Not really a surprise to see that Travellers and Roma are the two ethnic groups who face the most prejudice in Ireland …
Traditional Slovak racism thinks that Roma are mostly backward, uneducated, refuse to adapt to our culture, at best they just rub their hands together, take what they can from the system but give nothing back, at worst they cheat and steal – like Slovaks in the European Union.
There are, of course, certain differences here. For centuries, we have purposefully pushed Roma to the margins of society, we have not allowed them to settle, own real estate, or perform most professions.
Greater Manchester Police has apologised ‘for any humiliation and distress caused’ after groups of kids were ordered to leave the city, a leading Travellers’ charity has said.
Well, they took time. And it was definitively racist.
A TV Reality Star, who was featured in “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding” has been protesting the heavy handed intervention of the Manchester police who forcefully removed Roma from a Christmas market and put them in a train which left them stranded out of the city.
A paediatrician in the Czech town of Aš posted on his door: “In view of the increasing aggressiveness of the Romani people, I am not registering them with immediate effect.”
Apparently, several Roma were in his waiting room without an appointment and behaved aggressively. What really happened remains to be seen.
The Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Nationalities recently published an invitation to participate in a public prize competition for children and young people entitled Together against Anti-Gypsyism.
Roma representatives greeted the idea, but there are several politicians and parties who criticise this as a waste of money.
Tomáš Hlaváček, director of the film House Without an Exit explains that his documentary shows that since the state and its institutions leaves the Roma to fend off by themselves, they rely on the family. But this is not always an advantage, as it keeps the families in a spiral of exclusion and poverty.
A Slovenian Radio produced a “humorous” video clip as a parody of a new measure introduced by the Slovenian government about the right to disconnect, i.e. the right not to answer emails.
Their parody involves a debt-ridden Rom who tapped into the water supply and complains about the water “cutoff”.
Bad.
The Slovenian government campaign Together against anti-Gypsyism has upset residents living near Roma, as well as Roma. The Government Office for Nationalities explained that by announcing a prize-winning competition for children and youth entitled Together against anti-Gypsyism, they want to tackle so-called anti-Gypsyism, which is an internationally accepted and established term.
In communes with a Roma minority, people have started protesting saying “what will a 4th grader in SE Slovenia, who has a Roma classmate four years older than him, who bullies him every day and demands money from him, think about this prize game?”
Manchester Police forced Roma and Traveller’s children who were attending a Christmas market onto trains which left them 100 miles away from Manchester. Roma and Travellers association are considering legal actions and have requested apologies from the police.
A councillor who had to resign over a tweet on August 2nd, the day commemorating the genocide of the Roma about a meeting held to discuss possible land to be allotted for camps of Roma and Travellers. Well, she is back in business.
Would this have been the case if she had done the same on another minority?
Finally, the news makes it to the West. We reported on it already.
Following the murder of a taxi driver by a Rom, a pogrom started in the town of Korkino, in the Cheliabinsk region. Subsequently after the riots, several Roma were summoned to serve in the army in the Ukraine, a certain death and definitively a punishment.
For the journalist: there are no Sinti in Russia …
An article which states that “Roma neighbourhoods in Petrich, and the neighbourhoods in Bulgaria in general, are a huge prerequisite for a threat to national security, since the state institutions have abdicated long ago from the problems of the neighbourhoods, relying mainly on mediators, and this creates a situation in which we do not know what and how exactly happens there.”
It adds that “Illegal buildings and electricity, accompanied by Roma raids and beatings with axes, knives, stones and wooden sticks, as well as lack of any kind of responsibility and integration, are only a small part of the words that can describe the illegal life of the Roma neighborhoods in Petrich.”
Bad.
Another article, this time in the TV news about the formal complaint against a Bernese politician for racism. Since he sits in the government from the canton, the prosecutor had to ask for lifting his immunity. The decision will be taken on November 25th, but according to the article, the article, it seems he has little to fear.
Switzerland has a long way to go on racism …
Pierre-Alain Schnegg, a politician from Bern and member of the canton’s government made statements about Roma refugees a few months ago which prompted a formal complaint for racist statements. Now the Canton’s parliament has to vote to lift his immunity so that the prosecution can continue.
Let’s see…
Roma boys were supposed to enjoy a friendly football match, but instead received a welcome that hurt at the local school. “Yikes, gypsy team! Kill them!” one student shouted at them. “That was a welcome from a little girl from the local school, where we came with the students for a friendly football match. The boys were very much looking forward to the match. But the welcome hurt,” said teacher and education activist Juraj Hipš on Facebook, who published the sad experience of his students. There has now been a huge wave of support on social media.
The 50 Shades of Anti-Roma Racism campaign draws attention to the long-lasting expressions of hate and discrimination. It brings awareness, specific stories, but also instructions on how to defend yourself. The details and goals of the campaign are described in an interview by its leader psychologist Monika Mihaličková from the RomanoNet organization. She says that “Most people imagine manifestations of racism and discrimination in connection with very explicit situations, but quite often they also have a more subtle form.”
The most well-known case of police brutality in Slovakia in the media is from Košice. It happened back in 2009. Ten Košice policemen forced Roma boys from the Luník IX housing estate to slap and kiss each other under the threat of a fight, ordered them to strip naked and stand with their hands above their heads, barked at them with unmuzzled dogs, and put a gun to one of their heads.
The police officers, who were recording everything on their mobile phones, were accused of harassing Roma between the ages of 11 and 17, who were suspected of robbing a pensioner. The case dragged on in court for years, they were convicted several times by the courts, eventually they were declared innocent and some of the dismissed policemen returned to the force. The final word is with the regional court, a hearing in this matter has not yet been scheduled.
School principals in Czechia received detailed instructions from government representative Lucie Fuková on how to proceed when determining the Roma origin of children. Some have been reluctant to count the Roma until now. By getting their numbers, the state aims to prevent segregation. Many of them do not agree with this census because they find it uncomfortable to proceed in this way.
The criteria are scary: These include, for example, appearance. If the child is perceived as Roma, the directors can infer his Roma origin. The same applies if one of the parents or relatives in the direct line is Romani, the child has a typical Romani name or surname, or the pupil or family directly speaks the Romani language or an ethnolect (a language variant associated with a specific ethnic minority).
The Swiss politician Mario Fehr (not affiliated to any party) gave a press conference on asylum in Zurich, Switzerland. There, he said that he would be willing to give residency to all Ukrainians who work, but would send back the others. And finally, he said that Roma come with false papers, and are not threatened by war.
We had the opportunity to Speak to Mr. Fehr, for which we are thankful, and he confirmed that the statements in 20 Minutes are not what he said.
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