In Germany, Rroma protests – for example for the right of refugees from Kosovo an former Yugoslavia – have been held at or around memorial for the victims of the Holocaust.
Not an easy thing, and this is shown in this article.
– Wenn Roma gehört warden. In: Taz. 07.05.2017. https://www.taz.de/Darf-man-an-Gedenkstaetten-protestieren/!5404345/ [link-preview url=”https://www.taz.de/Darf-man-an-Gedenkstaetten-protestieren/!5404345/”]
Why should you learn about the culture and customs of the Rroma who have been living in Poland for hundreds of years? What is definitely worth knowing to behave appropriately? A talk about these questions with the guest of Andrzej Grzymała-Kazłowski.
– Dlaczego warto poznawać kulturę i obyczaje Romów? In: Radio Opole. 08.05.2017. http://radio.opole.pl/145,310,dlaczego-warto-poznawac-kulture-i-obyczaje-romow [link-preview url=”http://radio.opole.pl/145,310,dlaczego-warto-poznawac-kulture-i-obyczaje-romow”]
A video game is trying to measure the bias against Rroma in Slovakia. It is trying to assess the discrimination that goes unreported.
Interesting experiment.
– Discrimination in action: the value of experiments in human rights. In: Open Democracy. 05.05.2017. https://www.opendemocracy.net/ana-bracic/discrimination-in-action-value-of-experiments-in-human-rights [link-preview url=”https://www.opendemocracy.net/ana-bracic/discrimination-in-action-value-of-experiments-in-human-rights”]
Ábel Ravasz, the Roma plenipotentiary for the Slovak Government has some quite stereotypical ideas on Rroma… He states – partially rightly so, that many don’t speak Rromanes and that the younger generation tends to loose the language; but then ignores history when he says Rroma arrived in several waves from the 17th century; are a very diverse minority; are a patriarchal society; and so on…
Maybe get your facts rights …
– Rómovia hovoriaci po maďarsky sú pre Maďarov Cigáni a pre Rómov Maďari. A Slovákom sú úplne ukradnutí. In: Plus 7 Dni. 07.05.2017. http://www.pluska.sk/plus-7-dni/domov/nerom-terene.html [link-preview url=”http://www.pluska.sk/plus-7-dni/domov/nerom-terene.html”]
The current laws targeting NGOs and the CEU in Hungary are a danger to the Rroma inclusion in Hungary. Several NGOs working for Rroma, the Roma Education Fund, the European Roma Right Centre, etc. are directly funded by Soros and would need to be labelled “foreign agents” as per the new law. This is not good.
– CEU and NGO crackdown: a double blow for Roma inclusion in Hungary. In: Open Democracy. 05.05.2017. https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/jonathan-lee/ceu-and-ngo-crackdown-double-blow-for-roma-inclusion-in-hungary [link-preview url=”https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/jonathan-lee/ceu-and-ngo-crackdown-double-blow-for-roma-inclusion-in-hungary”]
Yet another case where Kotleba’s party doesn’t quite like culture when it is not “pure” Slovak one… Here, they wanted to close an Art school, mostly for Rroma in the Banska Bystrica region. The ministry of education had to intervene.
– Barbar Kotleba: Kontroverzný župan sa pokúsil zlikvidovať umeleckú školu. Jej žiakmi sú najmä Rómovia. In: Pluska. 06.05.2017. http://www.pluska.sk/plus-7-dni/domov/kotleba-vs-plavcan.html [link-preview url=”http://www.pluska.sk/plus-7-dni/domov/kotleba-vs-plavcan.html”]
A new museum opened in Bucharest. It is a museum of kitsch. And a section thereof is devoted to Rroma kitsch – as stated in the article “A section on Roma, or Gypsies, regurgitates stereotypes. A pregnant Gypsy woman stands next to a model baby lying on the ground and a metal bucket full of sunflower seeds, the image of a poor Roma woman. In another corner, there are photos of ornate houses with turrets which are labelled “Gypsy Architecture,” a style of house favoured by some well-off Roma.”
Well in this case it is not only kitsch but also stereotypes.
– Romanian Kitsch Museum opens in Bucharest. In: WPXI News. 05.05.2017. http://www.wpxi.com/news/national-news/ap-top-news/romanian-kitsch-museum-opens-in-bucharest/519633181 [link-preview url=”http://www.wpxi.com/news/national-news/ap-top-news/romanian-kitsch-museum-opens-in-bucharest/519633181″]
A report on by the German Press reports that there are more refugees arriving in Germany than in the whole of Europe … Responsible are internal European Refugees – a lot of them Rroma, according to this short report (not necessarily explicitly named – Bulgarians and Romanians are stated here – but who from these countries requests asylum?)
Bad.
– Wie kann das sein? In Deutschland kommen mehr Flüchtlinge an als in Europa. In: Focus. 04.05.2017. http://www.focus.de/politik/videos/interessante-zahlenkonstellation-wie-kann-das-sein-in-deutschland-kommen-mehr-fluechtlinge-an-als-in-europa_id_7081691.html [link-preview url=”http://www.focus.de/politik/videos/interessante-zahlenkonstellation-wie-kann-das-sein-in-deutschland-kommen-mehr-fluechtlinge-an-als-in-europa_id_7081691.html”]
The commemoration of the Rroma victims of the Holocaust on the site of the former camp of Lety (Czech Republic) seem in a bad shape. They were due to be held on the 13th, but the Rroma organisations are postponing their participation following the resignation of the Czech government. This resignation potentially endangers the decision to buy back the site from the operator of the pig farm located on there.
– European Grassroots Antiracist Movement postpones involvement by internationals in Lety commemoration/ In: Romea.cz. 04.05.2017. http://www.romea.cz/en/news/world/european-grassroots-antiracist-movement-postpones-involvement-by-internationals-in-lety-commemoration [link-preview url=”http://www.romea.cz/en/news/world/european-grassroots-antiracist-movement-postpones-involvement-by-internationals-in-lety-commemoration”]
The Slovakian police interrupted a debate of a parliament commission to question a MP – Stanislav Mizík – from the extreme rightist party of Kotleba – and to charge him with crimes such as Holocaust denial. Another MP from the same party, Milan Mazurek was also charged with crimes for his comments on radio against Rroma, migrants, and Moslems.
GOOD!
– Police pursue MPs for racist statements. In: The Slovak Spectator. 03.05.2017. https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20523225/police-pursue-mps-for-racist-statements.html [link-preview url=”https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20523225/police-pursue-mps-for-racist-statements.html”]
A mayor of a village purchased a house (on communal funds) to move Rroma from a settlement in a village to another village 20 km away. Basically, it is the politically correct version of ethnic cleansing.
– Starosta kúpil problémovým Rómom dom o 20 kilometrov ďalej. Je toto riešenie na chatrče a getá? In: Dennik. 02.05.2017. https://dennikn.sk/717339/starosta-kupil-problemovym-romom-dom-o-20-kilometrov-dalej-je-toto-riesenie-na-chatrce-a-geta/ [link-preview url=”https://dennikn.sk/717339/starosta-kupil-problemovym-romom-dom-o-20-kilometrov-dalej-je-toto-riesenie-na-chatrce-a-geta/”]
72 years after the end of World War Two, Romania has still not come to terms with its past regarding the Holocaust. Romania, an ally of Germany, deported many Rroma to Transnistria where many of them died of hunger and diseases.
While on paper, a law was enacted for the survivors of the holocaust, granting them a small pension, most Rroma do not receive it – for lack of papers, but basically out of discrimination.
– A decades-old paper war: how the Roma are fighting bureaucracy. In: New Stateman. 01.05.2017. http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/observations/2017/05/decades-old-paper-war-how-roma-are-fighting-bureaucracy [link-preview url=”http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/observations/2017/05/decades-old-paper-war-how-roma-are-fighting-bureaucracy”]
An Arte Documentary on the Hotel Gracanica in Kosovo, a hotel run by Rroma and Serbs.
– http://www.arte.tv/de/videos/073399-014-A/re-projekt-versohnung [link-preview url=”http://www.arte.tv/de/videos/073399-014-A/re-projekt-versohnung”]
– https://youtu.be/JBCzPFIwers?list=PL2Yg3VJTrJpLobRZOWHjgduT-5lZpB75w
– MIX • MACÉDOINE : DŽAMBO AGUSEV, LA NOUVELLE STAR BALKANIQUE DE LA TROMPETTE. In: Le Courrier des Balkans. 27.04.2017. https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/Mix-o-Macedoine-Dzambo-Agusev-la-nouvelle-star-balkanique-de-la-trompette [link-preview url=”https://youtu.be/JBCzPFIwers?list=PL2Yg3VJTrJpLobRZOWHjgduT-5lZpB75w “]
Traffickers in new-borns have been condemned to heavy prison sentences (10 years for two men, and 5 years for one women). They were accused to have brought pregnant women to Greece for the purpose of adoption of their child at birth. The babies were sold for up to 15’000 Euros.
Many of the mothers came from Rroma ghettos. The condemned, though, seem to have been Bulgarian (otherwise, chances are this would have been said …)
– Bulgarie: Lourdes peines de prison pour vente de nouveau-nés. In: 20 Minutes (FR). 28.04.2017. http://www.20minutes.fr/monde/2059003-20170428-bulgarie-lourdes-peines-prison-vente-nouveau-nes [link-preview url=”http://www.20minutes.fr/monde/2059003-20170428-bulgarie-lourdes-peines-prison-vente-nouveau-nes”]
A fairly activist view of Rroma – with quite a few historical inaccuracies (slavery and serfdom for Rroma was only in Romanian lands, etc.).
What is bad in such representations is that it stereotypes Rroma just as victims and states “Colloquially referred to as “gypsies” for their supposed Egyptian heritage, the Roma are a heterogeneous ethnic group without a single common language, religion, or cultural tradition”. This is totally inaccurate – as there is a single common language and traditions, and only religion is different, taking the religion of the region in which they settled.
– Europe’s Vilified Minority: The Roma Through Pictures. In: The Politic. 27.04.2017. http://thepolitic.org/europes-vilified-minority-the-roma-through-pictures/ [link-preview url=”http://thepolitic.org/europes-vilified-minority-the-roma-through-pictures/”]
Residents from a suburb of Poprad are trying to get rid of Rroma from their neighbourhood and are trying to prevent a community centre from being built.
Bad!
– V Poprade sa komplikuje spolužitie Rómov s majoritou, pomôcť majú hliadky. In: TA3. 27.04.2017. http://www.ta3.com/clanok/1104374/v-poprade-sa-komplikuje-spoluzitie-romov-s-majoritou-pomoct-maju-hliadky.html [link-preview url=”http://www.ta3.com/clanok/1104374/v-poprade-sa-komplikuje-spoluzitie-romov-s-majoritou-pomoct-maju-hliadky.html”]
Again one AfD member shows the true colours of that German Party. He is being sued by Roma and Sinti organisations for racism after having posted a post on Facebook stating „Kann es sein, daß wir ein Zigeunerproblem haben?“ – [can it be that we have a Gypsy problem]…The post continued on the increased criminality that came as the result of the migration of Romanian and Bulgarian Rroma.
– AfD Saalekreis Kreisvorsitzender Tillschneider wegen Facebook-Post angezeigt. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. 26.04.2017. http://www.mz-web.de/saalekreis/afd-saalekreis-kreisvorsitzender-tillschneider-wegen-facebook-post-angezeigt-26767902 [link-preview url=”http://www.mz-web.de/saalekreis/afd-saalekreis-kreisvorsitzender-tillschneider-wegen-facebook-post-angezeigt-26767902″]
Starting in September, the new land ownership rules take effect in Slovakia. The new rules allow for consolidation of land, something the country badly needs. However, this leaves Rroma exposed, as most of them do not have any landownership. There are provisions in the new law to allow Rroma in settlement to construct better homes, but the fear is that these will not suffice.
– Pozemky Rómov s novými pravidlami. In: Hospodarske Noviny. 26.04.2017. http://hnporadna.hnonline.sk/clanky/950406-pozemky-romov-s-novymi-pravidlami [link-preview url=”http://hnporadna.hnonline.sk/clanky/950406-pozemky-romov-s-novymi-pravidlami”]
Parents protested once again in Žilina, in Northern Slovakia. Their protests were directed at the re-distribution of pupils from a school in a mostly Rroma neighbourhood into other schools. In brief, parents do not want Rroma kids in their children classes.
Long way to go …
– Rodičia protestujú proti prerozdeleniu detí zo zrušenej školy, začali spisovať petíciu. In: Žilinak. 23.04.2017. https://www.zilinak.sk/prispevky/6291/rodicia-protestuju-proti-prerozdeleniu-deti-zo-zrusenej-skoly-zacali-spisovat-peticiu [link-preview url=”https://www.zilinak.sk/prispevky/6291/rodicia-protestuju-proti-prerozdeleniu-deti-zo-zrusenej-skoly-zacali-spisovat-peticiu”]
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