{"id":1193,"date":"2014-09-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ rroma.org\/19-09-2014-berlin-threatened-child-removal-of-rroma-evokes-resentment\/"},"modified":"2014-09-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T00:00:00","slug":"19-09-2014-berlin-threatened-child-removal-of-rroma-evokes-resentment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/19-09-2014-berlin-threatened-child-removal-of-rroma-evokes-resentment\/","title":{"rendered":"19.09.2014 Berlin: threatened child removal of Rroma evokes resentment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Youth workers of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBerlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg have threatened to take away the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tchildren of Rroma families if they continue to live outdoors. According to the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tjournalist Long-Lendorff (2014), during the summer months Rroma migrant workers \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand their families have been living in and around the G\u00f6rlitz Park and on a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twasteland of the Kreuzbergian Cuvrystra\u00dfe for many years. The concern about the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tchildren welfare is therefore exaggerated. However, this is seen differently by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe youth welfare office: \u201cEmployees of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe youth office presented the families earlier this week a letter in which \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthey were asked to look for an accommodation at least for their children. These \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twere in danger due to the outdoor life. \u201cWe’ll be back in a few days. If you \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstill live overnight with your children here, we will take your children into \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcare\u201d, the letter says […].\u201d<\/em> Those responsible acknowledge that a child \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tremoval cannot be for the children\u2019s good. However, there is too big a housing shortage \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin the district, so that one cannot simply provide housing for all families \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taffected. The Rroma association Amaro Foro and the Senate commissioner for integration, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMonika L\u00fcke, criticised the planned action as totally inappropriate: if anything, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tone has to provide housing for the whole families and not unnecessarily destroy \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthem. Moreover, child removal would also align to a very questionable \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thistorical continuity of earlier removals: Children were taken away from Rroma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfamilies in several countries of Europe during forced assimilation programs. Sterilisations \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand child removals often went hand in hand. The children trauma cannot in any \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tway be compared to poor living conditions. Furthermore, it should not be \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tforgotten that most Rroma are committed to integration, but are hindered to do \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tso by structural obstacles and mechanisms of exclusion (compare Berliner \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tZeitung 2014).<\/p>\n