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Germany deports refugees from Serbia and Macedonia

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Germany deports refugees from Serbia and Macedonia

The red-green coalition from Baden Württemberg will deport asylum seekers from Serbia and Macedonia, many of then Rroma, on the anniversary of the deportation of Rroma in that Region. This anniversary celebrated on the 24th of March commemorates the first train filled with Rroma and Sinti that departed from Offenburg.

What a date to choose …

Ungarn News Osteuropa

Hungarian Rroma leaders complain to EU for ethnic cleansing

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Hungarian Rroma leaders complain to EU for ethnic cleansing

Hungarian Rroma leaders have started a petition to the EU protesting against the ethnic cleansing that took place in Miskolc. In that eastern Hungarian city, Rroma residents were forcefully expelled from a neighbourhood to make space for the parking lot of a football stadium. This stadium – like many of its siblings being in funded in part by the EU, the Rroma leaders argue that the EU bears a moral responsibility to act.

We cannot but agree there!

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Amnesty International slams segregation of Rroma in schools in Slovakia

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Amnesty International slams segregation of Rroma in schools in Slovakia

Three years ago, a landmark judgement found that Slovakia was discriminating Rroma children with the practice of having segregated schools. A report from Amnesty International reveals now that the situation has far from improved. This is due to the introduction of so-called “container schools” are installed in predominantly Rroma settlement, and are attended exclusively by Rroma children, the non Rroma population preferring to send their children to other schools. This is no longer segregation, this is total isolation …

Černušáková, Barbora. Slovakia’s ‘container schools’ worsen segregation of Roma children from society. In: Amnesty International Blog. 13.03.2015. https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/blogs/2015/03/slovakia-segretation-of-roma-schoolchildren-worsens/

News Westeuropa

Swedish Police condemned

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Swedish Police condemned

The Swedish police was caught a while back in 2013 running an illegal registry of Rroma that comprised over 4’700 individuals. Sweden’s Parliamentary Ombudsman (‘Justitieombudsmannen’) issued a sharp criticism of the police on that topic and requested that each of the registered person receive 5’000 Kronor ($ 768).

News Schweiz

The French speaking Swiss press equates Rroma with poor migrants

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The French speaking Swiss press equates Rroma with poor migrants

The newspaper “La Liberté” in a series of recent articles equates Rroma with poor migrants who come to Switzerland to beg. There is no differentiation, and the implicit ethnicisation of a social problem and the projection thereof on all Rroma is simply not acceptable.

They also mention the exhibition from Yves Leresche, a photographer who has captured many shantytowns and who shows the poor face of Rroma. All in all, this re-inforces the negative views that are already prevailing among the general population.

When one thinks that all the beggars, prostitutes and thieves in Switzerland number less than a thousand, which is not even 1.5% of the Rroma population of the country, one sees how far these views are from reality.

Frankreich News Westeuropa

Shantytowns in Lyon: A reportage from the Swiss television

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The Swiss television “Mise au Point” presented a reportage on the Rroma shantytowns outside of Lyon. Beside the obvious fact that they forget to say that this is a very small minority of migrants, less than 15’000 over all of France (against ca. 500’000 integrated Rroma), the commentaries of the neighbours are really really scary. Listen …

Deutschland News Westeuropa

Germany’s President of the Federal Tribunal ashamed at old practices

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Germany’s President of the Federal Tribunal ashamed at old practices

The current president of the federal tribunal, Ms. Bettina Limperg is ashamed at an old judgement from the tribunal referring to Rroma as a “plague”. Contrary to what one could think, this judgement was not made under the Nazis but in 1956, so eleven years after the end of the War.

This statement was alas by no mean an exception, as the Rroma Holocaust was not recognised as having been based on ethnicity until the 1970’s.

News Osteuropa

Slovak Psychatrists slam the Police

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Slovak Psychatrists slam the Police

Following the case of Rroma children being bullied and humiliated by the police in a police station in Kosice, an action filmed by the police, Roma civic associations asked psychiatrists to asses the police actions based on the video that a judge refused as evidence.

Their verdict is clear: This would not have been tolerated with anyone from the mainstream population. Some of the experts spoke of systemic failure of the system and society!

News Westeuropa Spanien

Beautiful Photographs, same old views …

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Beautiful Photographs, same old views …

A Madrid based French photographer, Pierre Gonnord has produced beautiful pictures of Rroma that he has taken in Spain. The pictures, while truly stunning, still play the old card of poor, non integrated Rroma. This is a pity, and actually, we do not need this – especially when presented as a general view of this minority.

News Osteuropa Rumänien Slowakei

Gypsy Music. The Quest of Budapest Restaurant Music

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Gypsy Music. The Quest of Budapest Restaurant Music

The BBC published a long reportage about the vanishing Gypsy “Cigan” Music in Budapest. This music, while played by Rroma musicians on some of the typical Rroma instruments such as the Cymbalom, has little in effect to do with Rroma music. It is and was a collection of Hungarian Schlagers, a few Hungarian folk songs and the odd typically Rroma song, these later ones can still be heard across the borders in Slovakia, still sung in Rromanes, and in Romania, especially in Transylvania.

There were and are still some great dynasties such as the Lakatos who perpetuate the style, but, in a time where recorded music is ubiquitous, the Rroma orchestras of Budapest are a vanishing breed, only kept in a few touristy restaurants. The past is gone, but music still stays, in new forms as for example with the munch more modern Roma Varadi Café!

Frankreich News Westeuropa

French Magazine condemned for incitation to hatred

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French Magazine condemned for incitation to hatred

The French Magazine “Valeurs Actuelles” has been condemned for incitation to racial hatred against Rroma for an article and title page of the magazine called: “Les Roms, l’Overdose” – The Rroma, the overdosis that was published in August 2014. The director of the publication, Yves de Kerdrel has been sentenced to a fine of 3’000 Euro.

This is a news, and good news, especially in France where the image of the Rroma is not good, and where even the Prime Minister is not adverse at racists statements against this minority.

Frankreich News Westeuropa

Meanwhile in France …

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Meanwhile in France …

As usual, not a week can pass in France without the press lamenting about illegal settlements, or reporting on the judicial actions of Rroma or NGOs fighting evictions. This time, these are again the Rroma from Roubaix, in the North of France whose expulsion is pending a legal hearing that has now been reported to mid April.

News Westeuropa

Rroma in Turkey under Erdogan

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Le monde diplomatique published a long article on the Rroma in today Erdogan’s Turkey. Many of them were driven out of centuries old settlements, some such as Sulukule in Istanbul dating back more than a thousand years.

However, in the last five years, some of the key laws against Rroma in Turkey have been revoked. These gestures are due in part to the pressure of the EU concerning the rights of minorities in Turkey are not fundamentally changing their situation. Prejudices are strong, very strong in that country, and Rroma – still called Cingene – are still all too often simply excluded.

Bulgarien Frankreich News Osteuropa News Westeuropa Rumänien

Why so much hatred?

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Why so much hatred?

While starting with a good intention, Planet.fr, in their article entitled “Roms: pourquoi tant de haine?” [Rroma: why so much hatred], manages to pack quite a few stereotypes and misinformation in a short article. They speak of 17’000 Rroma (only those who have arrived from Romania and Bulgaria), associating Rroma with migrants and neglecting the 500’000 who live in that country, speak of poverty, etc.

On the positive side, they mention that France is indeed quite racist at this stage against Rroma and tha French politics have a problem with Rroma.

News Westeuropa

Pankok and Eskildsen

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Pankok and Eskildsen

An exhibition in Duisburg shows art from Maurice Pankok (1893-1966), and artist who dedicated a lot of his art to Rroma and Sinti as well as photographs from Joachim Eskildsen, author of the now famous book “The Roma Journeys”. A must in both cases.

 

Ausstellung über Sinti und Roma in Duisburg. In: WAZ. 15.03.2015. http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/duisburg/ausstellung-ueber-sinti-und-roma-in-duisburg-aimp-id10424658.html

News Westeuropa

Exhibition in Sweden

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Exhibition in Sweden

The Swedish exhibition featuring two Rroma beggars continues to make waves. This time, Libération speaks about it, citing the Rroma associations from Sweden / Malmø.

Soraya Post, a MEPalso slammed this exhibition as being disgracefull.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

New Czech Strategy on Rroma

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The Czech government issued a statement in great fanfare a new strategy on Rroma geared towards helping the Rroma minority in the country to “better integrate in society”. Somehow we do hope that this time it won’t be like the Roma Decade of numerous other programs that effectively changed little if anything till now.

News Osteuropa News Westeuropa Rumänien

Again … Same old Stories

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Again … Same old Stories

The Mail Online again distinguishes itself with ludicrous statements that girls as yound as 12 are forced married against thousands of pounds an are now living in Rotterdam. They call for an urgent investigation of how many such cases now live in the UK. As usual, several items are mixed in such news: The fact that Vlax Rroma (originally from Romania) pay for the bride. It by far doesn’t mean that they are “boufght” for this price, often in gold coins belongs to the bride and is a guarantee in case of divorces or difficulties. And again, from Rroma, the first boyfriend or girlfriend is considered to be the “husband” or the “wife”. Add these two facts, and you get a lurid headline that has little to do with reality.

Italien News Westeuropa

Italian Textbook slammed for prejudice

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Italian Textbook slammed for prejudice

A court in Rome has found a publishing house that published a text book suggesting that „Gypsies“ were criminals, has been condemned for discrimination. This is a landmark case in Italy where these statements are all too often tolerated if not encouraged.

Ungarn News Americas News Osteuropa

Canadian – Hungarian Saga

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Canadian – Hungarian Saga

A Hungarian Rroma family from Gyongyöspata in North Eastern Hungary has finally won their asylum case and are grated a stay in Canada. The asylum application and the back and forth and set backs have made the news since a long time. We welcome this decision!

Meanwhile a Canadian Lawyer who lost another prominent asylum case for Hungarian Rroma in Toronto admitted that he was negligent in preparing their defence. What can one say to this?

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