Another sad story. An apartment block had to be destroyed in the Roma settlement in Sabinov, in Eastern Slovakia, as the building was apparently unstable. The tenants had to be evicted and relodged in temporary housing.
Years of neglect do not help …
A nasty story. The town of Michalovce, in Slovakia, sold the run-down buildings of a housing estate where ca. 1’000 Roma live. The new owner says that if they don’t pay, he will evict them.
This is bad, as most probably they do not have the means to pay rent.
Tomorrow, ten years since the brutal police intervention in Moldova nad Bodvou, Slovakia, will have passed. The Roma went to court, only to find themselves condemned for perjury and defamation, a judgement that went to the EU court of justice which condemned Slovakia for the facts. Now, it is back in court there, under the very same person who indicted the victims, the Roma.
Not ideal to say the least.
A festival in a Roma settlement on June 9-11 at Šobov Estate in Banská Štiavnica (Slovakia).
The festival aims to unite people regardless of their nationality, religion, skin colour, education or anything else. The stage at Sídlisku Šobov will belong to Roma and non-Roma musicians. For example, Sendreiovci, Bez ladu a skladu, Barbora Botošová Band, Katarína Máliková and others will perform. Children’s creative workshops will also take place under the guidance of professional artists. Barriers will also be broken down at a football match between Roma and non-Roma artists or visitors.
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 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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Two videos and descriptions of the floods that struck Slovakia yesterday.
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.
Peter Pollák, a Slovak EU MP stated that when it comes to Roma children, there was not a single minister of education who would give them a chance for the future. The government should come with a clear commitment to drastically revise the current plans in the area of school desegregation.
Support and improvement of the standard of living of localities where predominantly marginalized Roma communities live, as well as adjacent areas with non-Roma population, were the topic of the meeting of representatives of the city of Humenné with the representative of the Slovak government for Roma communities on Thursday (18 May) Ján Hero and Member of the European Parliament Peter Pollák in Humenno.
Gataum Rana, who, after eight months of living in Slovakia and after regularly traveling around this beautiful country, is firmly convinced that the Roma minority is the biggest source of Slovakia’s untapped potential.
A rather bold project in a village in Slovakia: Connect the Roma settlement to the centre of the village. They want people to get closer and know each other better by removing the existing physical barrier.
A common feature of all excluded Roma communities is that they are located on the outskirts of municipalities, often kilometres from the centre, where a person from the majority rarely gets to
The staff of a cafe in Lučenec, Slovakia, made a mistake when they refused to serve a guest because he was Rom. After almost six years of litigation, the Bratislava I District Court issued a judgement condemning the café to pay 1,500 euros and apologise.
In August 2017, a refused to serve Ladislav Rácz and his friend. He said it was because he did not have a club card which costs 300 euros. Ladislaw said “When I asked him if it was by chance because we are Roma, gypsies and we are darker, he said that it is not for such a reason and that we should leave the area immediately.”
Ladislaw friend, non-Roma, went to the cafe. They served her without any problems. “She asked the waiter that she saw on the door that entry was only possible with a club card. The gentleman clearly told the camera that it is only for Roma, that they cannot serve Roma.”
907 Mio EUR have been secured from the next period of the integration of Roma in Slovakia. The money will contribute to improving the situation of marginalized Roma communities (MRK). The changes also strengthened the position of the plenipotentiary office, as well as the centralization of the entire agenda, which should lead to a more efficient use of funds. Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma communities, Ján Hero, stated this in response to Wednesday’s (May 10) press conference of the member of the Slovak National Council for SaS Vladimír Ledecký, who criticized the state’s current actions in the area of MRK inclusion.
The District Court of Bratislava ruled in the case of discrimination against a Rom, Ladislav Rácz, who was refused service in a cafe in Lučenec in 2017. The defendant must apologize to him for the discrimination and compensate him financially, the court’s decision is not final, as the defendant can still appeal.
Juraj Čokyna left his job at a newspaper five years ago and went to teach children from settlements in eastern Slovakia for two years. He wrote a book about it, called “Where are the edges?”
Three years later, he is interviewed and states that: “The best are those who went abroad. For Slovak Roma, especially when they live in excluded communities, this is the only chance to experience an environment where they have dignity and the necessary support, for example in schools. Abroad is the only chance for them not to immediately hit the glass ceiling, which they will bang their heads against here in Slovakia very soon.”
Sad.
The new Roma mayor of Žehne, near Prešov, Slovakia, wants to radically solve the discrimination of children in kindergarten.
There are purely Roma children in one class, and their non-Roma classmates attend the other class. Other children from the Roma settlement only go to the community centre in the morning. “So that the children are mixed up. When we have 14 children here, there will be seven and seven there. Also Roma and non-Roma,” explained the mayor.
The President of the Slovene Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar, recently held a consultation with representatives of the Roma community, which was also attended by the State Secretary from the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr. Anton Grizold. The latter is the head of the working group for dealing with the Roma “issue”, which met for the first time almost half a year ago. At the meeting, Grizold said that the task force will tackle the challenges in a two-pronged manner – with an action plan for the most pressing problems and with systemic solutions.
The area of particular concern is the region of Novo Mesto where the police intervene hundreds of times a year in the Roma settlement Žabjak.
Jana Pierová, a Romni, founded a theatre club in 2016 after she became a classroom teacher at Podsadok Primary School in Stara Ľubovna, Slovakia. “I attracted the children to the activity, they were probably oversaturated with dancing and singing. They welcomed it, thanks to the theatre they could express their emotions,” she recalls
“We try to use art to break down prejudices so that the majority perceives us differently,” she explains. Among other things, theatre helps children process difficult topics, such as the Roma Holocaust.
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