Category Archives: Germany

There is no invasion …

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According to the Council of Europe, and this in spite of what populist politicians claim, there has been no “invasion” of Rroma from Bulgaria and Romania since citizen from these countries have been granted free circulation within the EU. The Council of Europe criticises the “unfounded” numbers cited by the press in the migration debate in several European countries, such as the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.

We wholeheartedly agree!

Report on a Rrom refugee from Serbia

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Report on a Rrom refugee from Serbia

An article on a Rrom who fled Leskovac in Serbia and is now in Germany. He has few chances to stay as Germany has decreed Serbia to be a safe country, but still hopes he can stay.

Travellers, Rroma, Sinti, Jenische

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Travellers, Rroma, Sinti, Jenische

Following requests for some camps for travellers in the region of Biel/Bienne in Switzerland, the unfortunately usual discussion about who is what started anew in the press. Who are Jenische (Swiss travellers, also present in France, Germany, Austria); Sinti, who in Switzerland are often intermarried with Jenische but otherwise come from France, Germany and Italy; Rroma, whom the Swiss understand as “Foreign Travellers”, who are mostly French and German Rroma etc…

Rroma Wedding in Switzerland

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Rroma Wedding in Switzerland

First news since a long time in the Swiss Press about “foreign travellers”, i.e. Rroma. 500 of them camped in a village in Thurgau, North East of Zurich, to celebrate a wedding. Finally they left as one of the members of the group die in a car accident in Germany and the wedding was cancelled.

The journalist was not particularly sensitive: He used the word “Sippe” [clan], said that people were afraid that the same issues as a fews years back in the French speaking part of Switzerland would occur, etc. In brief, he or she regurgitated the usual stereotypes. Shame.

Serbian Rroma being deported from Germany

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Serbian Rroma being deported from Germany

An article on a Rroma family from Serbia who had asked for asylum in that country and now faces deportation back to Serbia. Germany, since it declared Serbia to be a safe country now regularly deports Rroma from that country who ask for asylum.

75 years since the first deportations in Germany

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75 years since the first deportations in Germany

Throughout the German press, there have been articles commemorating the 75th anniversary of the first deportations of Rroma and Sinti on May 16th, 1940, to concentration camps. Writers, politicians, clerics, all reflected on this dark chapter of German history. Even darker when one considers that the persecution of Rroma and Sinti was not recognised as an ethnic one by the German state until 1982 (Date at which the German Government under Helmut Schmid recognised the racial nature of the perecution). Until then, Rroma and Sinti had been persecuted officially solely for being “asocial” Needless to say, reparations were also not really forthcoming, even after that date.

We are Gypsies, and are not like Rroma

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We are Gypsies, and are not like Rroma

Reportage on French Gitans (Gitanos) in Montpellier facing off the new immigrants. As in Germany, one has a similar reaction: We are Gitanos, they are [foreign] Rroma. We are not like them … This is the same as the Sinti in the famous Sinti and Rroma … While this is perfectly understandable, this should not be taken as a “truth”. Gitanos, Manouches, Sinti, and about 40 different other groups are all Rroma.

Is one allowed to say “Gypsy” or “Zigeuner”?

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Is one allowed to say “Gypsy” or “Zigeuner”?

The Stern wrote an article on the usage of the word “Zigeuner” [Gypsy] and the controversy on that topic that arose in the last few weeks. They refer to the discussion the TV discussion panel “Hart aber Fair” [Hard but fair] on the topic burglaries. During that discussion, some of the participants used the terms of “Zigeunertrick” [Gypsy trick] or of “Zigeunerkönig” [Gypsy king] whereby a discussion followed on the use of the word Zigeuner. This is reminiscent of the discussion in the TAZ (see blog post on this topic) on that very same question. Here, the Stern states that the word is used by Rroma in many countries, and cites Rolf Bauerdick on that topic, and adds that the word is also fraught with shame. They also add with a somewhat twisted logic, that the term “Roma and Sinti” is false. Their main claim is that the new arrivals in Germany are certainly not Sinti. But they miss the point that Sinti, like all the other groups are also Rroma …

Rroma conference in Ulm

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Rroma conference in Ulm

More than 100 organisations from various countries around the Danube gathered in Ulm, Germany, to discuss the situation of Rroma in Europe. Consensus seems to be that the Rroma are the losers of the changes that followed the fall of communism, and that in spite of the Rroma decase that started in 2004, their situation has gotten worse.

Germany deports refugees from Serbia and Macedonia

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Germany deports refugees from Serbia and Macedonia

The red-green coalition from Baden Württemberg will deport asylum seekers from Serbia and Macedonia, many of then Rroma, on the anniversary of the deportation of Rroma in that Region. This anniversary celebrated on the 24th of March commemorates the first train filled with Rroma and Sinti that departed from Offenburg.

What a date to choose …

Germany’s President of the Federal Tribunal ashamed at old practices

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Germany’s President of the Federal Tribunal ashamed at old practices

The current president of the federal tribunal, Ms. Bettina Limperg is ashamed at an old judgement from the tribunal referring to Rroma as a “plague”. Contrary to what one could think, this judgement was not made under the Nazis but in 1956, so eleven years after the end of the War.

This statement was alas by no mean an exception, as the Rroma Holocaust was not recognised as having been based on ethnicity until the 1970’s.

15.02.2015 Kosovo Refugees – German Calls for Action

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Following the sharp increase of people fleeing Kosovo to escape poverty and, in the case of Rroma, discrimination and outright racism, there are calls in Germany to be more stringent on theses asylum applications. Various measures have been suggested by politicians (Tagesspeigel) going to extraditing refugees also in the winter, as asked by politicians from the CDU (LNOnline). Some even deny that there is an issue in the country.

Politicians should be maybe remember, especially in Germany, that they recognised the country but also implicitly if not explicitly recognised the ethnic cleansing of minorities from the Kosovo. Ethnic states have no place in the 21st century!

– Simantke, Elisa; Monath, Hans. Streit um schnellere Abschiebung. In Der Tagesspeigel. 13.02.2015. http://www.tagesspiegel.de/…/fluechtlinge-aus…/11360670.html
– Streit um Asylbewerber aus dem Kosovo: Nord-CDU macht Druck. In: LNOnline. 13.02.2015. http://www.ln-online.de/…/Streit-um-Asylbewerber-aus-dem-Ko…
– Kosov ist kein Krisenland. Beate Merk im Gespräch mit Thielko Grieß. In: Deutschlandrundfunk. 14.02.2015.

 

08.02.2015 Foreign in one’s own country: Sinti in Germany

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MiGazin speaks about Ricardo Laubinger, a Sinto from Hildesheim, a town where Rroma are documented since 1407. His family lived there since generations and travelled during the summer to earn a living as a trader or handyman. He clearly says “We are German” and says that after all, his forebears lived there for the last 600 years!

25.01.2015 Remembrance for the liberation of Auschwitz 70 years ago

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The “Förderverein Roma” organises a march on January 27th in Frankfurt to mark the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau (Frankfurter Neue Presse). In that camp, with the special Rroma camp in Birkenau, countless Rroma from several countries were killed. The official number is fairly low, as is the case with Jews, as people that were gassed straight away were not registered. However, many Rroma from Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany and other countries were murdered there.

The Bishop Conference of Germany, for that same commemoration of the liberation liberation of the camp, issued a lengthy statement acknowledging the murder of minorities and other in Auschwitz and appealing for tolerance and help towards others.

25.01.2015 Murder of Rroma and Sinti: Did we learn anything?

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Romani Rose, president of the Zentralrat der deutschen Sinti und Roma ponders about the aftermath and the collective conscience on the murder of Rroma and Sinti during the Holocaust. The fact that besides Jews, Rroma were singled out for racial reasons and murdered during the Holcaust is still not widely acknowledged or known. More work and more information is still required on this topic.

31.12.2014 Prejudices against Rroma

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Milan Jaeger interviewed the social worker Sonia Böttcher in Frankfurt and quizzed here on her work and on Rroma generally.  She stresses that there are common and long lasting prejudices against Rroma that portrays them as poor, uneducated, dirty, etc. She states that while there are certainly Rroma who fit the picture, the majority of the population is certainly not like this.

Meanwhile, the Süddeutsche Zeitung interviewed Andreas Zick, a researcher from the IKG, Institute for the interdisciplinary research on  conflict and violence of the University of Bielerfeld on the fears of the general population in the face of a perceived increased number of asylum seekers in Germany. This in spite of the fact that Germany is not really taking more refugees in proportion to its population as compared to neighbouring countries.

The NZZ reports on the march of the Pegida and their fear of foreigners, refugees and other migrants. One of the main often unmentioned fears are the potential hordes of Rroma who may invade Germany to benefit from a liberal social system. That these hordes never materialised in the years since all EU citizen are free to move and settle in all Eu Countries is never actually stated. There are very few Rroma, according to all official statistics who settled in Western Europe following the free travel agreements in the EU.

  1. Jaeger, Milan. Vorurteile gegen Sinti und Roma. In Frankfurter Rundschau. 28. Nov. 2014. http://www.fr-online.de/frankfurt/roma-vorurteile-gegen-sinti-und-roma,1472798,29187018.html
  2. Schulte von Drach, Markus C. Vom Vorurteil zur Fremdenfeindlichkeit. In Süddeutsche Zeitung, 10. December 2014. http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/fluechtlinge-in-deutschland-vom-vorurteil-zur-fremdenfeindlichkeit-1.2251706
  3. Lahrtz, Stephanie. Verängstigte und unverstandene Mitläufer. In Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 16 December 2014. http://www.nzz.ch/international/deutschland-und-oesterreich/veraengstigte-und-unverstandene-mitlaeufer-1.18445463
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