A report on the so-called “Bildungsberater” in Germany, people who help the integration of Rroma children in schools. Most of them, as the person cited here, are Rroma themselves.
Bravo!
More of the same in France: A fire in a camp near Lyon, with wounded firemen; in Sucy, the mayor who had been accused of discrimination has been freed; in Tourcoing, Rroma are expulsed; in Lille, the expulsion order is being reviewed by a judge; in Choisy, Rroma were prevented creating a camps; in Nantes, Rroma children are enrolled in school, in spite of their upcoming eviction; and one of the young Rroma expulsed from La Courneuve is being casted in a reality show.
An appeal to the government to enrol Rroma children who live in camps. This is a fundamental right!
Amnesty International launched a petition to the Czech government protesting the enrollment of Rroma children in schools for children with disabilities. This practice is still continuing in spite of multiple protests.
THIS HAS TO STOP!
An article about the engagement of NGOs in Lausanne to enroll 6 young migrant Rroma in schools there. Well done, but let’s not forget that these migrant Rroma represent less than ONE PERCENT of the Rroma in Switzerland. And these go to school, and even to university!
Romanians are generally not prone at wanted to be identified as Rroma… Or so it seems, except when it allows them to have an easier way into high school, as a case in Romania shows.
A visit together with Romani Rose, president of the German Council of Sinti and Roma, in Auschwitz. One thing can be said: In Germany, they deal with the past. Some other countries should follow.
Following the refugee wave and the roughly 8’000 thousands Rroma in Rome, the mayor is warning of a collapse of social services. He also complains about the fact that they give quite a bit of money for Rroma, but only 20% of Rroma children go to school…
Maybe, they should close the famous camps and cut the subsidies to those who profit from them, and instead work on real integration!
The European commission scolded Hungary for having segregated schools for Rroma which violate the EU directives on Rroma integration. Hungary has now some time to remedy the situation. Let’s see…
Well done and about time!
Another report on the trial of a French mayor (we reported a while back) of the town of Sucy en Brie who was accused of having denied 5 Rroma children their right to education. The mayor was cleared of all charges, but the fact remains that Rroma children, without a formal housing document, as often denied education, in spite of French law.
A shame.
Meanwhile in France, the usual expulsions, defence, squats still make the headlines. In the University of Paris 8, the right for children to go to school is at the centre; in Ivry, near Paris, 73 families have to leave their camp; in the South West, two families are also expulsed; while in the Paris region, tensions are reported near a Rroma camp.
The mayor of Sucy-en-Brie Marie-Carole Ciuntu was accused of discrimination for having refused to enrol 5 Rroma children in school ass they did not have a proper “attestation de domicile”, a proof of residency. The mayor was cleared in court.
An article on the schooling of Sinti children in the housing estate “Maro Temm” [our land] in the city of Kiel. Sinti children in Germany often don’t finish school, are often absent, and generally have a low education level. The article highlights some of the reasons.
In France, the summer is the season for expulsions. The reason being that the arguments that children are in school do no longer work due to the fact that the summer holidays have started.
Amnesty reports on this and the general issue of children in Ivry, and in Ris-Orangis in Evry, both near Paris. The last locality, Evry was the municipality that refused burial to a Rroma child a while back, something that is noted in Liberation as being an attack against Rroma. Other news contain the fact that Rosny and Montreuil, near Paris refuse the installation fo Rroma; that in Grenoble, on the initiative of the church and Rroma, a dinner was organised between the two communities; while in Wissous, the situation is getting tense a month after a judge ordered the expulsion.
The newspaper “Le Monde” published two articles on the fate of Rroma children who live in camps are are often the victims of the forced evictions that are the norm under the current government of Valls. For the children, it often means stopping going to school and thus, another failed integration.
An Al-Jazeera film shows the quest of a 30 years old Rrom from a ghetto who, after a beating by the police, decides to finish high school and to become a teacher. While the story is definitively worthwhile and the man’s determination is to be really admired, the film and the article on it serves all the commonly held stereotypes. Broken families, criminality, drugs, etc. A more differentiated view is seldom presented in the press.
The European Commission (EC) has started a legal action against Slovakia on the basis of the ongoing discrimination against Rroma children in that country. The EC says that a unusually high number of Rroma are placed in schools for mentally disabled children, a practice that is ongoing since the 1950’s in that country. Well Done for the EC, Shame on Slovakia. Especially since the government states that this high number is due to Rroma incest .
An interesting article on the various ways to fight school segregation in the case of Rroma in Europe. School segregation is too often still the norm, especially in Hungary, Slovak and the Czech republic, as well as in Romania.
An article on the Rroma Mahala in Vidin, in North Western Bulgaria. The article, while dispelling some of the stereotypes of many children, still pushes some age old prejudices, stating that marriage occurs by abduction (ritually, yes, practically, unknown), that child brides are the norm etc. What most journalists tend to blend out is that in Rroma tradition, one is married if one sleeps with one’s boyfriend. So effectively, by this standard, most of girls in Western Europe are not that different … What is different tough is that there is little contraception, resulting in early pregnancies, dropping out of schools, etc. All things that are a social poverty issue and have de facto nothing to do with Rroma.
The European Commission criticised Slovakia for systematic discrimination of Rroma children in education. It started legal proceedings for breaches of EU anti-discrimination law, referring to discrimination against Roma children in education. After the Czech Republic where such a procedure was started in September 2014, this is the second country in Europe that is being targeted.
Segregation in schools has been common in both the Czech and Slovak republics, but also exists in Romania and in Hungary. The practice of sending Rroma children systematically to schools for mentally disabled people is unfortunately also part of this pattern.
We welcome these actions!
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