An interview with a catholic deacon on the “Roma Problem” in Slovenia. The deacon is not that clear cut on the roots of the problem and far less on potential solutions. Well, he at least helps some Roma.
Following the attack of two brothers by Roma in Škocja, Slovenia, protests against Roma criminality are increasing. The victims were invited were invited to an extraordinary meeting in Škocjan. They described what happened that day.
Bad for all.
Some of the Slovenian press headlines: The Lopatec brothers from Dobrava near Škocjan were cleaning the Radulje ditch when a group of Roma from Dobruja attacked them and threatened them with weapons. When they later called the police, they attacked them too, the two brothers came to their aid, and one of them got hit in the head with a wheel.
No comments.
Bogdan Miklič, a journalist and Romano activist who has been fighting against stereotypes and prejudice against Roma is being accused of having built a house on municipal land. The tone of the article is very much “see I told you …”.
Bad for all.
On Thursday, September 21, an international Roma conference was held in Radenci, Slovenia. Representatives of the Roma community from 15 countries discussed several topics important to Roma with representatives of national and European institutions. In the foreground were the implementation of the European Commission’s ten-year plan for supporting Roma in the EU and the presentation of good practices for solving the problems of the Roma community.
Burning waste not in the open is prohibited by law, but it is also harmful to health, warns the National Institute of Public Health. Residents of Sončni dvori in Grosuplje are particularly disturbed by the burning of waste in the nearby Roma settlement of Smrekec. Because of it, residents are forced to inhale smoke and lock themselves in their apartments.
This has usually two causes: Heating with whatever is found that burns, or scraping plastic out of old wires. It is a result of poverty.
The Regional Court in Košice ruled in favour of nine Roma plaintiffs who were forcibly evicted from their homes in Nižné Kapustníky in Košice eleven years ago.
This was reported on Wednesday by Jonathan Lee from the European Center for Roma Rights, according to which the city of Košice evicted the entire local Roma community under the pretext of garbage removal.
According to him, the residents were not offered any alternative accommodation after their homes were demolished, as a result of which they became homeless.
The police do not officially keep statistics on crime committed by Roma, but the police can say that in municipalities with a large number of Roma, they cause up to 90 percent of all crime.
In Ivančna Gorica, the situation is so serious that the locals decided to organize the so-called village guards.
The Parliamentary Committee for Internal Affairs, Public Administration and Local Self-Government discussed the situation of the Roma community for several hours today. In 30 years, the situation has not improved, but worsened, it was heard several times today. They allocate 15 mio euros per year to this problem.
But they also highlighted some examples of good practices, such as afternoon activities for children in Roma communities.
No comments …
Another article on the mayor’s initiative for changing the laws on social benefits clearly directed against the Roma minority without mentioning them.
There must be better solutions.
After a months-long campaign, 11 mayors and mayors of Dolenj, Belokrajna and Posavina municipalities in Slovenia submitted proposals for changes to social legislation to the National Assembly. Throughout the collection of signatures, the mayors announced that the purpose of the changes was to protect the benefits of children from socially difficult backgrounds and to encourage interest in the integration of the unemployed into the labour market.
They of course kept silent the fact that the proposals target Roma, because otherwise the proposals would be rejected as unconstitutional, because they are discriminatory. But it is obvious that problems such as children’s non-enrolment in school are primarily associated with the Roma. The mayor of Novo Mesto, Gregor Macedoni, who is at the head of the initiative, told STA that their initiative deals in a general way with the problem of children who, being born in a “certain social environment”, are marked by the fact that they have no future, and there is a high probability that, that they will not finish primary school. According to his estimate, there are 1.5 percent of such children in Slovenia.
After several months of campaigning, 11 mayors and mayors of the municipalities of Dolenje, Belokraj and Posavina have finally submitted proposals for changes to social legislation to the National Assembly. Under the slogan “For children from difficult social backgrounds”, voters’ signatures were collected in municipalities for amendments to four laws, the content of which is particularly discriminatory against Roma, even though Roma are never mentioned in the proposed legislation.
An article about the Roma “problem” in Slovenia. Alone the title says it all: “Burning Roma issue – Will Ljubljana ever understand what it’s like to be bullied by a rabid horde?” In Brief, residents complain about more and more thefts, mischief, violations of public order and crime, and citizens no longer feel safe and slowly have enough of everything. They just want to work and live in peace, they demand security.
On the occasion of International Youth Day, which was declared by the United Nations on August 12 in 1999, Združenje Epeka, a social enterprise from Maribor, on the island of Maribor prepared, as they called it, an event entitled Green knowledge for young people: on the way to sustainable world.
The event was attended by around thirty people, including Roma and refugee teenagers from Syria.
The Slovenian Roma group Romano Glauso [Roma Voices] was formed in 2018. They say they spread the love for Romani music and playful joy by dancing on tables and drinking wine.
Another unfortunate article about Roma in the Slovenian press. They speak of criminality, brutality, gangs, and the like. In this article, they “explain” that Roma are driving customers away with the intent to extorting money from the businesses.
Bad.
At the initiative of the mayors of 11 municipalities in Slovenia, voters collected the necessary five thousand signatures to submit a package of proposals of changes to laws in the field of social policy and education to the National Assembly. The official aim of this package is to solve the Roma “problem”.
The proposed changes, among others, would pay the social benefits in kind instead of cash for parents not sending their children to school. The same would happen if they are in debt with utilities bills.
There have been severe critics at the proposed changes, with people calling them racist. Effectively, especially the last point on debt on bills, will mean that many Roma families will not have any money left.
The Roma living in Beltinci, Slovenia, are supposed to be moved to a new location called Fazanerija. The
living and social conditions in the current settlement, in which 70 to 80 Roma live, are unsustainable.
In the second half of June, Roma councillor Dušan Horvat resigned due to the excitement caused by the intended resettlement of Roma. Local residents are of course also unhappy about the move.
Another of those articles in the Slovene press … Speaking of the Roma “Problem”, the fact that they are all unemployed, criminals, that they have many more children than the rest of the population, and that most of their children do not even finish primary school.
What they are talking about is not a Roma “problem”, it is a case of poverty and exclusion. And that is a Slovene issue.
A round table “Roma cultural and artistic influences in Europe” was organized in Murska Sobota, Slovenia.
The keynote speaker of the round table was the advisor for culture of the Republic of Slovenia. In his speech, Marko Sraka Stated: “The topic of today’s round table, Roma cultural and artistic influences in Europe, is extremely important. In the public and the media, the Roma community is not often associated with a rich and vibrant culture, because social issues and problems arising from the relationship between the majority population and the Roma are always in the foreground. Every day, the Roma face hatred and rights violations, and have problems with decent and affordable housing, and are often denied employment and rights, and find it harder to integrate into the education system. The Romani language, culture and art have always been those parts of the Romani heritage, which others also recognize as a special value, especially here in Prekmurje,” he concluded in his speech.
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