{"id":1246,"date":"2014-09-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/26-09-2014-european-centre-for-antiziganism-research-criticizes-the-status-of-safe-countries-of-origin-2\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T13:57:18","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T12:57:18","slug":"26-09-2014-european-centre-for-antiziganism-research-criticizes-the-status-of-safe-countries-of-origin-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/26-09-2014-european-centre-for-antiziganism-research-criticizes-the-status-of-safe-countries-of-origin-2\/","title":{"rendered":"26.09.2014 European Centre for Antiziganism Research criticizes the status of safe countries of origin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Graff (2014) spoke with \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarko Knudsen, the head of the European Centre for Antiziganism Research. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKnudsen decidedly criticises the new asylum law that defines Serbia, Macedonia, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand Bosnia-Herzegovina as being safe countries of origin in the interview. For him \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tit is beyond question that the Rroma are affected by marginalisation and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdiscrimination in the three countries. The opinion that Rroma are not actively \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpersecuted in these three countries, he deems inappropriate and trivialising. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTherefore, the European Centre for Antiziganism Research will file a suit \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tagainst the new law. The centre justifies its charge with the following three \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoints: \u201cWhere is Germany\u2019s historical \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tresponsibility, which is justified through the Nazi era? Unfortunately, it is nonexistent. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor me as a Roma, this decision is absolutely reprehensible. As a German, I am \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tashamed. For this reason, we, as the European Centre for Antiziganism Research, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsee ourselves forced to take legal action against this law, because: first, it \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tviolates the principle of equal treatment. Second, it violates European \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tanti-discrimination law. Third, there is political persecution of the Roma in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEurope because of antiziganism that is passed as an unquestioned European \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcultural code from generation to generation, whereby it is implemented in the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmajority of society\u201d <\/em>(Knudsen 2014). Knudsen sees the strengthened \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnationalism in many European countries and the exclusion of minorities resulting \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom it, as well as extreme economic hardships, as equally important reasons \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfor asylum for being open political persecution. Exactly this issue was the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcore of the political debate: are the Rroma in Southeastern Europe actively persecuted \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tor are they \u201conly\u201d affected by extreme poverty and discrimination. There was no \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsensus concerning this issue. Knudsen also criticizes the pressure exercised \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ton the part of the European Union on the new member states, that did not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\timprove the situation of minorities in the countries concerned. However, this \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tassessment has to be questioned. It is absolutely the responsibility of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEuropean Union to pressure its new Member States to a better compliance with \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority rights. If they are not able to actively implement the requirements, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthis is not the fault of Brussels (compare Martens 2014). \u00a0<\/p>\n