Tag Archives: Racism

Ukrainian Roma and Hungary

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Even though Hungary claims that Transcarpathian Ukraine is Hungarian (one has to agree that historically this was the case), and even though Prime Minister Orban is granting citizenship to “all” Hungarian speakers outside of Hungary, it sems that this does not extend to Roma from Transcarpathian Ukraine. They mostly speak Hungarian, but Orban has now decreed that they are not from war regions and no asylum is required.

Do you spot the issue? Orban claims Transcarpathian Ukraine are Hungarian lands, but he doesn’t want the Hungarian speaking Roma from there in Hungary …

  • Les Roms d’Ukraine ne sont pas les bienvenus en Hongrie. In: La Libre. 27.08.2024. https://www.lalibre.be/international/europe/guerre-ukraine-russie/2024/08/27/les-roms-dukraine-ne-sont-pas-les-bienvenus-en-hongrie-FEZGIXY6LZBKLPAAM5OLEEWW6A/

Slovakia, Jobs, and Roma

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A Roma NGO tested the anti-Roma racism in the Slovak labour market. They created 4 CVs (2 men, 2 women one of each being Rom), and sent these applications for 100 open jobs available in various platforms.

Well, Roma got a much lower response rate than non-Roma. Non-Roma man: 92% response; non-Roma woman: 89%. Rom: 68%; Romni: 62%.

Greece and Roma

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A horrible article relating the violent burglary of a German’s house near Corinth, Greece. This is the start of a diatribe against Roma, with all stereotypes, advocating stricter laws, deprivation of civil rights, and cuts of social benefits.

Bad.

Slovenia: Civil Initiative

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Since in their views, the state’s measures in the field of solving the Roma problem have been unsuccessful, the Regional Civil Initiative for solving the Roma problem demands that the government invite them to a meeting within a month. “We want to check whether they will accept the proposals formulated by the 11 mayors of the southeast region,” explained Silva Mesojedec: “If the government does not accept us, we will no longer prevent the creation of village guards and other forms of organizing residents.”

The proposal was refused on the grounds that it singled out a minority, i.e. was not conform to the constitution.

Artificial Intelligence

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The Czech SPD movement, qualified as neo-fascist by some news agencies, has been using artificial intelligence again to produce images which it then used in its political campaign. After the “imported surgeon”, an African migrant with a knife, this time it shows Roma children with cigarettes. The photo’s caption says: “They say let us go to school, but ours are on the hook”. The non-profit organization Romeo, which has already sent a criminal complaint, has already spoken out against the image.

The Church and Roma

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The working group for Roma of the Ecumenical Council of Churches has published a letter in which it calls on the church community to be more open to Roma believers. “In practice, it is not the case that a Roma comes to a Christian community, where they throw him out ‘by the collar’, saying that he has no business there. But they will let him know that he is not desirable, often behind closed doors,” explains one of the initiators of the challenge, evangelical pastor Mikuláš Vymětal.

Oda na kames …

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Oda na kames [what you don’t like] is a two-year project of the Ara Art organization, which aims to map hate speech and violence against the Roma minority on the Internet and in real life.

Slovakia, Roma, and an Opinion

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An Interview with Igor Andre, a Slovcak from Bratislava who worked in the office for the plenipotentiary of the Roma and moved 10 years ago in Eastern Slovakia and taught in a Roma school.

Well, his view of Roma is stereotypical. He states: “The debate about the Roma in our country is influenced by the woke ideology”; that the debate is “automatically based on the principle that the majority is the oppressor and the Roma are the victims.” He continues and says that Roma are gifted in crafts… In brief, he knows and sees only a part of the Roma community and thinks he knows it all.

Slovenia, Schools, and Roma

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An emergency meeting of the Slovenian Commission for Petitions, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities was held in the National Assembly yesterday on the role of the Parents’ Council of the Velika Dolina Elementary School in connection with the attack on a student at the Velika Dolina Primary School.

According to the mayor of the town where the attack occurred, the government does not want to talk about Roma issues. The session was also not attended by members of the commission from the left parties. They said they estimate that it is indecent and inappropriate for the Commission to serve as a platform for spreading intolerance and pointing fingers by convening the meeting.

Germany and Racism

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The current German ruling coalition proposed the creation of a commission on racism. The SPD parliamentary group and its chairman Raed Saleh in particular have been a strong advocate for the project. “The Enquete Commission will be tasked with drawing up recommendations on how to strengthen social cohesion and counter anti-Semitism, racism, Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination.”

Racism against Sinti and Roma will also be included.

Slovenia and Roma

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There was an altercation between Roma and non-Roma in an elementary school in the municipality of Brežice, Slovenia. This made the news in the country, and a controversy arose as the mayor of Brežice wrote in social media “a Roma student attacked an eighth-grader in class.” The question raised whether this is an incitation to racial hatred or not.

Germany and Racism

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Two articles in Polish about anti-Roma racism incidents in Germany. In 2023, 1,233 anti-Gypsy incidents were recorded in Germany, almost twice as many as the year before, when there were 621 such cases. The latest data was published on Monday (June 17, 2024) by the Antigypsyism Information and Reporting Center (MIA) in its latest report.

Romania, Racism, and Music

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Coldplay frontman Chris Martin personally invited the increasingly popular Romanian musician Babasha for a duet in front of thousands at the National Arena in Bucharest on Wednesday. Neither expected the crowd to react with such fury.

The issue is that Babasha is Rom and plays Manele music, a music that  many Romanians associate with criminality. He was booed.

Bad.

Belgium and Roma

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Conner Rousseau, a Belgian politician and now former chair of the Vorruit (Social Democrat) party made racist statements against Roma last September. A mediation was proposed and initially accepted, but Roma organisations withdrew from the agreement.

He is now set to be judged but will not attend the proceedings.

Racism in Czechia

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Inadmissible in the West, normal in the Czech Republic. Roma are the least popular minority and many openly express their hatred. “If I got five crowns every time someone tells me they don’t like Roma, but I’m fine, I’d already have a villa,” says journalist Patrik Banga, a Rom. Together with Romanologue Saša Uhlová, they talked about why antigypsyism is so common and what can be done about it in the Aktuálně.cz Rasování program.

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The police charged a 78-year-old man with the crime of disorderly conduct and violence against a group of residents, who, according to findings so far, threatened a Roma family in Svitavy with an ax and a gun in his hand at the beginning of May. The Romea.cz server reported on the incident that took place on the street. The witness said the man called people “black monkeys” and threatened to kill them. The police are also investigating a possible racial motive for the crime.

Online Racism

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A discussion with a young 19 year old Romni and TikTok creator about facing online racism, on how young Roma people live in the Czech Republic and what the biggest prejudice about Roma are.

Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Switzerland

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The Bulgarian press took the statements of the head of the Asylum system in the Canton of Bern for truth: That Roma used faked Ukrainian papers to abuse the Swiss Asylum system. The title is as false and racist: “Roma flock to Switzerland for aid with fake Ukrainian passports.” The picture used is also not relevant, as it shows carriages, which is definitively not the mean of travel chosen by the Ukrainian Roma who ask for asylum in Switzerland.

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