Tag Archives: Education

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05.06.2014 ECRI: Rroma in Romania still too much discriminated against

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RTS (2014) addresses the newest report by the European Commission against Racism (ECRI). This comes to the finding that the Rroma in Romania are still too much discriminated against. The commission’s experts deplore the persistent derogatory remarks by Romanian politicians, who maintain and sustain the negative public opinion towards Rroma. The segregation of Rroma children in schools is still a current issue. The report summarizes: “The law on the status of national minorities has not yet been adopted. Moreover, the 5% threshold set for the eligibility of candidates in local elections can hinder the ability of national/ethnic minorities to elect their representatives under the same conditions as the majority. Public insults and defamation on racial discrimination grounds are not prohibited under the law. […] Stigmatising statements against Roma are common in the political discourse, encounter little criticism and are echoed by the press, the audiovisual media and on the Internet. No effective mechanism is in place to sanction politicians and political parties which promote racism and discrimination. Significant hurdles hinder the implementation of strategies for Roma integration, such as the poor allocation of funds from the national budget and the ineffective coordination between the ministries. Furthermore, the impact of these strategies has never been evaluated. School segregation and discrimination towards Roma pupil remain a serious reason for concern” (ECRI 2014). The report criticizes in particular that the Rroma are accused of willingly not wanting to integrate. One also establishes a clear link between delinquency and the culture of the Rroma, what is clearly racist (compare Zonebourse 2014).

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05.06.2014 Further evictions in the Île-de-France

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Several papers report on further evictions of informal Rroma settlements in the Île-de-France. Thus, in Villebon (Essonne) a camp that was built on a former industrial site, was evicted. The settlement was home to between 200 and 250 people. Samu social tired to provide as many alternative accommodation options to those affected as possible. On the day of the evacuation, the majority of the inhabitants had already left. When, at half past six, the security forces arrived, only about fifteen people were on site. A Rroma charity organisation criticizes in particular that the future education of the children is put in question by the eviction. Sometimes, the children are accommodated up to 70 kilometres from their school. A young Rroma is even enrolled at the local university: “About fifteen children were enrolled in a special class, five children in the high school of Palaiseau and a adolescent was enrolled at the Faculty of Law”, said M. Peschanski. “This effort of the enrolment that was coming to fruition, was destroyed this morning”, he added” (France 3 2014). Previously, the residents of the settlement were trying to obtain a postponement of the eviction on part of the authority until the end of the school year. Around 900 people had signed a petition that was presented to the local prefect. Inconclusive. The evacuation was carried out as planned and more are imminent. Barré (2014/I) points out that since the last municipal elections, in which the Front National has increased its share of votes, the mayors are under constant pressure to act. The Rroma are made to scapegoats for social ills, by connecting them with fears. The reservations are also directed to the responsible politicians. Mayors who previously supported the Rroma were not re-elected or now behave hide their views on the issue. However, small integration projects have shown that the inclusion of some selected families with the active support of the communities delivers very positive results. However, these create envy of observers who disapprove special treatment for a selected group. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that all needy people have a right to support, regardless of their ethnicity. One should also cease to speak of a Rroma problem. However, at present, communication silence prevails. No discussions take place, but the eviction policy is continued uncritically (compare Barré 2014/II, Delin 2014, Francetv info 2014, Labreigne 2014, Le Figaro 2014, Monier 2014).

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05.06.2014 Daily Mail promotes ethnic tensions with Rroma in Sheffield

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

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30.05.2014 Persistent evictions in the Île-de-France

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Several French newspapers report on forced evictions of informal Rroma settlements in Île-de-France. Around ten settlements in Corbeil, situated on the Francilienne road ring, were evicted by the police forces and then destroyed by excavators: “Ten informal settlements, with about 300 people and situated in the middle of a junction of the Francilienne [traffic ring] and along this infrastructure, located in the municipality Corbeil-Essonnes and sited near the hospital Sud-Francilien, were evacuated on this day by the use of a court order and a municipal decree”, confirms the prefecture of Essonne. According to the organizations in support of the Roma, who were present at the sites, “numerous families preferred to leave at night, since they had been harassed by the police. Only a few dozen people remained” (Le Parisien 2014/I). According to the authorities, a “social diagnosis” was made and the needy were offered alternative accommodation options. However, this does not change the ongoing problem of regularly scheduled evictions that impede a successful integration of immigrant Rroma. In particular, children enrolled in school are disturbed by the evictions in their school careers. Laurent Lurton, from the Catholic aid of Essonne criticized in particular that numerous mothers with infants were affected by the forced evictions (compare Didio 2014, Essonne Info 2014, Libération 2014, Le Monde 2014, Le Parisien 2014/II, Le Républicain, Ménage 2014).

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30.05.2014 German court decision: Serbia not a safe country of origin for Roma

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The administrative court of Stuttgart, in what is perhaps a landmark ruling, recognized the refugee status of two Rroma from Serbia. Thus, it challenged the views of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, which at the end of last year came to the conclusion that no persecution of Rroma could be established in Serbia and deportation was therefore justified: “As reasoning, the judges said that the Roma were experiencing extreme disadvantages in their home country and were forced to live on the margins of society, as a spokeswoman for the court said on Monday. The main reason for the judgment was the restriction of the free movement of Roma in the southeast European country. For Roma, under certain circumstances, it is punishable under Serbian law to apply for asylum in another country. This equals a persecution, the court judged.” The verdict has the character of a precedent insofar, because the Rroma are not persecuted in Serbia, according to a federal decree that will be adopted shortly. Thus, the discussion about the discrimination against Rroma in former Yugoslavia and their status as refugees is once more opened. The decision also highlights that the assessment of discrimination against a minority is far from evident and easy. While some assessment are based on the legal foundations of a country, other evaluations are based on everyday practices, such as discrimination in the labour market and the education system, that are far more difficult to prove than law-related disadvantages (see Focus online 2014/I, SWR 2014).

The federal government wants to take a completely different direction. According to the daily newspaper Neues Deutschland (2014) the government wants declare Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as safe countries of origin. German interior minister Thomas de Maizière stated that Cabinet would discuss the bill on April the 30th. De Maizière had previously proposed, to also take Albania and Montenegro onto the list of safe countries of origin, but this proposal failed because of the criticism of the SPD: “SPD and the Union had approved in the coalition agreement, to take the three states of Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina onto the list. Asylum applications from people from these Balkan countries can then be processed faster – and are usually rejected. […] De Maizière said that Serbia had candidate status as a member state of the European Union. Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina went for it. “From these states one must expect that they deal well with their own citizens”, de Maizière said.” This contrasts with a perspective that emphasizes the individual destinies of those affected. For the German Institute for Human Rights, the concept of safe countries of origin is problematic in itself, because it greatly complicates the presentation and verification of individual persecutions (compare Focus online 2014/II).

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28.05.2014 School enrolment of Rroma children in France

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Moritz (2014) reports on the school integration program “Classes” in Lyon, which is fostering school attendance of Rroma children since 2006. The focus are children of families who have no fixed residence because they are living in illegal settlements. Through the strong promotion of French language skills, they are supposed to be successfully integrated into the French school system. To this end, they visit intensive courses of up to eighteen hours of French a week, with other foreign-language children: “The French school system is arranged to include foreign-language children. There are special French courses and also welcoming classes at secondary schools for children who have never been to school. Up to 18 hours of French per week, plus one hour of each of math, music, art and sports together with French students. The further integration into the lessons should then be individualized, depending on the language level of the students. Most of the students are children of immigrants from former French colonies – Algeria, Cambodia or Mali – only about a third are Roma, says Andrea Rölke. The citizen of Hamburg is a French teacher at the Collège Gabriel Rossetti where she supervises the lessons for non-native speakers.” However, a major problem remains the uncertain residence and living status of families from informal settlements. The continuous struggle to provide enough food and money degrades the importance of education. The ongoing evictions of settlements make it difficult or impossible to continuously attend a school at same place. Moritz emphasizes at the beginning of the article that the majority of the approximately 400,000 Rroma in France are integrated. The slum dwellers are therefore a minority of the minority. This is an important reference. However, it doesn’t really change anything about the problem of the continuing expulsion policy towards immigrant Rroma. Most of the immigration children will not attend a college, according to the findings of the school project. This is exactly what would be needed to break the vicious circle of exclusion and to enable successful integration.

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28.05.2014 Rroma, elections and political double standards in Eastern Europe

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Jovanovic (2014) addresses the problem that Rroma concerns are implemented only very rarely in politics. Jovanovic attributes this to the highly widespread corruption in Eastern Europe. Yet, he doesn’t really search for the reasons of favouritism but presupposes it as a fact. This leads to few new insights as to which things would have to change in order to improve the situation of the Rroma. Instead, Jovanobic conveys a too simple notion of illiterate Rroma, living in debt and poverty, who cannot get out of their misery cycle. Illiteracy among poor Rroma must clearly be identified as a phenomenon of educational alienation that has nothing to do with cultural traditions. The reason for the ongoing, unsatisfying status quo of the European Rroma policy, Jovanovic sees in a corrupt political system that urges the Rroma to vote for certain candidates in exchange for support: “Each election season, politicians across Eastern Europe manipulate, bribe, extort and threaten the Roma community into selling their vote to local gangsters in the pocket of political parties. Some voters select multiple candidates so as not to show any favouritism, thus spoiling their ballots. But most Roma voters are pressed to sell their ballots for a sack of flour or surrender them in the face of intimidation from creditors, or mafiosi who endanger their families. This leads to voter apathy, disillusionment and a sense of political powerlessness. […] Some are threatened with dismissal from work if they don’t vote a certain way. Buoyed by these kinds of manipulation, politicians elected in this way sit in national parliaments with little regard for the plight of the Roma who elected them.” Jovanovic’s denunciation of corruption and nepotism is important. However, he conveys a too simple notion of the social and political conditions in Eastern Europe. He doesn’t mention that the Rroma, although they contribute important votes, ultimately only represent a minority of voters. In Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia where the largest Rroma minorities live, Rroma represent eight to ten percent of the total population. It is therefore not only corruption, but also the unwillingness of the established parties to do something about the marginalization of Rroma that must be denounced.

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28.05.2014 Adoption of Rroma children in England: child removal justified?

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Several British newspapers report on an adoption case, which raised quite a few tensions among those involved. The focus of reporting centres on the adoption of two young Rroma boys – two and four years old – by a homosexual couple. The media now hash over the opposition of the parents against the adoption of their sons by a same-sex couple. However, the resistance of the biological parents seems to have mainly to do with the fact that their children were taken away from them by the children welfare organisation. The child removal was justified by poor parenting: the older siblings of the boys are said to have missed school regularly and the children were too often left alone and beaten. This crucial point, the reasons for the child removal, is not discussed critically by the newspapers. In return, the opposition of the parents towards the adoption of their children by a homosexual couple is debated in detail and the impression is given that Rroma in general have something against homosexuals and their influence on children. However, they seem not so much concerned with the homosexuality of the adoptive parents chosen than with the removal of the children removal. The parents criticized in the court: “The Catholic couple, who are of Roma origin, argued their two young children would grow up alienated from their family and community. Taking the case to the High Court, they accused the local authority of social engineering by attempting to turn the children white and middle class. […] “If as expected our children will try to find us and their siblings and roots, then they will discover huge differences between our culture and the way they’ve been brought up,” they said in statements to the court.”” The context of the child removal should be discussed as critically in this adoption case as the homophobia attributed to the parents and their dislike of the English middle class. Since the parents are Catholics, the relationship of Catholicism and homosexuality must also be critically debated on and not only be seen in the context of Rroma origin. The statement of the parents that Rroma worldwide don’t recognise homosexuality is their specific viewpoint and does not represent the opinion of all Rroma in any way. Many enlightened Rroma have no reservations towards homosexuals. This raises the impression that the central problem – the child removal and its legitimacy – is not adequately addressed in the articles. The natural parents want to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (compare BBC 2014, Berg 2014, Doughty 2014, Porter 2014, Simpson 2014).

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25.05.2014 Damian Drăghici: “The Rroma are not the problem, they are the solution”

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Avaline / Zacharie (2014) spoke with the Romanian Rroma-politician Damian Drăghici on the European integration of Rroma and the barriers to a successful integration of this minority. Drăghici sees the need for a broader education of the Roma, both in terms of school education as well as what social skills are concerned. However, he emphasizes that Rroma who are publicly visible and are incorrectly seen by many as representative of all Rroma, represent only a small minority of the minority. Many Rroma rather seek a successful integration and a better future for themselves and their families: The Rroma are therefore the solution for Europe, Drăghici states, their integration into the European economies means more workers for a rapidly aging society. Drăghici hopes that the marginalization of the minority will be a thing of the past in fifty years: “Damian Drăghici does not want to see the Roma as a problem. Despite the signing of an agreement with Manuel Valls, as he was the Minister of the Interior, the senator estimates that the situation “has not changed”. If he does, above all, question the “individualistic vision of the states towards the question”, he confirms that the marginalization of the Roma will be “far behind us in 50 years.” “No one will remember that previously to be Roma meant to be set aside.” The challenge remains not only to integrate the minority generally into the national economies, but to do so at all levels, in all sectors of the economy, and not only in construction or agriculture. It is to be hoped that Drăghici will be right with his very optimistic future prospect.

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25.05.2014 Integration of Rroma in France remains difficult

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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.

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21.05.2014 The political schizophrenia of the acid attack perpetrator

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=The forty-year-old man, who had doused the mattresses of homeless Rroma in Paris with an unknown liquid was acquitted. The court came to the conclusion that there was no clear evidence that it was actually acid. Rather, one assumes that it had been a mixture of soft soap and Javel, as the special hospital for poisoning confirmed. Therefore, the charge of deliberate use of force was not met. The victims had recorded that their mattress was showing traces of corrosion and therefore assumed it to be acid. This version was endorsed by the charity organisation, which supported the Rroma: “A few weeks before this process Laurent P. told his story to Libération: he was only 10 years old when in 1983, he participated in his first demonstration together with his parents, a pair of the militant syndicate: the Beurs’ March, from which later SOS racism emerged. Laurent P. graduated in 1994 in political science, three years he joined the PS (Parti Socialiste) and spent the next ten years in public service, including some time as special representative of the treasury department. Before the judges, Laurent P. displayed a form of political schizophrenia that surrounds his gesture and said that he understood to “have set a very strong symbol, which I did not ascribe any importance and what I’m sorry for. Wanting to hurt these people would be in total contradiction to my education” (Le Monde 2014, Tassel 2014).

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21.05.2014 Once more: north migration is an economic and not a Rroma phenomenon

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Peters (2014) reports on Rroma in Sofia and Berlin. She portrays the famous image of marginalized Rroma below the poverty level, for which the conditions in Germany represent a major development step, even if it is only by receiving a minimum wage. Thereby, she characterizes a fairly accurate picture of the economic causes of migration, but mixes these too imprudently with ascribed characteristics of the Rroma. Although she also mentions the large proportion of well-qualified immigrants and the discrimination against Rroma in Germany itself, she only covers these issues very marginally. The reductionist, defamatory statements of the Bulgarian deputy prime minister, Zinaida Zlatanova, are cited as evidence for the strong marginalization of the Rroma in Bulgaria, what is identified by Peters as the main reason for the northern migration of the minority: “Bulgaria is home to many different ethnic groups. We have problems only with Roma”, says Zlatanova. “And these problems exist in every country that is home to Roma. This is not a Bulgarian problem. In France, Hungary – the same.” The exclusion of Roma children in ghettos and their own schools? “We should not tear the Rroma from their natural environment. Better they go to segregated schools than never.” Whether Germany benefits from identifying the phenomenon “poverty migration” as a “Rroma problem”, is very questionable. Also in Germany the Rroma are exposed top exclusion. The exclusion of the Rroma must not be concealed that is out of question. However, the marking of migrants as Rroma migrants creates more problems than it solves. The Rroma want to integrate and not undergo special treatment, which excludes them additionally. This only creates new resentments, as can be read in Peters’ own assessment: “We must take care of the Roma, who come to us”, says Giffey [councillor for education in Neukölln]. The dilemma is this: If you do that – then more and more come.”

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21.05.2014 Memory of Rroma revolt in Auschwitz-Birkenau

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On May 16th 1944, the prisoners of camp sector II B of Auschwitz-Birkenau actively rebelled. Rroma detained there were supposed to be led into the gas chambers by SS: “Armed with stones and tools, they barricaded themselves in the barracks. They managed to escape extermination for the time being. […] The uprising in the camp sector II B of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the “Gypsy camp”, was a highlight of the resistance that Sinti and Roma actively held in many ways against the persecution and extermination by the Nazis. But their resistance was broken: after the selection of all prisoners capable of working, the “Gypsy camp” was dismantled in early August. The remaining 2900 people died in the gas chambers.” In Auschwitz-Birkenau, around 23,000 Rroma were detained, half of them younger than 14 years old. Almost all of them were murdered. On the occasion of the commemoration, Deutschlandradio Kultur spoke with Silvio Peritore, from the Central Council of German Sinti and Rroma. Peritore complains about the lacking reappraisal of the genocide in the post-war period, the detentions were legitimized as “crime prevention” in continuity with the Nazis policies, and the continuing tolerance of racist slogans under the guise of freedom of expression, which reveals ambivalence towards ones own history. The Administrative Court of Kassel decided in September 2013 that the posters of the NPD with the slogan “Money for grandma instead for Sinti and Roma” had to be tolerated under the paragraph on the freedom of expression. The statement of facts didn’t qualify as demagoguery: “How can it be that after a recognition of the genocide – with exhibitions, with monuments, educational events – again today, people continue to be defamed with a similar language. Last year before the federal election campaign, now for the European elections again, these NPD election posters are tolerated under the guise of party protection and freedom of expression. The state or the judiciary does not evaluate this form of misanthropy as demagoguery and regularly slams complaints from citizens, from people affected, and from Sinti and Roma, who don’t want to put with that. On one side one has the historic confrontation in the form of monuments – which are important, which are essential – but on the other side, one has this contradiction that allows populist parties, right-wing extremists, to do their propaganda against minorities, especially against Sinti and Roma.  They use them as scapegoats for perceived or real nuisances, which is very frightening.” On one side, Peritore speaks about a legal loophole, the tolerance of discrimination by the rule of law under the freedom of speech and press, on the other hand, the problem of the social tolerance of these hostilities. It is therefore every single citizen responsibility to work and pursue a just society (compare Barbezat 2014, Deutschlandradio Kultur 2014, Die Presse 2014, Stoll 2014, Von Billerbeck 2014).

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21.05.2014 Fire of Rroma settlement in Villeneuve d’Ascq

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In the night from 17th to the 18th of May, a Rroma settlement in Villeneuve d’ Ascq was the scene of a fire. Fourteen barracks were destroyed by the flames. One of the residents died in the fire. The fire had originated inside his hut. It is assumed that the incident is an accident: “The victim, whose age could not be clarified, passed away after a fire had started inside of his shack, at about two clock in the morning, in the night of Saturday to Sunday, the fire fighters stated [ … ] “It was not criminal, as it seems, but purely accidental. The man supposedly went to bed with a candle, Father Arthur Hervet, a priest from Lille who helps the inhabitants and was on location Sunday midday, told AFP.” Before the investigations are complete, one should not jump to conclusions. A special feature of the settlement of Villeneuve d’Ascq is that it is not illegal. The local Rroma live on the premises in agreement with the municipality of Lille. The settlement is equipped with running water and toilets. The children go to local schools (Le Figaro 2014, Hardy 2014, Libération 2014, RTL France 2014).

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16.05.2014 Romeo Franz criticizes the German and European Rroma policy

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EurActiv (2014) gives a voice to the German European Parliament candidate Romeo Franz. Franz is a German Sinto who has campaigned for the social recognition of the minority for many years. In 2011, he joined the Green Party. Franz criticizes in the interview both the German and the European Rroma policy. Too little is done and many things only half-heartedly, he criticizes. Many journalists have no sense of the discrimination that takes place due to naming ethnicity: “I have been discriminated my whole life as a Sinto. But as a 14-year-old, I was already demonstrating for our rights. It is my duty, as a German Sinto, to get involved and fight racism. […] There are deep-seated clichés and prejudices, which are being passed along within German families. […] such racist prejudice can even be stirred up in the media and politics. In daily local reporting, for example. If someone is a criminal, their ethnic affiliation is not mentioned in the news report – except regarding Sinti and Roma. In that regard, there is no sensitivity at all among journalists.” He sees is as particularly concerning that also Germany consciously promotes the segregation of the Rroma: in his constituency Ludwigsburg, a Rroma container village is under construction that wilfully marginalizes the Rroma. These double standards are also found in the German migration policy: While Angela Merkel just announced plans to better integrate the Rroma in Germany, at the same time the cabinet declared Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia to safe countries of origin. This allows the deportation of immigrant Rroma: “The German government wants to make it easier to deport people from the countries mentioned. At the same time, the Roma situation in Serbia is even worse than here – no access to running water, education or healthcare. They are constantly suffering from racist encroachment. Their life is in danger. In Brussels far to little for the social acceptance and integration of minorities is done, Franz criticizes. He wants to change this by pursuing a policy of human rights.

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14.05.2014 Eviction of Rroma camps in Roncq

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Lefebvre (2014) reports on the eviction of two illegal Rroma camps in France in Roncq. A group of about forty people were quartered in a former school. They had to leave their accommodation at the insistence of the police. On the location, a building project will start. For lack of alternatives, the evicted will stay in the street for the near future, within sight of the former school. The vehicles and caravans that some residents had available were confiscated by the police. The eviction took place in the early morning. The second camp that was cleared consisted of makeshift assembled barracks that were destroyed by excavators after the eviction. The approximately fifty people from both camps had found shelter at the current location after the eviction of settlements in Lille Sud, Croix and Roubaix. A negative event overshadowed the current location: at the exit of the camp, a car driver overran a small Rroma girl who died. A few days later, a funeral march with the participation of Rroma and residents took place: “The forty persons, among them twenty children and infants, found themselves without a roof and means of transportation on the road, next to the former school. Some members from associations came to help them every day and found them severely at loss to find them a new home for the umpteenth time. “There are three infants, five children are less than three years old. We have no means of locomotion, all will sleep in the street until the authorities meet their obligations”, said Louis Minne, one of the breadwinners of the family Lingurar. At around five o’clock in the afternoon, the Roma start to pitch up the first tents, under the gaze of the still present police.” The evacuation of the camp of Roncq is typical of the continuing expulsion-policy towards immigrant Rroma. On several occasions it was pointed out that the systematic expulsion obstructs a long-term integration and deteriorates the hygienic and sanitary conditions of those affected. Consequently, the reactions to the evictions turned out very differently. While some welcomed the drastic measures by the mayor of Tourcoing, representatives of the French Human Rights League had harsh words against the expulsion of the Rroma and denounced the action as an act of demagoguery (compare Rebischung 2014).

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09.05.2014 Integration support in Ennepetal loaded with prejudices

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Scherer (2014) reports on the advice on integration of the association “future-oriented support” of Duisburg in Enneptal. It had been invited by the local working group in order to get advices on integration of immigrated Rroma. Unfortunately, in this case also, the prevailing habit is to talk about Rroma, but not with them: “A major issue will be schooling. “The test will reveal which children have already been vaccinated, which have ever been to school and what type of school is fitting”, says [mayor] Wilhelm Wiggenhagen. For the enrolment of about 50 school-age children, there are also first thoughts and considerations. Integration classes – which do not exist in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis so far – could be a solution […] A concern is: the Roma are historically not very sedentary people. “In the worst case, we therefore take a lot of money and personnel for children, who after a few months live in a different country”, says the mayor of Ennepetal.” Wiggenhagen assessment mixes two different phenomena. One is the stereotypical view that most Rroma are travellers, which is wrong. The other is the migration to Germany because of societal and economic reasons. This migration has nothing to do with a travelling lifestyle. The article also conveys a picture of Rroma who are difficult to integrate, when the association “future-oriented support” speaks about the necessities of clear rules for the immigrants: “What the Roma need, are clear rules and consequences, if these are not adhered to.” Here, once more characteristics that are the result of poverty and lack of education, are mixed with cultural features (compare Scherer 2014/II).

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09.05.2014 Lawsuits against NPD because of harassment and demagoguery

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Gensing (2014) reports on a complaint by the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma against the right-wing nationalist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). The occasion is the announcement of a panel discussion of the party, to which it wanted to invite Heinz Buschkowsky, Thilo Sarrazin and Romani Rose to discuss the immigration of “criminal East Europeans”. Rose never agreed to his participation in such discussions and forbids himself any contact with the right-wing party, which is why the Central Council has filed a lawsuit: “The Central Council filed complaint because for harassment to the public prosecutor against the Berlin state chief [of the NPD], Sebastian Schmidtke, who signed the letter. With the public promotion of the alleged discussion, the NPD untruthfully conveyed the impression that there is actually a contact between the Party and the Central Council, the complaint reads. This suggests the assumption that Rose was actually ready to discuss with the NPD on their racist slogans, which is absolutely not the case.” Gensing interprets the action of the party as an attempt to catch media attention, so far without success.

Schmidt (2014) reports a further complaint against the NPD by a German Sintiza. In Würzburg, on numerous locations one could find posters with the slogan “Money for grandma instead of for the Sinti and Roma”. The Sintiza Perla S. filed a complaint on demagoguery. In Würzburg, the posters were then removed, but not because of a verdict of the courts. Several administrative courts on the contrary approved the posters, on the grounds that they do not openly incite discrimination against Sinti and Rroma. Perla S. contradicts this decidedly. The racism against the minority is still widespread: “Perla S. […] knows what discrimination is. “Already in school I was treated with hostility”, she says, “Hitler forgot to gas you, the children said to me.” This hurt the Sintiza. Especially because in her environment “some older people” live “who lived through the Holocaust.””

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07.05.2014 Immigration from South-Eastern Europe is an economic and not a Rroma phenomenon

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Demir (2014) discusses in the MiGAZIN once more the role of the Rroma in Europe’s debate on immigration from Southeast to Western Europe. He insists that immigration from Eastern Europe is not a Rroma problem but an economic phenomenon. Many skilled workers from Romania and Bulgaria have come to Germany for economic and social reasons, without provoking questions on whether they are Rroma or not. This only happens with so-called “poverty immigrants”, who are usually hastily referred to as Rroma. It is important to emphasize, Demir states, that the German Rroma-organizations are not contact- but dialogue-partners for the debate on immigration: “Not to be forgotten is the question of what the self-organization of my people can contribute. This includes the willingness to be available as a dialogue partner. In addition to that, the council of experts recommends entering into dialogue with the Roma self-organizations. It is important to emphasize: a dialog partner is not a contact-partner. The self-organizations justifiably see themselves not as a contact for immigration from South-Eastern Europe, precisely because it is not a Roma problem and should not be further ethnicized. [ …] It is unclear how high the Roma population of immigrant Bulgarians and Romanians is. Basically, it’s not even relevant. Because the membership to an ethnic group says nothing about the level of education or economic status of a person.” ” This viewpoint is contradicted by the opinion of many German politicians, also conservative ones: Rroma are heavily discriminated against and marginalized in Romania and Bulgaria and therefore come to Germany because they hope for a better life there. From this perspective, ethnicity is not entirely irrelevant. However, in the political debate it is unjustly intermingled with misleading culturalisms as Rroma clans, patriarchal structures or allegedly cultural-related anti-social behaviour and crime. In this context, Demir is completely to agree with that ethnicity should be kept out of the discussion.

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07.05.2014 Marseille: The importance of education for a successful integration

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La Provence (2014) reports on the work of teacher Jane Bouvier in Marseille. The teacher is committed to help Rroma children from the slums of the city to enrol in school. The hurdles are numerous, but it is important not to give up quickly, Bouvier states. Bouvier had to seek new accommodations after families were evicted from their homes. She must convince parents of the importance of education for their children and perform the administrative necessities. The children live in conditions that are not exactly conducive to a concentrated learning. Nevertheless, Bouvier is trying to promote them as good as possible. Another problem is teasing on the part of the students: “Resident in a caravan but visiting his cousins in the slums of Plombières, Santiago, 9 years old, testifies in his own words: “At school, there are some who are very nice, and some who are very angry. They tell us: You are Romanians and you rummage in the garbage cans. If I tell it to the teacher, Mohamed and Mourad grab me. Sometimes the girls say them they should cease to annoy us. They say: “He is like us, he is a man and if his family rummages in garbage cans, that is not your problem.””

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