Tag Archives: Roma

Ungarn News Osteuropa

31.12.2014 Jobbik’s Vona claims not to deny the Holocaust

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In an interview with Hungary Today, Gabor Vona, the leader of the extreme rightist party “Jobbik” claims to be moderate, and not to be against Jews and Rroma. This interview goes against many other speeches where he or other people from his party advocated the eradication of all Rroma, requesting Jews to leave, and so on. In the interview, he belittles the impact of the guard, a paramilitary arm of Jobbik that marches through Rroma communities and even Jewish neighbourhoods with raised Nazi salute.

This interview doesn’t at all reflect the true nature of the party nor the actual policies they try to enforce, for example by removing Rroma from neighbourhoods, as in Nyiregyhaza.

Frankreich News Westeuropa

05.12.2014 Bron: Mrap criticises planned segregated class for Rroma children

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Bevand (2014) reports on the latest matter of the French movement against racism (Mrap). The organisation criticises the decision of the mayor of Bron, to set up an extra class for Rroma children in the community. The class is supposed to encompass the children of a local Rroma settlement and to include Rroma children already enrolled in school. The movement against racism justifiably criticises that the children are thereby intentionally excluded and disadvantaged: “Towards a new controversy? In any case, the movement against racism and for the friendship between people (Mrap) condemned in a statement on Monday the decision of the mayor of Bron – a statement near Lyon – to open an “ethnic class” to receive the Roma children of a local slum. […] Without distinction, it groups together children who were already enrolled in previous years and speak French well, with other children who have just arrived in France, MRAP continues, which wants “to invoke the defenders of rights to finish this additional ethnic segregation.” Segregation is inevitably the wrong way to promote the integration of migrant children. Rather, it promotes the exclusion and marginalisation of the children as well as the immigrant families. As Bevand himself points out, so far, children with weak knowledge of the French language were additionally supported, but could attend regular classes. This is a much more elaborate method, which aims at integration and support, and not to at a special treatment and exclusion. – According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, in France there are between 100,000 and 500,000 Rroma. The vast majority of them is integrated, goes to work, and sends their children to school. The estimated 15,000 Rroma living in informal settlements are a minority of the minority.

Frankreich Deutschland News Osteuropa News Westeuropa Rumänien

05.12.2014 Prosecutor of Paris: criminal court not competent to judge Manuel Valls

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Libération (2014) reports on a recent decision of the Paris prosecutor. The investigation covers statements by Prime Minister Manuel Valls, in which he claimed that Rroma had the inclination to stay in Romania or to return there, and they had a very different lifestyle than the French, which was inevitably in confrontation with the French one. The Paris prosecutor’s office now judged on December the second that the criminal court was not competent to judge the statements made by Manuel Valls. The criminal chamber will pronounce its verdict in this regard on December the 19th. However, the plaintiff against Valls, the organisation “La Voix des Roms”, wants that his statements are not judged independently of his function as the then Interior Minister, but are recognised as demagoguery: “For the lawyer of Manuel Valls, Mr. Georges Holleaux, the statements of his client are adjacent to “his ministerial competence”. In his view, the facts thus reverse the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the only institution empowered to judge members of the government, for deeds which they have committed in the function of their office. Moreover, he pointed out that that Mrap (Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l’amitié entre les peuples) had filed a lawsuit against Manuel Valls at the the Court of Justice of the Republic in September 2013, which was dropped it without further consequences.” Manuel Valls is not an isolated case with his racist remarks against the Rroma. In recent years, numerous French mayors and politicians have gained public attention with racist remarks about Rroma. Some were sentenced to mild fines, others were completely acquitted, referring to the freedom of expression. In the French public, Rroma are equated with 15,000 to 20,000 Rroma who live in illegal settlements. The 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma who are integrated in France since generations, are continuously ignored. The Rroma are also repeatedly exploited by various parties for political purposes and blamed for social ills that have their origins in society as a whole, and not in a single minority. Unfortunately, this scapegoat policy finds approval among a shocking number of people (compare L’Yonne Républicaine 2014).

Bosnien News Osteuropa News Westeuropa North Macedonia Serbien

05.12.2014 Administrative court of Münster: Serbia not a safe country of origin for Rroma

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Die Zeit (2014) reports on a recent judgment of the Münster administrative court. When assessing the application for asylum by a Serbian Rroma family, the court reached the verdict that Serbia does not constitute a safe country of origin for the Rroma minority. The judges justified their judgment, among others, by pointing out that unsuccessful asylum applicants can expect to be criminally prosecuted upon return. Thereby, the court also questions the new law, which declares Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina but also Serbia to safe countries of origin. Several administrative courts had agreed to the asylum applications of Romany families in the recent past: “The administrative court (AC) of Münster questions the constitutionality of the new asylum reform of the federal government. The judges granted an urgent application for asylum by a Serbian Roma family, and stopped their imminent deportation, said the AC. The court has thus set itself in conflict with the federal government, which declared the Balkan countries Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to safe countries of origin in November. The AC wants to clarify now in main proceedings, whether the law should be submitted to the federal constitutional court for review. When declaring a state to a safe country of origin, the legislators must make an overall assessment of the significance of political persecution conditions in the relevant country. Decisive are the criteria prescribed by the constitution. The legislator maybe did not sufficiently comply with this regarding the Serbian Roma and the negative Serbian emigration requirements. Moreover, the legislative history did not show that the decisions of administrative tribunals were taken into account. For instance, the administrative courts of Stuttgart and Münster upheld the urgent complaints of Serbian asylum seekers in a variety of cases.” Rroma are not politically persecuted in Serbia. However, that does not mean that they are not exposed to repeated discrimination in everyday life. Particularly the Rroma already economically marginalised. The assessment of the individual case should always be favoured against a reductionist assessment of the social situation in a country. Rroma have been provably integrated in Southeast Europe for centuries – as, Ottoman tax registers, among others, show ­ and form part of all strata of society and professions. However, since the Yugoslav wars and the strengthened nationalism, Rroma increasingly face discrimination. Furthermore, there is the mentioned law of the Serbian criminal code that threatens asylum applicants with criminal prosecution upon return (compare Prantl 2014).

Deutschland News Westeuropa

05.12.2014 “German champion”: a novel about the boxing Sinto Max Trollmann

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König (2014) reports on the latest book by the writer Stephanie Bart. Her novel tells the life story of the German Sinto Max Trollmann, who foughts as a boxer in the 1930s against the rise of Nazism, but then himself becomes a victim of the inhuman machinery. Due to his Rroma origins, he was discredited by Nazi functionaries: “Stephanie Beard tells of the rise of this clever young boxer – and in parallel of the rise of the Nazis in Germany. Relentlessly, the author shows how unjust, how ruthless, blinded and inhuman one dealt with opposition members and with those who did not correspond to the “Aryan” race. […] Trollmann is the German champion for only eight days. After that, he is denied the title because he is Sinto. […] The boxing federation deliberately reduces the size of the boxing ring to the disadvantage of Trollmann. He cannot, as usual, box at a distance. Trollmann knows that he will lose. He appears with dyed blond hair and a white powdered face, dressed up as a model Aryan. I’ll see them further first – his statement goes, which is a political one.” – In Auschwitz-Birkenau alone, 30,000 Rroma were murdered. Researchers emanate from at least half a million casualties among the Rroma. The genocide of the Rroma is much less known compared to the mass murder of the Jews. For a long time in the post-war period, Rroma were discredited and marginalized. West Germany did not recognize the genocide of the Rroma until 1982, many of the survivors were already dead by then.

Deutschland News Osteuropa News Westeuropa

28.11.2014 Debate on grave fee for Auschwitz victims

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RP Online (2014) addresses a debate on the graves of Auschwitz victims in Germany, among them many Rroma. Normally, graves are closed after a certain period of time if the lease is not extended. In the case of Holocaust survivors, German Rroma associations emphasise it is also about preserving history. Therefore, they fight against dismantling of the graves of Holocaust survivors, which then would pass into oblivion. In Krefeld, a descendant of a Rromni who survived the concentration camp, can no longer pay the grave fee due to financial issues. German Rroma associations decidedly fight against dismantling the resting place: “With a harsh protest, two organizations  – The NRW state association of German Sinti and Roma and the German association for information and advice for victims of Nazi persecution  – have been protesting against the fact that the city is not renouncing the fees for lease of the grave of a woman who was imprisoned in the Nazi death camp in Auschwitz. It is the grave of a Roma woman named Korpatsch. Her niece had paid for the grave for decades, but can no longer account for the costs for an extension. Jost Rebentisch of the federal association for victims of Nazi-prosecution accuses the city of historical amnesia. The city disregards the criticism: […] Because of legal reasons, it was not possible to formally renounce to the lease fee, as required by the association of Rebentisch. Although there is an initiative of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, according to which the burial of people persecuted in the war should be left free; but there is still no final settlement.” In Auschwitz-Birkenau alone, 30,000 Rroma were murdered. Researchers estimate at least half a million casualties among the Rroma. The genocide of the Rroma is much less known compared to the mass murder of the Jews. This is another reason why a preservation of the memory of the victims and the inhuman actions is of great importance (compare Freie Presse 2014).

Deutschland News Westeuropa

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The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (2014) reports on the publication of a new study on right-wing extremism in Germany. According to the study commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, prejudices against minorities like the Rroma remain strong in Germany: “The Foundation publishes the study every two years and examines the extent to which right-wing extremist viewpoints are common among the population. This year, 2,000 citizens were interviewed between June and August. Explicitly right-wing extremist viewpoints have thus become much less common in recent years and are at a new low. […] Nonetheless, still ten percent of the population thinks that National Socialism had its good points – and that Germany would need a “leader” who “rules the country with a strong hand for the benefit of all.” […] The authors of the study warned that there was no cause for complacency. It may be possible that some citizens are simply afraid to express their right-wing viewpoints openly because of the NSU affair. […] Zick [one of the authors] said that there was a ruthless “market-shaped extremism” in Germany, which follows distinct efficiency thinking. People who do not perform enough for society, but rather generate costs, are rejected in this way of thinking. [….] Also other groups – as Muslims or Sinti and Roma – are faced with widespread prejudices in Germany, the study states. Approximately 38 percent of the population thinks that Sinti and Roma are prone to crime.” Due to the genocide of 500,000 to one and a half million Rroma, Germany has a historical responsibility towards the minority. However, the Federal Republic met this responsibly only very slowly: the genocide of the Rroma was not recognised until 1982. Before that, the Holocaust was trivialized with the remark that there had been persecution because of the “anti-social behaviour” of the “Gypsies”, but not due to an eugenically motivated racial fanaticism. An official memorial in honour of the murdered Rroma was not inaugurated until 2012. – For the study of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, 2,000 citizens were surveyed from June to August 2014 (compare Käfer 2014).

News Schweiz News Westeuropa

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Siegrist (2014) reports on the latest novel by Swiss writer Hans Schaub. The book, entitled “The blonde gypsy girl” [German: Das blonde Zigeunermädchen] tells the story of a German Gadje (non-Rroma) woman, who falls in love with a travelling Rroma musicians. She gives up her bourgeois life and henceforth lives with her travelling lover, whereby she experiences adventures and austerity. As this brief synopsis already reveals, the plot is pervaded by many stereotypes about Rroma: on one hand, there is the conviction that Rroma are traveling musicians and showmen. In addition, Siegrist review of the book, the terms “Gypsy”, “Rroma”, “travelers” and “Yeniche” are mistakenly equated: “Well, it is a novel, a fictional story, says Hans Schaub: “But, the impetus for the story was lawsuit that took place in 2010 in Zurich.” At that time, travelers stood before court, says Schaub, and he found that many prejudices were reflected in the media. “The Roma were generally poorly talked down.” Based on these findings, his story was developed. “I assume that there are no malicious ethnicities, but rather evil humans.” The author Hans Schaub, 70 years old, moved to Menziken in 2009, where he devotes himself to writing. As a former council chairman and head of the Department of Social Welfare in a Zurich municipality, Schaub had been in contact with travelers in Switzerland, most of the time about the question of travelling sites.” The book may tell an adventurous story about the contact between different cultures. Nevertheless, there is the problem that Schaub spreads prejudiced and simply false information about Rroma: most Rroma in Switzerland – an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people, are sedentary and well integrated. In addition, Yeniche and Rroma are not the same. The Swiss travelers are mainly Yeniche that have European roots and speak the language Yeniche that traces back to the Yiddish and Germanic language. The Rroma however originated from India and speak Rromanes, originating from the Sanskrit. Most Rroma are sedentary, as evidenced by some Ottoman tax registers since their arrival in Europe. These important details Schaub didn’t research thoroughly enough for his book and instead focuses on the dramatic and romanticized aspect of the casual “gypsy life”.

Deutschland News Osteuropa News Westeuropa

28.11.2014 Award for Holocaust survivors Hugo Höllenreiner

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Trebbin (2014) reports on the award for the German Rroma-Holocaust survivor Hugo Höllenreiner. Höllenreiner is one of three thousand survivors who survived the “gypsy camp” of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Most of the approximately 30,000 prisoners, including many women and children, were killed. In the 1990s, Höllenreiner began to break his silence about this traumatic experience and henceforth committed himself as a contemporary witness. He has reported on the Nazi atrocities at Auschwitz-Birkenau to thousands of German pupils: “How SS men launched sheep dogs on naked people before his eyes. How they drove people into the gas chambers. How he had to witness mass shootings and then had to help with filling in the graves with the bodies of the murdered. And how little Hugo was lying on the operating table of camp doctor Josef Mengele… […] 36 family members of the Höllenreiners perished in the Holocaust. Hugo’s parents and their six children survived with a lot of luck and great courage. However, his education after the war and the liberation was short-lived: the teachers put the “Gypsy boy” unceremoniously out the door. The discrimination continued. So Hugo Höllenreiner had to start his career with peddling.” For his commitment as a contemporary witness to the Holocaust, Höllenreiner has now been awarded with the medal “Munich shines”. West Germany did not recognise the genocide of the Rroma until 1982, when many of the survivors had already died. The Holocaust of the Rroma is often incorrectly referred to with the word “Porrajmos”. The term, which traces back to the verb “porravav”, meaning to “open wide”, is often used in the context of sexual activity and therefore is not appropriate to describe a genocide.

News Osteuropa Rumänien

28.11.2014 Stereotypes: Rroma gang harasses Romanian Member of Parliament

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The British tabloid newspaper “Daily Mail” reports on a group of young Rroma, who allegedly harassed and threatened a Romanian Member of Parliament. Because the politicians paid his loan to late, the bank sold a portion of his property to pay off the debt, the newspaper states. Young “Rroma millionaires” are said to have moved into the sold part and henceforth have started to massively harass the politician. Thornhill’s (2014) article in the Daily Mail builds part of a series of disparaging articles about Rroma, which the British tabloid published in recent months and years. The newspaper reported regularly in a very negative way about Rroma migrants in the UK, and portrayed them as a poor, asocial and often criminal minority, who would intentionally exploit the British welfare system. In the case of the Romanian parliamentarian, the newspaper spreads absurd notions of uncivilized and ruthless “Rroma millionaires”: “A Romanian MP was stunned after a family of millionaire gypsies moved into his mansion after he was late paying back a loan secured on a 20 percent share in his property, and the bank sold it off to the gypsies to recover the debt. It meant that the gypsies who snapped up the 20 percent stake in the property in the north-eastern Romanian city of Iasi moved into part of it overnight, and since then have allegedly made MP Ionel Agrigoroaei’s life hell. […] And if the 53-year-old MP was unhappy about seeing the gypsies move into a wing of his property, he was even more unhappy when they started a catalogue of what he describes as terror and intimidation in a bid to get him to move out so they could occupy the rest of the building.” – Rroma are not more criminal than other ethnic groups. In addition, the mentioning of ethnicity in connection with the events described by Thornhill, is irresponsible. It only fuels derogatory prejudices against the Rroma. Most Rroma are integrated and go to work.

Bosnien Deutschland News Osteuropa News Westeuropa North Macedonia Serbien

26.11.2014 “De Maizière: discrimination [of Rroma] is not political persecution”

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Sirleschtov/Birnbaum (2014) spoke with Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s interior minister and member of the Christian Democrat Party. In the talk, De Maizière justifies his successful efforts to declare Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia to be safe countries of origin. He states that although Rroma are badly treated in these three countries, they are not politically persecuted. Therefore, a refugee status for Rroma from these countries can no longer be acceptable: “A part of the Greens criticise me, saying I play people who come to us against each other. But that would mean by implication that Germany has to accept anyone who comes here. […] That is why the distinction between real political persecution and others who leave their homes for other reasons is the rational way and the path laid out by our constitution. A bad treatment of the Roma in some Balkan countries is just no political persecution. This is hard for those affected, but this distinction is necessary.” Rroma are indeed not politically persecuted in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. Their integration is historically proven for the Balkans: since centuries, they belong to all social strata and professional groups. However, that does not mean that they are not exposed to massive discrimination in everyday life, especially since the strengthened nationalism of the Yugoslav Wars. The estimate how strong this discrimination is can only be critically evaluated in individual cases. Therefore, asylum applications should not be treated generally, but individually, to do justice to the fate of those persons affected.

Ungarn News Osteuropa News Schweiz

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Odehnal (2014) reports on the hopelessness of the Rroma who returned from Switzerland. The 60 Rroma travelled to Switzerland in late October to apply for asylum. The applications were rejected immediately, because of the status of Hungary as an EU-country. Although Rroma are not politically persecuted in Hungary, they face severe discrimination in every day life. This fact was paid little attention to by the Swiss asylum authority: “On the evening of October the 19th, the 37-year-old Laszlo and his wife Anita, her five children and other Roma families boarded a coach to leave their home city of Miskolc in northern Hungary for ever, and to apply for asylum in Switzerland. Their homes in a former working class neighbourhood, in which the streets only have numbers, are soon to be demolished. […] Many families have received the termination of their lease, some houses have already been demolished. In addition, the Roma complain about discrimination and racism by authorities and the far-right Jobbik party. Job vacancies are barely available in the surroundings – and if so, Roma have no chance when applying. […] Piroska Fórizs must vacate her apartment in May. She has no idea how to proceed with her and their five children. Yes, she confirms the rumour in the village that her husband has committed suicide last week: “He was just depressed, did not know how to proceed.” The two oldest boys found their father hanged outside the house in the morning, she says.” Odehnal also spoke with the vice-mayor of Miskolc, Peter Pflieger, on the development aid of Switzerland in his city. The 1.2 million Swiss francs from the Swiss contribution have been used to clean two small rivers, to renew the riverside building and to save frogs. The fact that one could have easily built numerous apartments for the needy with this money is not mentioned. Since the economic and Euro crisis that has impoverished a growing strata of Hungarian, and the rise of the right-wing nationalist Fidesz, the Rroma are confronted with a revivified xenophobia. The 600,000 to one million Rroma in Hungary belong to all strata of society and professions. By the public presence of marginalized Rroma, the notion of the minority remains very one-sided and pejorative.

News Westeuropa Spanien

26.11.2014 New Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy defines “Gypsies” as impostors

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Kassam (2014) reports on a controversy surrounding the new edition of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy. Therein, the already pejorative word “Gypsy” is equated in an unreflected way to “impostor” and “deceiver”, without referring to the history of the term. According to linguistic and historical studies, the exonym “Gypsy” goes back to the “Athiganoi” in the Byzantine Empire. In the chronicles of that time, these heretics were assigned similar pejorative attributes as the Rroma and were considered as being magicians and fortunetellers: “After 13 years spent updating entries, the Royal Spanish Academy unveiled its 23rd edition of the Spanish dictionary earlier this month at a sombre ceremony presided by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia,. The new edition removed a previous definition of “gitano” or “gypsy” as an adjective meaning “defrauding or operating with deception”. But it added a new secondary meaning, saying the word was synonymous with “trapacero” – an adjective meaning dishonest or swindling. Arguing that the definition is obsolete and does little more than feed into prejudices, the Association of Feminist Gypsies for Diversity is taking action.” […] “You can’t label an entire community, an entire culture, a whole population like this,” said member Maria José Jiménez Cortiñas. “The entry legitimises stereotypes. We’re asking that for once the Academy move ahead of society and eliminate definitions that serve only to marginalise our community.”” Rroma have experienced a centuries-old history of exclusion and persecution in Europe. Their exclusion is significantly based on stereotyped prejudices. To consolidate these prejudices by unrelentingly echoing them in a dictionary is indeed very questionable.

Bulgarien News Osteuropa News Westeuropa Rumänien

26.11.2014 Huffington Post: economic and social integration of Rroma must be encouraged

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Cyrulnik (2014), a psychiatrist and member of the UNICEF, talks about his work in Romania and Bulgaria. By working for the children’s charity UNICEF, Cyrulniks perspective is largely restricted to the excluded Rroma of Romania and Bulgaria. Despite his emphatic perspective on the minority, he reproduces several stereotypes about Rroma, such as the misconception that Rroma were all originally travellers: “At the time of communism, the sedentarisation of Roma was enforced, and the results seemed rather promising. The kids could run around everywhere, were laughing and were supervised by the “big” between 10 and 12 years and all adults of the village [Siria]. […] The Roma population is important. One estimates 2 million of them for Rumania, of which 650,000 are nomads. They are therefore already largely sedentary.” However, Rroma have always been largely sedentary. The travelling lifestyle ascribed to them is rather the result of their continued exclusion and dissemination. – Another focus of Cyrulnik’s article is on the limited access of the Rroma to health care institutions, the low enrolment rates and the continuing segregation. However, Cyrulnik forgets that, concerning this topic, he addresses only the visible, marginalised part of the minority and negates the integrated Rroma. In addition, it is dangerous to ascribe the marginalised Rroma a collective apathy toward the inevitability of their situation: “The segregation plays an important role in the difficult socialisation of Roma. The distance at the countryside reinforces the clan spirit and creates a culture that is difficult to participate in and in which one group ignores the other. The Roma families set themselves limits and internalise the discrimination. They subject themselves to a faith that makes them say that they cannot do better, that this is their fate. They easily become school dropouts, which threatens to make their integration in Europe difficult.” Nonetheless, Cyrulnik’s plea to economically and socially foster the integration of the Rroma and to make better use of their work force for the economies of Europe is commendable and indeed of great significance. 

Bulgarien Dänemark News Osteuropa News Westeuropa Rumänien

26.11.2014 Illegal black lists of immigrant groups in Denmark

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The Local Denmark (2014) reports on the existence of illegal black lists in various cities in Denmark. The local government of these cities have set different immigrant groups, such as the Chechens or the Rroma, on a list of undesirable immigrant groups. The illegal practice was revealed by the Danish newspaper Berlingske: “Some municipalities tell the Danish Immigration Service (Udlændingestyrelsen) not to send them refugees from certain countries, Berlingske newspaper revealed. […] Another unwanted group is the Roma. Sønderborg Council told Immigration Service that it “wants to put an end to the visits of Roma people from former Yugoslavia who come on humanitarian grounds”. Danish municipalities provide requests and recommendations to Immigration Service each year as a way to build upon previous successes with certain groups, but many of the municipalities also use the annual exercise as an opportunity to tell the national authorities which refugees they do not want. This would appear to be in violation of the nation’s immigration laws which state that no distinctions can be made based on nationality when helping those in need.” However, Rroma are not a national group, but a transnational, ethnic minority, with a centuries-old history of exclusion and persecution. The deliberate exclusion of a specific group of persons violates the anti-discrimination legislation. Rroma are not a homogeneous mass, but are composed of a variety of individuals, with diverse experiences. With the expansion of the European free movement of persons to Romania and Bulgaria, various western European countries warned of a mass immigration of poor Rroma. However, these forecasts build not on critical analysis, but on politicized, polemical estimates of migration: Rroma are not mass of uneducated poor, but belong to all strata of society and professional groups.

Deutschland News Westeuropa

21.11.2014 German Federal Supreme Court asked to take a stance on its hostile judgments on Rroma

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Romani Rose, chairman of the central council of German Sinti and Rroma, has demanded the German Federal Supreme Court in a statement on the 4th Roseburg-symposium to take a stance on its jurisdiction against Rroma under National Socialism and in the post-war period. In 1956, the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) had largely rejected the claims of Holocaust survivors for compensation, on the grounds that there had been earlier official measures against Rroma: “In January of 1956, the Federal Supreme Court had largely denied compensation to “gypsies” who were persecuted by the Nazis. The exclusion and resettlement policy of the Nazis until 1943 was denied to have been motivated by their racial fanaticism, but was said to be part of the “usual police preventive measures”. The judges of the Federal Supreme Court justified their verdict with the suggestion that due to the nature of the people, there had always been measures against the “Gypsy plague”. Without any relativization it says: “They tend, as experience shows, towards crime, particularly thefts and frauds, they often lack the moral drives to respect the property of others, because they appertain like primitive men an unrestrained occupation instinct.” It was not until 1963 that at the Federal Supreme Court recognised that Rroma were persecuted in Nazi Germany before 1943. However, the racist police considerations, which allege a collective predisposition to crime for Rroma, were still recognised. Rose therefore demanded an official dissociation of the Federal Supreme Court from its past verdicts, as he stated at the symposium: ““Then, the Supreme Court adopted the justification strategy of the Nazis and their demagogic agitation”, criticized Rose. Until today, there has been no dissociation on part of the Federal Supreme Court. “We would appreciate it very much if such a statement – in whatever form – would be possible today.”” – In Auschwitz-Birkenau alone, 30,000 Rroma were murdered. Researchers estimate at least half a million casualties among the Rroma (Rath 2014).

News Westeuropa

21.11.2014 Jean-Marie Le Pen sentenced for racist remark against Rroma

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The Paris appeal’s court sentenced Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the right-wing nationalist Front National, to a fine of 5’000 Euros. The strident politician had claimed at the Summer University of the Front National that Rroma would steal as naturally as birds fly. In French, the word “voler” means to fly as well as to steal. In its judgment, the court of appeal upheld the first instance verdict of the criminal court in December 2013. Le Pen’s defence attorney – Mr. de Saint-Just – decidedly referred to the right to freedom of expression. This would clearly be violated by the judgment of the appeal’s court: ““This final verdict is a massive violation of freedom of expression”, judged Mr. de Saint-Just on Monday, assuring that his client “will go before the European Court of Human Rights that fights for the freedom of expression and that normally supercedes the appeal’s court, unless it is Jean-Marie Le Pen.” “It’s not about freedom of expression, it is about a racist expression, which is a crime”, Mr. Pierre Mairat, the lawyer for the movement against racism and for friendship between people (Mrap) stated. “This last, politically incorrect expression of Le Pen corresponds to his leaving: that of a man who has always associated his statements with hatred, responded Mr. Patrick Klugman, lawyer of SOS Racisme, saluting “a welcome verdict”” (Libération 2014). Jean-Marie Le Pen has been repeatedly noticed for his anti-Semitic remarks gainst foreigners, minorities and the trivialisation of the Holocaust (compare Le Huffington Post in 2014, Le Monde in 2014, Le Parisien 2014).

Frankreich Italien News Westeuropa

21.11.2014 Discrimination against Rroma in Italy

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As in the beginning of November, the Local (2014) reported about the discrimination against Rroma in Italy. Subject of contention are the numerous camps in which the Italian authorities deliberately hold the minority at the margins of society. The conditions in these state camps are heavily criticised: the air is insufficient to breath, an inmate says, as well as the hygiene: tuberculosis, scabies and lice are much more frequently than usual. The permanent monitoring in the camps, which is part of the facilities, leads particularly among children to anxiety and sleep disorders as well as phobias, the Rroma Rights Centre criticises in a report: “It [the Rroma Rights Centre] also warned of daily discrimination and violence against Roma in “an ever-growing climate of racism”, including repeated cases of local residents attacking camps with Molotov cocktails while police turn a blind eye. Although over half the 170,000 or so Roma and Sinti people in Italy are Italian citizens with regular jobs and houses, hate crimes against the poorest strata are rife, fuelled by inflammatory comments by politicians on both the left and right quick to paint Roma as crooks. […] Camp dwellers are prevented by council regulations from applying for public housing even if they were born in Italy, trapping them permanently in fenced-off centres far from schools, shops, health care centres or workplaces.” Because of this strong discrimination against Rroma, the European Commission has threatened legal actions against the Italian government for violation of the anti-discrimination legislation. Rroma belong to all social strata, but are indeed particularly affected by poverty and discrimination. Since the euro and economic crisis, various parties especially instrumentalise them as scapegoats for social ills. As in France, the public image of the minority is marked by extreme prejudice and misinformation: in the minds of many Italians, Rroma are synonymous with the residents of camps in the suburbs. The aspect of social exclusion is largely ignored.

News Osteuropa

21.11.2014 Fidesz mayor Ferenc Haszilló agitates against Rroma

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Ferenc Haszilló, the recently re-elected mayor of the Hungarian city Kecel, has come under massive attack in the Hungarian media and politics, and has announced his resignation from office. The reasons for the furore around Haszilló are  a recordings of statements, which he made in 2012 after an official interview with the local television. The utterances, not meant for publication, include massive defamations of Rroma and Jews, criticism of the ruling party and great sympathy for right-wing extremist views: “An employee of the local television, who wishes to remain anonymous, confirmed Magyar Narancs the authenticity of the recording, but explained it should never have become public – it was leaked with the malicious intention to cause a scandal and bring the Mayor and city into disrepute. […] Regarding the Roma, he [Ferenc Haszilló] says: “dirty, worthless assholes, who grow up in piss, are as stupid as animals and come to the municipality if they need a little firewood; I wish I could go out and kick them in the face, the Jobbik is probably right about that.(…) One can not allow that they freeze to death (laughter) … The truth is that should they all die (…) and the state also … on this subject I totally agree with Jobbik, kiss my ass … one should chop them into shithouse.” – The context that led to the publication of the recordings is still unclear. Although Haszilló has now apologised for his comments, they are evidence of a great sympathy for misanthropic views that degrade certain ethnics groups and declare them inferior. Such statements meet the statement of facts of demagoguery and racism to the full extent and should be punished accordingly (Pusztaranger 2014).

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21.11.2014 Great Britain: survey confirms discrimination, but perpetuates biased Rroma image

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A survey conducted on behalf of Anglia Ruskin University and the National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups, which interviewed 120 Rroma and Irish Travellers, confirms the discrimination and exclusion of Rroma and Irish Travellers in the areas of health care, access to education and the labour market, and indicates elevated levels of infant mortality and lower life expectancies. However, due to the very small group of subjects it seems likely that only already marginalised Rroma and Irish Travellers were interviewed for the survey. Of the 90,000 to 120,000 Rroma, who have been living integrated in England for generations, belonging to all social strata, not a word is said of in the study. The study seems concentrated on the easily identifiable, marginalised Rroma and Irish Travellers, who only represent a part of these groups. The investigation is understood as a critique of the Rroma policy of the British government, which so far only undertook insufficient efforts to help the minority integrate successfully: “Nearly nine out of every 10 children and young people from a Gypsy, Roma or Traveller background have suffered racial abuse and nearly two thirds have also been bullied or physically attacked. As a result many are scared to attend school. The infant mortality rate of Gypsies and Travellers is three times higher than the national average. The life expectancy of Gypsies and Travellers has been estimated to up to 12 years shorter than that of the general population. They are significantly more likely to have a long-term condition and suffer poorer health. Gypsies and Travellers use mainstream health services less than other members of the population because of practical difficulties, such as complex procedures for registering and making use of services. Traditional occupations such as scrap metal dealing are being made more difficult or disappearing altogether due to Government policies. Roma are often exploited by gang masters.” In addition to the one-sided focus of the study on a marginalised minority of the minority, it is must be criticised that one didn’t deal precisely enough with terminologies and cultural explanations. While the distinction between Irish Travellers with European roots and Rroma with Indian origins made, the differentiation between “Gypsies” in opposite to “Rroma” and “Irish Travellers” remains unclear. Moreover, the claim that clan chiefs often exploit Rroma is the reproduction of a popular prejudice about Rroma. Rroma are not organised in hierarchical clans, but structured largely egalitarian (compare Lane/ Spencer/Jones 2014).

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