The case of Roma being re-settled to a new place with better conditions, but resulting in protests of the village close to which the new settlement is.
It is never good to resettle people, much better to better the conditions locally.
Residents of the small city of Krasnystaw, Southeast of Lublin and close to the Ukrainian border, are complaining about Roma refugees who, according to them, are making the city unsafe. Upon closer reading, this boils down to petty theft of food, and small incidents.
The thefts indicate that they probably do not have enough money to survive otherwise, as Poland does not really provide much help to refugees.
The journalist and activist Dalibor Tanić wrote an open letter to Minister Naida Hota-Muminović on the topic of a lesson on religious holidays found in the textbook “My environment” for the third grade of elementary school, authored by Zinaida Livnjak. The lesson cites Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish religious holidays but also adds “Roma” Holidays!
Tanić says rightly that Đurđevdan and Aliđun/Ilindan are not religious holidays, but traditional ones. Roma religion does not exist. Roma, not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but throughout Europe are also Muslims, Catholics, and Orthodox.
Another case of ignorance on the part of the author and the authorities …
The Khamoro festival has started in Prague with groups such as the Rosenberg Trio.
Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar met with the mayor of the municipality of Črnomelj Andrej Kavško. They mainly talked about the removal of the fence on the southern border, the reimbursement of costs due to the increased control of the state border and Roma issues. A few days ago, the minister also had a conversation with the mayors of Novomeje and Kočevo. Regarding the Roma problem, he emphasized the intensive work of the police in the local community, especially in preventive measures. At the same time, he also pointed out that the success and efficiency of the work depend not only on the police, but also on the activities of other services in the field of education, urban planning, social services and employment.
That sure will solve the issue …
Two young women produced a podcast tackling the Yugoslav Nostalgia that seems to exist currently in Slovenia.
In the beginning, the two women touched on the government’s recent cancellation of the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communism. Zala Klopčič explained why the day was celebrated on May 17. “17. May 1942 was the first day when the communists carried out the first mass killing of Slovenian civilians on our soil, namely, it happened south of Ljubljana in the vicinity of Igo. The partisans killed 53 members of the Roma community, including children, a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy,” she reminded, adding that even today these people are not properly buried, because certain influential people on the Slovenian political scene do not allow their burial.
Good that they mention this!
New album by a Hungarian Roam bad called Roam Soul.
Well, no surprise: Roma children are segregated and discriminated against in the Czech school system.
The Congress of Latvian Roma Associations on Saturday elected Osvalds Jezdovskis, chairman of the Latvian Roma Association and Higher Roma Council, as President of the Roma of Latvia.
Jezdovskis said that a meeting of the Latvian Roma Federation is scheduled for Thursday, June 1 to decide on a strategy for the next five years. However, it is already clear that the main goal of the Federation’s activities will be to improve the living conditions of the Roma in Latvia by addressing educational, cultural and social issues.
An interview of the former plenipotentiary for the Roma, Ábel Ravasz on the fact that the renewed investigation of the police brutality against Roma in Moldov nad Bodvou has been given to the very same policeman who dismissed the case in 2016 and brought cases against the Roma for perjury.
The Nikifor Museum in Krynica, in eastern Poland, invites to the exhibition entitled “Coloured cars are coming. Caravan in memory and artistic creation of the Roma”, composed of exhibits collected by the ethnographer Paweł Lechowski. The opening of the collection of paintings and drawings took place on Friday, May 26.
Well, the government sys all is well, Roma are involved, and the path to real integration is clear.
Roma organisations say this is basically a fairy tale …
An article about a young Romni who is graduating from high school and who could not find anyone willing to go with her to the prom. It turns out she was the victim of constant abuse in her class, with people referring to her origins and making disparaging comments such as being given a piece of copper with the words, “Your people are definitely collecting copper, so let’s contribute”.
Several famous people have proposed going with her to the prom ball.
The summer of 2013 police raid in the Roma settlement in Moldava nad Bodvou began with an investigation of the police actions. The prosecutor in charge stopped the original investigation in 2015 and 2016. Instead of the policemen’s misconduct, he accused the Roma of not having told the truth and to have committed perjury. They were subsequently indicted and condemned.
After almost ten years, and after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in favour of the Roma, the investigation goes back to the beginning, namely, to investigate the police.
However, the case ended up with the same investigator from Banská Bystrica, who stopped the original investigations in 2015 and 2016.
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Being a Rom in the Czech Republic is really difficult. Parick Banga was beaten by the police in his youth. He comes from Žižkov in Prague and is 41 years old. He is in charge of blogs at iDNES.cz, at the same time runs an IT business and plays in a swing band in his spare time. Banga received the Magnesia Litera literary award for his coming-of-age story.
The Bulgarian Roma musician Feruz Mustafov died on May 22nd. He was 72 years old.
He was one of the first Roma musicians from Bulgaria who attained international recognition for his music.
May he rest in peace.
Two videos and descriptions of the floods that struck Slovakia yesterday.
The Roma organisation called “Romani asvin” from Kruševac launched a peer mentoring program. Until the end of August, a program called “Mentors on a click” is available to all Roma students at universities. Since the beginning of May, about twenty people interested in getting mentors have contacted us electronically – says Alma Kajtazi from the Association, explaining the advantages of the website www.romaniasvin.org on the Edu info-roma platform.
A documentary film, entitled “Leaving” and directed by Mira Erdevički, presents a picture of the Roma that will probably surprise many viewers in Slovakia. The three main protagonists speak perfect English, are appreciated in their professions, and especially accepted by their surroundings, to which they repay by actively helping the community. But there is one catch. Although they come from Slovakia or the Czech Republic, they had to go to Britain to get such an opportunity.
The European Commission criticizes Slovakia for not being able to effectively use hundreds of millions of euros from European funds. The money is intended to improve the quality of life of marginalized communities. There are about 500,000 Roma in Slovakia. Many live in extreme poverty, on the margins of society.
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