Tag Archives: Discrimination

The Roma Road

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The Roma Road

A French book, called “La Route du Rom”, a wordplay on the famous transatlantic sailing race “la Route du Rhum”, raises questions about the nation states, and about Rroma nd their integration. Unfortunately, the book also serves quite a few of the standard stereotypes about Rroma, about clans, about persecutions, about poverty. While we can agree with the goal, we find the path rather difficult to swallow.

Further article on the Dachau Theatre Project

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Further article on the Dachau Theatre Project

A further article on the Dachau Theatre project, a project fighting stereotypes and played by Rroma and Sinti children. That this play is staged in Dachau, the site of one of the earliest concentration camps in Germany is really symbolically important.

French Summary …

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French Summary …

As usual in the summer, the expulsions continue in France. In Marseille, where the expulsed came back and were again expulsed; in Lilles; in Chelles; in Croix; in Ivry, Aubervillers, and Ris Orangis near Paris; in Nantes; while in Hautbourdin (North) and Bordeaux, Rroma can still stay for a while; and in Grenoble, the fate of the camp is now in the hands of the justice; and finally in Roubaix, a fire destroyed a camp.

Theatre in Dachau

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Theatre in Dachau

A theatre representation in the Munich suburbs of Dachau aims at building down stereotypes towards Rroma and Sinti. The place, Dachau, is more than symbolic, as during the Nazi times, there was a notorious concentration camp there were many German Rroma and Sinti were interned.

To watch!

Turkey: Police Razzia in Edirne

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Turkey: Police Razzia in Edirne

Nearly 700 members of the Turkish riot and security police descended on the Rroma Neighbourhood of Edirne at 5 AM on 1st of July. This razzia was officially due to state security and 44 people were detained on charges of looting, disturbing the peace, threats, and resistance against the police. The police is said to have said “How happy is he who can say he is a Turk”

The Rroma minority in Turkey is quite discriminated but actions such as the one in Edirne and the racist slogans are new. Unfortunately.

OSCE tells Hungary to sort out Rroma housing

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OSCE tells Hungary to sort out Rroma housing

The OSCE stated in a report, that greater effort were required in Hungary to find sustainable non discriminatory housing solution for Hungary’s Rroma minority. Well done, and yet another proof of what is really going on there.

Valls again …

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Valls again …

The French prime minister has against to defend himself in court for his statements in 2013 whereby Rroma cannot and do not want to integrate. He was cleared in court already on this topic, but the associations that cited him in court are now appealing this verdict.

French Mayor accused discrimination

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French Mayor accused discrimination

The mayor of Sucy-en-Brie Marie-Carole Ciuntu was accused of discrimination for having refused to enrol 5 Rroma children in school ass they did not have a proper “attestation de domicile”, a proof of residency. The mayor was cleared in court.

Trial in France

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Trial in France

The trial of René Galinier, 78 years old pensioner in France, accused of having deliberately shot two young Rroma burglar girls back in 2010 opened this week. This resulted in a number of articles in the press in France.

One needs to ask the question whether the fact that the burglars were Rroma is relevant here beyond just putting all Rroma in the same pot of the thieves, beggars, etc. The journalists should learn!

Czech town wants the army to deal with migrants

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Czech town wants the army to deal with migrants

The city of Usti nad Labem, which is already known for issues with Rroma and general racism (they once built a wall around a Rroma settlement), has called for the army to deal with the problem of Rroma, be they locals or migrants, often from neighbouring Slovakia.

Are they totally out of their mind? The army is not there to deal with migrants, nor to improve security, this is the affair of the police and of the law.

European Roma Right Center slams Slovak Government

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European Roma Right Center slams Slovak Government

The European Roma Right Center (ERRC) slammed the Slovak government on the second anniversary of the police raid in the Rroma settlement of Moldava nad Bodvou on June 19, 2013. The police violence and actions have not been investigated at all, especially the question of the necessity of such a raid.

Portugal: First Rroma Survey

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Portugal: First Rroma Survey

Portugal just released the result of the first ever Rroma survey. Around 1’600 Rroma were interviewed as part of this survey. The results show a lack of education, poverty, but also among one group of people, some level of integration ad work.

Such studies are always problematic, as they usually only survey visible Rroma, i.e. the ones who conform to the stereotypes. One should therefore be really careful about extending the results to all Rroma in Portugal where 40 to 50 thousand live and to all Rroma in Europe. There are many who are integrated and who obviously did not make it to this study.

Council of Europe wants clear goals for the inclusion of Rroma and disabled

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Council of Europe wants clear goals for the inclusion of Rroma and disabled

While we certainly greet the fact that the council of Europe wants to advance its Human Rights Goals as well as the statements of its commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, the journalists should have taken care of his formulation in the title… The story is somewhat different if you are disabled or if you are Rrom in Slovakia.

Plovdiv Rroma ask for the resignation of the Bulgarian health minister

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Plovdiv Rroma ask for the resignation of the Bulgarian health minister

Rroma in Plovdiv asked for the resignation of the minister of health in Bulgaria because of his xenophobic statements. In one of these, he compared Rroma to “stock” and to “horses”.

Rroma Wedding in Switzerland

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Rroma Wedding in Switzerland

First news since a long time in the Swiss Press about “foreign travellers”, i.e. Rroma. 500 of them camped in a village in Thurgau, North East of Zurich, to celebrate a wedding. Finally they left as one of the members of the group die in a car accident in Germany and the wedding was cancelled.

The journalist was not particularly sensitive: He used the word “Sippe” [clan], said that people were afraid that the same issues as a fews years back in the French speaking part of Switzerland would occur, etc. In brief, he or she regurgitated the usual stereotypes. Shame.

Media promote stereotypes

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An article, mostly centred on the story of the blond Rroam girl in Greece, a story that was prominently featured in the press, shows that the press promotes stereotypes on Rroma.

Unfortunately the article itself is not devoid of stereotypes, calling Rroma “nomad”, which cannot be further way from the actual truth.

Basic Racism …

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Basic Racism …

Another of these articles equating Rroma with criminals and poverty… This time on the houses where Rroma migrants are currently lodging in Berlin. No word, of course, of the fact that these are rented to them by unscrupulous owners at high prices, that poverty is prevalent, etc.

Meanwhile in France …

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Meanwhile in France …

In France, the summer is the season for expulsions. The reason being that the arguments that children are in school do no longer work due to the fact that the summer holidays have started.

Amnesty reports on this and the general issue of children in Ivry, and in Ris-Orangis in Evry, both near Paris. The last locality, Evry was the municipality that refused burial to a Rroma child a while back, something that is noted in Liberation as being an attack against Rroma. Other news contain the fact that Rosny and Montreuil, near Paris refuse the installation fo Rroma; that in Grenoble, on the initiative of the church and Rroma, a dinner was organised between the two communities; while in Wissous, the situation is getting tense a month after a judge ordered the expulsion.

Bulgaria: Garmen tensions continue

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In the night of the 15th, a group of unknown people tried to storm the Rroma neighbourhood of Garmen. This is the latest escalation in a series of confrontations between Rroma and general population in that village. The confrontation centres on the will of the municipality to destroy “illegal” buildings, i.e. houses built without permits or landownership. This overwhelmingly affects poor Rroma.

This is dangerous, especially since there were until recently very few tensions between Rroma and the general population in that country.

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