{"id":1223,"date":"2014-10-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/22-10-2014-demonstration-for-the-rights-of-the-rroma-in-budapest\/"},"modified":"2022-08-04T11:42:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T10:42:02","slug":"22-10-2014-demonstration-for-the-rights-of-the-rroma-in-budapest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/22-10-2014-demonstration-for-the-rights-of-the-rroma-in-budapest\/","title":{"rendered":"22.10.2014 Demonstration for the rights of the Rroma in Budapest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several German-language newspapers \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\treported on a human-rights demonstration in Budapest, where representatives of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Rroma and their sympathisers called attention on the discrimination of the Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority and demanded more commitment towards compliance of minority rights. There \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twere also members of other discriminated minorities among the protesters: \u201cSeveral hundred Hungarians participated on \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSunday, in the capital Budapest, in a \u201cRoma Pride\u201d- march in honour of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdiscriminated Sinti and Roma. During their demonstration downtown, they sang \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe song \u201cOpre Roma\u201d (Stand up, Roma!), that calls for the struggle for social \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tequality. The main organiser of the march, Jeno Setet of the Roma organisation Ide \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttartozunk (We belong here), said: \u201cThis day is for everyone, whether Roma or \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnon-Roma. With it, we want to show the pride of our community and our positive \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcontribution to Hungary.\u201d Among the demonstrators were also representatives of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Jewish community, of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), as well \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tas the homeless people and refugees. Benjamin Abtan of the co-organizing \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEuropean anti-racist grassroots movement (Egam) in Paris, said: \u201cRoma Pride is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tour response to the current rise of nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEurope, particularly in Hungary\u201d<\/em> (Blick 2014). The extreme right-wing \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJobbik-party (English: the better ones) emerged as the second strongest power from \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe municipal elections of October the 12th. Supporters of the party \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thave repeatedly gained attention with demagogic statements against Rroma<\/p>\n

Pester Lloyd (2014) \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texplains in details the concerns of the organisers: they criticise, among others, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe one-sided press coverage of the minority, leading to the strengthening of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnegative stereotypes about Rroma. In addition, the access to the education \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsystem, to the labour market, and to health care is still insufficient: \u201cThe organisers complain that in general and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tespecially in Hungary, \u201cone almost never hears or reads anything positive about \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Rroma\u201d, these media exclusion or bias reinforces the separation of majority \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand minority. However, through pride, one also gets self-confidence to take ones \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdestiny into ones own hands \u2013 even if the government does not want this.<\/em> In a petition, among others, it was demanded \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat the existence of a Holocaust against Roma and their persecution in Nazi \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHungary be made a subject in classrooms. The background: Minister Balog, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tresponsible for the Roma integration, called the Hungarian Roma recently\u00a0 a \u201cpeople without a history\u201d, who were \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcaught in an imaginary victimhood. Furthermore, he stated that there were\u00a0 \u201cno deportations of Roma into \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconcentration camps\u201d, which is historically just wrong.\u201d<\/em> In addition, Pester \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLloyd deplores the very low participation in the demonstration (compare \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThurgauer Zeitung 2014, Tiroler Tageszeitung 2014, Die Welt 2014, Wiener \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tZeitung 2014, Zeit 2014). <\/p>\n