In the first 6 months of this year, already more than 100 schoolchildren have been deported from the Hamburg region alone. This is mostly the result of the “safe countries” policy of Germany, a policy which affects mostly Rroma from the Balkan.
SHAME!
With Football, and with France in the final, there are very few news about Rroma in the Press. Nevertheless, a few items warrant some attention…
Near Paris, children from an illegal camp celebrate the end of the school year; a camp is closed near Paris in St. Denis; Rroma left a camp by themselves in the North; in the Marne region, displaced Rroma are squatting a construction site, hindering work; in Nancy, in the East, tensions are increasing between Rroma and their neighbours; in Lens, in the North, Rroma associations are protesting the inaction of the state; an article about Rroma in Marseilles and their future between two expulsions; and finally, the Council of Europe denounces the human cost of expulsions.
Hungary is fast approaching the deadline of its response to the European Commission letter on the segregation of Rroma in schools. The government is procrastinating… Janos Lazar, a prominent member of the government went as far as saying he has “no idea how the European Commission knows who is and isn’t a gypsy”. Well, if he ever set his foot in a village, and went to a school, he’d know.
The EU is saying that Rroma children are still being segregated in schools in the EU. Although the article doesn’t mention it, Hungary is at the forefront of this segregation, flowed by other ex-Austro Hungarian monarchy countries.
SHAME!
When Football is king, there are certainly less news about Rroma. Very few news this week in France. In Loos, in the North, the camp was finally dismantled, and burnt down, only two families found a new lodging; in Annet sur Marne, near Paris, the Rroma left leaving lots of garbage; in Cuges, in the South, the mayor calls for blocking travellers from camping there; and in the Alps, travellers finally left La Vue des Alpes.
On a more positive touch, Médecisn sans Frontières is deeply engaged in the North helping Rroma; and in Sètes, in the South, a story on inclusion in School.
The EU started a procedure against the segregation of schooling for Rroma in Hungary. This is good, but let’s not forget that the government openly suggests this segregation is for the good of the Rroma.
This week’s news summary from France. Not so much, which is not surprising, as there were other news in the front pages.
In Lille, Rroma are told to leave France and to move to another place, to Vauban; in the North again, a difficult cohabitation between local travellers (i.e. Manouches) and Rroma; and a police action and a tumultuous municipal council in Loos, in the North of France.
Then two articles on schools one about the inclusion of migrants, the other about pollution near a school where Rroma are.
And finally, of course the usual crime stories with a reported increase of break in in the West and pickpockets in the South.
An article about Rroma and higher education. However, saying that Hungary “leads the way” is truly misleading.
More news this week on Rroma, particularly in the North. First, a story about street view and the Rroma in Lille; then, tensions between Rroma squatting houses and their neighbours in Maubeuges and Roubaix; a camp that will be dismantled, sometimes; near Paris, the story of a school in a caravan for young Rroma children; shots fired at a Rroma camp in the south of France in Montpellier; and finally, a story of thefts perpetrated by young Rroma children.
The EU warned Hungary about the discrimination of Rroma in the country’s school system. De facto, schools are segregated and Rroma are not give a chance to Rroma. This segregation is encouraged at top level, for example by the Minister of Human Resources, Zoltan Balog.
A new program was launched in Hungary aiming at retaining young Rroma women longer in schools. Funded with 150 Mio HUF (450’000 EUR).
This is totally hypocritical. Zoltan Balog, the minister in charge of Human Resources openly advocates segregated schools… What is being said and what is being done are two things, and they are different.
Surprisingly positive chronicle this week in the French press. Yes there were a few expulsions – mostly travelers, the odd criminal case, but the bulk of articles this week was more on integration and insertion.
First, two articles from Libération, one on the so-called insertion village near Lyon where Rroma are housed and helped to integrate and in the second case, about a young Rrom who now goes to school; then a meeting against “Rromophobia” in Orléans, in Western France and a conference on Rroma in Brittany which will take place in June; an article on the Rroma resistance day; and finally a view on discrimination presented by its young victims.
Then, the more standard things: Expulsions of travelers (note that now one starts speaking about Rroma in this context) in Western France, near Paris, and in Grenoble; and the arrest of two Rroma thieves near Paris.
A plea for Rroma not to be forgotten in higher education.
A very very worthy read of a young Rromni who studied at university.
Italy is registering an increase of foreign children in their school system, including many Rroma.
A reportage on teenage pregnancies in Romania, and its inevitable conclusion that it affects many Rroma. While it is true that many young Rroma have children early (very early), ethnicity may not be the root cause.
No sexual education, no contraception are available in the countryside, and in addition, several of the free churches that are active in those regions are adamantly against both, resulting in a new phenomenon of large families among traditionally small Rroma ones.
The fate of a school in Glasgow where almost none of the 222 enrolled children speaks English and where the majority of them (181) are Rroma children from Slovakia and Romania makes the headlines in the UK.
While the Times is relatively neutral, the Daily Mail and others are really rabid. Rroma are being used to influence the vote in June, no doubt.
The Slovak authorities have taken almost no measures aimed at reducing the segregation of Rroma in the Slovak School system. This is a SHAME!
An Exhibition – Rroma on the Way to School – opened its doors in Strasbourg.
Anina Ciuciu, a young Rromni passed from a camp in Italy to the French university of La Sorbonne in Paris where she studies law. A portrait.
According to the World Bank, improving opportunities for Rroma children will pay off. According to the bank, the first 1’000 days are particularly important. Education, but also nutrition, and health.
However, stating that Hungary has done a lot is clearly exaggerated, as a simple tour through the countryside in that country will easily show.
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