Roma in Bulgaria are pushing back against discrimination with several legal actions.
Good!
The editorial office of Moja Dolenjske received a letter from the Roma Association Vstani, Roma Child, which is based in Murska Sobota. In it, they threatened the portal with criminal charges if, when reporting on criminal acts involving individual Roma, they do not stop stating that the criminal acts were committed by Roma.
The association is convinced that when writing, they should keep silent about the fact that the criminal acts were committed by Roma, as this would unjustifiably stigmatize the entire Roma community, but at the same time they believe that reporting should be based on the act and not on emphasizing that it was committed by Roma. They also state what proper reporting should be like, and suggest some titles such as: Police handle case of theft and violence, Police investigate morning attack and Three men suspected of attacking utility workers.
Well, they are right …
Another one of those articles. It states: “Living with members of the Roma community in southeastern Slovenia, which includes Dolenjska, Bela Krajina and the Kočevsko-Ribniško area, is very difficult. Not because citizens are hostile or in any way hostile to the Roma, but because some of the latter are gaining momentum in committing criminal and other violent acts.”
And of course, the government is not doing anything.
Bad.
Izabela Jaśkowiak, president of the Harangos Romani Educational Association of Poland on her experiences with Racism against Roma in Poland.
Being ostracised in school and university, racist comments, she had to endure all.
A doctor in Leeds has created a drop in clinic for Roma. Lidia Persidia Holea, from the AME for Roma support group, set up the initiative after she noticed a lack of trust between the community and doctors and nurses, which could lead to poorer health.
Michael Brand, a CDU politician, will become Commissioner Against Antigypsyism. Until very recently, it was feared that the new German government would abolish the office of Commissioner Against Antigypsyism. It seems that the deal is now done, and Brand will replace Mehmet Daimagueler.
In Slovakia, in housing advertisement, these words are often found. Without any shame, nd unfortunately also without consequences…
According to Sára Danielová, is a junior researcher at the Roma Advocacy and Research Centre and an internal doctoral student at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, discrimination is common. “The apartment is no longer up to date. It is already occupied. We apologize.” Landlords are startled when a Roma person shows up during an inspection. Some admit the truth: “The neighbours don’t want it. We don’t want the properties in the village to lose value.”
Bad.
Bulgaria’s Roma community continues to face widespread discrimination and is seeking to leave the country en masse. However, Roma could fill the dramatic labour gap created by the exodus, provided they have access to quality education. An interview with the founder of the Amalipe Center in Veliko Tarnovo.
An analysis published by the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK) of the Slovak Republic shaw that Roma, while having been facing discrimination in Slovakia in education, healthcare, work and housing for a long time make little use of the existing anti-discrimination laws. Miriam Žiaková, Director of the Media Department of the ÚSVRK said that: “Despite the fact that the existing anti-discrimination law provides them with formal protection, a large part of Roma do not exercise their rights, even in cases where they are directly exposed to discriminatory treatment.”
In its 2024 annual report, the Council of Europe’s anti-racism body, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), identifies four key policy challenges for European states: combating the use of racial profiling by law enforcement, addressing school segregation of Roma children, ensuring equal rights and dignity for transgender and intersex people, and strengthening national equality bodies.
A report by the Voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, titled “Assessing Behavioral Change in Journalistic Reporting on the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Communities,” highlights significant progress in the way Kosovo media report on the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities.
In its annual report for 2024, the international human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) warns that thousands of people in Slovakia do not have adequate access to affordable housing. It criticizes the Slovak government for amendments to laws that, according to AI, have disproportionately restricted the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
The organization also notes in the report the concealment of information about arms supplies to Israel, discrimination against Roma, and the unprotected rights of LGBTI persons.
A traffic accident that occurred in the early hours of Thursday, April 25, at the intersection of Thivon and Kanapitseri streets in West Athens, with a 12-year-old girl as the victim. The accident actually occurred in a parallel universe, invisible to most of us. What was the little girl doing there, at this time, alone? Who left her? Where were her parents? Those would be normal questions. But the girl is a Romni, “Gypsy” as most people still say. So, it’s not at all strange that he was all alone on the streets at 2:00 in the morning, “that’s what they do” (said with disapproval and perhaps some disgust). And the issue will end there.
The common issue for many Roma: Should you out yourself and be confronted with stereotypes and racism?
Roma and Sinti children are facing discrimination in German schools.
Kiba Lumberg’s novel entitled Black Butterfly (Musta perhonen)., describes the oppression of women in the patriarchal community of Finnish Roma.
“My curse and blessing is that I was born a Roma woman,” begins the story of Memesa Grönlund, the main character of the novel. It tells the story of a girl growing up in the Kale Roma community in the city of Lappeenranta in eastern Finland. Memesa describes life in their patriarchal community, the relationships between her and the rest of her family, but also the bullying she encounters at home and at school.
An article with testimonies of racism towards Roma, but also Ukrainians, Moslems, etc.
“He shouted at us that we gypsies should not be here, that we stink, that we should sit in the back and not in the front, that they treat us like gypsies, that we are dirty gypsies.”
“I faced discrimination when they refused to serve me in a café and a bar because of my Romani origin. It was very humiliating and embarrassing for me.”
An unusual article about Roma in the Ukrainian Transcarpathian region. It states that over 10’000 Roma have left the region, and that the rest is living under difficult conditions. Journalists from the website zaholovok.com.ua talked with Myroslav Horvat, leader of the Roma community, Ivan Jonash, deputy of the Mukachevo City Council, and Viktor Ilchak, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, about what the past year was like for the Roma community, whether changes are felt, whether there are positive developments, as well as about the negatives.
An interview with Aziza Sally, coordinator of the association “Initiative for the Rights of Roma Women from Shuto Orizari”. She says that since the pandemic, not a single patronage nurse has visited a mother from the Roma community. Roma women have been facing the same problems in the country for decades – from discrimination in the educational process to institutional belittling and humiliation.
Bad.
Marek Badžo and Darina Berková, a Roma couple, bought a house in the centre of the village of Nižná Myšla in the Košice-okolie district. Some residents didn’t like it, so they wrote a petition. They mentioned the Roma origin of the new owners and their concerns that they might be unadaptable people who would cause problems in the village.
The residents justify their position by the mayor’s long-term failure to resolve the situation in the Roma community, and they also have reservations about the way the house was sold. Meanwhile, several politicians have been involved in the events in the village, who see discrimination and segregation in the behaviour of the locals.
Well, you don’t need a Ph.D. to see that.
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