Category Archives: North Macedonia

North Macedonia and Racism

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The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights strongly condemned offensive graffiti with swastikas and inscriptions “Gyupci”, written with black spray on the houses of the Roma population on Debarska street in Bitola, North Macedonia. According to them, this is another case of a hate crime, with a message calling for violence against the Roma ethnic community.

“Starting from the aspiration to build coexistence, tolerance and mutual respect, regardless of national, ethnic, religious or any other affiliation, we demand that the competent institutions, above all, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor’s Office thoroughly investigate the case, find the perpetrators , who should be held accountable for this crime,” the Helsinki Committee stated.

The Šutka

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Swiss television definitively not at its best. 8-10 Mio Roma (the Council of Europe cites 12 to 14, but then, the Swiss must know it better), and now a capital: the Šutka in Skopje.

It is always amazing what people can write or say about Roma with total impunity.

Hate Speech

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A Romani organisation organised a conference on hate speech in North Macedonia and worked on a project on the more general topic of Hate Speech in the Western Balkans.

The Council of Europe published the information yesterday.

Tetovo – North Macedonia and Multiple Languages

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In Tetovo, North Macedonia, it is better to be able to speak the languages ​​of its neighbours: Albanian, Macedonian, Turkish, Romanes or Serbo-Croatian. This mutual knowledge is the basis of social and professional relations. And the Roma are, as often, the champions of multilingualism!

Tetovo is certainly one of the most multicultural cities in North Macedonia. According to the last census in 2021, it has 84,770 inhabitants, including 60,460 Albanians, 15,529 Macedonians, 1,885 Roma, 1,746 Turks, 256 Serbs, 189 Bosniaks and eleven Vlachs.

Many speak several languages ​​in addition to their own, so they can communicate with neighbours and friends from other communities. In the streets of Tetovo, one hears Macedonian, Albanian, Romanes, Turkish or Serbo-Croatian. The Roma community is the most multilingual, perhaps because its children cannot be educated in their mother tongue in Tetovo and have to attend lessons in Macedonian, Albanian or Turkish.

Nezir Huseini, for example, speaks the languages ​​of all the communities of Tetovo. In addition to Romanes, he speaks Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Serbo-Croatian, but also English and German. “Romanes is my mother tongue, but I speak Albanian because I studied it in primary school. I always spoke Macedonian and Turkish and, as I studied in a military academy in Belgrade, during the time of Yugoslavia, I improved my Serbo-Croatian. Finally, I learned English and German, which I speak, read and write fluently,” he explains.

North Macedonia and Roma Education

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The Ministry of Education and Science informed that it hired 40 Roma educational mediators who will provide additional support for students in elementary schools in municipalities with a larger number of students from the Roma ethnic community.

“Their role is to help improve awareness of the possibilities and access to schools, to have regular meetings with the population and employees of the primary school related to the educational specifics and needs of this vulnerable group, to regularly collaborate with professional associates and teachers to improve the achievements of the students, as well as to take actions to reduce the dropout of the educational process”, said the Ministry of Education and Culture.

This is not much when one thinks of how many Roma there are in Macedonia.

North Macedonia – Renovations

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Soon 27 Roma families from the Bair neighbourhood in Bitola will be able to renovate their homes. The project “Bair – Joint action of Bitola for the inclusion of Roma”, will fund the renovations but after the legalization of the buildings, and the acquisitions of title deeds.

This is always an issue in Roma neighbourhood where many houses simply do not have any deeds, even in cases where the houses have stood there for many years.

North Macedonia and Schools

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Parents in North Macedonia demand change as schools in some districts end up t be totally segregated with 100% of the enrolled children being Roma.

This problem is not only prevalent in that country, as there are many places in Europe with de-facto school segregation. This is the case n many places in Hungary too for example.

Copenhagen Summit

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Roma activist Selviya Mustafi from North Macedonia discussed a “Democratic Digital Organization” with former US President Barack Obama at the Copenhagen Democratic Summit in a panel.

Germany: Protests

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There were protests at the airport in Baden, Germany after the deportation of 34 Roma on March 15th to Kosovo. The protests last Wednesday were aimed at further deportations this time to Serbia and Macedonia.

– Humanitäres Bleiberecht für Sinti und Roma erneut einfordern. In: Radio Dreieckland. 22.03.2018. https://rdl.de/beitrag/humanit-res-bleiberecht-f-r-sinti-und-roma-erneut-einfordern

Esma …

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The Economist is an exclusive club. Its Obituary is one of the most exclusive column in the word. And yes, in spite of the sorrow of her death, we are proud that Esma got this honour she so fully deserved!
May she rest in peace!

– Obituary: Esma Redzepova., In The Economist. 17.12.2016. http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21712072-worlds-leading-romani-musician-died-december-11th-aged-73-obituary-esma-redzepova

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