eastern Romania. The residents are still deeply angered by the destruction of their homes by the local government in September 2013. As a substitute, they were offered container flats that most refused, because of the remote location and the tight space. The European Rroma Rights Centre filed a complaint against the eviction. The expulsion is taken by Bendavid as a starting point to reflect on the European policy towards Rroma. With the accession of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia to the European community, the will as well as the political pressure for the integration of this minority has increased. Western European countries fear an influx of impoverished Rroma from Eastern Europe, a fear that has proved unfounded until now. Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, sees an important reason for the lack of effectiveness of the aid programs, in the widespread prejudice against the minority, which prevent politicians to take actions out of fear that they will not be elected again: “Ms. Reding, of the European Commission, said the problem may not be solved as long as local officials are terrified of a public backlash upon helping Roma. That means the EU ultimately may have to issue its own Europe-wide rules, she said. “I’ve been told directly by several mayors, ‘I am not a racist, but if I call a program ‘Housing for Roma’ or ‘Education for Roma,’ I will no longer be mayor,’” said Ivan Ivanov, director of the European Roma Information Office, a clearinghouse and advocacy group.” This insight is particularly relevant when one considers that the Rroma are repeatedly accused of being responsible for their own fate. The fact that poverty and lack of education are not a self-chosen way of life, but rather the result of exclusion, should be obvious to anyone. While some government officials strive for a better integration of the Rroma, others want to segregate them consistently and build walls around Rroma settlements. Thus, in Slovakia 400 mayors joined the movement Zobudme Sa! that wants to remove all Rroma settlements by the uncompromising application of health and safety regulations (compare Wall Street Journal 2014, Nair 2014).

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23.04.2014 EU-minister Birgitta Ohlsson calls for more political commitment for the Rroma

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Herrnböck (2014) spoke with the Swedish EU-minister Birgitta Ohlsson about the commitment of the European Union on the Rroma integration. In the interview, Ohlsson criticizes in particular the role of Romania who is not willing to actively participate in a European Rroma task force. There is a lack of political will and administrative capacity to use EU funds effectively, she states. Ohllson wants to deploy a task force for the better integration of Rroma in Romania, even without the consent of the Romanian government: “I do not want to give up this idea, I have seen too many miserable Roma camps in different countries. It is unworthy to a modern society that children must seek their food in the garbage. […] I think it’s a litmus test for states how they treat minorities. The Union was built to never again allow a crime like the Holocaust. European politicians should oppose much stronger against intolerance and intimidation.” The main criticism of Ohlsson and other EU politicians is the lacking retrieval and use of EU-funds in Romania for the integration of the Rroma.

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