Category Archives: Slovakia

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01.03.15 Slovakia: Police acquitted of all charges

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01.03.15 Slovakia: Police acquitted of all charges

Slovak police, who filmed their abuse of Rroma children in that country were acquitted of all charges, as their own videos taken from their own mobile phones was deemed to be illegally acquired evidence.

That the crime took place is not in doubt with the court, only the guilt of the police officers has not been “proven”. Crimes without culprits, especially when the police is involved is not uncommon. Unfortunately.

– Slovakia: Scandalous verdict acquits police of torturing Romani children. In: Romea.cz. 28.02.2015. http://www.romea.cz/…/slovakia-scandalous-verdict-acquits-p…

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22.02.15 A Slovak Film on a Rroma boxer in Slovakia

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22.02.15 A Slovak Film on a Rroma boxer in Slovakia

Koza – the goat – is a Slovak docu-movie on the life of a young Rroma boxer whose career peaked at the Olympic game but has since gone wrong. He lives in poverty with his girlfriend and daughter in a run down estate. The film related his life, but does not touch the subject of Rroma in Slovakia, a touchy subject.

– Simon, Alissa. Berlin Film Review: ‘Koza’. In: Variety. 11.02.2015.http://variety.com/…/re…/berlin-film-review-koza-1201434408/

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25.01.2015 Remembrance for the liberation of Auschwitz 70 years ago

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The “Förderverein Roma” organises a march on January 27th in Frankfurt to mark the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau (Frankfurter Neue Presse). In that camp, with the special Rroma camp in Birkenau, countless Rroma from several countries were killed. The official number is fairly low, as is the case with Jews, as people that were gassed straight away were not registered. However, many Rroma from Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany and other countries were murdered there.

The Bishop Conference of Germany, for that same commemoration of the liberation liberation of the camp, issued a lengthy statement acknowledging the murder of minorities and other in Auschwitz and appealing for tolerance and help towards others.

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21.11.2014 Rroma in Slovakia from a German perspective

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Bauer (2014) reports on the visit in Slovakia of a German delegation of politicians and church leaders of Schwäbisch Hall. The delegation wanted to get an idea of the Rroma situation in their home country, Rroma who who sometimes beg on the roads of Hall. While the representatives from politics and the church were able to reduce prejudices about organised begging gangs, the one-sided focus on marginalised Rroma gives the impression of a culture of poverty among the minority: “For the Roma from the 835-strong resort [Kaloša] 300 kilometres east of Bratislava, begging in Hall is a business model that enables their families to survive an allows them to build a simple house after a few years. “The fear of some citizens of Hall, that the beggars belong to organised criminal gangs is completely unfounded”, says Bettina Wilhelm, Halls first female mayor. She was part of the delegation to Kaloša, the place of origin of most of beggars in Hall. […] Since the fall of communism 25 years ago, many Roma have no work, they live on welfare and child support. In return, they must work a certain number of hours per month in charity. Also because of this, they return after 14 days in Hall to Slovakia. Neither to craftsmanship nor to agriculture, they bear reference. Since the collective farms were closed, the land lies fallow. Not even for their own use do they grow vegetables.” In Slovakia, according to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 450,000 to 550,000 Rroma. Not all of them are losers of the 1989 turnaround, as this article suggests. Rroma belong to all strata of society, many of them are well integrated.

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19.11.2014 Stereotypes: criminal Rroma clans

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Guggisberg (2014) reports on criminal Rroma clans that allegedly force children into crime. Parents surrender their children to an omnipotent clan chief – to whom they are indebted – for begging and theft and some even end up in prostitution. Guggisberg uncritically reproduces the perspective of the “Wiener Drehscheibe”, a social service for begging and stealing children who have been arrested by the police. Guggisberg does not question that the social educator Norbert Ceipek – the head of the institution – who identifies each begging or stealing child as a victim of human trafficking, could himself be subject to prejudices and be providing misinformation on Rroma: “Ceipek opens another photo file. It shows a Roma village in Romania, which he recently visited. He tells of houses, cobbled together from planks and plastic sheeting, and dirt roads full of garbage. In the middle is a magnificent villa. “It belongs to the clan chief. He rules the villages as a state within a state”, says Ceipek […]. Many of the children dealt with in Vienna belong to the Roma. […] “The phenomenon of Eastern European gangs of beggars is not new. But since a couple of months, it taken new proportions”, says Ceipek. Very active are the Bosnian gangs, he states. Every few weeks, they would bring the children to different European cities, according to a rotating system. The social worker explains that his aim was to provide a perspective to the children, a little education. They might get on better path.”” Alexander Ott, head of the Foreign Police Bern, who has already been quoted repeatedly in articles about criminal Rroma gangs and trafficking of children, has his say. He reproduces the usual prejudices about hierarchical Rroma clans with a clan chief who leads children into crime: “The network of child traffickers reaches from Eastern Europe to Switzerland. “The victims are recruited in Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Often they come from large Roma families, are purchased or borrowed”, says Ott. One sends the boys to steal, urges them into prostitution, or forces them to beg. The instigators know well that the Swiss justice system cannot prosecute the perpetrators because of their young age. Adolescent burglars are booming in the autumn and winter months. Ott emphasises that they have to deal with highly professional, specialised and hierarchically-run clans, who practice their craft since generations.” Rroma are not more criminal than other ethnic groups. They are not hierarchically organised, as is often claimed, but structured largely egalitarian. So-called “Rroma kings” are self-elected and have purely representative character. Guggisberg and experts’ claim that behind begging children there is inevitably trafficking and organized crime, is wrong.

The characteristics of transnational operating trafficker networks, as presented here, are questioned by social science research. Their existence itself is not denied, something that cannot be in the interest of combating injustice. But their manifestation, their number, their omnipotence and the motivations attributed to them have to be questioned. These are often tainted by ideological fallacies, brought into connection or even equated with ethnic groups such as Rroma. Furthermore, the equation of child migration and trafficking has to be set into context. The stereotype of Rroma as child traffickers dates back to their arrival in Western Europe, and is in part based on the racist notion that Rroma did actively recruit children for criminal gangs. Regarding the topic of child migration, social science studies convey a more complex notion on the subject and point out that crimes such as incitement to beg and steal or alleged child trafficking are often permeated by various morals in the analysis and assessment by authorities, who don’t appropriately consider the perspective and motivations of migrating children and their relatives, and instead force on them their own ideas and definitions on organised begging, criminal networks or child trafficking. Structural differences of the societies involved and resulting reasons for a migration are given too little consideration. In reality, behind begging children there are often simply impoverished families, in which the children contribute to the family income and who therefore do not correspond to bourgeois notions of a normal family and childhood. De facto child trafficking is rare according to the sociological studies. Furthermore, the incomes from begging are very modest, which makes them unattractive for organised crime.  Guggisberg, who states that 200’000 children are recruited annually by the trafficking mafia, contradicts this. 

At the end of the article, Guggisberg quotes another expert opinion by Norbert Ceipek, the director of the “Wiener Drehschreibe”: At 15, many of them would get married and have children themselves, so that the cycle of crime continues. Likewise, Guggisberg reproduces this racist prejudice uncritically. The majority of Rroma, who live integrated, go to work and send their children to school, remain unmentioned (compare Cree/Clapton/Smith 2012, O’Connell Davidson 2011, Oude Breuil 2008, Tabin et al 2012).

  • Cree, Viviene E./Clapton, Gary/Smith, Mark (2012) The Presentation of Child Trafficking in the UK: An Old and New Moral Panic? In: Br J Soc Work 44(2): 418-433.
  • Guggisberg, Rahel (2014) Das Schicksal der Roma-Kinder von Wien. In: Tages-Anzeiger online vom 14.11.2014. http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/leben/gesellschaft/Das-Schicksal-der-RomaKinder-von-Wien/story/14626308
  • O’Connell Davidson, Julia (2011) Moving children? Child trafficking, child migration, and child rights. In: Critical Social Policy 31(3):454-477.
  • Oude Breuil, Brenda Carina (2008) Precious children in a heartless world? The complexities of child trafficking in Marseille. In: Child Soc 22(3):223-234.
  • Tabin, Jean Pierre et al. (2012) Rapport sur la mendicité « rrom » avec ou sans enfant(s). Université de Lausanne.
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14.11.2014 Institute Economic and Social Studies (INESS): Rroma in Slovakia are not financially advantaged

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The Slovak Spectator (2014) reports on the publication of a new study by the Slovak Institute for Economic and Social Studies (INESS). The study comes to the conclusion that Rroma, contrary to widespread stereotypes and myths arguing that the minority receives excessive social funds, are not treated differently by the state. The study also refutes established ideas about the high number of children among Rroma. The analysis came to the conclusion that 90% of the families who receive child benefits, have one or two children: “NOT even 2.2 percent of total public spending goes to Roma citizens even though they are often depicted as those who abuse the social welfare system in Slovakia. This is the finding from an analysis conducted by the Institute for Economic and Social Studies (INESS) released on October 22. The think-tank looked into numbers provided by the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (ÚPSVaR), social insurer Sociálna Poisťovňa and the Atlas of Roma Communities and concluded that the costs of welfare paid in districts with a two-thirds Roma population makes up 2.2 percent of public spending, which is €578 million. “Even though Roma are proportionally higher recipients of public transfers these don’t amount to such a proportion of public finances as is discussed in inns or at the family table,” INESS analyst Ján Dinga, one of the study’s authors, told The Slovak Spectator.” Jarmila Lajčáková from the Research Centre for Ethnicity and Culture also pointed out that the misinformation and prejudice about the alleged preferential treatment of the Rroma in the social system complicates the integration of the minority, because they are confronted with these prejudices when trying to access the education system and the labour market. In Slovakia, according to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 450,000 to 550,000 Rroma. Many of them belong to the middle class, have educations and their own apartments. They are almost constantly hidden in the public debate over the minority.

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12.11.2014 Rroma and asylum in Canada

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Cain (2014) reports on a new and controversial practice in the Canadian immigration policy. Financial subsidies are paid to immigrants when they voluntarily agree to renounce an asylum procedure and return to their homeland. From the perspective of immigration lawyers, this practice is not without problems, as asylum applicants are  encouraged to give up their rights in return for financial incentives: “Under the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Program, unsuccessful refugee claimants who agree to abandon the appeal process are given airfare home, which on average costs $1,500, and “in-kind reintegration assistance” to a maximum of $2,000. […] Immigration lawyers question how voluntary the program – targeted at people who are often extremely poor, worried about incarceration or deportation and may be unfamiliar with Canada’s refugee appeal system – really is. “The more appeal rights you give up, the more money you get,” says immigration lawyer Max Berger. […] “Essentially, it’s a bribe. The Government of Canada is offering refugee claimants money, which is tied to them forgoing their appeal rights.” In addition, Cain’s article discusses the fate of a Rroma family from Slovakia. The father portrayed points out on his ill-treatment and discrimination in his home country. He wanted to spare his two young sons such experiences through emigration to Canada. For five years, the young family man has been living there with his children and his wife. However, the personal experiences of discrimination have little impact compared to the official estimates of the authorities. Rroma are not politically persecuted in Europe. However, that does not mean that they do not experience discrimination in everyday life, in the education system and the labour market.

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29.10.2014 Czech Republic: Rroma subjected to forced sterilisation shall receive compensation

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RFI (2014) reports on the efforts of the Czech government to compensate financially some 90,000 Rroma women, who were forcibly sterilised between 1971 and 1989. The planned compensation payments, for which the legal framework is created at the moment, were considered only after massive criticism by the United Nations. Although in 2009, the government apologized for the caused suffering, until now, the victims had to individually sue the various hospitals where the sterilisations were performed: “Between 1971 and 1989, up to 90 thousand Roma women in former Czechoslovakia were sterilised. The government has apologised, but until this point has offered little else. […] The Czech Republic’s Human Rights Minister Jiri Dienstbier said that the necessary legislation should be completed by the end of this year. Forced sterilisation during this period has also been documented in what is now Slovakia, but that government has made no similar move to provide compensation. RFI’s Anne-Marie Bissada spoke with Katerina Cervena, a lawyer and project leader with the Czech League for Human Rights, who said that Czech courts never criminalised forced sterilisation because the police had been involved, and that some cases of sterilisation may have occurred as late as 2007.” Already under the Habsburgs, in particular under empress Maria Theresa, Rroma severely suffered under repressive measures. Maria Theresa enacted a strict program of forced assimilation that prohibited the Rroma to speak their language, to wear their traditional dresses and even to practice their traditional occupations. At the height of the repression, she even prohibited the Rroma to marry among themselves and children over five years were brought into non-Rroma families.

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17.10.2014 People in Need Slovakia: segregated Rroma particularly affected by human trafficking

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The Slovak Spectator (2014) reports on a new study by the Slovak organization “People in Need Slovakia”. According to the research of the organisation, segregated Rroma in Slovakia, aged between 16 and 25 as well as 25 and 35 years are particularly affected by human trafficking for forced labour, organised begging and forced prostitution: “According to Timea Stránska, head of the organisation, Roma are abused, especially for forced labour, mostly in countries like Great Britain, the Czech Republic and Germany. “In Great Britain this concerns especially cities like Peterborough, Sheffield, Leicester, Derby and Birmingham,” Stránska said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Another revelation shows that victims of human trafficking are lured while in the settlements after meeting with traffickers. “Often it also happens that the victim is recruited by their distance relatives or someone from their surroundings,” Stránska added. Except for forced labour, the human trafficking victims are also abused for prostitution and begging. In cases of children, there are mostly cases when young Roma girls are forced to be prostitutes.” The characteristics of transnational operating trafficker networks, as presented here, are being questionned by social science research. Their existence itself is not denied but their manifestation, their numbers, omnipotence, and the motivations attributed to them have to be questioned. Ideological fallacies are brought into connection or even equated with ethnic groups such as the Rroma in this context. Regarding the de facto human trafficking, social science studies convey a more complex notion of the subject. These studies point out the analysis of crimes such as incitement to beg and steal and forced migration for indentured labour is often permeated by various definitions and morals in and assessment by authorities and aid organizations, who don’t appropriately consider the perspective and motivations of migrating persons, and instead force on them their own ideas about organised begging, criminal networks or human trafficking. Structural differences of the societies involved and resulting reasons for a migration are given too little consideration, as well as the agency of migrants themselves (compare Augustin 2007, Oude Breuil et al 2011, Tabin et al 2012).

  • Augustin, Laura Maria (2007) Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry. London/New York: Zed Books.
  • Oude Breuil, B.C., Siegel, D., Reenen, P. van, Beijer, A. & Roos, Y.B. (2011) Human trafficking revisited: Legal,  enforcement and ethnographic narratives on sex trafficking to Western Europe. In: Trends in organized crime, 14, 30-46.
  • Tabin, Jean Pierre et al. (2012) Rapport sur la mendicité « rrom » avec ou sans enfant(s). Université de Lausanne.
  • The Slowak Spectator (2014) Segregated Roma the most frequent victims of human trafficking. In: The Slowak Spectator online vom 14.10.2014. http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/55563/10/segregated_roma_the_most_frequent_victims_of_human_trafficking.html
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17.10.2014 Information event: correct and incorrect knowledge much about Rroma in France

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Ouest-France (2014) reports on an information event for residents of the Nantes agglomeration. The towns of Saint-Sébastien et Saint-Jacques Saint organized the event to inform the residents of the municipalities on local Rroma. However, the focus was only on recently immigrated Rroma families, who enjoy strong public visibility. Already integrated Rroma were not discussed. In the municipalities, around 60 families live in rented housing units and are supported by measures aimed at integrating them into the professional and social life. A further 38 persons live in illegal settlements. While the conveyed information is correct, it nevertheless distorts the view on Rroma. For example, it was incorrectly said that Rroma, Manouche and Gitans are three different Rroma groups: “The Roma are one of three European gypsy groups arriving from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia… They differ from the Manouches and the Gypsies, who are called “travellers” by the administration. Originally from India, the Roma arrived in Europe in the 14th century. Protected by the kings of Bohemia in the 17th century, they are sometimes called Bohemians. […] After 1989, they were attracted by the mirage of the West. 1,500 of the 20,000 in France live in the agglomeration of Nantes, all coming from the south-east of Romania.” However, the differentiation between Rroma and Sinti, called Manouche in France, is a political one. The Rroma all have the same migration history and linguistic background. The term “Gitans” in turn is among some familiar as the name of the Rroma from the Iberian Peninsula. However, they also build part of the Rroma, and are historically and linguistically no separate category. Also the finding that only 20,000 Rroma live in France, and that they come exclusively from Romania, is wrong. Moreover, Rroma arrived in Eastern Europe in the 9th century, not only in the 14th century, which is true for Western Europe. According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, i 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma live in France. The majority of them are integrated, work, are fluent in French and send their children to school. Many have lived in France for generations, and not just since 1989, and come from all over Europe, not only from Romania. The recently immigrated Rroma, who enjoy strong public visibility, therefore constitute only a minority of the minority.

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15.10.2014 Racist hatred after “Rroma attacks” in a school of Sheffield

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Several British newspapers report on violence at the Hinde House School in Sheffield. Various students were victims of severe physical attacks in the last few weeks and months, for which Rroma youth from Slovakia are made responsible. While the school management states to get the situation under control, a group of parents calls for harder sanctions against the school violence. The school administration is deemed to show too much tolerance towards the “gang-like culture” of the Rroma community. In the case described here, problems that also exist at other schools are made in​​to ethnic issues. There is no “gang-like culture” of violence among Rroma. What the newspapers report are the actions of individuals, who could also belong to any other ethnic group. The cited parents, who accuse the school principal of Hinde House to do nothing against the Rroma adolescents for fear of racism accusations, see this differently: “Parents have accused an inner-city head teacher of turning a blind eye towards violent gangs of Roma pupils for fear of being labelled a racist. More than 1,600 people have signed an online petition claiming ‘children have been stabbed, mugged and nearly kicked to death’ at the school. It urges the head not to ‘be afraid’ to tackle the issue – and suggests he is failing to do so for fear of appearing racist because the majority of the perpetrators are of Slovakian Roma origin. […] The petition was launched after an attack last Thursday that left pupil Rhys Larkings, 14, battered and bruised with a broken nose after being allegedly punched to the ground by three Roma Slovak teenagers.” The adolescents responsible for the violence were excluded of the school as a consequence, and the police have launched an investigation against them. The complaint of the parents saying that the school administration does nothing for fear of racism accusations is therefore unfounded. Rather, the outrage of the parents cited seem to be influenced by the nationalism fuelled by UKIP, as one can read in the article’s comments section. Excessive ethnic divisions only occur when people are willing to be manipulated by nationalist rhetoric. Rroma are not more violent than other ethnic groups (compare BBC News 2014, Daily Express 2014, Lawton 2014, The Star 2014).

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15.10.2014 Ozd: new Jobbik mayor demands of Rroma assimilation or emigration

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In the northern Hungarian city of Ozd, a representative of the right-wing extremist Jobbik party has become the new mayor after the local elections of October the 12th. Although the party is known for its strong anti-Rroma rhetoric, the new, only 27-year-old city mayor presented himself diplomatically in his first public statement. His oral statements are in contradiction to his campaign manifesto, in which he promised an uncompromising policy towards the Rroma: “He said he would crack down on crime and poverty on behalf of all residents, whatever their ethnic background. Yet the programme on which Janiczak ran in the election is explicit in singling out the Roma community. The manifesto, posted on the Jobbik Internet site next to a photograph of Janiczak, states: “We think there are two ways to solve the Gypsy question… The first one is based on peaceful consent, the second on radical exclusion.” “Our party wishes to offer one last chance to the destructive minority that lives here, so first it will consider peaceful consent. If that agreement fails, then and only then the radical solution can follow.” The programme threatens to “chase off people who are unable to conform”” (Irish Independent 2014). What the new Jobbik mayor is completely silent about in his call for assimilation is that most Rroma have been trying to integrate for a long time, but were hindered to so by economic and social exclusion. The continued segregation of Hungarian Rroma is therefore above all the result of the unwillingness of many Magyars to overcome their prejudices against the Rroma, and to facilitate their access to the labour market, to housing and public schools (compare Dunai 2014).

Aladar Horvath, a Hungarian Rroma activist, comments on the largely unchanged situation of the Rroma in Europe that development funds were often not accessed or landed in the wrong places. He adds that the economic crisis of 2008 has exacerbated social inequality: “Social injustice has risen markedly in the majority of EU countries since the economic crisis began in 2008, according to a recent study by the Bertelsmann Foundation. Discrimination and social divisions have increased especially quickly in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, where the Roma face “systemic discrimination.” In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, enrolling Roma children into classes or separate schools for students with “special needs” remains a significant problem despite recent landmark court rulings against segregation in both countries. Hungary in particular appears to be moving in the wrong direction. Observers say that’s because the popularity of anti-Roma rhetoric and policies outweigh influence from Brussels. The number of segregated, Roma-only schools has increased from 128 in 1997 to more than 300 today, Horvath says. Geographical segregation has also increased as the deteriorating job market and cuts to social spending have combined to drive Roma into isolated “islands of poverty,” says Budapest-based researcher Attila Agh, who worked on the Bertelsmann study” (Overdorf 2014). Of the 600,000 to one million Rroma living in Hungary, there are indeed many affected by poverty and exclusion. However, there are also numerous integrated Rroma, who do not live in segregated settlements and belong to the middle or even upper-class.

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08.10.2014 Wolfgang Benz: „The return of enemy stereotypes“

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The German historian and researcher on prejudices Wolfgang Benz has published a new book in which he thoroughly investigates the mechanisms of prejudices towards Rroma. Benz tries to comprehend the reasons for the emergence and adherence of the negative stereotypes, which are consciously instrumentalised politically by various protagonists. In his article for the Tagesspiegel, he conveys the most important theses of his book. Part of these are self-appointed experts, who blame Rroma living in misery for their own fate, by playing off liberal self-reliance against societal injustices: „Sinti and Roma are rejected and despised, because they are poor, are regarded as placeless and without culture. Cherished through fears of foreign domination, enemy stereotypes are being reactivated. Self-appointed experts argue that they have to blame themselves for their misery in Slovakia, in Hungary, in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Rumania or Serbia and the Kosovo. The situation of the Roma in Southeast Europe has become a tourist attraction, topic of hypocritical sensitive reports, which are being created with the point of view of master men – and confirm the majority in their rejection of the minority. Roma-foes call the object of their interest unashamed once more “Zigeuner”, even though (or because) it is hurtful. By the use of generalisations, fears are fuelled, and dubious knowledge about Sinti and Roma is spread, fears are evoked, which allegedly threaten us. The unpleasant characteristics, which are projected sweepingly on all Roma from Southeast Europe, are welcomed reasons for discrimination. Immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania are seen as the incarnation of a threat, which is usually equated with Sinti and Roma. The traditional stereotypes of the “gypsy” have sowed the seeds for generations, the new images of the slums from which they come, and the poverty in which they live, are seamlessly compatible. […] Xenophobia, racism, petty-bourgeois fears for their property and identity weaknesses condense into an enemy image of poverty migrants, whose feared attack on social funds, bourgeois order and the German way of life must be resisted. Right-wing populists and -extremists benefit from it, and operate their enemy image with success – in the middle of society.” The perpetuation of prejudices has become a vicious circle which is difficult to break. A possible way out is a public, media-catchy discussion of the integrated Rroma, the “invisible Rroma”. However, many of these integrated Rroma keep their identity a secret, for fear of discrimination among friends and colleagues, at work or in the housing market. Here again, there exists a vicious circle of legitimate fears that cannot be so easily overcome (compare Benz 2014).

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03.10.2014 Košice: Rroma-wall demolished by activists and rebuilt by the authorities

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Several newspapers report on a wall in Slovakia, in the city of Košice, which deliberately built to segregate the local Rroma settlement. The wall was declared illegal by the European Union, since its purpose is clearly the spatial delimitation of the Rroma minority in the city. In the night of the 9th to 10th September, unknown activists tore down parts of the wall. Shortly thereafter, the authorities of Košice rebuilt it. The European Rroma organization ERGO announced in response to the events that the establishment of numerous segregating walls was symptomatic of the continuing discriminatory treatment of the Rroma in Europe. Irvin Mujcic, campaign coordinator of ERGO, points out that 14 new walls to segregate Rroma were established in Slovakia in recent years: “The current situation is more like apartheid in South Africa than like in a modern democracy. However, the physical are by no means biggest problem. They are only a symbol to mark the line of social division among EU-citizens” (Mujcic 2014). As regards the re-construction of the wall in Košice, Mujcic states: “This behaviour sadly renders visible the walls in the minds of those responsible, which – though invisible – are huge obstacles to the integration of the Roma. Worse still, the trend to defend the walls or at least to tolerate them, intensified. 15 years ago, there were strong reactions towards the experiment to build a wall against the Roma in Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic. Today it is regarded as self-evident” (Mujcic 2014). ERGO also announced that it was disappointed that the dismantling of the wall was not perceived as a chance by the government of Košice to initiate a dialogue between the Rroma and non-Rroma in the town (The Slovak Spectator 2014).

Mujcic, Irvin (2014) Europa braucht keine neuen Mauern. In: Neues Deutschland online vom 2.10.2014. https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/947897.europa-braucht-keine-neuen-mauern.html?sstr=Irvin%7CMujcic

The Slovak Spectator (2014) ERGO denies connection to activists who damaged Roma wall. In: The Slovak Spectator online vom 22.9.2014. http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/55339/10/ergo_denies_connection_to_activists_who_damaged_roma_wall.html

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30.07.2014 Slovakia: walls against the Rroma

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Vincent (2014) reports on a radical policy of segregation in Slovakia. In recent years, more and more walls were built around Rroma settlements, separating the homes of ethnic Slovaks from those of the minority. Although the word “segregation” is being avoided, the walls are a clear expression of the fact that reservations and frustrations against the minority have prevailed in local politics. The criticism of the European Commission, which called for an immediate destruction of the walls, remained without effect: “In Slovakia, around 10% of the 5.4 million Slovaks are of Roma origin – one of the highest rates in Europe. But since the fall of communism in 1989, when work was compulsory, they have not ceased to sink into poverty. Only 20% of men have a job today. Many families are in debt and intolerance towards them has increased. […] On the side of the city of Kosice, one continues to defend oneself against any «racism» by declaring that the young Roma of Lunik IX were absolutely not the only ones who harassed the neighbourhood. The young Slovaks also had their habits for small machinations there. The controversy passed, the wall was tacitly approved. The detour imposed on the Rroma was considered minimal. The distant call towards its destruction by the European Commission did not change anything.” Vincent also sees a widespread cynicism towards an improvement of the situation of Rroma, which resulted in “pragmatic solutions” such as the erected walls. The Slovak commissary of the European Commission, Miroslav Sklenka, sees the problem of the continued exclusion of the Rroma not in the lack of money but in the lack of political will to change anything.

Vincent, Elise (2014) En Slovaquie, des « murs » contre les Roms. In: Le Monde online vom 28.7.2014. http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2014/07/28/en-slovaquie-des-murs-contre-les-roms_4463590_3224.html

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16.07.2014 A discussion about discrimination: „Why do Roma have it so hard?“

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Koetting (2014) speaks about the ongoing debate on Rroma in Germany. The interlocutors were the South East Europe expert Norbert Mappes-Niediek and the political scientist Markus End, as well as the audience. Here, a first problem is created: a listener speaks of the hospitality of Rroma in impoverished slums in Slovakia. Despite great empathy, the listener reproduces stereotypes, by equating Rroma with a life in poverty and a lack of education. She speaks of “ordinary people” that met her with much kindness. But that Rroma are not a social class, but rather belong to all strata of society, is not mentioned. There are many well-integrated Rroma, as the numbers of the Rroma Foundation show. The South East Europe expert Mappes-Niediek also confirms this false equation of Rroma with an underclass. However, he admits that tens of thousands of guest workers, many of them Rroma, came in the 1960s and 70s as guest workers to Germany and have integrated successfully. The program shows the problem that one only ever speaks about the visible representatives of the minority: the beggars, the slum dwellers, the criminals. However, the world consists of more than what you see at first glance: the integrated, invisible Rroma, which make up the majority of the minority, also build part of it. Regarding the importance of education, Mappes-Niediek notes critically that education in Romania or Bulgaria does not necessarily allow a social advancement, as in Germany, but that the economic and social exclusion is maintained in spite of good educational qualifications. Most listeners use their individual experiences – negative and positive – and equate them with the “culture” of the Rroma and thus ascribe them a robot-like habitus, which does not do justice to the heterogeneity and especially individuality of Rroma. Many reproduce the stereotypes of travelling, poor, music playing Rroma only apply to a portion of the Rroma. Markus End points out that the media convey a highly one-sided, value loaded notion of Rroma: for instance, an Internet newspaper headlined: “Not only Roma come, but also academics.” Through that, one undoubtedly assumes that there are no Rroma who are scientists, which is clearly racist.

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04.07.2014 Minority Rights Group International: Rroma in Europe still heavily discriminated against

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The latest report by Minority Rights Group International (2014) criticizes the continuing, strong discrimination against members of the Rroma community. For Hungary, the report passes criticism on the lack of protection against racially motivated violence. The perpetrators of a series of murders that brutally killed six Rroma between 2008 and 2009 were only identified and arrested after massive criticism of the initial investigation. The case revealed institutional racism in the Hungarian police. The protection of the Rroma population from parading right-wing groups is also insufficient, criticizes the documentation, for example concerning the parade of right-wing extremists in Gyöngyöspata, in 2011. The Hungarian law enforcement is pervaded by a strong double standard, the report states: Rroma are repeatedly sentenced to harsh prison sentences for acts of violence against ethnic Hungarians, so-called “anti-Hungarian crime”. However, these judgments are disproportionate when compared to the racist actions against Rroma, which are only insufficiently being investigated by the police: “The resistance of the police to considering bias motivation and effectively investigating crimes reported by Roma victims was illustrated by the inadequate official response to the ethnically motivated ‘patrols’ of extremist paramilitary organizations in the village of Gyöngyöspata in 2011, where the local Roma community were subjected to weeks of abuse and intimidation by armed vigilante gangs (Minority Rights Group International 2014: 173). The report regrets the continuing status quo that the Rroma are not or not sufficiently heard in the public discourse. Therefore, it is necessary that the minority gets help by the state or other organizations in combating this discrimination. However, if the state itself reproduces these racisms or tolerates them, little will change in this situation (compare politics.hu 2014).

Concerning Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, the report criticizes the prevalence of a sexist image towards Rromnja. These are presented as hyper-sexualized and promiscuous in the public debate, giving a racist explanation for the high number of children among certain Rroma. The fact that ahigh numbers of children is a result of poverty and of a lack of education, and therefore also occur among ethnic Romanians, Bulgarians and Slovaks, is completely disregarded. Therefore, a demographic issue that affects society as a whole is portrayed as an ethnic problem and thus underlined with racist reasoning. Particularly problematic are sterilisations that are still performed on Rroma without the consent =. They testify that eugenic thinking continues until today and is even actively pursued (Minority Rights Group International 2014: 29-30).

Regarding Greece, the report criticizes the continued segregation of Rroma children in public schools, which continues despite repeated admonitions by various courts. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in May 2013, that the implementation of a separate Rroma class at the primary school of Sofades constitutes a discrimination of the right to education. This was the third court ruling that condemned segregation of Rroma children in Greece. In addition, the report criticises the right-wing party Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn), who repeatedly agitated against Rroma and was involved in numerous violent actions against minorities. The neo-Nazi movement reasons along highly racist arguments. Member of parliament Dimitris Koukoutsis accused the Rroma of  genetic criminality (Minority Rights Group International 2014: 169-170).

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05.06.2014 Daily Mail promotes ethnic tensions with Rroma in Sheffield

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Reid (2014) reports on increasing ethnic tensions in Sheffield, England. The immigrant quarter Page Hall is said to have become a social tinderbox, triggered by a massive immigration of Rroma from Slovakia, who, according to the statements of residents, don’t try to integrate into the community. It reports on increasing crime, prostitution, and disorder. At the end of May, a mass brawl between Yemeni and Rroma boys raised media attention (Corcoran/Glanfield 2014). Reid represents the statements of individual residents as incontrovertible evidence of ethnic tensions in Page Hall. However, it is very doubtful that the neighbourhood has become a social tinderbox because of individual incidents. Once again, it is argued with a cultural alterity of the Rroma who, according to the opinion of the individual residents, are not willing to integrate into English society. Various phenomena are mixed together, which must be distinguished for a real understanding of the situation: the poverty and lack of education of immigrant Rroma families have nothing to do with Rroma culture, but are the result of exclusion and destitution. In addition, there are also many well-integrated Rroma who are never mentioned in the media. It is astonishing that Reid attests other immigrant groups such as the Pakistanis, Yemenis and Somalis a will for integration, which she denies the Rroma. At least, Reid admits that the statements of her informants are charged with strong emotions, as is the controversial declaration of MP David Blunkett: “‘We have got to change the behaviour and the culture of the incoming Roma community,’ he said in a controversial statement on the growing tensions, ‘because there’s going to be an explosion otherwise. […] Page Hall’s problems have grown since a very large number of East Europeans moved into the area. At first it was a trickle, but according to figures given to me by the local community centre, more than 900 Roma Slovak families now call it home. […] Given the strength of feeling that this influx has generated, it would be understandable if there was a measure of exaggeration about the newcomers’ behaviour – and it is, of course, impossible to verify all the stories told about the Roma in Page Hall. But one thing is certain: many residents believe them to be true.” Then Reid refers to the notion already regularly disseminated by the Daily Mail: that immigrant Rroma of South-eastern Europe all want to exploit the British welfare system. That this opinion is driven by strong political beliefs and prejudices is not mentioned. Extreme cases are presented as normal and therefore all Rroma who live integrated lives are denied existence. It is striking that Reid uses the terms “Eastern Europeans” and “Rroma” interchangeably and thus discloses her own prejudices: “There is no doubt that local indigenous families and immigrants who came to Britain a long time ago – and who, they point out, have paid their taxes – feel aggrieved. Talk to them and they will tell you that, thanks to our open-borders policy, countless East Europeans can come here and immediately become entitled to welfare hand-outs of up to £2,000 a month and free state services. In Page Hall, I saw dozens of cars with Slovakian number-plates belonging to Roma who have driven across Europe to join relatives or friends in Sheffield. Everyone has a horror story – again difficult to prove – about the new incomers. Mohammed Akra, a 65-year-old who runs the Eastern Eye takeaway, talked to me of East Europeans abusing the child benefit system and having babies to boost their state hand-outs.” Reid conceals the fact that the statistics paint a different picture. The migration to Western Europe has not increased noticeably since the free movement of workers with Romania and Bulgaria. Many Rroma remain in their countries of origin, where they want to build a better future, despite the poor economic situation. Reality consists of more than eye-catching extreme cases, but Daily Mail has still not understood that, as doesn’t Breitbart News Network, which spreads the same information (compare Walker 2014 I/II).

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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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12.03.2014 Segregation of Rroma in European schools

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Fontanella-Khan (2014) reports on the continued segregation of Romany children at European schools. She starts with a cursory overview of the almost exclusively repressive policies of European governments towards Rroma. She is decidedly against the often used argument that Rroma don’t show any will to integrate on their side: “Often, segregation is blamed on the Roma themselves, whom many accuse of not wanting to integrate due to a “nomadic culture.” However, an insidious form of segregation, happening within the educational system, belies this simplistic view.” As reported last week by CBC News, segregation of Rroma children is particularly strong in Slovakia: 65-80 % of children enrolled in special schools for slow learners are Rroma. The methods of analysis as well as the selection for such tests are extremely controversial. If the children are allocated to a special school, they will never have the opportunity to attend a University. Another problem, according to Fontanella-Khan, is the deficient implementation of court decisions against segregation. A verdict that was asserted by the European Court of Human Rights in 1999, changed little about the segregation of Rroma children in the Czech Republic. To end the exclusion of the Rroma from the educational institutions requires more than court decisions: “This raises the point that deep, structural changes to society cannot happen through the judiciary alone. What is required is the involvement of Roma civil society. The problem is, it barely exists.” Fontanella-Khan sees the reasons for the weak formation of the Rroma civil society in the changes that happened in reaction to the EU-accession of Eastern European countries. Many international donors and activist groups withdrew their funds after EU accession and discontinued their activities, since it was assumed that the EU would support the emerging Rroma NGOs. However, this said to have never happened. As long as the Rroma don’t start to form their own civil rights movement, law professor Jack Greenberg states, there will be no significant change.

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