Tag Archives: Discrimination

Germany News Western Europe

29.10.2014 MiGAZIN: Alternative for Germany (AfD) voters have strong prejudices against Rroma

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The MiGZIN (2014) reports on the relationship of voters of the right-wing Euro-sceptic party Alternative for Germany (AFD) towards Rroma. Occasion for the analysis of the relationship between party affiliation and socio-political attitudes is the study „Die Parteien und das Wählerherz 2014“ of the University of Leipzig. The researchers surveyed 2400 Germans from 18 to 91 years about their electoral behaviour and political opinions. Regarding the relationship towards Rroma, the study states: “About 96 percent of the NPD voters have a problem with having Sinti and Roma in their living environment and think they tend to crime. 91 percent want to remove Sinti and Roma from the inner cities. The corresponding values ​​for the followers of the AfD are at 75 percent and 73 percent. Also the majority of non-voters and supporters of the CDU/ CSU and SPD are rather Gypsy hostile. The most liberal are the supporters of the Green Party, but also among them, a third rejects Sinti and Roma.” The study also examined correlations between the level of educational attainment, income, and susceptibility to right-wing nationalist ideas: “Among the voters of the NPD and the non-voters we find the largest group poor people. One sixth of the NPD voters and one-fifth of non-voters have a monthly income of less than 1000 Euros. Among the voters of the FDP and the AfD there are few with a low income. Only 26.1 percent of the voters of the NPD have a monthly household income of more than 2500 Euros. In contrast, 55.6 percent of the FDP voters, 48.3 percent of the Pirate Party supporters, and 47.3 percent of the Green Party voters have an income of more than 2500 Euros. Among the voters of the Green Party, one finds the most people with higher education, 43.5 percent of them have high school diploma. In contrast, only 8.8 percent of non-voters and 13 percent of the NPD voters have the high school diploma.” The study shows that lack of education and economic deprivation increase the susceptibility to right-wing nationalist positions. It is therefore the duty of politics to promote the higher education of as many people as possible and to ensure the economic appreciation of the different professional groups. The study’s identified characteristics do of course not mean that poor uneducated people are automatically susceptible to extreme viewpoints. However, they have a higher statistical probability than other groups to sympathise with these positions and to be politically manipulated. In Germany, according to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma. Before the genocide by the Nazis, there were much more. Many have lived in Germany for generations, speak fluently German, go to work and send their children to school. They are the proof that the stereotypes about the minority are inconsistent with reality (compare Decker/Brähler 2014, Universität Leipzig 2014). 

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

29.10.2014 European Commission sues Czech Republic because of continuing segregation of Rroma pupils

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Cameron (2014) reports on a complaint of the European Commission against the Czech government. The reason is the continued segregation of Rroma children in public schools. This happens in spite a landmark ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in 2007 that condemned the segregation of Rroma children as being illegal and racist. Czech Rroma children constitute 35% at so-called “practical schools” for pupils with learning difficulties, although Rroma represent only 2.8% of the Czech population. Doubtful psychological assessments and test lead to this high rate. Because little has changed since the court ruling of 2007, the European Commission has now started a procedure for breach of contract. In a first phase, the Czech government is once again given the opportunity to abolish segregation. If this does not happen, the lawsuit is initiated and delegated to European courts: “The Commission has initiated what it calls “infringement proceedings” against the country for failing to improve the situation, seven years after a landmark European Court of Human Rights ruling. […] Julek Mika was one of 18 Roma plaintiffs in a landmark case – DH and Others v Czech Republic – that was brought before the European Court of Human Rights by a group of NGOs. In 2007, the court ruled the Czech Republic was in breach of EU anti-discrimination law and ordered the country to make amends. It was a ground-breaking verdict. But little has changed. […] Children in special classes follow a less demanding curriculum and, like Julek, have virtually no prospect of going on to secondary school or university. The best they can aspire to is an unskilled job or a life on benefits. “This is a serious wake-up call for the Czech government”, says Marek Szilvasi, research and advocacy officer for the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). “This is the first time the European Commission has decided to start infringement proceedings against a country for failing to implement the Race Equality Directive”, Mr Szilvasi told the BBC.”

The Ministry of Education announced that the new government, in office since January, has prepared several measures to ensure equality in public schools. This shall be implemented in January 2015. However, whether the Czech government will fully abolish segregation, remains open. According to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an  estimated 300,000 to 400,000 Rroma in the Czech Republic.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

29.10.2014 Giving a voice to Romnija

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Schultheis (2014) reports on a program by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in the Czech Republic that seeks to promote the political participation of Romnija (Rroma women). For this purpose, eight selected students were trained in political participation for one year, to motivate them to an active role in socio-political processes: “The foundation, close to the Green party, would like to motivate Roma women (Romnija) to become politically active and to become decision makers themselves. Thereby, they also shall refute the stereotype of Roma as uneducated, passive welfare recipients, by their own example.” Schultheis spoke with Eva van de Rakt, director of the program in Prague, on the experience of the last course: “The special thing about this year was that we had an exceptional election year. It began in October 2013, with the earlier new elections, then in May the elections to the European Parliament, and now in October the communal and senate elections. That was indeed very, very helpful for this course, because one could discuss very specific questions in the group that were related to these elections. For practical part it is important that we try to establish direct contacts. This year, many conversations with politicians took place, and the experience shows that these are core experiences for the Romnija. They always report that it incredibly motivated them to become active themselves. The theoretical knowledge that the Romnija were taught in, encompasses knowledge about the political system of the Czech Republic, the parties spectrum, the current educational, social and health policy, but also skills in rhetoric and public communication. Through the program, many of the participants were encouraged to become actively involved in politics or in civil society. But the problems of access of Rroma to the education system remains, mostly because of discrimination and institutional obstacles. Moreover, not only Romnija that already have good education should be fostered politically, but also marginalised Rroma, both women and men.

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

29.10.2014 Luc Jousse in court because of racist abuse against Rroma

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Miguet (2014) reports on the trial against Luc Jousse, mayor of Roquebrune-sur-Argens. Jousse had announced that it was a shame that somone called the fire department so quickly, after a fire had broken out in a local Rroma camp. The prosecution now asks for a 20,000 Euros fine and the non-eligibility of Jousse for a one year period: “SOS Racism and the League for Human Rights filed suit. In order to defend himself, he had declared that this statement did not come from himself. “This is not a faux pas. It is the comment of an exasperated local resident, and I explain every time that the statement is not mine. I could never have done that”, he assured. Problem: Two weeks later, the mayor of Roquebrune-sur-Argens made ​a nearly identical statement about the Roma at another public meeting. When it learned about this, the state association of UMP Var decided to exclude him from the party. The decision that was supported by the national association.” With his racist remarks against the Rroma, Luc Jousse is not an isolated case. Several French mayors and politicians have attracted attention in recent years with racist remarks about Rroma. Some were sentenced to mild fines, others were completely acquitted, referring to the freedom of expression: For example Manual Valls, who stated that the Rroma do not want to integrate and have a culture incompatible with that of France. The judgment in Luc Jousse case will be passed on November the 17th (compare Malongo 2014, Verdi 2014).

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29.10.2014 Rroma mediators against prejudices

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Werkhäuser (2014) reports on a current project of the council of Europe, which, with specifically trained mediators, aims at reducing prejudices between the Rroma minority and majority populations of the European nation states. In addition to the prevention of racial prejudice, the ROMED-2 project aims to improve the access of Rroma to the labour market and to education: “He often gets asked the following, tells the Sinto Romeo Franz at the launch of new mediators program: “Mr. Franz, why are you discriminated against? Then he answers: “You don’t need to ask me, ask those who discriminate against me”, Franz tells with a wink, but the message is clear: Sinti and Roma in Germany have to deal with a variety of prejudices. This applies to the recently immigrated Rroma from South Eastern Europe as well as to those families, who have lived in Germany for centuries, like the one of Romeo Franz. […] With a million Euros per year for all 12 participating countries, including Bulgaria and Romania, the funding for the program is not exactly abundant. Therefore, in Germany, one resorts to mediators whose positions are already funded. But money is not the main problem, says Bunjes [coordinator for Rroma issues in the council of Europe. “The EU provides many resources for Roma projects that are not used.” In many places, the willingness to deal at all with the problems of the Roma is prevailing, he states.” It has been repeatedly pointed out by critics that Rroma themselves do too little for a successful integration. This statement negates persistent discrimination and structures of inequality that make it individual people very difficult to change their situation on their own (compare Lambeck 2014).  

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29.10.2014 Waterford (Ireland): pogrom against local Rroma

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O’Connor/Gittens (2014) report on a pogrom of 200 right-wing extremists against 30 Rroma, resident in Waterford, Ireland. The right-wing mob accused the Rroma of a series of criminal activities in the city and smashed the windows and doors of their house. Thanks to the in time intervention of the police, the worst could be prevented. Responsible authorities see a demagogic Facebook group as a possible catalyst for the action: More than 200 protestors gathered at Manor Street in the city at 5pm after a rally organised on Facebook turned ugly: “The demonstrators targeted a group of 30 people from the local Roma community who were being blamed for a series of alleged crimes in the area. A number of toddlers and grandmothers were among the group who were evacuated from the house after scenes turned ugly. One man in his 20s was arrested in connection to the incident but was later released without charge. Solicitor Gareth Noble told independent.ie that tension has been building in Waterford recently, with anti-Roma Facebook pages being created. “Gardai were on the scene and removed the Roma people for their safety.” […] “I’ve been in communication with the Superintendent in Waterford with regard to the incitement to racial hatred online. Our immediate aim is to ensure the safety of these people who’ve been displaced”, he added.” The described events are symptomatic of the strengthened xenophobia in Europe, which is directed against ethnic minorities. The incident also shows the dangers of social media, when irresponsible persons abuse minorities and incite to hate crimes. At the beginning of October, a Rroma hostile Facebook group was deleted after an objection. Only minutes later, a new group with the same content was created under a new name. According to the Rroma Foundation, in the UK, there are an estimated 90,000 to 120,000 Rroma. The majority of them are integrated and have a job. However, in recent months and years, right-wing populist parties and media have fuelled fears of a mass immigration of Eastern European Rroma that supposedly would abuse the British social system and do not want to integrate. In addition, Murphy’s Notice (2014) in the Irish Mirror, communicating to the readers the exact place and time of a post-demonstration to the pogrom is highly questionable.

Holland (2014) adds that several Irish politicians decidedly condemned the incident: that lynch-law had no place in Ireland and had to be fought firmly. Ciara Conway, member of the Labour Party, pointed out that ethnic Irish do commit most crimes in Ireland, however, no one does demonstrate in front of an Irish family’s house. The Minister for Equality, Aodhan Ó Ríordáin, condemned the incident sharply and called it “cowardly, prejudiced and racist”. Wednesday evening, an anti-racism demonstration is planned on Railway Square. The organization “Pavee Point”, which represents the interests of Irish Travellers and Rroma, called for decisive actions from politicians and authorities (compare Counihan 2014, Ó Cionnaith 2014, Irish Examiner 2014, O’Connor 2014).

France News Western Europe

24.10.2014 France one-sided notion of its Rroma population

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Ketels (2014) visited an informal Rroma settlement in the suburbs of Paris. There, she spoke with camp residents about their lives and the obstacles they face when trying to integrate into French society. A little later, she asked Paris passersby about their opinion towards the Rroma: the answers are negative throughout. The Rroma supposedly do not try to integrate. Kettels’s reportage shows vividly that the notion of Rroma among a large part of the French public is extremely biased and dominated by one-sided information. For one thing, it is repeatedly claimed in the public debate that Rroma do not want to integrate. In this perspective, it is completely negated that one cannot acquire good professional qualifications and language skills from one moment to the other, and that the Rroma are exposed to discriminations in their access to the labour market. But much more important is the fact that the 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma, who have been living in France for generations, belong to all social strata and are integrated, do not exist in the public perception. In the media and in the minds of many French people, Rroma are equated with the 15,000 to 20,000 Rroma living in the informal settlements. However, these Rroma, in relation to the 100,000 to 500,000 integrated Rroma, constitute only a minority of the minority. Since these visible Rroma have only recently migrated to France, they had no chance to build an existence yet. However, this does not mean that they do not want to integrate. Therefore, the public image of the Rroma in France does not do justice to the Rroma as a whole at all, but is permeated by massive misinformation, prejudices and misinterpretations.

Albania Germany Kosovo News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

24.10.2014 URA-2: controversial return assistance project in the Kosovo

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Baeck (2014) reports on the German return assistance project URA-2 in the Kosovo. The controversial aid program is supposed to help deported families or voluntarily returnees from Germany with their reintegration. According to Baeck however, the aid project doesn’t not fulfil this task. The program is more a political representation project, than that real integration assistance is being provided, Baeck criticizes: ““Ura” – means “bridge” in Albanian and is a project for “returnees” in the Kosovo, which Lower Saxony finances since 2009 with six other provinces and the federal government. Just recently, Lower Saxony decided to extend it until 2015. […] During a visit in February, the door to the URA-2-building is closed. […] People should actually queue here: anywhere in Prishtina, one encounters deportees, who wear rags and live in the worst conditions, in shacks or demolished houses. This morning, there is no one to be seen of all these people in the URA-2 building. […] URA 2 seems to be more effective in Germany. By default, during asylum procedures in Lower Saxony, the authorities refer to the assistances that are listed on leaflets. The project serves as a mean to overturn in advance possible reasons that could hinder a deportation – for example health reasons.” Baeck sees the return assistance project as an excuse to have arguments for the deportation of immigrants back to the Kosovo. The Rroma constitute the largest group of those affected. All the promises that are made in the information brochure of URA-2, are not adhered to, Baeck criticizes: “In the brochures of URA 2, one can read of “support with administrative procedures” and “psychological support”, of grants for rent, medicine, school supplies, or the initial furnishing of an apartment. To promote the integration into the labour market, one time training costs can be paid, up to 170 Euros, when starting a business even several thousand Euros. Who is returning from Germany “voluntarily”, receives more than “repatriated persons.”” Rroma are not politically persecuted in Kosovo. However, that does not mean that they are not there affected by severe poverty and a wide variety discriminations. This is given too little consideration when deporting people back. – Before the war, 100’000 to 300’000 well integrated Rroma lived in the Kosovo. Today, according to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, there are around 40’000.

  • Baeck, Jean-Philipp (2014) Niedersachsens Trojaner in Prishtina. In: Die Tageszeitung (TAZ) online vom 17.10.2014. http://www.taz.de/!147939/
Hungary News Eastern Europe News Switzerland

22.10.2014 Rroma from Miskolc ask for asylum in Switzerland

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Le Temps (2014) reports on a group of 63 Rroma from Miskolc, who applied for asylum in Switzerland. The Rroma fled the forced eviction by the city government of Miskolc, which expelled an entire residential district for racist reasons. The most controversial action of the Hungarian authorities received international media attention, but this did not alter anything about the forced displacement of hundreds of Rroma families. Because Hungary has the status of a safe country, the chances of the families to be granted asylum are very low: “The procedure is unusual. Yesterday, towards three o’clock in the afternoon, 63 Hungarian Roma arrived in front of the camp for asylum seekers in Vallorbe (VD), to apply for political asylum in Switzerland, as Le Matin states in its daily edition. They came with a bus that was rented in Miskolc, a city in eastern Hungary. The driver unloaded them in front of the railway station of the town. […] The reception centre of Vaud was almost full, that’s why the group was divided into three parts: only fifteen applicants will be accommodated in Vallorbe. Fifteen others are driven by bus to Pfäffikon (ZH), and thirteen to Basel. The chances of the Roma to be given asylum are low. As Le Matin reports, the spokesperson of the Federal Office for Migration (FOM), Léa Wertheimer, emphasises that the confederation “treats each case individually”. But, admittedly, “if an applicant can return to a third country designated as safe by the Federal Council, and he has resided there before his application in Switzerland, the FOM usually cannot grant the application.”” The case described here shows once more, how difficult the assessment of the security situation in a country is. The country analyses generally focus in their reports on the protection from political persecution. Discrimination in everyday life, which in this case is even committed by politics itself, is negated in this assessment. Rroma are not politically persecuted in Hungary. However, this does not mean that they are not affected by severe discrimination in everyday life, especially since the rise of the right-wing nationalist parties, who consciously exaggerate ethnic differences: “Sandor Lakatos never felt like in a ghetto. […] Nevertheless, he and his wife got into the bus. […] On the question of what he hopes for in Switzerland, he answers as vaguely as his fellow travellers: security. Not be insulted and spat upon as “dirty gypsy”, to no longer have to fear the police and the neo-Nazis. […] It is not difficult to meet aversion and pure hatred against Roma in Miskolc. As the emigrants pass through the numbered streets to the bus park, an older woman stands at the roadside, looks at the procession in amazement and says to the journalist: “Thank God that they leave. They don’t want to work, but multiply like rats”” (Odehnal 2014). The Swiss asylum authorities do not recognize this situation. None of the 46 Hungarian Asylum applicants of the last two years was granted the right to stay (compare Neue Zürcher Zeitung 2014, Pester Lloyd 2014, Sassoon 2014, Wacker 2014).  

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

22.10.2014 Rroma settlement of Bobigny being evicted

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Numerous French newspapers report about the announced eviction of the Rroma settlement of Bobigny. The settlement, which houses several hundred Rroma, is one of the oldest of its kind in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis. It is and was also the scene of ongoing debates between the public authorities and organisations working for the rights of the Rroma. Bobigny was firmly in the hands of communist politicians since 1944. Stéphane de Paoli, the first UDI mayor of the city, promised during the election campaign to immediately close down informal settlements if hygiene or safety deficiencies could be determined and to officially recognise the illegal character of the informal settlements: “The regional court of Bobigny, competent in the matter since the occupied premises were not used publicly, communicated its judgment on July the 2nd. Relief in the camp of the Roma: the tribunal rejected the request of the mayor. “But five days later, Stéphane de Paoli sent a new bailiff to the camp … And in mid-August he issued a decree for eviction, with which he set at defiance the court’s verdict. He reckoned, I think, that everyone was on holidays, tells the lawyer Tamara Lowy”” (Mouillard/Piquemal 2014). The prefect responsible for social equality, Didier Leschi, says he applied the compulsory social diagnosis according to the regulations. The state will continue to support about a dozen families, who have stable incomes, among others with social housing. However, Véronique Decker, director of the primary school in Bobigny, criticised the fact that the majority of families, some sixty of them, will be on the street after the eviction. The social diagnosis is therefore far from being applied satisfactorily. It is important to emphasise that the forced evacuations of informal settlements complicate a long-term integration of Rroma immigrants. Due to the forced evictions, the existing problems and the integration question are simply moved from one location to the next, but not solved. Particularly affected by the evacuations are the children, who often visit local schools, and are greatly disturbed in their education. The rigorous expulsion of Rroma immigrants reflects the unwillingness of the French government to engage in an active, long-term integration policy. Furthermore, by the one-sided media focus on the informal settlements it is suggested that there are only Rroma belonging to the lower class, which are poorly educated. However, the Rroma from the slums – an estimated 15,000 people – only represent a minority of the minority in France. According to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma live unobtrusively and integrated in French society. They belong to all social strata and are not perceived by the French media and politics. For fear of discrimination, many of these integrated Rroma keep their identity a secret.

Amnesty International (2014) points out that the evictions also violate human rights, when the displaced persons are without accommodation after the evacuation. Only a part of the residents were offered alternative accommodation. Amnesty International speaks of a third of the current residents. There are primarily those families who have children in school age. However, many of the accommodations offered are not suitable to accommodate families, or are very far away from Bobigny (compare 20 Minutes France 2014, Mediapart 2014).

In the early afternoon of October the 21st, the inhabitants of the settlement were prompted by a large contingent of riot police to leave the camp. The eviction proceeded quietly, as the journalists present state. Towards the evening, a group of around fifty Rroma, among them many children, gathered on the Place de la Republique in Paris, and demonstrated for temporary accommodation. Later that evening, they took refuge in the hospital Saint-Louis, from where they were also evicted by the riot police a little later (Mouillard / Hullot-Guiot 2014, Le Monde 2014). Le Parisien (2014) complements that several dozen families were able to move into a Paris gym, as temporary shelter, after 23 o’clock. The gym was provided the city government of Paris (compare Fikri 2014, Metronews 2014).

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22.10.2014 Stereotypes: escalated violence in a Rroma settlement in Toulouse

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Numerous French newspapers report an escalated conflict between two Rroma families, in an illegal settlement of Toulouse. The members of the two families, originally from the Romanian village Blaj and of Timisoara, quarrelled about the theft of electricity. At the beginning, the conflict let to a brawl that then escalated further: a 35-year-old Rrom of the Blaj family fell, victim of the dispute. Six members of Timisoara family were arrested on suspicion of premeditated murder: “A man of 35 years died in the hospital of Rangueil. Despite an urgently undertaken intervention, the doctors could not save him. His autopsy could not yet be performed, but the man had been hit by several projectiles, bullets or, and (?) lead. Another 24 years old casualty remains hospitalised, but is outside danger. Five other injured people who were taken to hospital to receive treatment could go home. During the hearing of the ten people arrested on Friday (two minors were released yesterday), the suspects were not very precise. Although some admitted having used weapons, these were “only” used to shoot in the air. The investigative judge, Mrs Larrieu, will have to narrow down the responsibilities of both parties involved” (Cohadon 2014). In this case, the coverage of the violence in the informal settlement of Toulouse concerns only Rroma themselves. Nevertheless, caution should be exercised in the contextualization of the events: the notion of ​​Rroma-gangs, who exploit primarily other Rroma, is wrong. There is no culture of crime and violence among the minority, as repeatedly suggested by the media. Expressions such as “family businesses of crime” therefore build on massive prejudices. Rroma are not more criminal or more violent than other ethnic groups. The mayor of Toulose, Jean-Luc Moudenc, has announced that the camp, which accommodates 200 to 250 persons, will be evicted as soon as possible (compare 20 Minutes France 2014, Allen 2014, Boffet 2014, Le Parisien 2014, Le Nouvel Observateur 2014, Libération 2014).

Hungary News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

22.10.2014 Demonstration for the rights of the Rroma in Budapest

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Several German-language newspapers reported on a human-rights demonstration in Budapest, where representatives of the Rroma and their sympathisers called attention on the discrimination of the Rroma minority and demanded more commitment towards compliance of minority rights. There were also members of other discriminated minorities among the protesters: “Several hundred Hungarians participated on Sunday, in the capital Budapest, in a “Roma Pride”- march in honour of the discriminated Sinti and Roma. During their demonstration downtown, they sang the song “Opre Roma” (Stand up, Roma!), that calls for the struggle for social equality. The main organiser of the march, Jeno Setet of the Roma organisation Ide tartozunk (We belong here), said: “This day is for everyone, whether Roma or non-Roma. With it, we want to show the pride of our community and our positive contribution to Hungary.” Among the demonstrators were also representatives of the Jewish community, of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), as well as the homeless people and refugees. Benjamin Abtan of the co-organizing European anti-racist grassroots movement (Egam) in Paris, said: “Roma Pride is our response to the current rise of nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism in Europe, particularly in Hungary” (Blick 2014). The extreme right-wing Jobbik-party (English: the better ones) emerged as the second strongest power from the municipal elections of October the 12th. Supporters of the party have repeatedly gained attention with demagogic statements against Rroma

Pester Lloyd (2014) explains in details the concerns of the organisers: they criticise, among others, the one-sided press coverage of the minority, leading to the strengthening of negative stereotypes about Rroma. In addition, the access to the education system, to the labour market, and to health care is still insufficient: “The organisers complain that in general and especially in Hungary, “one almost never hears or reads anything positive about the Rroma”, these media exclusion or bias reinforces the separation of majority and minority. However, through pride, one also gets self-confidence to take ones destiny into ones own hands – even if the government does not want this. In a petition, among others, it was demanded that the existence of a Holocaust against Roma and their persecution in Nazi Hungary be made a subject in classrooms. The background: Minister Balog, responsible for the Roma integration, called the Hungarian Roma recently  a “people without a history”, who were caught in an imaginary victimhood. Furthermore, he stated that there were  “no deportations of Roma into concentration camps”, which is historically just wrong.” In addition, Pester Lloyd deplores the very low participation in the demonstration (compare Thurgauer Zeitung 2014, Tiroler Tageszeitung 2014, Die Welt 2014, Wiener Zeitung 2014, Zeit 2014).

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17.10.2014 Antiziganism study: statistics versus historical research on prejudices

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Zern (2014) discusses the debate initiated by Der Spiegel, questioning the reliability of the antiziganism study published by the German anti-discrimination agency. Fleischhauer/Petrovich (2014) criticised that the anti-discrimination agency added one field of the middle scale values in its statistical analysis, which the researchers had not assigned to the “negative” category. Zern, in her article for the MiGAZIN, points out that the criticism of Fleischhauer and Witsch is besides the point: it is not the statistical evaluation that is decisive, but rather, the emergence and adherence of prejudices against Rroma. This topic was not addressed satisfactorily by the study: “What problems does the finding that not more than 30 percent, but 20.4 percent of the German majority society don’t want to have Sinti and Roma as their neighbours solve? Should we not rather ask what such a survey says us about our society that rather relies on numbers rathere than ask about the origin of antiziganism? […] It would be important to put the attitudes of the majority society towards the Sinti and Roma into the proper context – and vice versa, because a majority of society cannot be conceived without its minorities. What circumstances have contributed to the mentioned attitudes of the majority society? For what reasons people began to think in stereotypical ways about Sinti and Roma? And how do Sinti and Roma perceive the majority society?” Zern thus addresses an important topic of research on prejudices: how do prejudices emerge and how are they maintained? In the case of Rroma, the negative stereotypes find their origin in the confrontation of the first immigrant Rroma with the rigid feudal order of medieval Europe. The Rroma with their ambiguous status raised this clear order to question, and with it existing power relations. Soon “gypsies” were equated with all those population groups, which were regarded as maladjusted, antisocial or seditious. However, these mechanisms of demarcation are not only a historical process, but also play an important role in the synchronous social sciences.  

At the intercultural weeks of Offenburg, stereotypes against Rroma also played a crucial role. In the opening ceremony, politicians and Rroma discussed about the perception problems of the minority: “Daniel Strauss, from Mannheim and chairman of the state association of German Sinti and Roma, said in the panel discussion that the “construction of the gypsy” is the problem, Sinti and Roma should be protected against this construction. “Gypsy depictions have nothing to do with Sinti and Roma.” However, with the money this cannot be resolved. “This is not a financial problem”, said Strauss” (Rudolf 2014).

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17.10.2014 France: Thirty civil rights organizations calling for a respectful treatment of the residents of informal settlements

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Amnesty International France (2014) reports on a new collective charter of thirty French civil rights organisations, which is currently being elaborated. In it, the initiators demand a more respectful treatment of the residents of informal settlements by the French authorities, especially Rroma: “It [the charter] has the goal to change the mentalities and opinions with which one meets the residents of the sites, by communicating the recognition and respect of their fundamental rights and dignity. The illicit nature of an occupation does not allow use illegal means to end the situation; numerous rules shall limit the scope of the public authorities and the owners [of the occupied land]. Once made ​​public, one will be able to distribute it on the sites and slums in different languages, depending on the people present (French, English, Romanian or Bulgarian). To know ones’ rights is essential in order to assert them and to be protected, or to protect ones family.” It is in fact essential that a fair balance between the right to property, which in France has constitutional status, and the fundamental rights of the residents is ensured, not least their right to accommodation.” The charter on the fundamental rights of the residents of informal settlements will, in addition to the residents themselves, also be distributed to political deputies, bailiffs, police authorities, and other public authorities, in order to enforce its compliance, if somehow possible. One should add to Amnesty International’s remarks that the forced evacuations of informal settlements complicate a long-term integration of Rroma immigrants. The evictions don’t solve the existing problems and the question of integration, but simply push them from one location to the next. Particularly affected are the children, who often visit local schools and are hindered by the evictions at a successful education. The rigorous expulsion of the minority reflects the unwillingness of the French government to engage in an active integration policy. Furthermore, by the one-sided media focus on the informal settlements it is suggested that there are only Rroma belonging to the lower class, which are poorly educated. However, the Rroma from the slums only constitute a minority of the minority in France. According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma are integrated and live unobtrusively in French society. They belong to the middle class or even the upper class and are constantly ignored by the French media, the public and politicians. For fear of discrimination, many of these integrated Rroma keep their identity a secret.

Hungary News Eastern Europe News Switzerland

17.10.2014 Stereotypes: Rroma and the prostitutes’ patch in Zurich – “Victoria – A Tale of Grace and Greed“

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Holtz (2014) discusses the feature film “Victoria – A Tale of Greed and Grace” by Swiss director Men Lareida. It discusses the fate of a Hungarian Rromni prostitute on the former prostitutes’ patch on the Sihlquai in Zurich. Lareida and his wife, who regularly commute between Switzerland and Hungary, became aware of the topic during their train trips between Zurich and Budapest, when they started conversations with the prostitutes. The film is not a moral discussion of prostitution, but tries to show the fate and the motives of the protagonist: “Emphatically and subjective but nonetheless soberly and realistically, „Viktoriá – A Tale of Grace and Greed“ tells the story of the young Hungarian Roma girl Viktoria, who leaves her hometown of Budapest in the hope of earning a lot of money as soon as possible, to work in Zurich as a prostitute. Here, night after night, she stands at the side of the road, under pale lamplight, waiting for the next punter, whom she satisfies in his car on some dark parking lot. What keeps Viktoria alive, are the thoughts of home and the opportunities that the money will bring to her. Thus, among the world of the fast sex, characterized by violence, disgust and humiliation, she also finds love and friendship – and herself. […] Actually, Lareida does not want to accuse. “Viktoria – A tale of Grace and Greed” does not want to caution the viewers or be an instructive parable about the dangers of the sex trade, but shows the things as they are. The director is not in favour of criminalising the sex industry, because: “You have at least to consider that prostitution is a possibility for these women.” However, he asks to increase the security for the sex workers and to offer alternatives to prostitution to the women, also in the countries of origin.”  

It seems that the film is not critically addressing the Rroma origin of the protagonist. Is the protagonist just Rroma by change, or is this discussed as a specific feature? Are the stereotypes associated with Rroma, as notions of strong-hierarchical clans, patriarchal family structures etc., discussed? Are they critically commented on? This does not become evident in Holtz’s article. Therefore, it is important to point out that not only Hungarian Rromnja are affected by poverty, and thus find their way into prostitution, but that this also affects ethnic Hungarians. Furthermore, Rroma should not be equated to an underclass, as they belong to all social strata. Moreover, only a few Rromnja are effectively working as prostitutes, a fact distorted by the strong media attention. Therefore, the film indirectly reproduces stereotypes about Rroma, even if it wants to give a voice to those affected and address social misery.

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17.10.2014 Stereotypes: Rroma as burglars

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Happel (2014) informs about the arrest of two twelve year old girls at the Basel train station. The two perpetrators are accused of having broken into a rental apartment the day before. The two girls are presumed to be Rroma, the information office of the police stated. Furthermore, it is supposed to be organised crime: „The girls were controlled before. “They appeared to be suspicious”, criminal inspector Peter Gill stated. The girls were not only wearing tools for burglary, but also stolen goods – among it jewellery, money and watches. […] The identity of the adolescents is being investigated at the moment – the girls couldn’t identify themselves. The police supposes that the burglars are from Eastern Europe and have entered Switzerland through France. It cannot be excluded that the girls are Rroma. However, it is established that they were sent, Gill stated. Therefore, it is supposed that the young thieves either belong to an organised gang or were sent by their parents.” The mentioning of the ethnicity of the perpetrators is not necessary, as it only encourages racist stereotypes about a culture of crime among the Rroma. However, Rroma are not more criminal than other ethnic groups, rather, this is suggested by the media through the explicit thematisation of the Rroma in connection with offenses. Whether the criminals were in fact Rroma is not assured. It is rather an expression of suspicion, based on prejudices. Rroma are not organized in hierarchical clans, as it is often claimed, but are structured largely egalitarian. More caution when using ethnic criteria and fomenting prejudice and resentment would be appropriate.

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15.10.2014 Miskolc: “Declared war to the Roma”

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Like other newspapers last week, Schulz-Ojala (2014) from the Tagesspiegel reports on the eviction of a Rroma settlement in Miskolc. Around 600 Rroma are affected by this initiative. The journalist focuses his article on the political context of the action: the instrumentalised and reinforced exclusion and discrimination against Rroma by politics. On October the 12th, local elections were held in Hungary; as expected, the national-conservative Fidesz emerged as the strongest force from the ballot. Also in the future, the party will have most of the mayors. As the second strongest party, the right-wing extremist Jobbik party reinforces its position, taking the second place in share of votes in 17 of 19 constituencies and winning 13 mayoral races in 9 counties. A very worrying trend, since Jobbik has repeatedly distinguished itself with Rroma-hostile slogans (Pester Lloyd 2014, Pusztaranger 2014). Beside Aranka Majoros, a Rromni effected by the eviction, Schulz-Ojala portrays the Rrom and human rights activists Attila Tomas: “Only an hour’s drive it is from Miskolc to the Slovak, Ukrainian and Romanian border; there peacefully undemocratic conditions can grow, away from the core of European attention and also in the isolated fields of understanding of the Hungarian language. Is it a silence before the storm? Attila Tomas lists the symptoms by name. Permanent crisis and growing impoverishment of the population shape everyday life of the former steelwork metropolis Miskolc, where in the 80’s 200,000 people still lived. The Roma, with almost exactly the national average of ten percent of the city’s population, then had work like everyone else. The collapse of communism and the closure of many factories made the Roma the first unemployed, Tomas states. The Roma who have a job nowadays work for the community, in order to avert the reductions in social assistance – well below the legal minimum wage. An unemployed family with three children gets to around 250 Euros of social welfare, including child benefit, half of what the low-income earners receive – a durable envy-breeding ground for the next poorer among the non-Roma. On the other hand, the area of Miskolc is just over a kind of war against the Roma. A few years ago, a spectacular series of Roma murders raged in particular within the vicinity of this city [….]. Downright ghostly it seems that now, scarcely five years later, the three most promising candidates for mayor campaign with anti-Roma propaganda for votes.” Schulz-Ojala conclusion is bleak: despite the increasingly established Rroma party Magyarországi Cigány Part (MCP), the minority continues to be a plaything of the leading forces in the country that don’t have integration and equal opportunities as the highest goals, but the maintain of power and nationalism.

Kacsóh (2014) also covers the forced expulsion of Rroma in Miskolc. He, like Schulz-Ojala, points out that the Rroma with an unlimited lease contract can apply for compensation of up to two million forints, attached to the condition of a voluntary relocation into one of the surrounding communities of the city. It is also requested that they will stay for at least five years at the new location. Adjacent communities as Sátoraljaújhely have in turn responded to these rules with limitations themselves: those who make use of this offer are not entitled to receive social funds for the first five years and may not acquire or rent any apartment from communal ownership. They are also excluded from the local work program for three years. Although these rules are illegal, the government of Sátoraljaújhely takes the change of a lawsuit and has therefore adopted the rules nonetheless. This is further evidence of the continuing prejudice against Rroma.

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15.10.2014 Ozd: new Jobbik mayor demands of Rroma assimilation or emigration

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In the northern Hungarian city of Ozd, a representative of the right-wing extremist Jobbik party has become the new mayor after the local elections of October the 12th. Although the party is known for its strong anti-Rroma rhetoric, the new, only 27-year-old city mayor presented himself diplomatically in his first public statement. His oral statements are in contradiction to his campaign manifesto, in which he promised an uncompromising policy towards the Rroma: “He said he would crack down on crime and poverty on behalf of all residents, whatever their ethnic background. Yet the programme on which Janiczak ran in the election is explicit in singling out the Roma community. The manifesto, posted on the Jobbik Internet site next to a photograph of Janiczak, states: “We think there are two ways to solve the Gypsy question… The first one is based on peaceful consent, the second on radical exclusion.” “Our party wishes to offer one last chance to the destructive minority that lives here, so first it will consider peaceful consent. If that agreement fails, then and only then the radical solution can follow.” The programme threatens to “chase off people who are unable to conform”” (Irish Independent 2014). What the new Jobbik mayor is completely silent about in his call for assimilation is that most Rroma have been trying to integrate for a long time, but were hindered to so by economic and social exclusion. The continued segregation of Hungarian Rroma is therefore above all the result of the unwillingness of many Magyars to overcome their prejudices against the Rroma, and to facilitate their access to the labour market, to housing and public schools (compare Dunai 2014).

Aladar Horvath, a Hungarian Rroma activist, comments on the largely unchanged situation of the Rroma in Europe that development funds were often not accessed or landed in the wrong places. He adds that the economic crisis of 2008 has exacerbated social inequality: “Social injustice has risen markedly in the majority of EU countries since the economic crisis began in 2008, according to a recent study by the Bertelsmann Foundation. Discrimination and social divisions have increased especially quickly in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, where the Roma face “systemic discrimination.” In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, enrolling Roma children into classes or separate schools for students with “special needs” remains a significant problem despite recent landmark court rulings against segregation in both countries. Hungary in particular appears to be moving in the wrong direction. Observers say that’s because the popularity of anti-Roma rhetoric and policies outweigh influence from Brussels. The number of segregated, Roma-only schools has increased from 128 in 1997 to more than 300 today, Horvath says. Geographical segregation has also increased as the deteriorating job market and cuts to social spending have combined to drive Roma into isolated “islands of poverty,” says Budapest-based researcher Attila Agh, who worked on the Bertelsmann study” (Overdorf 2014). Of the 600,000 to one million Rroma living in Hungary, there are indeed many affected by poverty and exclusion. However, there are also numerous integrated Rroma, who do not live in segregated settlements and belong to the middle or even upper-class.

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15.10.2014 Photo reportage on homeless Rroma: illustration of misery or favouring their exclusion?

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Mediapart (2014) comments critically on the photo-reportages of the French photographer Marc Melki. He portrayed homeless Rroma in the streets of Paris for two years, and published the photographs on the Internet, in exhibitions and in picture books. Mediapart criticises that the resulting photographs miss the intended aim of the photographer, without him acknowledging this aspect. Melki wanted to draw attention to the failure of the state and the public institutions that allow such misery, but at the same time he enables authorities and right-wing groups to identify the depicted persons and pursue them. In addition, the photographer does not get the consent of the portrayed families, but relies on the right to photograph in public: “According to several consistent testimonies of those managing the emergency shelters in France, they have repeatedly rejected the pleas of Roma families, who referred to the abandonment of an earlier accommodation, because of the publication of undated photos … In Brussels, families who were photographed without their knowledge, found themselves on right-wing extremist internet pages of their homeland. One can therefore completely wonder if these photos do not come to the aid of the police that comes at regular intervals to seize the impacts [possessions?] of the families, to throw them in waste containers and to drive them to their destruction…” Mediapart thus addresses an important point that is at times lost in the journalistic desire to document the “unvarnished truth”. Portraits and documentations are presented in a variety of contexts and with different intentions, whereby they are often given new meanings that do not need to correspond to the original photographer’s intent. For people who are heavily influenced by stereotypes about Rroma, the photographs of homeless Rroma can confirm their prejudices, rather than encourage them to inquiry and empathy, as the photographer intended. A discerning photographer should reflect upon the possible uses and interpretations of photos that can be used to the detriment of the portrayed persons. In France, there are an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma, according to estimates of the Rroma Foundation. The majority of them are integrated, go to work, speak French and have their own houses. Many of them have lived in France for several generations. The photographer negates these invisible Rroma  in his will to portray the “unvarnished truth”.

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15.10.2014 Racist hatred after “Rroma attacks” in a school of Sheffield

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Several British newspapers report on violence at the Hinde House School in Sheffield. Various students were victims of severe physical attacks in the last few weeks and months, for which Rroma youth from Slovakia are made responsible. While the school management states to get the situation under control, a group of parents calls for harder sanctions against the school violence. The school administration is deemed to show too much tolerance towards the “gang-like culture” of the Rroma community. In the case described here, problems that also exist at other schools are made in​​to ethnic issues. There is no “gang-like culture” of violence among Rroma. What the newspapers report are the actions of individuals, who could also belong to any other ethnic group. The cited parents, who accuse the school principal of Hinde House to do nothing against the Rroma adolescents for fear of racism accusations, see this differently: “Parents have accused an inner-city head teacher of turning a blind eye towards violent gangs of Roma pupils for fear of being labelled a racist. More than 1,600 people have signed an online petition claiming ‘children have been stabbed, mugged and nearly kicked to death’ at the school. It urges the head not to ‘be afraid’ to tackle the issue – and suggests he is failing to do so for fear of appearing racist because the majority of the perpetrators are of Slovakian Roma origin. […] The petition was launched after an attack last Thursday that left pupil Rhys Larkings, 14, battered and bruised with a broken nose after being allegedly punched to the ground by three Roma Slovak teenagers.” The adolescents responsible for the violence were excluded of the school as a consequence, and the police have launched an investigation against them. The complaint of the parents saying that the school administration does nothing for fear of racism accusations is therefore unfounded. Rather, the outrage of the parents cited seem to be influenced by the nationalism fuelled by UKIP, as one can read in the article’s comments section. Excessive ethnic divisions only occur when people are willing to be manipulated by nationalist rhetoric. Rroma are not more violent than other ethnic groups (compare BBC News 2014, Daily Express 2014, Lawton 2014, The Star 2014).

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