Not a good thing: In Chemnitz, two Roma families are making headlines for noise, insults, garbage, and in addition they are suspected of shoplifting. Whether true or not, the mere fact that such articles pop up is bad.
Die Sintiza and civil right activist Ilona Lagrene has died at 73.
Romani Rose, chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, praised her for her “tireless education” about the minority’s history of persecution. For her it was never about “transferring blame”, but rather about “passing on knowledge”.
May she rest in peace.
The well know Parisian musician Petro Ivanovitch (Jovanovic) who was born in Serbia died recently at the age of 76 in Paris. He was buried in the Montmartre cemetery last Thursday acompaigned by music sung by his family and the many musicians who attended the ceremony.
Petro founded the “Tsiganes Ivanovitch”, a group that recorded several albums.
May he rest in peace! Te avel o drom angla leste putherdo!
The family of the artist Dani Karavan, the creator of the Memorial for the Sinti and Roma victims of the Genocide is threatening legal action if the memorial is changed by the planned S-Bahn tunnel. The government remains divided on the issue.
Conner Rousseau, the president of the Vooruit party (Socialist) resigned after weeks of controversy on his statements about Roma. He apparently said “one has to get rid of them” and said they are “brown garbage”. He then claimed to his defence to have been drunk …
Not much this week about Roma in France. Just a clean up after a camp closure near Bordeaux, another camp in Nantes being closed, and an article on insecurity in Grenoble, partly due to Roma thieves according to the article.
The Tajsa prize will be awarded to Franciska Farkas and Horvá Kristóf “Színész Bob
(aka “Actor Bob”), both award-winning actors from Budapest, are notable for their contributions to the world of theater, film, poetry, and talent education.
The Jury has nominated them together for their outstanding performance in the movie Three Thousand Numbered Pieces (2022) “a political, cruel and original film spiced with dark humour, which makes an urgently needed and impactful statement against injustice, prejudice, discrimination and racism against the Roma, the biggest European minority”.
https://www.gorki.de/en/tajsa-roma-kulturerbe-preisverleihung
The Flemish socialist leader Conner Rousseau has been instructed by public prosecutors to follow therapy. He had made racist statements against Roma, and his apology, saying he was drunk at that time and would never say such things if sober did not help. Roma organisations filed a complaint and are part of a mediation procedure.
Greek Roma rioted in Greece after a young Roma was killed by the police. He was the third one in as many years.
A third young Rom was killed by the police in Athens after a police chase. According to the police, the gun went off when the young Rom tried to grab a pistol from the police.
He is the third young Roma killed by the police in Greece in as many years.
Not surprising, Paris is launching a “social clean-up” ahead of the Olympic games next year. As a result, Roma are being expulsed. In Nantes, a Roma camp that has existed for several years is being shut down, a decision that doesn’t make the unanimity in the local government. France is also continuing its expulsions, even though, since November 1st, people should be protected by the winter moratorium. Close to Switzerland, residents are protesting against travellers’ degradations. Finally, scrap metal collectors have been condemned for stealing metals, and for reselling them.
As a child, Angelina Kappler was excluded because she comes from a Sinti family. Today the young winemaker and former German wine queen is committed to fighting antigypsyism. This brings her a lot of positive feedback, but also hate online.
The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma issued a statement saying that they are deeply concerned by the increase of antisemitism and crimes and attacks against Jews in Germany.
They are right.
More articles this week about Roma. First, on the International Romanes Day, then about Roma themselves.
In Western France, the closure and expulsion in Nantes of a Roma camp results in divisions and oppositions. Parents are protesting the removal of Roma children from school. This is good, as it may start forcing authorities to be a bit more integrative.
Further South, a mayor refuses the authorisation for a photo exhibition about Roma. In the Loire valley, in Angers, the question of the integration of Roma is asked. Then, the usual: Two camps, one near Paris, one in Marseilles have been closed.
Romanes is still not recognised as a national language in Italy.
Romani Rose commented in detail about the conflict between the Heidelberg-based Central Council of German Sinti and Roma and the federal association founded two years ago. The dispute led to the planned state treaty and the financing of the conversion and new construction of the Documentation Centre for German Sinti and Roma being put on hold. Romani Rose calls on the federal government to face up to its responsibilities and support the Central Council’s commitment rather than blocking it.
In 2011, the former so-called “Rat House of Neukölln” was bought by a Catholic housing company. Since then, Roma and non-Roma have been living there together at reasonable rents. The housing project is considered a successful model of integration.
Not much news in the French Press about Roma. People in Nantes, in Western France are mobilising to fight against the expulsion of a Roma camp without decent housing alternatives. Other than that, 70 caravans are squatting the parking of a high school in Savoie, and 6 Roma arrested near Paris for a series of burglaries.
A study by the university of Padua, Italy, surveyed Roma in Genova. There are of course Sinti Piemontese, Bosnian Roma, and more recently arrivals from Romania.
According to research by the University of Padua, conducted as part of the European Hero project, whose leader is Liberitutti Cooperativa Sociale, “of the Roma and Sinti communities present in the city, those relocated following the dismantling of the camp in via Adamoli appear to be the more integrated and recognised, even at an institutional level”.
So if they are given good living conditions, they integrate. What a surprise …
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