Category Archives: News Switzerland

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

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

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18.04.2014 Pully – Canton Vaud: racist police control of Rroma

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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.

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11.04.2014 How non-objective assumptions reinforce racist stereotypes

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Birrer (2014) reports, on the basis of the TV-report “More underage criminal tourists” by Georg Humbel (2014), about the allegedly increasing number of criminal Rroma children. As the article by Gut/Scherrer (2013) in the Weltwoche of November 2013, Birrer cites police sources that speak of transnationally operating child-trafficking networks. The basic existence of such criminal actors is not to deny here, but their characterisation and especially their frequency, has to be strongly questioned. Birrer argues as follows, in reference to the Bernese immigration-policemen Alexander Ott: “They come mainly from Eastern Europe – and don’t pursue their criminal activity voluntarily in Switzerland. In their home countries, they are recruited by traffickers, and finally borrowed from well-organized gangs. Many of them are Roma from Romania and Bulgaria. […] The children are under constant scrutiny of agile backers. They have to expect sanctions, if they do not generate a certain amount of cash and valuables. Therefore, they are helplessly extradited to the traffickers.” The evidence for the existence of such child-trafficker gang is very poor, as many articles to show (compare Friedli/Schöpfer 2013, Mappes-Niediek 2012, Mappes-Niediek 2013, Jirat 2013, Tabin 2012). Rather, they are civil and police morals and assumptions associated with them that make the begging or stealing children automatically victims of brutal traffickers. The fact that behind it, there is mostly great poverty which forces to beg is not considered in this reasoning. Thus gaps in knowledge, about the socio-economic situation in the countries of origin of the children are used in order to present them as part of criminal Rroma gangs. This practice says more about the own prejudices and morals, than it explain something about the Rroma.

Jirat (2013) discusses the project „Agora“, which was founded on the initiative of Alexander Ott in 2009. The aim of this project is to prevent organized child abuse and human trafficking, of which young Rroma are said to be mainly affected. Jirat questions precisely this status of the beggars. The data of the Bernese immigration police – which states a strong presence of beggar gangs in Bern – are of doubtful origin. Jirat states: “The immigration police view is necessarily limited: the focus is always a possible crime (human trafficking or child abuse), and there are always potential perpetrators, which are repeatedly named: “most of them are Roma.” This is the crucial point. “Through this representation, the social construction of a ‘Roma-problem’ in connection with begging is made”, says the historian Bernhard Schär from the Center for Democracy in Aarau. The same is done in connection with break-ins or street prostitution.” The perspective and analysis of the immigration police, Jirat argues, is a strongly biased. It operates with the logic of perpetrators and victims. The sociological perspective is almost totally neglected.

Tabin (2012) proves that a causal relationship between begging children and organized gangs cannot be confirmed by social science. The modest incomes obtained by begging, don’t coincide in any way with the proceeds referred to by the Bernese immigration police, which speaks of up to 600 francs per child. Tabin, who refers to additional, similar studies, comes to an average amount of 15 to 20 francs per day.

In any case, it is very problematic to describe the begging of Rroma children as a cultural phenomenon. Journalists as Mappes-Niediek decidedly write against this notion and see the supposed beggar gangs in reality as a symptom of poverty, that has nothing to do with organized crime: “There are prestige hierarchies in the Roma neighbourhoods, customary clientilism, dependencies, mostly through informal money lending. But structures of command and obedience were not noticed by the numerous social workers, anthropologists or humanitarian aid workers, who work in Roma slums and sometimes live there. [ … ] Wrong is also the impression that human trafficking, crime and begging with children is the rule among the poverty migrants from Bulgaria and Romania. Begging with kids is prohibited all over Europe and basically rarely, because it takes place, by its very nature, in the greatest possible publicness” (Mappes-Niediek 2013).

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11.04.2014 “Who are the Rroma living in Switzerland?”

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Boullé (2014) spoke to the Lausanne photographer Yves Leresche, who has dealt with Rroma living in Switzerland for several years. Leresche deconstructs four common stereotypes about the minority. (1) The Rroma are all the same: false. Rroma belong to diverse groups such as the Sinti, the Gurbeti, the Arlii, the Lingurari, the Ursari, the Kalderasha etc., who pursued traditional occupations in earlier times, to which their group name often refers. Leresche terms the Jeniche wrongly as Rroma. From a political point of view – concerning the prejudices against the minorities – this may be useful, because  they share a history of exclusion and persecution. In terms of migration history, language and traditions however, there are striking differences between the two ethnic groups. The Rroma are from India and the talk Rromanes, originating from Sanskrit. The Jeniche however derive from European folk groups that were starting to travel in the wake of social upheavals and speak the language Jeniche, influenced by Yiddish and other old European languages.

(2) Rroma are all beggars: also wrong. Leresche distinguishes four different groups of Swiss Rroma: The invisible, who have been living in Switzerland integrated and unobtrusive for decades, sometimes generations. Very few know that they are Rroma, because they keep their identity a secret. The travellers; the stereotypical notion that all Rroma are travellers refers to them. However, they represent only a small percentage of the Rroma. In Switzerland primarily the Jeniche are travellers, and also of them only a small percentage. Rroma are often equated with asylum seekers. While this is true sometimes, many have been living in Switzerland for a long time and have a definite residency status. Leresche also points to refugees from the Kosovo, which present the most recent migration movement of Rroma to Western Europe. Finally, with European Rroma, Leresche refers to migrants from the EU-countries. He makes aware of the economic immigrants among them, but far too little stresses that the predicted mass migration from Southern and Eastern Europe is a political issue.

(3) The Rroma come to us, to enrich themselves: also wrong. The Rroma seek an alternative to their often precarious living conditions in Southern and Eastern Europe. They want a normal life, a job, a good education for their children. Unfortunately, some of them lack good qualifications, what makes the integration into the labour market more difficult. Leresche doesn’t stress enough that the begging Rroma usually have nothing to  with criminal begging networks, as it is often claimed by the police, but beg because of lacking alternatives.

(4) The Rroma do not stay for a short time, but forever. In this stereotype, Leresche differentiates far too little between invisible and visible Rroma. He merely indicates that Rroma who migrate seasonally only come for a few months to beg. Because after some time, political and police resistance starts to form, begging becomes unprofitable after one to two years. Here it must be added, that only a small part of the Rroma are begging. The majority of the Swiss Rroma is integrated and pursues a normal work. In addition, the idea of the lucrative nature of begging is false, as recently Jean-Pierre Tabin has shown in his study.

News Schweiz

09.04.2014 The invisible Rroma in Switzerland

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Plozza (2014) focuses, on the occasion of the international Rroma-day, on the invisible Rroma of Switzerland. He spoke with the Rroma representatives Stéphane Laederich and Mustafa Asan. Both emphasize the massive prejudices that still prevail against the Rroma and make a disclosure of one’s identity a difficult task: “Most Swiss Roma are not criminal and they do not pull their caravans from place to place. On the contrary, they lead a normal, almost petit bourgeois life, explains the Roma representative Mustafa Asan. “The Swiss Roma are sedentary and integrated. They live in their own homes, they have their own jobs and their own occupation […] Today, 50,000 to 100,000 Roma are living in Switzerland. One does not know that for sure. Because many of do not reveal themselves as being Roma, says Stéphane Laederich, director of “Roma Foundation” in Zurich. “Many are still afraid that they will lose their friends, their job, or certain opportunities in their career”, he says. Fearing the old prejudices about Gypsies and travelling people, they prefer to remain silent.” Asan demands that the Rroma occur more often in the public, reveal themselves and reach out to their fellow human beings. This is the only way to dismantle prejudices and stereotypes, he says. However, this has to happen with objective facts and not positive clichés as dancing and singing Rroma. The fact that not only the Rroma, but above all the majority population – that has marginalized the ethnic group for centuries – is encouraged to act, should not go unmentioned. It must signal to the minority that they are accepted and welcomed. Because integration is a process based on reciprocity that requires commitment of all parties involved (compare Aargauer Zeitung 2014, Gehrig 2014).

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09.04.2014 Hungary, Rroma and prostitution in Switzerland

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In her article, Kiss (2014) discusses the Hungarian prostitutes in Switzerland, the social background of sex work, the constitution of moral values, the role of the media and the current debate on a Europe-wide ban on prostitution. The effort to prohibit prostitution derives from the notion of a substantial or at least significant congruence of prostitution and human trafficking. Kiss qualifies this idea in relation to Zurich and replaces it with the notion of a grey area said to be organised by the family or the clan. This statement is dangerous, because it alludes to stereotypes of criminal Rroma clans, explained as being hierarchically organized and culturally determined: “In Zurich, however, the smallest part of prostitutes are victims of human trafficking and extreme exploitation, the women of the office for women migration [FIZ] say – and vice versa, there are also self-employed sex workers. The Hungarian women often work in the area in between, in a frame, which is organised by the family or the clan.” Kiss deals further with the prostitutes’ origin. She cites the Bernese sociologists Sachsa Finger, who assumes that most Hungarian sex workers in Switzerland are from Roma settlements in Nyíregyháza, Ózd and pecs. That there are also Magyar prostitutes is not stressed enough. It is mainly poverty, no or lacking educational qualifications, unemployment and suppressing role models, that lead women into prostitution. That this social ills cannot be easily eliminated with a prohibition of prostitution, Kiss is aware, even if she can not stress often enough the dishonouring of women through sex work: “Alice Schwarzer, you’re right. Let’s prohibit prostitution. These women don’t lead a life, in a few months they age by years. […] But her protest pales in comparison to the Eastern European reality. […] Should one make it impossible for the mothers to gain a livelihood for her hungry family? On the other hand, why does no one talk about the social policy in these countries? Why does no go into the villages and settlements in the tent cities, where women’s rights are worth nothing ? […] Who will feed my children?, asks the prostitute who arrives in Zurich by train. Where will I work when prostitution is banned? But to these questions, the latest turn in the discourse about free sexuality has no answer.”

  • Kiss, Noëmi (2014) Bereit zur Verrichtung. In: Das Magazin Nr. 14/2014, S. 12-19.
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29.03.2014 General attorney Rolf Grädel reinforces racial prejudice

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Summer (2014) reports on the results of a recent crime statistic for the canton Bern. Overall, less violence was committed in 2013. On the other hand, the number of burglaries has risen. At this point, Summer begins to talk about crime-tourism. As a source of information, the general attorney of Bern Rolf Grädel is quoted. Grädel reinforces racial prejudices of criminal Rroma networks: “For them, our country is not only attractive because of the prey, also, the risk of getting caught is not very high, Grädel” said. Moreover, in Switzerland, the penalties imposed would hardly deter the perpetrators from committing further crimes. In Roma circles in France, there is apparently a leaflet circulating, which recommends Switzerland as a destination, because the penalties are significantly milder there than anywhere else.” This statement is highly racist, because it implies a direct correlation between ethnicity and criminal offenses. It would not hurt Rolf Grädel to choose his words a little more carefully. The cliché of hierarchically organized Rroma networks, which educate children to become criminals, stubbornly persists. Especially the Weltwoche cites it regularly. However, these ideas are based on suspicions and crude generalizations, which is almost never discussed. Real complexity is replaced here by one dimensional explanation that present reality in a very biased way. 

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26.03.2014 The rise of the right-wing populists

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Reinecke (2014) reports on the new upsurge of nationalist parties in Europe. Until now, their influence has remained modest. However, especially in view of the forthcoming elections for the European Parliament, a reversal-trend is looming. A strong growth of nationalistically enclined voters has to be expected. In France, the share of votes for the National Front has already risen to 23 percent: “Admittedly, the conservatives and social democrats will retain the majority in the European Parliament. But if extreme right-wing Euro-sceptics become the strongest party in a core state of the EU – then that is a symbol. Something starts to slide: populism, fears of foreign domination and prosperity chauvinism become stronger.” Reinecke encourages not to stand idly in the face of this swing to the right, but to take action against those who question the free movement of persons and the European Economic zone. One should not simply shrug in reaction to the vote against the free movement of persons by Switzerland. Concerning Rroma, he names the political instrumentalisation of the ethnic group by right-wing publications such as the Weltwoche, which has repeatedly stirred up hatred against the minority. That such tendencies cannot be met with silence, can’t be stressed often enough.

Bade (2014) complements these reflexions with his thoughts on the German immigration debate. He begins with the economic idea that the increasing impoverishment of the middle and lower classes make more and more people susceptible to “defensive attitudes and scapegoat theories”: “In this dangerous mélange of problems and prospects, pragmatic evaluations, integration and socio-political as well as socio-legal discussions are burdened by cultural and socio-racial defensiveness from the context of negative integration. They are enforced by the populist exploitation of yet unknown issues for election purposes.” Bade therefore argues as Reinecke that the Rroma are exploited and abused by being designed as scapegoats for political debates about values and impoverishment. It is significant here that one never talks with but always about the Rroma. Through this, a highly one-sided image of the minority is actively encouraged.

Romani Rose, chairman of the central council of the German Sinti and Rroma, emphasized in an interview with the Südwest Presse (2014) his unease about the rise of right-wing groups and their modes of argumentation. He criticizes once more the political instrumentalisation of the Rroma for campaign purposes and the equation of poverty-migration with the group of the Rroma: “This is a harmful discussion. In the last federal election campaign they wanted to poach votes from the right-wing „Alternative für Deutschland“ and the right-wing NPD. The NPD did not let itself slow down by this and advertised with the slogan “Better money for grandma than for Sinti and Roma”. With this, it left the level of our constitutional order. […] We demand guidelines in the election campaigns, which prohibit racist and discriminatory election propaganda. A legal basis is missing.” He perceives as particularly outrageous and frightening that despite the historical awareness of their discrimination, Rroma are blamed for social ills. The extreme right-wing parties are said to want to undermine the state of law. That is why it is so important that democratic parties defend the rule of law. A considerable fear to identify oneself as Rroma in the public remains. This fear of disclosing one’s own origin is a clear indicator of the still strongly rooted reservations of the majority against the minority.

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19.03.2014 Geneva squat evicted

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Tribune de Genève (2014) and 20 minutes (2014) report on the eviction of an occupied house in Geneva. The vacant property had been inhabited by fourteen Rroma, the journalists state. The owner of the house asked the police to evict the house, but did not want to press charges. The house has been the cause for discussions several times already: “The multi-family house has been the cause for conflicts in Geneva for years. The owners want to demolish the building, which is referred to by opponents as the “eyesore”. The building has even been vilified by the foundation for elderly and social housing (Flpai), whose director did not hesitate to let it brick up, as it was still inhabited in 2007.” In the public perception, Rroma live almost exclusively in slums or squats. The articles cited here reinforce this idea. The fact that a large part of the Rroma are living unobtrusive and integrated is almost never mentioned.

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14.03.2014 Stereotypes: Rroma and begging in the canton of Vaud

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Jean-Pierre Tabin, professor of sociology at the College of social work and health in Lausanne, published a book about the policy towards the Roma in the canton of Vaud. The publication is based on research that was conducted between 2011 and 2013 in the streets of Lausanne. Tabin and his team studied who begs, who gives and how beggars live. He qualifies clichéd ideas that one earns a lot of money with begging, as well as stereotypes about Rroma, who are not automatically parts of organized begging networks. In the public discourse begging is often deemed a crime that needs to be punished. Through this line of reasoning poverty, poverty-migration, and the causes that lead to poverty are criminalized, Tabin argues (RTS 2014).

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28.02.2014 The liberals of Lausanne are concerned about the enrolment of Rroma children

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Bourgeois (2014) reports on an absurd case of municipal politics in Lausanne. Exponents of the Lausanne liberal party, represented by Henri Klunge, are concerned about the enrolment of Rroma children in local schools. Reason for the dispute: the integration of the children is said to encourage their parents to beg. Klunge criticises: “In his text, Henri Klunge questions the coherence of the Lausanne policy towards the Rroma. On one hand, the policy prohibits the residence of Rroma in Prés-de-Vidys, where their temporary accommodations were destroyed, on the other hand, it allowed them to settle down in an unused building in the north of Lausanne.” Tosato Oscar, councillor of Lausanne, qualifies the criticism of Klunge. The enrolment of children has no connection with the ban of begging in Lausanne, but relies on the international children’s rights. In addition, the enrolment of the children doesn’t come at the expense of Lausanne’s taxpayers. The dispute over the enrolment of four Rroma children shows the strength of the prejudices that hold against the minority. If one makes the integration of the Rroma as difficult as possible, their situation won’t change anytime in the near future.

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21.02.2014 Conference on human trafficking: Rroma are said to be particularly affected

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The members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), led by Switzerland and the Council of Europe, met for a conference on human trafficking in Vienna. Rroma were said to be particularly affected by human trafficking. An expert group analysed the situation in 30 countries ahead of the conference. How the statement about Rroma is to be understood in details, is not explained any further in this article. However, it is important to negate the idea that Rroma primarily enslave other Rroma and that prostitutes are automatically victims of human trafficking. The fact that prostitution regularly happens out of poverty is often neglected. Simonetta Somaruga stated: “We should never look away from human trafficking, which is not limited to the problem of prostitution alone, said Simonetta Sommaruga, minister of justice of Switzerland. The criminal networks that control and organize the trafficking of human beings add a variety of ways harms to society.” For the conference, the enhancement of the international cooperation in the fight against human trafficking was the primary target (APA 2014, Blick 2014, Kleine Zeitung 2014, Der Landbote 2014).

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21.02.2014 The misconceptions of organized begging networks

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Ulmi (2014) qualifies stereotypes of organized begging networks among Rroma, as they are disseminated by numerous newspapers, in particular the Weltwoche in Switzerland. In his text, Ulmi refers to the study of the Lausanne sociology professor Jean-Pierre Tabin, who discussed the mechanisms of begging for the canton of Lausanne. Tabin qualifies nearly all conventional notions about organized begging: the income from begging is very modest and only secures the beggars most basic needs. High profits are a media illusion. Most beggars do not operate for organized, criminal networks, but for themselves. With his study, Tabin argues for begging to be considered as poverty mendicancy and not as an enrichment strategy. Tabin explains that the idea of organized begging is a misunderstanding of mendicancy. This incomprehension is then replaced by the apparently obvious answer of criminal networks: “Everything we think we know about begging, in our cities in general and about the begging Rroma in particular, is wrong. False is the idea of the organized networks that take advantage of the beggars. False are our ideas about the gains coming out of begging. Completely wrong is our idea of the identity of the Rroma…“

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14.02.2014 Booklet on the rights of marginalized Rroma angries SVP

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Francey (2014) reports on the publication of a brochure by the legal faculty of Geneva that informs marginalized Rroma in the city about their fundamental rights. The brochure explains people in precarious financial situations their rights: if they are entitled to benefits from the state, if they can be fined by the police for begging or if they a license as a street musician. The booklet is written in both French and Romanian as well as in pictograms, to reach people who struggle reading. The brochure has now been attacked by the SVP-Geneva. The right-wing conservative party sees the publication as an invitation for socially vulnerable people to come to Switzerland. It has fielded a complaint against the brochure to the government of Geneva.

News Schweiz

07.02.2014 Arrest of two Rroma girls in Rapperswil-Jona reinforces racial prejudice

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The arrest of two Rroma girls between the age of ten and seventeen in Rapperswil-Jona is taken as an opportunity by several Swiss newspapers to confirm racial prejudice. The two girls started running when sighting a patrol car, which drew the attention of the police officers on them. According to the journalists, the girls had previously stolen screw-drivers from a basement with which they intended to perform further thefts. The reference to the ethnicity of the girls is totally unnecessary as it reinforces racial prejudice against the members of the minority. Rroma are not more criminal than the representatives of other ethnic groups. To ascribe them cultural-related crimes, lacks any respect and sanity (Südostschweiz 2014, Zürcher Oberländer 2014).

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07.02.2014 The mass immigration initiative of the SVP and the Rroma

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Suter (2014) examines the role of anxiety and emotions in the debate on migration in the EU, referring to the controversial mass immigration initiative of the SVP. Suter takes up a liberal position in the debate: economically strong countries such as Germany, Great Britain or Switzerland are too afraid of poverty migrants who will supposedly burden the social welfare system or already do it. Thereby we easily forget how valuable well-educated migrants are to the economies of these countries: “The battle around the SVP-initiative is being fought on familiar territory: proponents speak of fears of unemployment, cultural unease and impending crime; opponents rely on tolerance, refer to the benefits of immigrants to the economy and prosperity.” In addition, it is easily forgotten that EU-citizens may only settle down in Switzerland if they are in possession an employment contract. Concerning the role the Rroma play in this debate, Suter is not free of prejudices himself: he incorrectly equals Rroma with travellers and repeats media prejudices who speak of unwillingness to integrate and culturally-related crimes.

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07.02.2014 “Victoria” by Men Lareida

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The Swiss movie “Victoria – A Tale of Grace and Greed” by Men Lareida addresses the fate of a Hungarian prostitutes on street-walkers’ patch of the Zurich Sihlquai. The protagonist, as well as the actress that embodies her, are Roma. The director wants to give a voice to those affected, people who are normally never talked with but only about. He was made aware of the subject during train rides between Zurich and Budapest, during which he and his wife got into conversation with the prostitutes: “Therefore, during their next train ride they started to talk with the women. From now on, Anna Maros [the director’s wife] listened to them for hours and nights. Went they were driving westward, the young women were still full of energy. In the reverse direction, the atmosphere was completely different: “the women were at first surprised and then infinitely glad that someone was listening to them. They told me endlessly sad stories of violence and disrespectful treatment by the pimps, but also by clients.” The will to give a voice to marginalized people through the film is very commendable. However, it should not be forgotten that the one-sided focus on Rroma in connection with prostitution can confirm and reinforce prejudices. Those who are really neglected are the integrated, unobtrusive and therefore invisible Rroma. One should also make a movie about them once (Banz 2014).

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24.01.2014 Rroma convicted of Geneva court to long prison terms

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Le Nouvelliste (2014) reports on the judgment of the Geneva court against a group of Rroma who had committed a series of violent robberies against elderly people between August to October 2011. All participants were sentenced to long prison penalties: „Une bande de Roms qui avait commis des vols violents chez des personnes âgées a été condamnée plus sévèrement en appel à Genève. La peine de chacun des quatre protagonistes a été majorée de deux ans en moyenne. […] La bande a agi entre août et octobre 2011. Une dame alors âgée de 86 ans qui vivait seule dans sa maison de Lancy (GE) est leur première victime. Ils s’en sont aussi pris à un homme de 76 ans endormi sur son canapé. Il a été frappé et étouffé avec un coussin jusqu’à en perdre connaissance.”[A group of Rroma which committed violent robberies on elderly people was condemned more severely on appeal in Geneva. The sentence of each of the involved persons was upped on average by two years. The group acted between August and October 2011. A woman, 86 years old at the time in Lancy (GE), was their first victim. They also attacked a 76 years old man asleep on his sofa. He was beaten up and suffocated with a pillow, and lost conscience.] The otherwise objectively written article seems not aware that mentioning of ethnic membership is highly problematic, as it suggests connections between matters that have nothing to do with each other. Rroma are not more criminals as people of other ethnic groups (compare Focas 2014).

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24.01.2014 Notions of criminal Rroma clans persist

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Morel (2013) reports on decreasing rates of crimes that are apparently being committed by southern European Rroma clans. This isn’t supposed to mean that the numbers of offenses have effectively decreased, but that the offenders act more skilfully and unobtrusively, according to Morel. They are apparently acting in a more focused way, renting less rooms in cheap hotels, they are scattered in public transport to attract less attention. Recently, the suspects were mainly minor Rromnja in groups of two. For Morel and his informants there is no doubt that there are internationally organized Rroma clans behind these activities: „Les équipes de tziganes, qui agissent jusqu’à cinq fois par jour, ont également renouvelé leur manière de transporter leur butin, constitué d’argent et de bijoux. Désormais, elles n’hésitent pas à se l’insérer dans le sexe pour passer la frontière. Selon la police, elles font partie d’un réseau international qui pourrait être basé en Belgique, en région parisienne ou dans l’est de la France. Les délinquantes vivent la plupart du temps dans des camps de roms.” [These teams of Gypsies (Sic!), who act up to five times a day, also renewed their methods for transporting their bounty, mostly money and jewellery. They do not hesitate to put them in their sex in order to cross the border. According to the police, they are part of an international band possibly based in Belgium, in Paris, or in Eastern France. The criminals mostly live in Rroma camps.] Guggisberg (2014) also feeds the notions of criminal, organised Rroma clans, smuggling stolen goods over the Switzerland-Italian border. Once again it must be stressed that Rroma are not more delinquent than people of other ethnic groups. The idea of organised Romany clans feeds absurd and false ideas of culturally-related crimes. These assumptions are stupid and should be relegated ad acta.

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17.01.2014 Rroma and the Street Prostitution in Basel

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Laur (2014) explores the street prostitution in Basel. Again, as told earlier about the now closed Zurich Sihlquai, the prostitutes are said to be of mainly Rroma origin. How the author got this information remains unclear. Rroma are a minority of about 800,000 to a million members in Hungary. The identification of ethnic membership is anything but easy, as the case of the blond Rroma girl in Greece has shown. Furthermore, not all members of the minority speak Rromanes. The Rroma membership of the portrayed women has therefore to be critically questioned. Laur states: “Many of these prostitutes come from Hungarian Rroma families. They are usually prepared early for their future profession. An evil fate and yet they appear externally unbroken on the road in Basel [ … ] . None of them moans, not feeling victimized. They do sex work because they see no alternative.” Discussions about Rroma and prostitution are often performed in conjunction with terms such as clan structures or forced prostitution. By stating that it is poverty that leads the portrayed women into prostitution, Laur may be closer to the reality than the estimates of support agencies and the authorities. These ascribe the prostitutes usually a victim status, which neglects the factor of poverty: “As you sell your muscle strength, you can also sell your body”, says Peter Thommen, a bookseller at Rheingasse and connoisseurs of the scene. To get upset about it or to moralize doesn’t bring anything. But he finds the prices scandalous, they are much too cheap. Exploitation can be found in other industries such as in the construction industry or in agriculture too. Furthermore, there is a lot less excitement than about prostitution, while the scandal is in fact the same.” However, when seeing prostitution as a form of work, one should be cautious not to trivialize dangers as the infection with deadly diseases and psychological damages.     

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