Tag Archives: Ghetto

Slovakia: Relocation

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Roma from Svrčinovac have to be moved. The settlement will fall victim to the construction of a viaduct for the D3 highway. Construction should have already started, the Roma should have been moved, the houses were bought, but they are said to be inadequate. So today no one knows where they will actually go. And not even how many there actually are. According to information from the village, there are 35 of them. In reality, however, there are up to 70 of them. Three houses will not be enough for them.

Slovakia: Relocation

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A Roma settlement of Svrčinovec stands in the way of an ecoduct (a wildlife overpass) above the D3 highway. The Roma were to be relocated, but it turns out, there are twice as many of them as initially assessed (70 instead of 35), so that the replacement housing is not sufficient …

Roma Camps in Rome

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The Councilor for Social Policies Funari states that the goal is to achieve true inclusion and the right to citizenship of the Roma who live around Rome. For 69% of Romans, the minority “is a threat” (57% among Italians).

There are problems and they are undeniable: the real estate market, which concerns all Romans, and then the racism that continues to exist, and the further discrimination, caused by the institutions and for which we can only apologize.

Bulgaria, the State, and Mahala

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The chief prosecutor of the Plovdiv Region, in South Eastern Bulgaria ordered garbage containers to be placed in the Roma neighbourhood of Stolipinovo, one of the largest Mahala in the country. They inspected the neighbourhood and found numerous illegal landfills in the area.

By order of the District Prosecutor’s Office the municipality has been notified to take immediate action and prepare a plan with a view to ensuring normal living conditions in the neighbourhood.

More on the Slovak Relocation

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The relocation of the Roma community for the construction of the ecoduct (a wildlife overpass)  in Svrčinovec has raised a wave of resentment in both Čadec and Lopušné Pažite. Some of the Roma are planned to be relocated to a property in Čadec by the end of the month, a part to a house in the village of Lopušné Pažite, and a part will stay in Svrčinovec.

It shows how Roma are viewed in Slovakia…

Slovakia: Relocation

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The relocation of the Roma community for the construction of an ecoduct (a wildlife overpass) in Svrčinovec raised a wave of resentment in the neighbouring town of Čadca where thy will be relocated. Part of them are planned to be resettled in housing estate in Čadci-Podzávoz, and the residents there have already started writing a petition. Roma talk about discrimination. The situation is also troubling the mayor Matej Šimášek, as no one from the competent state authorities is communicating with them.

Bulgaria: Demolition

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It is an election year for local government in Bulgaria. This means it is also the start of a new bout of demolition of “illegal” Roma houses. The mayor of the Varna “Mladost” district, Hristo Hristov, announced that the removal of 50 objects in the “Maksuda” ghetto will soon take place. Prior to this, deeds of municipal ownership will be issued on the land to provide a legal basis for the demolition in court. About 200 buildings have been removed in recent years.

This is bad.

The Šutka

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Swiss television definitively not at its best. 8-10 Mio Roma (the Council of Europe cites 12 to 14, but then, the Swiss must know it better), and now a capital: the Šutka in Skopje.

It is always amazing what people can write or say about Roma with total impunity.

Niš – Serbia

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or ten years, the 12 February Roma camp in Niš has been trying in vain to obtain a reliable electricity connection. Instead of a solution, the neighborhood was completely without electricity for six months – a record. The inhabitants decided to demonstrate in front of the Ministry of Energy and Mines in Belgrade on December 6th. The authorities then promised representatives of the Opra Roma Srbija movement that the camp would be reconnected and that a lasting solution would be found.

Well, let’s see when this is done …

Bulgaria and Mahalas

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Another story of an “illegal” building, this time in a Mahala (Roma neighbourhood) in Plovdiv, with the police sealing the building waiting for bulldozers to destroy it.

Slovakia Settlements after 30 years

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After 30 years of Slovakia’s independence, poverty in Roma settlements remains. According to statistics, the situation in settlements is improving – people in them have better access to drinking water and sewage than 20 years ago. However, the gap between the majority and the Roma is increasing.

Montpellier Experiment

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The French city of Montpellier is carrying out an unprecedented experiment to try to integrate the Roma. The City evacuated the slum of Celleneuve, one of the largest in France, in favour of a “transition village”. Those who have agreed to go there benefit from intensive follow-up.

In April 2022, the slum in the Celleneuve district, west of Montpellier, was emptied and then destroyed after 10 years of existence. It was one of the biggest in France with 250 people. While slum dwellers are usually purely and simply expelled in France, without any alternative solution, the city of Montpellier and the prefecture of Hérault have opted for a different method. Thus, about fifty families agreed to be housed in a transitional village, on the edge of the highway, in a series of spartan but healthy bungalows equipped with water and electricity.

The numbers are interesting here: 250 people in a slum for 10 years …  And 50 families for 250 people means that families have on average 5 people. Not really the very large families that are reported to by the press.

From the Osada to Higher Education

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An impressive interview with Jana Zacharová, a Romni who grew up in an Osada, a Roma settlement. Thanks to her own efforts and small support from her teachers and the non-profit organization Divé maky, she managed to study, later even abroad. Today, she finances her studies of medical pedagogy herself.

She says:

I mainly remember the social side, which was very difficult. In the settlement, there were not many opportunities for development or people I could perceive as a role model. And my parents had problems with alcohol.

So I know what it’s like to have absolutely nothing. What is it like to be hungry because there is no money for food. Or not being able to go to school because there is no money for the trip. These are things I will remember for the rest of my life. The poverty was very crushing.

Slovakia and Roma Ghettoes

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According to the Atlas of Roma Communities from 2019, up to two-thirds of Slovak Roma (300,000) live in segregated settlements outside or on the outskirts of villages, but also on a single street, in an apartment building or in a housing development within villages. In general, those settlements that are further away from the villages are in a worse condition. According to some experts, the settlements must disappear if the Roma from this environment are ever to integrate into society. “There is a lot of scientific evidence that segregation and ghetto life are incompatible with social integration,” says Marek Hojsík, who monitors Roma integration policies in EU states at the Central European University in Budapest.

However, settlements are not actually disappearing, but expanding. If a municipality or city with a Roma settlement builds apartments for Roma, according to SME findings, this happens directly in the settlements.

Large Shantytown in Malmö

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Police is taking action against a large camp of migrants, mostly from Rromania (and thus assumed to be Rroma) in Malmö. This camp has been growing and residents are alarmed at having a shantytown on their doorstep.

Increasing Getthoisation in Bulgaria

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Interesting article about the situation of Rroma in Bulgaria and their increasing victimisation and isolation based on observations on the Rroma Mahala (neighbourhood) of Iztok in the city of Pazardjik.

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