République tchèque Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est

Czechia and the Anti-Roma Racism Working Definition

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The Senate Committee on Human Rights today unanimously endorsed the International Holocaust Alliance (IHRA)  working definition of anti-gypsyism as discrimination against Roma. The definition, like anti-Semitism, names a specific form of racism that Roma people face because of their ethnic origin, culture or lifestyle. According to committee chairman Jiří Růžička (for TOP 09), the definition adopted by the Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs on Monday is not legally binding.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovaquie

Slovakia, Social Media, and Roma

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Slovaks do not spare hateful comments on Roma on social networks, but they often try to hide their identity. Hateful comments usually appear under anonymous pseudonyms, as research by the Institute for Human Rights and other organizations confirms.

It shows the stereotypes held by the general population, but also that they realise these comments are racist and could be sued against.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovénie

Slovenia and the Roma “Problem”

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At the request of the Slovenian Democratic Party, the Committee of the National Assembly for Petitions, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities discussed the increasingly pressing Roma issue in Southeastern Slovenia at an emergency meeting. The meeting was also attended by some mayors and deputy mayors and councilors, representatives of the Novo mesto Police Department and Šentjernej Police Station.

The initiator of the meeting, MP Anja Bah Žibert, pointed out in the introduction that the coalition promised its legal solutions to the Roma issue by the end of 2023.

You wonder how do you resolve an exclusion and discrimination problem with repressive legislative measures?

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Nouvelles suisses Ukraine

Switzerland and Roma

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Another two articles in the Swiss press about Roma refugees from the Ukraine who “abuse” the system and are “most probably” not from the Ukraine. All because the Swiss seem to be oblivious that Western Ukraine is Hungarian speaking …

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovaquie

Slovakia: A Project

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In western Slovakia, the project Better Future for Young Roma was born under the auspices of the non-profit organization Human in Danger. Roma children get a chance to go to school and work for a better future. The project is currently being developed mainly in Lozorn, Plavecký Štvrtek and Zlaté Klasy.

If necessary, the children’s parents also receive help and support. They have already worked with 94 children and their families. They provided counseling to more than a hundred children, while 46 of them got a job during the project.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovaquie

Quartier rom en Slovaquie

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A Roma settlement in Slovakia is being destroyed. Reason is, it became so run down that it cannot be saved. The article says it is the residents’ fault. Well, they did not do anything, but neither did the municipality nor the owners.

Nouvelles suisses

Switzerland, Roma, and Ukrainian Refugees

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Two really bad articles in a formerly good newspaper, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Here, the use the fact that there are several Roma families from the Transcarpathian Ukraine asking for refugee status in Switzerland, to ask for the blanket approval of Ukrainian refugees to be revoked.

They make statements about false passports etc.

Proofs are not there…

France Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

French Chronicle …

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A mayor in France made racist comments about Roma on a WhatsApp group, and 2 years later, they surfaced. He pleads that he was simply “clumsy”. A bit easy to try to get away from these comments. Near Paris, a town was condemned for having refused to enroll Roma children in schools. That is good. In February 2023, the residents from a town near Paris expulsed Roma from a camp. A formal complaint was lodged, but French Justice, in those cases seems reluctant to do anything. Near Marseilles, the installation of an “insertion village” provokes protests from residents. Finally, Roma who fled their cam following a fire have returned.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Pologne

Poland, Schools, and Roma

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Robert Bladycz, a Rom teaching assistant from schools in Kamienna Góra, has been trying to get a teaching job for many years, he tells Radio Wrocław. He has a higher degree in education, has been working in schools for 20 years, and despite repeated attempts, he has never been offered a position as a beginner teacher.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovénie

Ljubjana: Roma Wedding

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A report on a Roma wedding in Ljubljana, Slovenia. These articles (and the showing of) do not help the cause.

According to the article, the house has 600 square meters, there was a bar of gold and 10 thousand euros as some of the gifts that the newlyweds received at the Roma wedding in Ljubljana.

Grèce Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

Greece and Stereotypes

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Spyros Bakas is 24 years old, he grew up and lives in Dendropotamos (a neighbourhood of Thessaloniki) and for the last two years he has been studying Journalism, while working at a Creative Employment Center there. Spyros is the first journalist in Thessaloniki who openly declares that he is Roma, or rather Gypsy.

Many Roma in Greece as in other countries simply do not say they are Roma, simply to avoid being confronted with racist stereotypes. He chose to out himself, bravo!

  • Θεσσαλονίκη – Σπύρος Μπάκας: Ο Ρομά δημοσιογράφος από τον Δενδροπόταμο που θέλει να σπάσει τα στερεότυπα. In: Voria. 04.02.2024. https://www.voria.gr/article/spyros
Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Nouvelles suisses Ukraine

Switzerland and Ukrainian Roma Refugees

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In Switzerland, there is currently an influx of Roma refugees from the Ukraine, mostly from the Transcarpathian region. We have seen many cases, and they unfortunately come from segregated settlements, often as large families (8 children etc.). They mostly speak only Hungarian and a limited amount of Ukrainian, and seldom Romanes.

The article in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung is totally unacceptable. They effectively say they are not really Ukrainian, without any proof, and even put up a picture of Uzhgorod, maybe part of Greater Hungary for the editors of this paper. They insinuate that they have all Hungarian passports, which could be the case, as Hungarian speakers from outside Hungary have been granted passports by Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister. However, one of the pre-requisite is to be able to read and write (and not to be Roma), which does not apply in most of the cases here in Switzerland.

In addition, these Roma, even though they are not fluent, speak Russian and Ukrainian. Which cannot be said of Hungarians.

Nouvelles suisses

Switzerland and Beggars

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Ann article in the Swiss boulevard press about organized beggars due to the condemnation of several Roma for having abused people and forced them to beg in Switzerland. When one thinks that the average money made by a beggar in Switzerland is around 20 CHF per day and person, this is really not the most lucrative criminal operation. Such articles generalizing from a single case are really bad.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovaquie

The Case of an Anthropologist

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The case of David Scheffel, a Canadian university teacher, who was accused and convicted of the crime of sexual abuse concurrently with the offense of endangering the moral education of youth is being reopened.

In January 2024, the media reported that the case was being heard again at the District Court in Prešov, where two of the victims should testify that no abuse took place and deny their statements from the preliminary proceedings and previous court hearings. The defendant’s prominent lawyer, Daniel Lipšice (now a special prosecutor), said that Roma lie and are therefore untrustworthy…

Bad.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovaquie

Slovakia, Social Media, and Roma

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A recent study by the Human Rights Institute shows that on social media in Slovakia, there are many hateful and racist comments about Roma. People try to hide behind pseudonyms and post many disparaging comments on Roma.

Bad.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Ukraine

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On February 6, a new Roma-led community center (“Roma Integration Space”) was officially opened in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia Oblast, after which another such community center will be opened in Berehove, Zakarpattia Oblast. UNHCR and its local partner NEEKA supported the reconstruction of the buildings and the renovation of the premises of these two centers.

The spaces will work as multifunctional centers to support Roma communities, primarily Roma women and girls, and will complement the national Roma strategy of the Government of Ukraine. Based on the experience and lessons learned from a similar Roma integration space, which has been under the care of the UNHCR and its partner NGO Nehemiah in Uzhgorod since 2022, a wide range of measures aimed at strengthening the access of Roma communities to rights and services, strengthening their potential and integration into local communities.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Serbie

Vojvodina: Romanes Courses

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The Roma Center Association from Crepaja implemented a project in the Elementary School “Sveti Georgije” in Uzdin with the aim of fostering the language, culture and tradition of the Roma.

The Romanes course with elements of national culture in Uzdin is attended by 20 students. The goal of teaching Romanes is for students to master the basic rules of Romanes, as their mother tongue, to communicate in it, and to get to know the literature of their people.

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