Well, no real surprise here: Swiss do not consider racism to be a real problem, but they also have trouble defining it. And clearly, Roma are the ones who are the most common victims of it.
Not much going on in France: A celebration of the International Roma Day in Paris at the French National Institute of Oriental Languages, a new squat near Paris, and a burglary in a supermarket.
The Trust for Social Alternative Foundation in Bulgaria is funding the “Young Roma Educators” program. According to the program director, Evgenia Volen, Roma children, like all children, have a need from a young age to recognize their potential in a significant adult who serves as a role model. They want to be accepted as they are, and to see examples from their own community that they can become meaningful and economically independent people in the place where they live. She believes that teachers who come from the local community are part of the environment that can engage children in learning.
Nothing new here: There are not enough camping sites for Travellers in Switzerland. They talk about it but do nothing. Apparently, the state is now wanting to put some money aside for this purpose. This will take another 20 years, as usual in Switzerland.
An impressive program in Vienna for the International Roma day and the 30th anniversary of the recognition of Roma in Austria. Podium discussion with Dieter Halwachs, Emmerich Gartner-Horvath, Erika Thurner, Mirjam Karoly, and Ursula Hemetek; Roma Tales and concert, and an after party.
Photographs taken by a Jewish inmate of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto. While the large majority of the inmate were Jews, there were also Roma there.
Roma families in Kryvyi Rih (Ukraine) were visited by Juvenile Inspectors, Specialists of the Children’s Service of the Executive Committee of Dovhyntsivka District Council in the city, and teachers of Kryvorizka Gymnasium No. 84 to “assess their living conditions and education status.
According to the article, “preventive” discussions were held with the parents regarding “responsible parenting” and the need for children to get an education. It furthers with “The emphasis is on preventing the use of children for begging and involving them in illegal activities.”
This says a lot about what people think of Roma there.
The mayor of Belgrade said that Roma need to “make a decision about whether they want to live in a way today that follows the standards of the civilized world” – and adding that the city’s Roma get by on stealing and harassing citizens.
He was criticised. He should be dismissed.
A book about the interdiction of travels for Roma in Poland. On May 24, 1952, the Polish government’s presidium adopted a resolution “On assistance for the Gypsy population in transitioning to a settled lifestyle”. This had more to do with the fact that Roma were not conforming to the socialist norm rather than anything else.
The book and article are wrong in that they say that “Most of the Gypsy tribes living in Poland had wandering in their tradition and eternal way of life”. First, these are not tribes, and second, most of these Roma had houses, especially among Xaladytka Roma, and were travelling during the summer to sell horses.
The relocation of the Roma community for the construction of the ecoduct (a wildlife overpass) in Svrčinovec has raised a wave of resentment in both Čadec and Lopušné Pažite. Some of the Roma are planned to be relocated to a property in Čadec by the end of the month, a part to a house in the village of Lopušné Pažite, and a part will stay in Svrčinovec.
It shows how Roma are viewed in Slovakia…
A plethora of articles in the press about Whoopi Goldberg use of the term “gypped” on live TV. She was referring to Donald Trump’s follower who, according to Whoopi are “people who still believe that he got, you know, gypped somehow in the election.”
She apologised.
The relocation of the Roma community for the construction of an ecoduct (a wildlife overpass) in Svrčinovec raised a wave of resentment in the neighbouring town of Čadca where thy will be relocated. Part of them are planned to be resettled in housing estate in Čadci-Podzávoz, and the residents there have already started writing a petition. Roma talk about discrimination. The situation is also troubling the mayor Matej Šimášek, as no one from the competent state authorities is communicating with them.
A new group, composed of the remaining members of the legendary band the Taraf de Haidouks is continuing their musical tradition.
A portrait of a young Romni in Bulgaria. She has completed her university degree and is now a teacher. What the article and its introduction actually says is not quite accurate and gives a wrong view, perpetuating stereotypes. The article states that “Only about 3% of the Roma in the country have a university degree, only 23% have high school” which is the usual idiotic statement, as the actual number of Roma is not known. They also add that “In the case of Romnja, there is also the fact that they are usually unofficially married very early, sometimes as children – a widespread practice that is not legal, but is usually tolerated by the state”. Well, the practise is not widespread. Children marriages are almo0srt exclusively done among Vlach Roma, a minority in Bulgaria. In addition, the unofficial marriage is often simply having a boyfriend …
Normally, Deutsche Welle is a bit better …
An interview with Stanislava Dotková, a teacher in a school in the infamous Roma housing estate of Lunik IX in Košice.
In the interview, she explains, among other things, whether the fact that she is Roma herself helps her in teaching Roma pupils, why they have a sensory carpet in the classroom and what she lacks in the education of excluded communities.
The Serbian Roma Centre for Strategy, Development and Democracy submitted an initiative to introduce the Romani language into official use where, based on the census, the Roma community is represented in the local self-government bodies. They also proposed to introduce the Albanian language into official use throughout the territory of Serbia.
If Serbia is on the way to the European Union, then it is obliged to respect the rights and freedoms of minorities, in this case Roma and Albanians, but also Egyptians, Ashkali, Goranians, Bosniaks and Turks who use the Albanian language, according to the announcement.
Jo Clement, a lecturer at Northumbria University, recently published a poetry collection that has been nominated for the prestigious John Pollard Foundation Poetry Prize.
She also was an editor in the ERIAC published book “Wagtail: The Roma Women’s Poetry Anthology”.
When Josef Maria Schneck died, he was only 13 years old. The boy was one of the 141 Sinti who were deported from Munich to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp 80 years ago, on March 13, 1943. The city of Munich honours the victims of this genocide with a day of remembrance.
3’200 people from Moldova will be expelled from Germany back into their home country at the end of the month. Most of them are Roma. These Roma protested over the weekend.
“We want to stay here. We don’t want to be deported and come back every three months,” said a young mother. Like most of those who gathered on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Mitte on Saturday afternoon, the Romni comes from the Republic of Moldova. The woman with the microphone looked desperate: “They treat us like dogs.”
Another article on Uzhhorod, in Transcarpathian Ukraine, showing how the war is influencing the attitudes towards Roma in the country.
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