An exhibition of the works of Małgorzata Mirga-Tas in Ferrara, Italy.
A reportage in Mitrovica, Kosovo, among Roma. It is bad and is not improving, 15 years after the declaration of independence.
An article about all the others (i.e. non-Serbian) minorities in Kosovo, and mostly on Roma. The situation is still not good, with unemployment, discrimination, and emigration.
An interview with Roland Ferkovic, a Rom, about his issues with Hungarian higher education.
An article about Roma in the Czech Republic. It states that the most numerous Roma in the Czech Republic are Slovak Roma, who make up about 75 to 80% of the total number of Roma in the country. In addition, the original Czech Roma live in the Czech Republic, as well as German Sinti and Olaš Roma. All this according to Markéta Hajská from the Department of Central European Studies.
Well, less than 60 families of Czech Roma survived the war. This is the reason why after World War Two, the Communist regime resettled Roma to the Czech part of the country. The Olaš – these are Vlach Roma, have been there since the beginning oof the 20th century. Should be enough to make then Czech.
In brief, the usual for that country. Unfortunately.
An interview with Jan Hero, the Slovak Commissioner for Roma Communities. In the interview, he says that “undignified living or existence is not an ethnic problem”, spoke about how his childhood in a Roma settlement motivates him to work as a government representative for Roma, and that he expects politicians to use Roma instead of the derogatory “cigan”.
The Slovak Supreme Court ruled that at the primary school in Stará Ľubovna, Roma children are segregated. The Court decisions is based on the appeal of the non-governmental organization Counseling for Civil and Human Rights. It has been conducting court proceedings in this matter since 2015 after a public lawsuit was filed under the Anti-Discrimination Act.
The defendants are the Slovak Republic, represented by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic, and the founder of the school, which is the city of Stará Ľubovňa. According to the judgment, the defendants “violated the principle of equal treatment by not taking sufficient preventive measures to protect against discrimination and measures to eliminate discrimination against Roma children” in primary schools based on their ethnic origin.
A really scathing assessment of the Slovak Republic Strategy for Roma education between 2016 and 2020. According to the official audit, 173 Mio Euros were spent, which in comparison to 500’000 Roma in the country is not exactly a lot.
The programs did not meet their own set goals. Worse, the programs did not have clearly specified goals. Thus, according to the article, “it was not possible to monitor the progress and adapt the activities or to inform the public about the development. Later, the indicators were modified, which lost continuity and made everything even more unclear. What did not change over time was the problem of data unavailability. They were missing during the entire period.”
As part of the National Platform for Roma project, the Government Office for Nationalities has prepared a video competition on the topic of early and forced marriages in the Roma community. It is possible to register a video, the purpose of which will be to raise awareness and educate about the inadmissibility of early and forced marriages in the Roma community.
Well, forced marriages are not the norm. Early are common, because married life means living with someone else. This “competition” will increase the stereotypes, not fight against poverty and exclusion.
Ištvan Kvik, the well-known Lithuanian singer and leader of the Romano ensemble “Sare Roma”, is mostly known for Roma songs. He is now venturing in the Lithuanian folklore. Looking at Lithuanian folk songs from a different perspective, he says that they can also be given a fierier Roma touch. He also says that anyhow, Roma music has always been influenced by local music.
The Facebook page of the Romea organisation has been hacked last week.
Bad.
The memorial museum Auschwitz-Birkenau will launch a new online education entitled “Roma – the experience of extermination”. It is part of their current work in raising awareness about the Roma Genocide during the Holocaust.
Whether bilingual boards will be placed on public institutions in the Međimurje municipality of Orehovici, where around 33 percent of the population is made up of members of the Roma national minority, is a question that has yet to be answered. According to the law, this should be the case.
Committee for Monitoring the Implementation of the National Plan for the Inclusion of Roma recently discussed this topic, MP Veljko Kajtazi told Hina, noting that none of the representatives of Orehovice Municipality were present at the session of that committee, although they were invited.
“This is most likely a message that they don’t care. They scared Roma in for example by telling them that the guaranteed minimum compensation would be abolished if there were bilingual signs, that it would be worse than in Vukovar, and the locals told them all sorts of things,” said Kajtazi. He added that his point of view is that the law, especially the constitutional one (Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities), must be implemented and that a dialogue should be established on how to implement the right to bilingualism.
Another article in the Slovak press about the bias that Roma face in the judicial system.
Anti-Roma racism is not only widespread in society, Roma are discriminated against at all levels of criminal proceedings. This follows from research reports published by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). The report states that accused Roma face discrimination at every stage of criminal proceedings by the police, judges, prosecutors and often their own defence lawyers.
A young Romni student from Nitra is among the 12 finalists for this year’s Miss Slovakia contest.
She is twenty years old and, in addition to her studies, she is also an activist. “I am a member of the Roma Youth Leadership Academy, where we are currently preparing the third Congress of young Roma men and women. This event will be run under the auspices of the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma communities,” she said.
The very long story of the police brutality against Roma in Košice which started in 2009 and saw Roma who had sued the police being brought to court is finally coming to an end. The European Court of Human Rights who had condemned Slovakia in the process awarded 20’000 EUR to each of the Roma.
At long last!
The Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová came to the village of Toporec in the district of Kežmarok to see the impact of education on Roma. In that village, education is very important to Roma and the impact on their lives is visible: They live much better than their less educated brethrens.
The president considers the village of Toporec to be an example for the whole country.
An interview with the actress, screenwriter, director, and Romani activist Alina Şerban who wishes to have more time for travelling, more time for herself this coming year. She says “The biggest dream for this year would be to travel more, to give myself time to breathe and develop without work. Until now, I didn’t really know how to do this without work, because work saved me. But looking back, I don’t know how I spent my years, I just see a lot of work. I hope to enjoy life more this year.”
Two reports by the European Roma Right Centre highlight the discrimination of Roma in the justice systems of both the Czech and Slovak Republics.
A long article in the New York Times on Małgorzata Mirga-Tass, a Romani artist who represented Poland at the last Biennale in Venice.
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