At long last, the Rroma camps – veritable ghettos that surround the Italian capital will be dismantled. Italian court have found the Rome municipality to be guilty of racial discrimination in the setup of these camps, camps that were established by the municipality, with the police and NGOs.
A good commentary of the issue of racism in the net, especially so in social media, something that affects Rroma in many countries. The article clearly states and shows that it is not social media and the internet that are at fault but the people who use it.
Following the issue with police officers posting racist comments on Rroma and other minorities on Facebook, Rroma police officers are trying to counter the prevailing prejudices that exist within the force.
Best wishes!
Following the recent disclosure of the existence of a Facebook page used by UK Met police officers to rant against minorities and Rroma in particular, more articles have appeared in the Press and Scotland Yard is investigating the case.
Let’s hope that there will be a clear outcome.
Some news of the camps in France: In Bagnolet, near Paris, Bulgarian Rroma buried a man and his daughter who died during a fire; in Roubaix, in the North, activists take 60 Rroma to the sea; in Loos, also in the North, an article about the street with a prison, a Rroma camp and an unused land; while in Vaulx-en-Vélin, near Lyon, cohabitation seems to be difficult; and finally the MRAP (Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l’amitié entre les peoples) denounces what they deem a “real harassment” of Rroma in Lyon.
The European court of Justice has issued a warning against the Bulgarian electricity company which installed electric meters at a height that renders them inaccessible, this in a predominantly Rroma part of Dupnitsa. According to the court of justice, this constitutes “ethnic discrimination”.
The metropolitan police has been engulfed in a controversy surrounding a “secret” Facebook page that officers used to air racist comments about minorities, including Rroma. In several comments, the comments accused the GT (Gypsy and Travellers) to live exclusively on crime.
This cannot be tolerated from the police!
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.
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.
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.
The new Rrom parliament member Özcan Purçu has been denouncing the police violence in Rroma settlements (Mahala), which, according to Purçu, the Police is using as training grounds for their riot and crowd control division.
This has to stop. JOIN US to protest
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!
Another report, this time on TV on the tours of the notorious 8th District of Budapest. These tours, organised by local Rroma offer a view of a part of town that is usually not on the tourist itineraries.
Totally inappropriate article which appeared a while back in a smaller paper in the Wallis region of Switzerland. It de- facto assimilates Rroma with thieves and burglars bands who will rob all houses and flats they can lay their hands on. Clearly, in the distorted mind of this journalist, these bands are also forcing their children to steal. The journalist is somehow cautious, stating that one is not sure that these bands are Rroma, but devotes a large excerpt about Rroma in general which leaves little doubt about his opinion.
PLEASE join our protests against this!
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.
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.
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.
A German Rroma organisation – Amaro Drom – our way started a campaign called “Dikhen amen” [Look at us] aimed at reducing stereotypes. Well done!
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.
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.
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