Category Archives: News Switzerland

News Schweiz

26.09.2014 Public festival enables rapprochement between Rroma and Lausanne’s inhabitants

Published by:

Genier (2014) reports on a public festival that was held on the weekend of the 20th and 21st of September in Lausanne. On the initiative of the sociology professor Jean-Pierre Tabin and the organisation “Opre Rrom”, about half of the several hundred Rroma resident in Lausanne participated in the festivities, Genier states. There, they cooked and grilled for Gadje (non-Rroma), with the aim to enable a mutual approach: “Let’s get to know each other!” was the title of the event: “The objective of this event was to bring together Swiss and Roma, two population groups that have remained very separated in general. “This action was conceived to promote dialogue between the people of Lausanne and Roma”, explains Véra Tchérémissinoff, director of the organization Opre Rrom. “We wanted above all that this took place in a different context than the street.” Even if the action was mainly responded to by sympathizers of the various Roma organizations and their acquaintances, some curious people were attracted by the cheerful assembly, and stopped a moment to watch or to drink a glass.” Although through focusing on coloured costumes, music and dance, some stereotypes about the minority seem to have been confirmed, the attempt to bring the largely invisible Rroma together with the rest of the population remains very commendable. However, the distinction between Swiss and Rroma has to be made with caution, since many Rroma resident in Switzerland are Swiss or Lausanne citizens themselves.

News Schweiz

24.09.2014 European Commission against Racism: continuing improvement potential of combating racism in Switzerland

Published by:

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has published a recent report, in which it highlights the strengths and weaknesses of Swiss anti-racism efforts. The Commission commends the dedicated condemnation of xenophobia by Swiss authorities: “Mentioned honourably in the report are the cantonal integration programs for people with a migration background, better training of police officers in the area of ​​human rights or support services of individual cantons and municipalities for LGBT people (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender)” (NZZ 2014). In contrast, there is still a strong potential for improvement, especially regarding the political discrediting and exploitation of minorities. Various groups, among them the Rroma, are discriminated against in the labour market, the report states: “The political discourse is partly xenophobic and racist. This leads to the fact that the reputation and the lives of black people, Jeniche and other Roma groups are significantly degraded. Refugees, short-term residents and LGBT people are also affected. These groups are faced with significant discrimination in the labour market” (NZZ 2014). Here the distinction must be made that Jeniche constitute a distinct ethnic group with their own language and history. They are therefore not a Rroma group, as it is claimed here. The European Commission recommends continuing to expand the opportunities for integration. On should also aspire that the Federal Commission against Racism accepts and processes complaints in the future. In particular the police must ensure that identity checks are not carried out on ethnic criteria.

News Schweiz News Westeuropa

Published by:

Dammann (2014/I) reports on a criminal “Rroman-gang” that is said to have defrauded trusting home sellers of large sums of money. The journalist goes in detail into the circumstances of the criminal fraud: the vendors were contacted and, after a valuation of the property, were invited to Rome to take a deposit for the house. There, they were tricked into accepting counterfeit money. The offence itself should not be trivialised. It is an illegal act that must be punished. However, what is surprising is how uncritically it is simply claimed that the perpetrators are Rroma. Where does this knowledge come from? By mentioning the ethnicity, Dammann suggests that crime and Rroma are directly related. This is not so. Rroma are not more criminal than any other ethnic groups. Rather, this impression arises through the continuous thematisation of the minority in connection with criminal offences as in this article: “Roma gangs rip off trusting home sellers with deceitful currency transactions. Alone in the canton of Zurich, victims lost over a million francs in so-called rip deals. Also Elisabeth Kummer* (72) and her partner Heinz (77) from the canton of Aargau can tell you a thing or two about the Roma crooks.” The stereotype of criminal, hierarchical Rroma gangs that commit crimes at the command of clan chief is widespread. This notion of ​​hierarchical families can be traced back to the projection of the medieval caste system onto Rroma and to the equation of Rroma families with criminal organisations. This is incorrect. While it is true that the family has an important role among the Rroma, its organisation is largely egalitarian. By continuously addressing a criminal minority of the Rroma, one discredits the majority of Rroma who live an integrated life. In addition, the identification of ethnicity has to be critically looked at, as it is anything but simple to determine. Not rarely, one simply assumes that the persons in question are Rroma (compare Dammann 2014/II).

News Schweiz

27.08.2014 Oberwinterthur: continuing conflict over transit site

Published by:

Herter (2014) spoke with Urs Glaus, president of the foundation “Future for Swiss Travellers”, about the continuing problems at the transit site of Oberwinterthur. The site was closed by the authorities on the weekend of August 23rd and 24th, due to the hygienic conditions which were unsustainable. The place is now being extensively cleaned and repaired. When and how it will be reopened is not yet decided (compare Eppenberger 2014, Hirsekorn 2014). Unfortunately, Glaus also spreads the opinion that some Rroma don’t use toilets for cultural reasons and that it would therefore be reasonable to establish separate sites for travelling Rroma. That problems with a minority of travelling Rroma are supposed to be solved by seggregated sites and not by an open dialogue is disconcerting. As Glaus himself states, there are only occasional travelling Rroma groups that cause problems on transit sites. Most of them adhere to the rules at the sites and stick to the hygiene standards. Therefore, Glaus demand for separate sites is difficult to comprehend. It means a concession to a nationalistic distinction between decent Swiss Jeniche and problematic “foreign” Rroma. However, disputes over transit sites and stands are a pan-Swiss problem, because there are by far not enough sites for all travellers. Due to the presence of foreign travellers, this problem is exacerbated and the competition degenerates in ethnic distinctions, which cannot be deemed to be objective. Foreign travelling Rroma are scapegoats in order to identify a clear culprit for all grievances. This does not do justice to the complexity of the problem. Most Rroma are sedentary anyway and don’t travel. Urs Glaus states: “Not all Roma leave dirty sites. But there are some groups that have a different cultural background, don’t use toilets for example, or do not want to be seen on the way to the toilet. Therefore, not all transit sites are suitable for the Roma, also the site in Oberwinterthur is not. […] Are shared sites for Swiss travellers and Roma conceivable? No, but this has nothing to do with discrimination, but with the different needs and experiences of Roma and Swiss travellers. Their origin and culture is different. In general, it is not end well if Roma want to stop on sites of Swiss travellers.” Of course there are differences between the Rroma and the Jeniche. But the demand for separate transit sites spreads false notions for the necessity of a segregation of the two groups, which cannot be in the sense of a modern, multi-ethnic society, which should rely on compromise and cooperation and not on isolation and separation.

Italien News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa

22.08.2014 Sicily: turmoil because of a signpost against begging Rroma

Published by:

Adam Weiss, legal director of the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), criticizes in a recent press release a sign in a Sicilian supermarket that openly asks not to give any money to “Gypsy beggars”, because “their begging allows them to earn from 60 to 80 euro a day, an amount of money that a specialised ITALIAN worker doesn’t earn, considering that the total sum is free from tax” (The Local 2014). For Adam Weiss, the discriminatory sign is an expression of a broader discrimination of Rroma in Italy and completely unacceptable. The shame level on racist statement is never lowest towards Rroma, he states: “Discrimination against the Roma community is getting worse in Italy, with members of the Roma community increasingly being subjected to gang violence, he [Weiss] said. While there are more examples of anti-Roma discrimination in Italy than elsewhere, such problems are being documented by the ERRC across Europe. In Italy last year the ERRC discovered victims of theft were asked to fill out a police form in which they were able to name “gypsies” as the culprits, without any other options of ethnicity. Rights groups successfully campaigned to have the tickbox removed” (The Local 2014). Furthermore, the impression that large amounts can be earned by begging is wrong as is the belief that the most begging is done by organised gangs. Jean-Pierre Tabin (2013) concluded in his study about begging in Lausanne that one averagely earns 15 to 20 francs per day beging in Switzerland, which is only a fraction of the alleged 80 Euros in Sicily. In addition, no correlation between child beggars and organised networks was found, contrary to what is repeatedly claimed.

News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa

20.08.2014 Stereotypes: Rroma as con artists

Published by:

Schorno (2014) reports on attempted trick thefts in Rapperswil-Jona in Switzerland. According to the cantonal police of St. Gallen, the two perpetrators, between 20 and 30 years old and with a “roma-like appearance”, tried to rob two pensioners by distracting them, but were put to flight by the victims themselves: “An unknown woman suddenly hugged a 82-year-old passerby, trying to loose a golden chain of her arm. However, the sprightly pensioner did obviously not agree: A resounding slap landed on the face of the trick thief. […] Only a short time later, two women were begging an 88-year-old man for money. The pensioner generously took out his wallet – one of the two women grabbed it at once, but had to realise that her supposed victim had more power than she did. The man simply didn’t part with his wallet and the duo had to leave without any plunder.” Mentioning the ethnicity of perpetrators is not necessary as it only encourages racist stereotypes about a culture of crime among Rroma. However, Rroma are not more criminal than any other ethnic groups, but this is suggested by the media through the explicit thematisation of Rroma in connection with crimes. Moreover, the statement that the perpetrators had a “roma-like appearance” is based on racist criteria: it is undoubtedly meant that they were dark-skinned. However, there are also many light-skinned Rroma. Whether the criminals are in fact Rroma is not necessarily clear here. It is an expression of suspicions based on prejudices. A cultural interpretation of crimes is necessarily racist and ignores and discredits the majority of Rroma living a respectable and integrated life. More caution when using ethnic criteria, prejudices and resentment would be appropriate.

News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa Rumänien

15.08.2014 Stereotypes: Rrom sentenced for burglary and copper theft

Published by:

Schleer (2014) reports on the trial against a Romanian Rrom in Rheinfelden. Because of repeated burglaries, the 24-year-old was sentenced to two and a half years of jail by the Lörrach district court. As witnesses, four other Rroma, with whom the defendant allegedly committed the crimes, were questioned. The culprit was granted mitigating circumstances, as he confessed all committed crimes. Mentioning the ethnicity of the perpetrator is not necessary as it only encourages racist stereotypes about a “culture of crime among the Rroma”. Rroma are not more criminal than any other ethnic groups, but this is exactly suggested by the media through an explicit thematisation of Rroma in connection with various crimes. A cultural interpretation of the offences is necessarily racist, as it ignores and discredits the majority of Rroma living a respectable and integrated life. The idea of ​​hierarchical family ties goes back to the projection of a medieval caste system onto Rroma. This is wrong. While it is true that the family has an important place among the Rroma, its organisation remains largely egalitarian. Rroma are also often used synonymously with Romanians or the Romanian language. While Romania has indeed a large Rroma minority, an estimated one and a half to three millions, Rroma make up only a minority of the total population of 22 million. However this fact is often interpreted one-sidedly by the Romanian side, who quite often state that Rroma are indeed responsible for many crimes, whereby the difference between Rroma and ethnic Romanians is exaggerated to that of good Rumanians versus evil Rroma. That Rroma are often made ​​responsible for crimes, this without any evidence, can be seen in the article of the Basler Zeitung about a burglary series. On the ptential perpetrators, the article states at the end: “On the identity of the perpetrators, the conjectures go apart. Some say they are adolescents, others burglary tourists “or Roma”” (Gygax 2014).

News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa Rumänien

18.07.2014 Prejudices: Geneva security chief in search of the Rroma problem

Published by:

Habel (2014) reports on the visit of the Geneva security officer, Pierre Maudet, in Bucharest. Maudet laments the increasingly large number of offenses committed by Romanian citizens in Geneva, in addition to the already known begging Rroma. These are said to be combated most effectively through an improved cooperation between Romania and Switzerland. Unfortunately, a very one-sided notion of the Rroma is created: During his stay in Bucharest,  Maudet visited almost exclusively the Rroma district Ferentari where around 18,000 Rroma live in poor conditions. However, not all Rroma live in ghettos and are poor. In addition, it is very problematic to conclude that poverty leads to an increase in crime. As can be analysed in the article, Maudet sees the delinquent Rroma as involved in begging, stealing and prostitution networks. These are common stereotypes about Rroma: ““The delinquency originating in Romania is about to exceed the North African delinquency in Geneva, explains Pierre Maudet. Violence against older people or homosexuals, prostitution networks, burglaries, pick-pocketing, theft by deception and shop window theft, break-ins into cars… In the end, more than 400 arrests per year were made – “In 2013, we counted 1284 Romanian suspects”, clarifies the state counsellor […].“ However, begging is not to be equated with criminal begging networks, as critical studies show. In addition, begging income is very modest. Prostitution and human trafficking are not the same. Maudet indicates that he also sees economic grievances as a reason for migration to Geneva. But he also presents this problem incorrectly as a “Rroma problem.” Rroma are not more criminal than members of other ethnic groups.

News Schweiz

Published by:

Zürcher (2014) writes about travelers and their fight for more places were to stay. For eleven years Swiss travelers have the right to have places to camp on the road or places for winter quarters. At the same time there is an acute lack of such places. There are twice as many people who want to use them as as there are places. This is known by everyone, and for this reason, the canton of Zurich started a concept called “Travellers in the Canton of Zurich”. This concept sis meant to find strategies to secure enough places. The author mixes this background with some very unfortunate stereotypes way. In his argumentation he refers to Maria Mehr, who fights for the rights for Jenisch people. Younger Jenisch are asserting their identity much more strongly than the older generation. Mehr sees travelling as an important element for the Jenisch’s culture: „The 71 year old Mehr likes, when besides her, also younger people engage themselves for the culture of the Jenisch. Since 1986, she travels with her caravan around Switzerland. She builds her small culture centre, gather other Jenish, Sinti, Roma around her, and shows the daily lifes of travellers to the visitors.” (Zürcher 2014) In his view travelling connects the cultures of Jenisch, Sinti, and Rroma, which is totally wrong. This is not the only stereotype he uses in his argumentation. For example he writes about big families and predicting the future with card reading: „The small, knotty women, who currently lives from her state pension, earns some additional money by reading cards, and beams whenever she speaks about her big family.“ (ibid.) In the same way he refers to Maria Mehr under the title „Travelling in the blood“, to connect the blood with travelling: „whether she sometimes has enough of the constant moves? «No, never» she answers: «I have this in the blood.»“ (ibid.). With his generalising title and his presentations, Zürcher  manages to present a genetically based argumentation. His whole article misses to inform the reader that only a very small part of Rroma and also the smaller part of Jenisch people travel.

News Schweiz

27.06.2014 Swiss travellers: competition and racism

Published by:

Fuchs (2014) reports on the problems and hardships of travelling Swiss Yeniche. The focus centres on the experiences of Gérard Mühlhauser, the spokesman for the Swiss travellers’ movement. Mühlhauser criticizes the acute lack of permanent camping and transit sites. He states that the extensive use of existing sites by foreign Rroma, aggravates the lack of space. Once more, culturalising and generalising arguments are presented. These arguments make the Rroma responsible for all problems related to the lack of space and the lack of hygiene in certain stand and transit sites. Foreign Rroma are once again made scapegoats for social ills and problems that all involved parties are responsible for, and are not just caused by a specific ethnic group. That the sedentary population shows reservations against travellers should not be reduced to suspicions towards Rroma but rather generally towards all travellers. Mühlhauser, as well as Fuchs, who largely adopts his reasoning,  with their accusations against foreign, travelling Rroma, makes it to easy for themselves: ““We have a major problem, this is the transit travellers”, says Gérard Mühlhauser to the “Rundschau”. […] The foreign Roma are found throughout Switzerland. “They go on sites without authorisation, on Yeniche sites, they usually leave chaos and dirt. Therefore, one site after the other shuts down”, says Mühlhauser. Roma fiercely contradicts this. The Rroma priest Father Stefan states: “There are good and bad ones. But this is not a question of whether one is Swiss.” Among the Swiss travellers there are racists. Nowhere else in Europe foreign travellers would be denied access to certain sites. Here in Switzerland, there is a sign: when foreign people are on it, they need to get away and must clear space for the Swiss. That’s not right”, says Stefan. That makes him sad.” The criticism of Father Stefan is important. That there are stand and transit sites, which are available only to one specific ethnic group, the Yeniche, is unjust. The preference of nationals over foreigners contradicts accepted laws on equal treatment people of all nationalities. Such reasoning, which massively exaggerates the differences between the ethnic groups and negates similarities, is extremely patronising and creates racist values of desirable and undesirable and therefore valuable and less important people.

That living together with fellow men can cause problems cannot be denied. We all know quarrels with our neighbours, work colleagues and even with friends. However, these problems should not be judged according to ethnic criteria, which is unfair. Disputes with our fellow human beings have something to do with individual behaviour, with social structures and power relations that create conflicts. To reduce these to ethnicity is stupid, and does not do justice to the complexity of the social and individual problems behind it.

Therefore, the Swiss federal government should provide enough permanent and transit camps, which would defuse the competition for those sites. Racist reasonings are applied in the competition for resources for the few sites, which is not particularly astonishing. It is the same reasoning that is also used in the competition for jobs or apartments, and was applied by the SVP during the campaign for the mass immigration initiative. However, we all sit in the same boat, and form part of the same planet. Unfortunately, economic competitiveness also promotes racist attitudes among numerous people. This must be overcome and common solutions must be found. A first, important step in this direction was taken this week. The Swiss federal council has announced that it will establish a working group under the leadership of the department of the interior that will addresses the concerns of Swiss travellers. The foundation “Zukunft für Schweizer Fahrende will receive more funding. However, the foundation is controversial even among Yeniche themselves, as they feel their concerns are taken to little into account. For years, they have pointed out that there is an acute lack in permanent and transit sites. Applications for new sites are often rejected at the community level (compare 20 Minunten 2014, Blick 2014, Neue Luzerner Zeitung 2014, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen 2014). It should be stressed here that almost all Rroma resident in Switzerland, between 50,000 and 80,000, are sedentary and well integrated

News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa Rumänien

20.06.2014 Norway criminalises begging

Published by:

Numerous French newspapers address a new Norwegian law, which will make begging punishable starting summer 2015 all over Norway. From then on, beggars can be punished by fines and up to three months in prison. The right-wing nationalist Progressive Party, FrP, initiated the new law. The party member and justice minister, Anders Anundsen, claimed a clear link between begging and theft. However, this association of begging and organised criminality is very controversial in scientific research (compare Tabin et al 2012). For the the new law critics, it is beyond question that the new regulation is directly aimed against Rroma and wants to criminalise them. Justice minister Anders Anundsen said in a public statement that the vast majority of beggars in Oslo are Romanian nationals and that many are logged in criminal records. Based on the described case, once can see once more that suspicions towards Rroma are made into alleged facts by non-critical analogies. Neither the membership of the beggars to the Rroma is truly clarified, nor is it clear that all or most of the beggars have actually committed criminal acts. Baard Vegar Solhjell, from the left Norwegian socialists criticised that 200 years ago, the Norwegian constitution adopted a travel ban on Jews. The ban on begging stands in a clear, ideological line with this prohibition, since it is targeting towards an exclusion of the Rroma. Since the proponents of a ban have a clear majority in parliament, the adoption of the bill will be only a formality. Norway had just legalised begging nationwide in 2005. This was shortly before the outbreak of the biggest economic crisis since hundred years (compare Frémont 2014, L’essentiel 2014, Le Matin 2014, Libération 2014).

Ungarn News Osteuropa News Schweiz

13.06.2014 Zoltán Balog differentiates between “worthy” and “unworthy” taxpayers

Published by:

Pusztaranger (2014) writes about a recent interview with Zoltán Balog (Fidesz), the Minister of Human Resources, on the Hungarian radio station Lánchídrádió. In the conversation, Balog says that the state must “make a difference between problem families and those who are capable, giving support to the government (through taxes).” To this end, the state secretariat for social affairs and inclusion will be responsible for beneficiaries in the future and the state secretariat for family and youth for providers. According to Pusztaranger, Balog differentiates the category of “beneficiaries” into additional subgroups: “self-inflicted fall into need or without fault”; thus “guilt” is introduced as a new rating category for poverty. This is the historic Christian discourse of “the worthy and unworthy poor. […] Since the Middle Ages, the “worthy poor” were the ones who could not sustain themselves for their livelihood, especially the sick, the elderly, widows and orphans. The “unworthy poor” were healthy and able-bodied people to whom idleness was ascribed.” Among the beneficiaries Balog identifies the disabled, vulnerable children and Rroma. The fact that he considers the Rroma as self-inflicted in distress, Pusztaranger deems as being obvious. This assessment is worrisome insofar, because Balog is also the person responsible for the Hungarian Rroma strategy. In his lecture at the University of Zurich, in the summer of 2013, he had pompously highlighted the massive efforts and successes of Hungary to integrate the Rroma. That these promises were not just empty words is greatly to be hoped, however, very doubtful given the latest news.

Bulgarien Frankreich Deutschland News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa Rumänien

13.06.2014 Swiss Federal office for migration accuses Rroma of abuse of return assistance

Published by:

Von Burg (2014) reports on a new report by the federal office for migration. An external evaluation of the federal office comes to the conclusion that the return assistance is functioning well, but in some cases has issues. The abuse of return assistance through Eastern European Rroma is cited as an example. Thereby a poverty phenomenon that also concerns other ethnic groups is made to be a Rroma problem. As part of the immigration debate in France, Germany and Great Britain on the occasion of the free movement of persons with Romania and Bulgaria, one can observe repeatedly that Rroma represented according to political views and debates and exploited for them. Such a categorization is racist something that does not seem to come to the mind of Von Burg and the migration commissioner Eduard Gnesa. However, the following statements are clearly demagogic: “It was the Roma from Eastern Europe, who specifically exploited the system of return assistance: they made hopeless asylum applications and then travelled back home with repatriation grants of up to 4000 francs per head. The Swiss special commissioner for international cooperation on migration, Eduard Gnesa, says: «From this example one can prove it. If you give too much money, this leads to this effect.» Roma don’t receive return assistance anymore since two years.” How these people were identified as Rroma is not clear. Was it from their asylum applications or by other means? The refusal of return aid for a specific ethnic group is simply racist. The fact that members of other ethnic groups can also exploit the return assistance because of poverty is completely neglected. Eduard Gnesa and Christian von Burg show no understanding for the differentiation of different phenomena. Instead, they present the issue as if it were exclusively Rroma that take advantage of return assistance. Thereby, the federal office for migration, which is indirectly mentioned as the source of information and should be aware of such methodologies as the very first, practices an ethnicization of poverty phenomena. However, poverty has nothing to do with ethnicity, apart from the exclusion that leads to it. That the federal office for migration does not understand this is deeply upsetting and very thought provoking.  

News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa

11.06.2014 Médias-Press-Info propagates criminal Rroma begging networks

Published by:

In a highly biased article, burdened with prejudice, Depauw (2014) from Médias-Press-Info writes about criminal Rroma begging networks in Brussels. All beggars, no matter in what form they appear, are said to be meticulously prepared for the role they have to “play” in front of the passers-by. The collection of funds for a fictitious organization, simulating disability or children begging with hollow hands, they are all said to be part of criminal, hierarchically organized begging networks: “All of these beggars are in reality part of well organized networks that leave nothing to change. The roles and the locations of allocation of each person are precisely planned. The heads of these networks know very well what the average income of each beggar is.” However, Depauw says nothing about the exact structure of these networks and gives no arguments on the plausibility of his own reasoning. Would he do so, the massive prejudices and value judgments in his article should strike him. He automatically makes all beggars to be Rroma, although the ethnicity of beggars is far from obvious. That there is organized begging may be the case, but its organisation, its frequency, and in particular its profitability is clearly refuted by sociological studies. The incomes from the begging are anything but high, as Tabin (2013) shows in his study regarding Lausanne. Beggars that do indeed beg because of poverty are not interesting to the editors, because they do not obey to the logic of sensationalist and investigative journalism. And yet, the journalists could benefit from a little more sense for the complexity of the world. Reality goes beyond villains and heroes.

Bulgarien Frankreich News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa Rumänien

25.05.2014 Integration of Rroma in France remains difficult

Published by:

Mouillard (2014) reports on a Rroma integration village in the Indre that was initiated by the former mayor in cooperation with the local aid organization Romsi (Rencontre Ouverture Métissage Solidarité à Indre). The flagship project, which shows mostly positive results, is now probably drawing to an end. The reason: at the last local elections, a populist candidate replaced the incumbent mayor. During the election campaign, he promised to take action against immigrant Rroma. At the same time, the integration project showed how they created positive experiences for all parties involved, by offering French courses, the enrolment of the children in school and other help. The employees of Romsi are particularly disappointed, since they are aware that integration is a long process that would be set back by the closure of the project: “For the activist of Romsi, the track record of the solidarity village still remains “positive”. “The children are enrolled in school, the rate of delinquency in the community has not risen. But people continue to talk [about it]. That is exasperating…” Jean-Luc Le Drenn [the former mayor] tries to remain optimistic: “To close this village would be really a failure. In any case, maybe the prefect will intervene to oppose to it? The experience works and the costs of the community are low.” A rather rare mix in France, where the about 18,000 Roma are often forced to wander from one camp to the next” (Mouillard 2014). A distinctive feature of the integration project is the finding that those who were actively involved with the Rroma, clearly show less reservations about the minority than those who only speak about the Rroma or are bothered about the sight of informal settlements. Director Sophie Averty, who made a documentary about the integration village in Indre, shares this insight. Of the original fifty families, only five could finally stay in the integration project, but in return were actively assisted in looking for a job, the enrolment of the children in school, and in learning French: “The hateful and violent suggestions, you heard them primarily during the arrival of the fifty Roma, above all when the parents of the children protested and spoke of the risks of transmission of scrabies and fleas … as if the little Frenchman had no fleas! […] Some people were very hesitant, often through ignorance. Those who complain are those who have never set foot into the village” (Mouillard 2014/II). The problem of integration projects that are specifically designed for Rroma is that they cause resentments about the special treatment of a specific group. It is therefore important to generally help people in difficult situations and not to talk always of a “Rroma problem” or the “Rroma question”. Such a focus fuels resentments among groups who are also in economically difficult situations, as one can see by means of the dubious success of the Front National, who repeatedly abuses the Rroma as scapegoats for general societal grievances in France. Consequently, Marine Le Pen calls for an isolation of France after the model of Switzerland. A very questionable development (compare Dumazert 2014, Le Monde 2014).

EurActiv (2014) draws a first balance in respect to the projected mass immigration of Rroma from Bulgaria and Romania. So far, no increase of Rroma in Île-de-France region could be observed, says Laure Lechatellier, Vice-President of the regional council. Due to fears of a mass migration to Western Europe, seven years of transitional provisions in 2007 were imposed on Romania and Bulgaria after their EU-accession. The free movement of workers since January 2014 now guarantees all Romanians and Bulgarians, including the Rroma, free access to the labour markets of the EU-member states. Because of structural problems, the Rroma have benefited only minimally from this opening: “The free circulation of workers has put an end to this system and opens another right: the one to enrol oneself at the employment office. But the population of Roma from Romania and Bulgaria on the Île-de-France has not yet benefited from this possibility, due to structural discrimination. In France, the anti-Roma sentiment has reached unprecedented levels. According to a study by the U.S. think tank Pew Research Center, 66% of French respondents declare a negative opinion towards the Roma.” EurActiv thus points to the important fact that for a successful integration of the Rroma, not only a legal but also a social and societal equality is necessary. Such a one is still far from a reality, due to the negative attitudes towards the minority.

News Schweiz

14.05.2014 Call for more political commitment for Rroma and Yeniche in Switzerland

Published by:

Several articles report on the claims of Rroma and Yeniche for more recognition of their concerns. However, the focus of the reporting is clearly on the demands of the Yeniche for more camping spot and permanent stands. The Rroma problems, who have mainly to do with racial prejudice, are only discussed in passing. On the occasion of the International Rroma day of April the 8th, a coalition of various organizations – including the Roma Jam Session Collective, the Yeniche organization „schäft qwandt”, the Randgenossenschaft der Landstrasse, the Society for Threatened People, Amnesty International, Caritas Zurich and Miret Switzerland – turned to federal councillor Alain Berset, demanded more commitment of the federal government and asked for a better implementation of the framework convention for the protection of national minorities. The federal government has now made a first move towards the organizations. The director of the federal office of culture, Isabelle Chassot, will listen to the concerns of the coalition in a joint meeting. However, it should not go unmentioned that the stated organizations represent only a portion of the minorities. Other organizations represent different political views and have different conceptions of an adequate representation and promotion of the Rroma and Yeniche. The two communities share a story of exclusion and persecution, but have individual migration histories, languages and customs (compare Burri 2014, Renz, Fabian/ Schmid, Simone 2014 I/II).

News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa Rumänien

09.05.2014 Foreign Rroma as an uncivilized horde

Published by:

The latest article of the Weltwoche by Alex Reichmuth (2014) claims a feud between Swiss Yeniche and foreign, travelling Rroma. However, Reichmuth argues with such absurd evidence that he actually refutes himself. At the beginning of the article, he states: “The camp Augsterich in Kaiseraugst, Aargau, is hidden between a main road and the railway line. […] Behind bushes there is a small gravel area: the so-called cleansing place. Here, foreign travellers, who because for cultural reasons don’t use toilets, do their businesses. […] Augsterich is the only place in Aarau, which is open to foreign travellers. In the summer, it is mainly used by French Roma, who usually stay for a few days or weeks. […] With the place, it was intended to prevent the chronic wild camping by foreign travellers in the lower Frick Valley, and related problems such as waste and faeces.” Reichmuth applies a highly reductionist reasoning, by presenting the foreign, travelling Rroma as a wild horde. To ascribe them a cultural alterity that prohibits the use of toilets, due to individual extreme cases, is totally absurd. Hygiene, on the very opposite, has a very high priority among Rroma, as it is reflected in the tradition of ritual purity. Most Rroma, as Reichmuth also states for the Yeniche, are not travelleres. By repeatedly talking of asocial, unhygienic Rroma, the article conveys the impression that this is a cultural feature of the Rroma, what is false and racist. In addition, the terms “foreign travellers” and “Roma” are largely used interchangeably. The enemy stereotype is also confirmed by the interviewed Yeniche: “The social control works. But it upsets them that the population does not distinguish between Swiss and foreign travellers. Fatal for their reputation was a Roma wedding in the Lower Valais two years ago, says one of the Yeniche. At that time, about 400 foreign travellers illegally occupied a field, threatened the landowner with death and left a terrain strewn with garbage and faeces.” Foreign travellers are also held responsible for the hesitant creation of new camping places, because reservations under of the local population are said to be large. In places where only domestic travellers stop, as in the canton of Aargau, extensions and new camps are said to be much easier to realise. Jörg Hartmann, from the building department of Aargau, supports this racist view. More eyewitnesses are cited to document the bad experiences with foreign, travelling Rroma. These experiences interpret single events in an ethnic and racist context. In addition, they automatically take for granted the suspicious fact that the foreign travellers are Rroma. How they identify the ethnicity remains unclear.

Reichmuth takes a completely different viewpoint. Authorities as lobbyists are accused of sugarcoating and moralizing the real problems, as is Stéphane Laederich, director of the Rroma Foundation: “Think about whether you really need to wirte “Roma” each time, recommended Stéphane Laederich […] in a journalists magazine”, or whether it would be possible, for example, to denote people as Romanians or Hungarians.” Reichmuth interprets this recommendation as an invitation to cover up nuisances. Rather, Laederich wants to protect the reputation of the majority of the Rroma, who are living integrated and unobtrusively in Switzerland. This invisible Rroma are denied their existence by the Weltwoche. Instead, it presents a minority of problem cases as general cases and requires a rigorous implementation of the mass immigration initiative for foreign travellers, what is said to help the Swiss travellers.

The issue is addressed more diplomatically in the Tagesanzeiger. There, representatives of the new Yeniche protest movement “Movement of Swiss Travelers” have their say. These emphasize that the distinction between Yeniche and foreign Rroma is important for their reputation, because the views of their minority has declined in recent time: “While the Swiss travellers use chemical toilets and showers in their caravans, the foreign travellers prefer a meadow for their business. “We do not want to be racist”, says [Silvan] Waser. But the Roma, who travel through Switzerland in large groups of cars and leave the places in a mess, harm the image of the Swiss travellers. “We are tired of being responsible for something which we did not do.” A minority who argues against another minority, that’s disconcerting. And not all are of the opinion that one should do this. “The Roma are travellers like us, they have wives and children and are looking for places to stay” say some women later” (Schmid 2014). The biased distinction between integrated Yeniche and asocial, foreign Rroma can be found in numerous other articles. They also spread prejudiced knowledge as objective facts or point to this very fallacy (compare Ferraro 2014, Fuchs 2014, Jecker 2014, Waldmeier 2014, Wanner 2014).     

Griechenland News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa

07.05.2014 European elections: Greek and Muslim Rromni without chance

Published by:

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).

Albanien Kosovo News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa Serbien

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

Published by:

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.

News Osteuropa News Schweiz News Westeuropa

18.04.2014 Pully – Canton Vaud: racist police control of Rroma

Published by:

Favre (2014) reports an unauthorized police control of four Rroma families on a private estate in Pully, in the canton of Vaud. The owner of an apartment building had provided parts of his house to four immigrant Rroma families, upon a request of the organization Opre Rrom. Because neighbours complained about begging, the police conducted identity checks with the families. But since they conducted the control on the private property of Mr. Norbert Guillod, the owner of the house without having a permit for the action, the police made themselves liable to prosecution: “Norbert Guillod had responded to a request of the organization Opre Rrom. “Otherwise, these people would be on the street. That would have been a real shame: the children are enrolled in school and work well”, explains Norbert Guillod, who will host them until the end of the school year. […] “They have intervened because of several complaints of the neighbourhood, who were disturbed by the fact that these Roma were begging. At least it is forbidden to this extent”, replies Dan-Henri Weber, their commander. He also presents a different version of the facts, claiming that the people were controlled on the street, because they corresponded to the descriptions by the angered neighbours. They are said to have subsequently prompted the police themselves to follow them to their apartment, to look for their identity cards. This report is disputed by the parties concerned, which state that the police had knocked on their door.” The Lausanne lawyer, Jean-Michel Dolivo, points out that the police could list any offense following their control. The action was thus clearly discriminatory.

rroma.org
de_DEDE
en_GBEN fr_FRFR de_DEDE