Monthly Archives: décembre 2013

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21.12.2013 The Invisible Rroma

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Gabriela Mirescu (2012) – a Romanian political scientist – wrote a short article for the publication TANGRAM30 by the national commission against racism. In it, she approaches the question of why a majority of Rroma living in Europe – which are well adjusted to the mainstream society, keep their identity a secret, form the “invisible Rroma”. The reasons are quite apparent but not the less forth of detailed covering. The negative stereotypes about Rroma, which have settled in the course of history, make it a social disadvantage to out oneself as Rroma in the public. Discrimination in the working environment but also the personal life can be the consequences. Mirescu sees the behavior of this invisible majority as an indicator for social expectance. If the integrated Rroma still keep their identity a secret, it shows the ongoing stigmatization of Rroma in most European societies and the social transformation and increase of education and enlightment which is still necessary to decrease negative, pejorative stereotypes. A high level of education for a majority of society has therefore to be a temporary and long-term objective.

Source:

  • Mirescu, Gabriela (2012) The other Roma journey: from visible to invisible. In: Tangram 30: Jenische, Sinti/Manouches und Roma in der Schweiz. Bern: Eidgenössische Kommission gegen Rassismus.
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21.12.2013 Klaus-Michael Bogdal’s “Europa erfindet die Zigeuner”

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Klaus-Michael Bogdal’s “Europa erfindet die Zigeuner” writes a history of the representation of Rroma in Europe since their arrival in the 15th century (Essig 2012). First seen as pilgrims from Egypt and handled with respect, soon the Rroma were used to produce an anti-notion of what was regarded as European and civilised. They were ascribed to be eternal migrants, thieves or spies for the Ottomans, to name a few among many more pejorative ascriptions. The defamatory stereotypes marked the beginning of an institutionalisation of pseudo-knowledge about the Rroma, which was presented as sound truth. Bogdal, a professor of German literature and specialised in discourse analysis, shows how the negative, pejorative knowledge was successfully institutionalized and subsequently marginalized positive notions of Rroma. The Rroma weren’t given a voice in their representation nor did they succeed in producing any counter-public. Essig (2012) sees the reason for the inability to produce any distinguishable self-representation in the absence of written knowledge, ethics of discreetness and notions of honor among the Rroma. 

Whereas anti-Semitism during the 20th century was strongly connected to  enviousness against success and wealth – in the case of the Jews – antiziganism seems linked to notions of superiority and timely trangression. As a constant issue in the portrayal of the Rroma one can identify the absence of reason and prudence (Ebbinghaus 2012). 

Bogdal (2011) tries to give the reader an understanding of how ‘grand narratives’ – consisting of unsound racial knowledge and imprecise observation and descriptions of Rroma – succeeded in shaping a distorted picture of Rroma realities. In contrast to notions of civilization and societal progress they were stylized to be creatures without history and culture, as an alter ego to an elite European identity. As Bogdal explains in the introduction, his books is not so much about Rroma, but about the how Europeans reacted to and saw the Rroma. It’s a book about ambivalent European morals, exclusion and civilizational arrogance. Bogdal doesn’t reserve himself the right to write how the Rroma really lived and live, but how the European intellectuals and writers portrayed them to do so. It is in its formal kind, a reflection of the power-asymmetries in the representations of Rroma identity. 

Sources:

  • Bogdal, Klaus-Michael (2011) Europa erfindet die Zigeuner. Eine Geschichte von Faszination und Verachtung. Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag, Prolog (S. 9-18).
  • Ebbinghaus, Uwe (2012) Goldene Zähne, gezinkte Karten. Eine mitreißende Studie über die allmähliche Verfertigung eines historischen Vorurteils: Klaus-Michael Bogdal beschreibt die Geschichte der Zigeuner. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung vom 23.11.2012 [http://www.faz.net/-gr6-6vbnr].  
  • Essig, Rolf-Berhard (2012) Der Finger, der auf andere zeigt. Klaus-Michael Bogdal erklärt, wie mit Hilfe der “Zigeuner” eine westliche Überlegenheit definiert wird. In: ‘Die Zeit’ vom 9.2.2012 [http://www.zeit.de/2012/07/L-P-Bogdal].
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20.12.2013 Undifferentiated Coverage of the Grandchildren Trick Scam and Rroma

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Ruch (2013) reports about a Polish Rroma clan who is allegedly behind the rising cases of so-called Grandchildren scam in Switzerland. The otherwise analytical report misses the critical use of ethnic categories. Instead, the popular public image of a mafia-like, hierarchical Rroma clan is dished, which stand behind the criminal offenses. Due to the indiscriminate attribution ofethnicity, Ruch feeds the idea of a culturally conditioned delinquency among Rroma. He states, “behind the vast majority of grandchildren trick in the German-speaking lands one finds the same group of offenders. A widely branched, Polish-German Roma family which earlier sold worthless carpets as expensive Oriental rugs and therefore stood in the crosshairs of investigators. In 1999, they probably invented the grandson trick scam in Poland, which they perfected successfully until today. The several hundred members of the clan are professionally organized according to the police. They operate literally call center and earn so well with this trick that they can afford a lavish lifestyle with expensive sports cars and extravagant family celebrations”. From Ruch’s article, it is not clear that there is no direct relationship between ethnicity and the offenses described. Instead, a cultural explanation is presented, an explanation that needs no further discussion because it is justified by itself. Such a reasoning is racist. Most Rroma are integrated citizens who are never named in the media. Unfortunately, journalists like André Ruch are still not aware of this.

Other Swiss newspapers such as the NZZ (2013) wrote uncommented that the perpetrators are mostly belonging to a Polish Roma clan.

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20.12.2013 Right-Wing Radicals Indicted in Salzburg for Incitement

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Twelve people from the region Pognau were indicted by the Court for Constitutional Protection for hate speech. In early September of 2013, the individuals in question had called for action against travelling Rroma who legally stayed next to the ski jump in Bischofshofen. They threatened them both verbally and physically, and on the internet, called for the final solution against the Rroma. The possible punishment is of up to two years in prison (Salzburg24 2013, Salto, 2013).

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20.12.2013 Right-Wing Populists and Rroma

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The Mirror (2013) examines the role of right-wing populist parties in Europe in terms of a recently published study by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The authors call for moderate parties to take action against the increasing radicalization of politics. They determined five key conditions that favour the renewed rise of national populist parties: “1. A critical mass of unbound and disappointed voters is available. 2. Immigration and European criticism are the determining issues of public debate. 3. Major media are open to extremely shortened and radically intensified representations of immigration and European issues. 4. The institutional conditions of the electoral system are favourable for rapid success of new parties. 5. There is a charismatic leader and / or “political entrepreneurship”” (Grabow / Hartleb 2013). The Rroma are particularly affected by the policies of these national populist parties like the Front National or Fidesz. The parties build their programs on rigorous order policies that are designed to buikd and increase barriers between people. They thus endanger the peaceful coexistence between people and hamper a holistic implementation of democratic principles of equality.

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20.12.2013 Minute of Silence at the Rroma Murdered in Germany

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The Bundesrat of Germany commemorated this week with a minute of silence to the Rroma murdered under the Nazis. Around 500,000 Rroma, some estimates put the number significantly higher, fell victim of the genocide of the fascist regime. Germany discussed this year in details the possible consequences of the “Poverty immigration” from South Eastern Europe, and the Rroma were at the centre of the debate. A lot of non-objective and polemical statements were made about them but the historical guilt of Germany towards Rroma was rarely addressed: “”It is a humanitarian imperative that we never forget this genocide,” said the President of the Bundesrat, Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD), on Thursday in the Bundesrat in Berlin. It was the “collective failure of an entire generation.” The Bundesrat remebers every year the so-called Auschwitz Decree by the Reichsführer-SS, Heinrich Himmler. T On December 16th, 1942 he ordered the deportation of members of certain ethnic groups in the concentration camp of Auschwitz –Birkenau”  (Greenpeace Magazine, 2013).

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20.12.2013 Manuel Valls Acquitted in Racism Indictment

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Manuel Valls was acquitted by a French Court of the charge of racism (Le Monde 2013). The movement against racism had filed a lawsuit against Valls after he had publicly stated that Rroma have an extremely different lifestyle to the French, and had the habit of returning to Romania and Bulgaria. The court justified its decision with the reasoning that Valls’ statements were made in connection with a debate over the public interest and were not racist in the choice of words. The Court thereby ignores the role of intellectual arson and the power of derogatory cultural attribution to the public. A conviction would have been a sign of a more tolerant society, where defamatory statements do not fall under the category of freedom of expression. The court stated: “il n’apparaît pas [que ces propos] excèdent les limites admissibles de la liberté d’expression”  [It does not seem that these statements exceed the admissible limits of the freedom of expression] (Libération 2013).

 

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20.12.2013 Jean-Marie Le Pen Sentenced for Defamation of Rroma

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The founder of the conservative party “Front National”, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was sentenced by a Paris court to a fine of 5000 euro. Le Pen referred to Rroma at a party meeting of the National Front as a natural thieves: “Roma would “naturally fly like birds ” – the French word “voler” means both “fly” and “steal”” Le Pen statements are symptomatic of a variety of prejudices against Rroma that are stubbornly maintained and which promote their exclusion (Spiegel, 2013, Les Observateurs 2013).

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20.12.2013 Freedom of Speech, Political Correctness or Intellectual Arson?

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Vanneste (2013) argues in his article against too much political correctness in dealing with ethnic appurtenance. He argues for one to be able to express onself fully about everything, everything else is an unreasonable suppression of the freedom of speech. However, he forgets that political correctness shows not only verbal respect for the dignity of other people, but also to the effective position of these people in the society. Verbal defamation and undifferentiated reports encourage and promote the exclusion of ethnic minorities such as the Rroma as they consolidate and preserve prejudices.

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20.12.2013 France: Policy of Isolation or Cooperation?

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Christian Vanneste (2013), a politician of the conservative UMP, argues in Les Observateurs against a liberal foreign policy for France. He takes a statistic about the crimes committed by foreigners in 2012 offenses as an opportunity to advocate a rigorous segregation policy. The number of illegal migrants living in France Rroma is already alarmingly high: 15,000, or perhaps three times as many. With its radical planning policy, Vanneste is opposed to any forward-looking society in which people of all backgrounds coexist peacefully with each other. Instead, he argues flimsily for foreclosure policies. The fact that there is no culture of delinquency seems far from clear to him. Instead he criminalises people who are affected by poverty and exclusion: “Il y a 10% d’immigrés en France, et 18% d’étrangers parmi les détenus de nos prisons. Qu’il y ait un lien entre insécurité et immigration est une évidence. Il y en a deux autres : il est nécessaire de limiter l’immigration au minimum et l’on ne peut absolument pas compter sur l’Europe actuelle pour nous y aider”. [There are 10% of immigrants in France and 18% amongst the prison population. That there is a link between insecurity and immigration is obvious. There are two others: It is necessary to limit immigration to a minimum and one absolutely cannot count on current Europe to help us.]

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20.12.2013 Education crisis among Rroma in France?

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Kinne (2013) gives information on a creeping crisis in the Paris suburbs: According to his article, just 10 % of Rroma children living in a illegal or informal camp go to school. The majority of South Eastern Europe originating Rroma who live in a makeshift barracks and camps prefer this to the poverty and discrimination in their home countries. This perspective of events should give pause to the vehement opponents of Rroma. According to a French government report says the author, about a third of Rroma children who live in theses camps, are not enrolled in school: “Aaccording to a government report, in the entire country, only one third of Roma children living in illegal camps go to school. Even though all children aged six to 16 years who live in France are required to attend school. The rest falls through the net, never registers or fails because of the high barriers to enrolment. Families have, for example, to specify a fixed address. Impossible, if you live in an illegal camp.” Besides the problem of the missing address, there are official reservations about Rroma, as well as the danger of being evicted in the near future from one’s current place of residence. Then there is the fear of many parents that their children could be discriminated against in schools. Without a good education, it will not be easier for the next generation to break the vicious circle of poverty and exclusion. That should make us think. On the other hand, there are also quite well-integrated Rroma in France, which are completely ignored in the current debate. They should have a voice.

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20.12.2013 Duisburg and the myth of the Romany clans

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Unzensuriert.at, the right-wing populist platform (2013) railed in a recent contribution against the Rroma in Duisburg. The decision of the city government that not all Rroma who are affected by a the eviction from the house to be provided alternative housing is a gradual recognition of right-wing populist demands (cf. Fischer 2013). The one-sided article is clearly in the line of the fear of foreign infiltration of and dishes out the absurd notion of mobile Rroma clans who settle on one place like a swarm of locusts: “The Socialist City Council expects that the Roma clans, if one renders them the conditions in Duisburg as uncomfortable as possible and puts them in front of the door, will then just move on as far as possible. And there is no contingency plan for homeless Roma to be implemented in Duisburg, just to give them no incentive to remain there. In future, the new Apartment Supervision Act is meant to prevent new poverty migrants from Southeast Europe to immigrate in droves.”

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13.12.2013 The Tale of the Thieving Rroma Clans

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20 Minuten (2013) reports about two young girls who were arrested by the policie in Lucerne while trying to break into a house. Apparently, the girls come from a Roma camp in France. This short news confirms and is in line with the suspicion expressed in the Weltwoche (Gut, Philipp / Scherrer, Lucien 2013). In its article from early November it again talked of a “culture of crime”, which is brought into Switzerland by the Rroma. Articles with ethnic attributions that are not contextualized do promote racism towards an already heavily marginalized minority. More sensitivity in handling ethnic attributions would be highly desirable.

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13.12.2013 Rroma in Romania

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France Inter (2013) in its coverage, points out at the often precarious situation of Rroma in Romania. The image of the impoverished, often unemployed Rroma corresponds to the idea of a broad French public that Rroma are a burden to the French social security system. The official figures counts about 600,000 Rroma in Romania. It is likely, however, that there are rather about 2 million members of that minority. The problem in this report lies in a mix of poverty issues with an alleged culture of delinquency and mutual exploitation. That these ideas are wrong will sometime soon hopefully be clear to a wider public.

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13.12.2013 Rroma from South Eastern Europe: Economic Migrants or Refugees?

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The Welt (2013) reports currently on practices against migrant Rroma in Hamburg. The responsible Minister of the Interior Michael Neumann wants to continue the deportations of asylum seekers from South Eastern Europe, despite the massive criticism from Greens, the Left and the FDP. This does not mean, according to the Interior Minister that the deportations were not individually critically examined. Again, one must be amazed that migrants from Southeast Europe are held from the outset for Rroma, although this fact is not recorded in the statistics. Many immigrants from the Balkans are members of other ethnic groups. However, it is true that Rroma are particularly affected by exclusion. Radio Dreyeckland (2013) rightly criticised that the protection rate of asylum applications from Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia-Hercegovina fixed at 5% is too low. Many Rroma in these countries are discriminated against and should not therefore be treated as pure poverty refugees. This is also criticized by Jelpke (2013): The asylum applications of immigrants from the Western Balkans are being processed in shorter and shorter periods. This is due to the coalition agreement between the CDU and the SPD. This document plans to declare the western countries of South Eastern Europe to be “safe countries”. This makes it increasingly difficult for migrants from these countries to get a successful asylum application. A protective claim is still just awarded 0.1 to 0.6 percent of applicants from Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The federal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, meanwhile decided a deportation moratorium for the winter months (Carini 2013).

Haug (2013), in his article, points to the discrepancy between integration efforts communicated by the State and the real experienced exclusion. Rroma deported to Serbia mostly find there an income on the edge of society or live on welfare. Against the official statement of Serbia, that Rroma are not persecuted in the country stand in contrast to the misery and hopelessness: “Where it can be, they are marginalized, the victims reported. You get no jobs and are not informed of your rights. Even for food the meagre money barely suffice. […] “On paper, there are now many measures to end discrimination against these people,” says the lawyer. The trip did however convinced him that: “In daily life the affected ones feel little of it””

The President of the German Association of Cities Ulrich Maly goes against simple explanations in connection with immigrants from Southeast Europe. The migrants are often discriminated against and are hoping for a better life in Germany. He appealed to the historical responsibility of Germany in dealing with minorities and argued against a policy of isolation, as demanded by several parties. Rather, one must promote the integration in Germany and in the countries of origin: “These are not people who come and go with open hands to the administration. They come for other reasons. Because they are oppressed at home, perhaps even feel persecuted. They come because they believe that they will find a better life with us. These are reasons that one initially must respect.” Maly therefore goes against an alliance of politicians and citizens fearing a “social tourism” on the German social welfare system from the beginning of 2014. Bulgarians and Romanians will then be able to search unrestricted fro work in the European Union, thanks to the European free Movement Agreement (Kusicke 2013).

Leber (2013) sees the debate about immigration marked by varying degrees of coverage in social systems. The “general principle of European free movement” meets various forms of social welfare. That, however, this is not necessarily a contradiction in a polemical debate, however, it is often forgotten. Instead, it is dominated by a politics of fear, which flattens the heterogeneity of migration phenomena and propagandises the immigration of unskilled problem cases. It is this utilitarian thinking is criticized by Koch (2013) in his account of the problem. It means a ranking of people on questionable, inhuman principles.

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13.12.2013 Rroma Expulsions Continue in France

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The expulsions of Rroma from illegal settlements in France are continuing. Bergès (2013) tells of a group of families who are temporarily housed in a trade union house. The mood in the temporary housing is good, but the problem of future apartments remains. In this regard Bergès speaks of invisible social problems that the government likes to overlook: “Les personnes réfugiées à la bourse du travail sont vraiment oubliées, écrivait, le 7 décembre le collectif Roms de la bourse dans un communiqué. Depuis l’expulsion, on est en train de frapper devant les portes de la préfecture, de la mairie, du Parti socialiste. Et toutes les portes sont fermées. Nous sommes invisibles pour eux.” [The people who took refuge at the work exchange are literally forgotten, wrote on December 7th, the Rroma collective of the work exchange in a statement. Since the expulsion, we are knocking at all doors, prefecture, town hall, socialist party. And all doors are closed. We are invisible to them.] Many activists and representatives from French politics are against forced evictions. Although many of the informal dwellings are legally in fact illegal, evictions are in fact complicating the longer-term integration of the people more than anything else.

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13.12.2013 Rroma Debate in France

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France Info (2013), on the occasion of the statements made by Florian Philippot, vice-president of the right-wing National Front, focuses on whether after the free movement of people agreement with Romania and Bulgaria, there will be in fact large numbers of Rroma who will come to France. The author denies that there will be a noticeable change. Already, members of Romania and Bulgaria can freely migrate to France. They are only limited in their choice of fields of work. This barrier will be abolished in January 2014. However, there are still border and identity checks, as Romania and Bulgaria are still not part of the Schengen Agreement. In addition, the numbers that Florian Philippot states, he speaks of 10 to 12 million Rroma in Romania and Bulgaria, are completely over the top. In Romania according to realistic estimates there are about 2 million Rroma while  in Bulgaria around 800,000.

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13.12.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Kühn (2013) informs about the evacuation of several Rroma settlements in Duisburg. The houses, the majority of whom belong to a controversial real estate speculator who had already received a large coverage in the German media this year. One-sided reports of littering, noise, theft, prostitution, and begging evoked a distorted, almost absurd image of Rroma unwilling to integrate and adapt. Again and again, local residents were quoted as saying that their way of life was incompatible with the one of the new residents. The homeowner – Branko Barisic – now lets residents to be gradually evicted from his buildings and he will set up social flats or apartments for the elderly. He also speaks of Rroma as social parasites and discredits them unjustly as poverty migrants, with no valid reason for migration: “Most of them could not care less where they live. They want to enjoy the benefits of our welfare state. They need not live in Bergheim” (Kühn 2013/II). That many Rroma are well integrated and that many are also victims of massive discriminations in their countries of origin is once again not mentioned here.

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13.12.2013 Rroma and Poverty in the Czech Republic

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Rühmkorf (2013) reports on the Czech city of Josefov, in which there is increasing tension between the resident Rroma who make around one third of the local population, and ethnic Czechs. The right-wing Workers’ Party (DSSS) succeeded increasingly in mobilising apolitical citizens against the Rroma. One of the grievances causing the frictions are real estate speculators who buy up town homes and flats cheaply, and then rent them to Rroma and who take social funds from them: “The city no longer rents apartment because of Rroma, instead they sell – often at bargain prices – their real estate to businesses, without any conditions on usage. The carve-up the spaces with partitions into smaller units. Their Clientele: socially deprived Roma, who have no work and are undesirable elsewhere. In order for them to get any social assistance and housing benefits, the landlord must confirm them a permanent address. That’s what he loves to do. The kickback:. Rents equivalent to 400 euro and more for residential units, which sometimes do not even have a bathroom” Rümkorf’s article shows once again that a poverty issues is made to be an ethnic problem r. The residents of Josefov should not demonstrate against Rroma, but against poverty and against exclusion. Instead Rroma and impoverishment are uncritically equated.

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13.12.2013 Racism Accusation for Luc Jousse

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The mayor of Rocquebrune-sur-Argens, Luc Jousse is suspended until further notice from his own UMP party. Jousse had made a racist remark towards Rroma during an interview. He had stated: “Je vous rappelle quand même que les gens du voyage, que dis-je, les Roms, m’ont mis neuf fois le feu. […] ils piquent des câbles électriques et après ils le brûlent pour récupérer le cuivre et ils se sont mis à eux-mêmes le feu dans leurs propres caravanes! Un gag! Ce qui est presque dommage, c’est qu’on ait appelé trop tôt les secours!” (L’Express, 2013). [I remind you nevertheless that these travellers, what do I say, these Rroma, laid nine times fires. […] they steel electrical cables, and after that, they burnt them to recover the copper, and they torched their own caravans! A joke! What is almost a pity, isthat one called the emergency services too early] With this tasteless remark Jousse makes himself clearly guilty of racism. As the Huffigton Post (2013) currently reports, Jousse was suspended from the UMP until further notice.

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