Last week, the German police raided a Sinti camp in Osnabrück, on the suspicion that a condemned criminal was there. So far, no issue. But then they searched every one in the camp, which is an issue, as this went way beyond their warrant.
In his speech at today’s demonstration in front of the Government Office, pro-Roma activist from Ústí nad Labem Marcel Packert criticized the so-called patriots, who are actually extremists, xenophobes and anti-Semites. Packert warned against the dangers of associating these people with Roma.
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.
This week in the Czech Republic, the police has been investigating several reports of other alleged attacks by Ukrainians on Roma. They were supposed to be in Sokolov and Přerov. The police have not yet fully completed their investigation and have not confirmed that all of the attacks actually occurred. There is a lot of misinformation being spread among the Roma, and the police have already charged one person for spreading an alarmist message.
This issue is being misused on purpose.
For the last twenty years, the OSCE has aimed at improving the situation of the Roma with an action plan. IT has achieved little, mostly because the participating states have done nothing.
The children’s Roma dance troupe “Romano Jilo” from Zvolen has severe problems. Firstly, with finances, but also with space for rehearsals. The group travelled to several international events with children from a socially excluded community. About 30 children work in the Romano Jilo ensemble, most of them coming from poor backgrounds and from marginalized groups from around Zvolen.
About seventy protesters, around fifty of them Roma, gathered in front of the Government Office for a demonstration called by David Mezei, a very controversial Romano leade. The participants expressed their disapproval of the current government and the presence of Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic. In addition to Mezei, the speakers also included Miroslav Tancoš, the chairman of the Roma Democratic Party, which has suspended its activities, and Denis Novák from the Round Table Alliance.
It is sad to see that some Roma are playing into the hands of extremists following the two attacks in the Czech Republic.
A documentary will be presented in Warsaw on July 15th. It is the last interview given by Krystyna Gil (1943-2021), Witness of History and Guardian of the Memory of the Roma Holocaust, before her death. She was a well-known activist and leader, and for many years the president of the Roma Women’s Association in Poland. On January 20, 2021, Krystyna Gil was awarded the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. As the Consul General of Germany, Michael Gross, wrote in the letter announcing the award, the award honours her many years of work for “intergenerational, future-oriented dialogue, universal values and for all the content that you, as a Witness of History, have been providing for years”.
The story of an unqualified teaching assistant is accused of having sexually harassed more than 20 children in a kindergarten with mostly Roma. In another kindergarten, an assistant molested more than 50 children in the same Vojvodina region.
Bad.
Michaella Billa, usually called “Miška”, comes from Snakov in northern Slovakia. She is a successful economics engineer and studied statistical methods in economics at the University of Economics in Bratislava. She currently works at the Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic, Section Operational Program Slovakia. However, the road to this success was not easy. During her education in primary and secondary school, Miška experienced a lot of prejudice, as well as the insufficient, discriminatory approach of teachers.
A special commemoration will be held in Berlin on August 2nd.
An interview with Alexandra Minzari (34), a Hungarian Romni with an impressive curriculum: Four university degrees, including one from Oxford and one from Cambridge, perfect English, French, Russian and Hungarian and a list of interesting jobs. The last one, the current one, is work at the Ministry of Child Protection.
The Commission for Protection against Discrimination (CPC) imposed a fine of BGN 1,000 and a mandatory order on the extreme-right Political Party “VMRO-Bulgarian National Movement” (VMRO-BND) not to allow publications that create prejudice against certain Romas. The complaint was submitted by the Romani activist Liliana Kovacheva through lawyer Diana Dragieva from the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC). As a Bulgarian Roma citizen, Kovacheva felt rightly discriminated against because of content on the official website of the VMRO-BND. In the section “The Gypsy Question there are hundreds of publications that suggest criminal tendencies and criminal behavior of all Roma. The articles abound with hate speech, impose the feeling of opposition between Bulgarians and Roma.
Several articles criticising the police report on clan criminality from Lower Saxony as being racist and based against Sinti and Roma.
Andrej Kiska, who was the Slovak president from 2004 to 2019, has launched a project employing Romnja seamstresses who will sew clothing for a newly established brand. The former head of state is closely working with the Roma and apparently selecting the people who will work on this project.
The story of a police Razzia in a Sinti camp in Osnabrück, Germany. The police went too far, unfortunately not an exception. They had an arrest warrant for one person, and took the opportunity to search all…
An article on the instrumentalization of the attacks by Ukrainian refugees against Roma in the Czech Republic.
On July 3, 1943, German gendarmes came to Szczurowa, Poland. Almost the entire community of Roma living in Szczurowa was murdered. The German police shot 93 Roma at the local cemetery. The German gendarme Engelbert Guzdek, was the main perpetrator.
On Sunday, July 9, 2023, at the mass grave of the Roma in Ratów, which is located in the local parish cemetery, it will take place at 13th memorial meeting with the participation of the Roma pianist from Slovakia, Mirosław Rač, and the Roma band Romano Iło from Nowa Huta.
Some 63% of Czechs consider the cohabitation of Roma with other inhabitants of the country as problematic, according to a poll carried out last spring by the Center for Research on Public Opinion (CVVM), the results of which were released on Friday. Nearly 33% of respondents believe that relations with the Roma minority are good.
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Mixed bag of news this week on Roma in France. A photo exhibition in Arles on Gitanos with more than 150 photos from Jacques Léonard. Worth seeing. An open letter to Macron, asking him to let the “Tsiganes” live like citizen. The usage of “Tsiganes” in France is still prevalent. An article stating that 1.2 million people are victims of racism in France every year, with of course Roma topping the list. A comic strip on refugees that also highlights Roma, and then the usual: condemnation of young Roma for theft during the recent riots, and an article of the extreme right paper about Roma settlers in the camps.
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