Tag Archives: Schools

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27.09.2013 Anti-Rroma Pogroms in Poland

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A seemingly harmless incident between a 16-year-old Rroma and a 13-year-old ethnic Poles in the city Andrychow led to massive tensions. A petition and a now-banned Facebook group called for the expulsion of around 140 Rroma from this city of 20,000 inhabitants. The case is symptomatic of the continued segregation of Rroma in Poland according to Focus (2013), as well as in the neighbouring Slovakia. Low education rates and poor integration led to a persistence of poverty and exclusion: “Many Slovak and Polish Roma are illiterate, unemployed and on welfare. Because despite compulsory education, not all children go to school – partly out of fear of discrimination, partly out of fear of assimilation – the way the next generation is poised to misery.”

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20.09.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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The conservative weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit (2013) reports on “Gypsies […] they want the full right of German social benefits if they declare Germany as their new centre of life.” The paper evaluates the decision of Essen’s Higher Social Court in a precedent that allows now all “Gypsies” from Southeast Europe to also be entitled to all social benefits in addition to the child benefit and emergency medical care. The conservative weekly newspaper takes a clear judgmental  and order oriented perspective on the immigration debate: desirable are, if at all, only professionals and only if they do not compete with German workers. It also makes the economic opportunities of immigrants a question of ethnicity: Rroma, in the paper’s eyes, are all potential welfare cheats. Mockingly they note that it is sufficient, according to the Social Court, to declare Germany as one’s new centre of life and for being awarded benefits.

The town of Nordhausen ordered the prohibition of NPD election posters of the NPD in the vicinity of the former concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora and prescribed the minimum distance. With the slogan “Money for grandma instead of Sinti and Roma” the NPD generated a lot of resentment.  Legal proceedings were initiated by several people against the NPD for anti-Gypsy propaganda (MDR 2013). The anti Rroma propaganda has also triggered legitimate fears among many Rroma in Germany, especially in families with children who have to see posters on their routes to school. Romani Rose, chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma criticised that authorities had only acted in some cities, but not pronounced a national regulation to ban the posters (Evangelical Press, 2013). In the city of Giessen, the Administrative Court ruled in favour of the NPD’s posters: they must be hung back after the town had them removed. In a bipartisan action, critics of the NPD have now hung posters with the slogan “My grandma also like Sinti and Roma” (Hit Radio FFH 2013).

The TAZ (2013) reports the successful construction of a dormitory for Rroma in Neukölln that is funded by the Housing and Community Society of Aachen. Previously a house in the Harzerstrasse gained media attention mainly because of the waste and the noise. Through the intervention of Aachen Housing society, the house has been renovated and overcrowding has been reduced. The housing project has even won a social Architecture Prize. At the same time the displeasure of some of the neighbours has been awakened, who complained about the social advantage given to Rroma. However, Benjamin Marx, the project manager, sees the project as an important sign of social acceptance of Rroma.

The SPD excluded Martin Korol from the party because of his anti-Roma statements. Korol had made derogatory comments towards the Rroma immigrants from Southeast Europe Rroma on his website earlier this year, but then removed them due to considerable criticisms. Korol was elected in February 2013 into the Bremen state parliament, and his previously published statements had previously not raised any attention (Mirror 2013).

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20.09.2013 Rroma and Experts

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Lausberg (2013) raises an important question on the relation of knowledge produced by Rroma experts about Rroma and its appropriation by the public. Lausberg criticises Rolf Bauerdick “Gypsy: Encounters with unpopular people” for the reproduction of centuries-old stereotypes, because Bauerdick, in addition to the descriptive plane of his book, did not manage to address other levels of reality such as the dominant social discourses, the heterogeneity of the Rroma or the xenophobic instrumentalisation Rroma. Bauerdick’s critique of the common view of the Rroma as victims, deprived of their own power to act, is an important objection to public views of the Rroma. Also they are responsible for their own destiny, not only the structures of society. However, in this criticism, he commits the mistake to unilaterally describe Rroma representatives as elitist, overly moralistic and haughty, and himself as an empirical journalist, a revealer of objectivity: “The reference to his decades-long meetings with Roma displays his intention to make him appear as a reliable insider, to strengthen his credibility. His point of view as he approaches the target group under investigation (Roma) is highly questionable and dubious. Bauerdick is not able to distance himself from the normal ideas of his own Western culture and to understand Roma from their own cultural and social context. […] Bauerdick wants to refute the theory that the majority of society is always the perpetrator and the minority always the victims. On the questions of who ever set up this theory and why it supposedly has hegemonic character, he is going into. Bauerdick even claims that “the Gypsies are exploited far less than the Gadsche by members of their own people. ( Bauerdick, 2013, p 14).”

Lausberg so rightly criticized the ambivalent role of self-appointed Rroma experts. Expertise usually works according to the logic of stabilization, reduction, purification and synthesising of heterogeneous and often contradictory knowledge. Complex phenomena such as the highly complex issue of the Rroma identity appear in their statements as clearly analyzable and describable. In the Bauerdick case, he commits the serious mistake to reduce the reality to what he was able to observe during his research trips. That the Rroma identity also tocuhes topics such as self-and external attribution of identity, dominant societal views and different opinions and lifestyles among the Rroma themselves, he is not taking into account. Instead of a complex, sometimes even contradictory picture,  he creates a one-sided caricature of Rroma living in slums, who have fallen into apathy and who call themselves “Gypsies”. Towards “invisible Rroma”, to which one simply cannot even go fast by car, Bauerdick is not fair: they too form part of the social reality of the Rroma. They do not live in slums and do not conform to questionable statistics on illiteracy and to the exorbitant numbers of Rroma children. Bauerdick could exactly as well have written a book about well-integrated Rroma. He would then admittedly have disregarded a part of reality, but he would have stimulated critical thinking, that what must be all good journalism goal. Instead, one is now forced to read a lot of positive reviews about his book, praising uncritically Bauerdicjk’s supposedly objective empiricism” “The book convinces because the author is aware of the situation at all focal points of the gypsy life in Europe itself, he knows the people, he knows those who, in the northern city of Dortmund, experienced the onslaught of enslaved women, the portrait of Radka Inkova […], whom he meets in the northern city of Dortmund, we read with a great sad wave. Radka was born in Stolipinovo, into a family with twelve children. The parents did not send them to school, they married after Gypsy law as they were twelve years old. The man beat her every day and she left him, and since fell into the clutches of Arslan P. He enticed her to Dortmund” (Neudeck 2013). Individual stories are presented as tangible cultural traits and thereby convey a point of view that present the Rroma as responsible for their own social exclusion. Moralistic views need to be carefully questioned, as they often hide the complexity of reality behind one-dimensional opinions. His book, which without doubt was written with a lot of empathy towards Rroma, is now instead exploited by right-wing politicians to create propaganda against Eastern European immigrants. A critical analysis of knowledge generation and appropriation is therefore so important. Adorno and Horkheimer have referred to this problem in “Dialectic of Enlightenment” as early as 1947.

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06.09.2013 Segregation of Rroma Children in the Slovak and Hungarian Education Systems

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The Standard (2013) discusses the continuing segregation of Rroma children in Slovak schools. According to a recent report by Amnesty International, 43% of Rroma children are taught in ethnically segregated classes. The Slovak government is responsible for this situation by that tolerating or even promoting segregation practices. The government defends itself by pointing out at the usually very poor Slovak spoken by Rroma, making a separate teaching a necessity. Critics, however, see this as an excuse to comply with the wishes of ethnic Slovaks to teach their children separately from those of the Rroma. Individual judgments, as in Prešov in October 2012, are a sign of the will of a dedicated group within the country to abolish segregation. Currently though, this still seems to be the common practice.

Pester Lloyd (2013) points out in a recent article about similar practices in Hungary: The opening of a new public elementary school was only announced by personal invitation solely to parents of Magyar origin. Rroma parents were intentionally excluded from the welcome letter. The County Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok has, according to the Pester Lloyd, the highest segregation rate in the country. Numerous court decisions condemning ethnic segregation of children in primary schools have changed nothing on the prevalence of this practice. The authors also condemn the distorting representations of the Hungarian Rroma politic by Hungarian Members of the European Parliament: Livia Jaroka, the Fidesz Roma representative in the European Parliament, talks about the immense progress in the integration of the Rroma. But whether this has indeed improved, needs to be critically examined. The Pester Lloyd points out to an issue that is given too little attention: To what extent integration programs actually bear fruit is very little researched and documented. What counts is the public statement that something is being done.

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06.09.2013 Czech Rroma Form their Own Party

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The Prague Daily Monitor (2013) reports on the establishment of the “Democratic Party of the Rroma”, which was formed this August. The goal in the next elections in autumn is to win as many seats as possible in order to provide help on the Rroma concerns, particularly those who are specially vulnerable such as single mothers, the disabled, and the unemployed. The main concern of the party will be, however, to improve the educational opportunities of the Rroma and the integration into the labour market. This can be seen as a response to the still widespread practice of segregation of Rroma in the public schools. In 2011, the “party of equal rights” was officially recognized, another party which also represents the interests of Rroma.

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30.08.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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The Central Council of German Sinti and Romany is seeking a ban on discriminatory political advertising. This is a consequence of election posters of the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), which states “money for grandma instead for Sinti and Roma”. Romani Rose, Chairman of the Central Council, specifically requested the creation of a legal basis to prohibit racist political advertising and requires legal action by the federal government. In several states criminal proceedings against the NDP are also pending, but there are still no judgments as of now. The SWR has conclusively stated: “According to them, the Central Council has received hundreds of calls of concerned Sinti and Roma families from all over Germany in the last days. This because of the NPD’s posters which were very present, especially in smaller locations and on way to school or because they were “emotionally angry” and scared. The open NPD incitements gave rise to massive fears amongst the elderly who survived the Holocaust.” (SWR 2013)

Frigelj (2013) spoke to Duisburg’s mayor Reinhold Spaniel about the problem house “in den Peschen” that for months generated media attention and has become an instrument of political campaigns. Spaniel sees Duisburg as particularly affected by the migration from Bulgaria and Romania, because the city has a particularly large supply of cheap real estate and is therefore attractive for poverty immigrants from south eastern Europe. He also shows comprehension for the exasperated neighbours who are overwhelmed by noise, littering and disputes. In cooperation with the owner of the property “in the Peschen”, he said he wants to progressively empty the house and slowly seal the flats. He also differentiates in that there are families that are willing to pay rent and to integrate and must be supported in their efforts. With regards to massive intervention, his hands are tied because the Romanian and Bulgarian migrants are staying legally as EU citizens in Germany. He also advocates the somewhat controversial view that from January 2014 onwards, when the freedom of movement agreement with Romania and Bulgaria enters into force, will see large migration flows to Germany. With this representation, it becomes even more apparent that even liberal representatives distinguish between desirable and undesirable immigrants. A problem Max Frisch already pointed out. Spaniel takes a dichotomous view between skilled professionals and low-skilled poverty migrants, which create problems for the city of Duisburg: “Many well trained Bulgarian nurses and Romanian doctors come to Germany. That is beyond dispute, This is not the clientele that we’re talking about here, I’m talking about very poorly educated people, some illiterates who are in Duisburg and create problems for us.” The desire to want only well-trained professionals immigrants corresponds to the dubious distinction of economically useful and unhelpful people, and the consequent evaluation of the immigrants. The Polish-British sociologist Zygmunt Bauman pointed out several time the moral problems of such exclusionary social policies. However, Spaniel speaks not only of the necessary structures but also of the newcomers’ willingness at integration. To just simply distinguish between integration willing and unwilling immigrants when talking about integration, is to great a simplification. Integration is both a matter of personal commitment and also a result of the possibilities and structures of the host country. Depending on political orientation, the initiative of individuals is identified as the key critical or simply as one the factor among others. What is nice in this article is that he does not primarily speaks of a cultural problem, but also discusses possible solutions.

Wyputta also (2013) of the TAZ spoke with spaniel. In this interview, it is clear that newspapers like the TAZ left the city officials blame lack of action. This, however, legitimately defended by pointing out that his hands are tied by the applicable legislation. He could only negotiate with the homeowner and drive new legislations that define issues such as overcrowding, sanitation or electricity supply of housing law. Again, Spaniel emphasized once more that the city was overwhelmed massive.

The Romanian Rromni Flavia Constantin (2013), in the context of the ongoing debate about Rroma asks for a self-determined, more active presence of the Rroma and especially a change in the role of Rroma women. She speaks about the traditional gender roles of many Roma women, who, according to her is too little critical and self-determined is to her liking, “Rroma women have never learned to stand up for themselves. Their world revolves solely around the family, the house, and the community. This has to change. Because we have to start. With the women, not the men. Because women are the ones who plant ideas in the minds of their children. They are the backbone of the community.” Constantin also calls for the creation of a new visual culture, aiming at creating a counterweight to the stereotypical notions about Rroma. For a successful integration, efforts are needed on both sides: on the one hand, bureaucratic hurdles blocking access to the labour and housing market need to be lowered, and on the other hand, immigrant Rroma should strive towards better social integration. At the end of the article she gives a convincing explanation of why the predictions of the mass immigration from Romania and Bulgaria, in her opinion, are wrong. They would already numerous informal work in Germany: “I do not think that the opening of the German labour market in January 2014 means that masses of Romanians and Bulgarians will flock to Germany. They are here anyway. Why should these people wait for them to be able to work officially, if they already do it unofficially?”

Kemna (2013) focuses on the future closure of an informal Rroma settlement in a Berlin allotment, which will make way for a highway. One of the sitters, a young Romanian Rrom, complains about the difficulties of working as a newspaper vendor. He fled from a failed marriage to Germany. The institution Amaro Foro is contact point for Rroma and European migrant workers in general. Mariela Nikolova of Amaro Foro laments the indifference of the authorities towards the inhabitants of the colony, which will soon produce new homeless people. In addition, nearly all applications for Hartz IV social benefits are being rejected, which makes it difficult to integrate, creating almost a vicious circle.

EurActiv (2013) provides information about a controversy in the context of EU funds, which are paid for the integration of Rroma in Bulgaria and Romania. The EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, is being criticised for her plans to transfer part of the funding to Germany, which, in the context of the forthcoming freedom of movement with Romania and Bulgaria from the beginning of 2014, is faced with potential migration flows. The spokesman for the European Commission Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor, denies the allegations as being false. The funding is granted every seven years and cannot easily be used elsewhere.

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23.08.2013 Rroma debate in Germany: culturalism remains the dominant narrative

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“In order to remain, they only have to prove that they can earn their own livelihood. With five or more children, this is not difficult. After all, they get child benefits. Opinions are divided as to whether they straightway pull away again as vagrants, as many locals want, or to settle permanently on the Rhine.” (Kolbe, 2013).

In his comprehensive 1400 words’ article, Kolbe (2013) achieves the feat to use every clichés images on Rroma: He speaks without comments about travellers (how often it must still be said that the majority of the Rroma are not travellers?), about families with five children or more that earn their living through the money Germany’s social care pays for children (how often has this issue been already discussed since January of this year, and how often did we already repeatedly point out that poverty immigration is a polemic theme that is being used in the context of the German election campaign and also that there are many Rroma with few children who well integrated). Ignorant of any cultural relativistic approach, Kolbe reproduces the ideas of cultures and alterity, topics, which have been controversial for decades in the social science. That the cultural characteristics described by him perhaps simply are a result of poverty and lack of education is something that Rroma experts such as Mappes-Niedieck (2012) have tired to explain for a long time, is not even discussed at all. Instead, an image of alienation is evoked, presenting what is described as a cultural incompatibility strikingly similar to Samuel Huntington’s clash of civilizations thesis: “For both sides, it is a culture shock. The locals flee their old neighbourhoods. Immigrants come in a world whose customs are strange and incomprehensible to them. […] It is not just dirt and noise that upsets the old-timers. Police statistics show a growing criminality. Children do not go to school, but beg or operate as a “Robber Kids.” Only after lengthy discussions, did the city administration act to close the street prostitution in the northern city, where prostitutes from Southeast Europe were offering their services on the street.” (Kolbe, 2013). That notions of hygiene have nothing to do with cultural traits should be obvious to even hardboiled positivists or culturalists. Of real concern is that Mr. Kolbe simply presents without comment, statements about thieving and prostituting Rroma. He makes no reference to the fact that the supposedly so large cultural differences perhaps simply are a result of poverty, that there are also Rroma who do not steal and prostitute themselves. What is downright outrageous, however, is that Mr. Kolbe simply ignores any of the arguments that have been put forward in the discussion of mass immigration: He does not talk about the well-educated immigrants who are also part of this transnational migration exactly as the poverty immigrants; nor does he discusses the critical analysis of the supposedly iron proofed statistics on immigration, analysis showing that a significant proportion of the migrants are in fact seasonal workers and the mass exodus to Germany is not a fact but a political issue (Migazin 2013 Epoch Times Germany, 2013), Mr. Kolbe simply presents it all it presents as an apolitical fact. Neither does he make any references to the invisible, well-trained Rroma, which also form part of the reality (Schayani, Isabel / Onneken, Peter, 2013, Jacob 2013). However, in an addendum, he speaks about well qualified Romanians and Bulgarians, but it remains unclear whether he thinks they are also Rroma. That the article promotes and encourages culturalism and not a critical debate, can be read from the comment column. For example, a Mr. Frank Richter from Germany stated: “This is not a state, the state has obviously failed in its reaction and the fact that the the whole does not work is for me at first the fault of the Roma. […] That Roma can develop into model citizens, well engaged in the civil society, I venture to doubt. Cultural barriers are sometimes just so high that they cannot be overcome, and you better not try it, but should accept the consequences. French and Italians have been already recognised this in relation to this group […].” Mr. Kolbe speaks also of actions of the general population such as in the case of Catholic priest or the case of the initiative “future-oriented support” to help integrate the Rroma. But all in all, a balanced critical perspective on the events is not presented here.

The West (2013) again reported on the so-called “Rroma house” in Duisburg. After various groups and individuals had called for active reprisals against Rroma are, residents, such as the teacher Annegret Keller-Stegmann, showed solidarity and committed themselves to the protection of the Rroma. She organised vigils to give the residents of the house some rest. The strong media attention on the house has led to a fixation and hardening of opinions that prevents and hinders constructive approaches, “the car drivers with Hitler salute, the people who appear allegedly armed with knives on the street. […] We really fear for our children, says one of the men. His sons and daughters are sleeping with their clothes on to escape quickly.”

Blazejewski (2013) further reports that the movement “pro Germany” wants to organise a demonstration in front of the “Rroma house” in Duisburg and has filed for a permit to the police. In March of this year, the subgroup “Pro North Rhine-Westphalia” had already demonstrated in front of the house against Rroma. The authorities are distancing themselves from a ban of the demonstration, which they consider to be counterproductive. Rather, a counter-demonstration is in planning and they would support it.

The TAZ (2013) adds to the coverage with a questionable statement of Duisburg’ police spokesman Ramon van der Maat, which confirms fears about institutional racism amongst German authorities: “Even socially engaged say that few Roma are willing to integrate […] The other ones cannot deal with our society. The need to go away.”

Daberkow (2013) adds an important facet to the debate, in that she gives a voice to moderate residents. These distance themselves decidedly against xenophobic actions or slogans, but at the same time complain about the failure of politics and the authorities, to establish order and normal relations. Many of them are moving away from the neighbourhood, because they cannot stand the continuous strain in the form of noise and littering, and have been annoyed long enough. A social segregation cannot be in anyone’s interests. This should make us think.

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23.08.2013 Rroma Debat in France

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El Mallass (2013) calls for a paradigm shift in the Rroma policy in France. As a reason for his plea, he takes a controversial headline of the newspaper “Valeurs actuelles” of the 22 August which titled an article with the words “Roms, l’overdose.” [Rroma, the overdosis]. El Mallass sees a glaring blindness amongst the public on the history of the Rroma: Their persecutions under the Vichy regime and the Nazis, as well as the government practices against Rroma in many European countries, which lasted for centuries. El Mallas urges French politicians and the French State to on to take a lead role on a new Rroma policy aimed at their speedy and successful integration: “En somme, c’est à l’État de favoriser l’intégration de la communauté Roms en créant des conditions humanitaires dignes ainsi que l’accès aux droits, leur permettant in fine de sortir de l’illégalité et des no man’s land que sont ces camps insalubres, où l’insécurité quotidienne vient s’ajouter à la violence intracommunautaire qu’aucune règle de droit ne peut régir sans présence de l’autorité publique.” [As summary, the State should further the Rroma  integration by creating worthy humanitarian conditions as well as guaranteeing access to rights, permitting them at long last to get out of illegality and of the no man’s land, what these unhealthy camps are, were daily insecurity adds itself to inter-community violence which no rule of law can deal with without the presence of the public authority.]

Jamet (2013) of Boulevard Voltaire writes a mocking criticism on the latest controversy in the French press. He asks the provocative question as to whether the Rroma should not be considered to be a chance for France. In an ironic language, he pokes fun at the clichés about Rroma and sees them as producers of jobs, the countries with Rroma populations should on the contrary be grateful that they have them: “Combien d’agents communaux du nettoyage, de gendarmes, de policiers, de vigiles, d’agents de sécurité, de serruriers, de plombiers, seraient voués au chômage si les Roms n’existaient pas ! Y a-t-on songé ? Une discrimination séculaire empêche depuis plus de mille ans la communauté rom de se sédentariser, de s’instruire, de s’intégrer aux différent pays qui ne connaissent et donc n’apprécient pas à sa juste valeur la chance qu’ils ont d’avoir été choisis par eux pour lieux de résidence ambulante.“[How many communal agents for cleaning, gendarmes, policemen, vigils, security agents, locksmiths, plumbers would be without work if Rroma did not exist! Did one think about that? A secular discrimination prevents the Rroma community since more than thousand years become sedentary, to educate itself, to integrate in the different countries which do not know and thus do not appreciate fully the chance that they were chosen by them as their mobile residency.]

Following the closure of an illegal Rroma camp in Strasbourg, Moga (2013) discusses the perspectives of Romanian Rroma in France and societal attitudes towards them. She spoke with several families living in the camp, and draws a picture that oscillates between hope and despair. So many of the young Rroma want to go to school and learn French but the registration of the children often fails due to the lack of language skills of the parents. To this, one needs to add the difficult access to the labour market and a vicious circle of social exclusion, a circle that only a few manage to break. Moga criticises the closure of the camp as a hindrance to a successful and above all long-term integration of Rroma.

Polloni (2013) reports a creative idea of ​​the organization Perou of Ris-Orangis: Perou designed forty CVs of prominent Rroma residents in Ris-Orangis who cannot find work. She wants to draw attention to the untapped pool of labour that lies fallow and could actually be a significant economic force for the French economy.

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09.08.2013 The Importance of Education for a Successful Integration

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George Pau-Langevin, the French Minister of Education, discussed in an article in the French Huffington Post the importance of education in a successful integration of Rroma. The Minister of Education criticised that the camps’ evictions stood at the centre of media attention. The successful integration of Rroma in the education should stand at the centre of public interest. The equal and egalitarian access to education is the crucial first step towards integration of Rroma: “L’école pour tous n’est pas un credo démagogique, mais une expression du principe d’égalité sur lequel repose notre démocratie. Il est difficile de rompre avec des décennies, voire des siècles d’indifférence et d’exclusion vis-à-vis des familles Roms. Il s’agit néanmoins d’une obligation pour notre gouvernement, qui assume en la matière une politique courageuse et volontariste, tendant notamment à assurer l’accès à l’École à des enfants en grande précarité” [School for everyone is not a demagogical credo, but the expression of the equality principle on which our democracy is built. It is difficult to break from decades, or even centuries of exclusions of Rroma families. It is nevertheless an obligation for our government, which, in this matter, assumes a courageous and militant politic to ensure school access to children living in precarious conditions.] (Pau-Langevin, 2013).

  • Pau-Langevin, George (2013) Sur la scolarisation des enfants roms. In: Huffington Post France online vom 9.7.2013. 
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09.08.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Hoock (2013) reports on the Rroma lawyer Nizaqete Bislimi, as being a positive example of a successful integration. Her family fled in 1993 from Kosovo to Germany before the war in Yugoslavia. Even before, the parents had only spoken Albanian with their children in order not to make them outcasts in school. Then followed 13 years with unclear status as a refugee: The fear of being deported always there. Through the support of friends, Bislimi could finally study law and obtained in 2006 a residence permit following a humanitarian action. It takes a very critical perspective on the current debate about Rroma in Germany: Quick Solutions, as propagated by various politicians are to be critically questioned. People and their fates need to be at the centre: “The lawyer advises all who offer quick solutions on the Roma problem to meet the people at eye level. Each has its own story and is in Germany because he has no chance at a decent life in Romania or Serbia. “Be a human being – that’s what counts.””

  • Hoock, Silke (2013) Eine Roma mit starkem Willen – ein starkes Beispiel für Integration. In: Der Westen online vom 7.8.2013. 
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26.07.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Putzier (2013) presents a one-sided view of the debate on poverty immigration to Germany. He describes the migration from Southeast Europe exclusvely as a mass exodus of poorly educated Bulgarians and Romanians. That a significant proportion of immigrants he cites, 27,242 Bulgarians and Romanians during the months of January and February, could include seasonal workers and professionals, it is not discussed. Also the warning about the “rising costs of poverty immigration” is not new, as it is fiercely debated since the beginning of this year.

Adeoso (2013) spoke with Adam Strauss, a German Sinto and a founding member of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma. Strauss has won several awards for his work against racism and for the integration of Rroma. However, against these official honours, the social reality weights in, a reality which is still pervaded by a great many negative experiences: “It has been 70 years since the Nazi era is over and 68 percent of the people, according to a Emnid survey, want no contact with us. If someone says, “You are ALSO people”, it is already clear on what kind of place we stand. […] We have stood alone in the yard at school during recess, nobody has played with us, and I experienced the same situation today with my granddaughter. She also stands alone in the playground, no one plays with her, she eats her bread during the break alone, sitting in the corner, just like us – with us no one had contact either. This is the worst […] ».

Beer (2013) spoke with Roman Franz, chairman of the Association of Roma and Sinti in North Rhine-Westphalia. Franz tries to spread a counter perspective to the usual arguments about poverty immigration from Eastern Europe. One cannot always poke about the integration willingness of immigrants; one also needs to create the necessary structures so that they can integrate. One should also attempt to present a more differentiated view on the reasons behind migration. Portraying migration solely as an economic one, simplifies the situation too much: “Nobody likes to leave his home. Many Rroma in Eastern Europe live in incredibly difficult conditions. If they are allowed to send their children to school at all, then they are pelted with stones. They are there fair game. It is imperative that our head of state engages himself in countries such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic or Slovakia, that Rroma are not forced out in this way”. With this he comes to a much too little discussed topic: What do political analyses say about the socio-political situation of a country and what are the actual experiences of local people? According to most countries official analyses, there is no discrimination against Rroma in South-eastern Europe.

Sources:

  • Adeoso, Marie-Sophie (2013) „Es ist mir sehr wichtig, dass ich ein Sinto bin“ In: Frankurter Rundschau online vom 22.7.2013.
  • Beer, Achim (2013) Roma-Verbandschef fordert Quartiere und Sprachkurse. In: Der Westen online vom 21.7.2013.

 

– Putzier, Konrad (2013) Europas Arme kommen nach Deutschland. In: Die Welt online vom 24.7.20

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12.07.2013 A Romanian Rroma School from a Swiss perspective

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Staat (2013) reports on a village in the heart of Romania, Roşia where Rroma children can go to school in a school specifically for Rroma without fear of discrimination: The Waldorf School. The report puts them in the context of the migration to Western Europe and the debates surrounding the Freedom of the new EU member states Romania within Europe. Rosia was a three-part Village: The top of the hill inhabited by the Romanians, where there is a bakery and a small food store. On the slope, the more affluent and Rroma. Rroma in the valley are the poor, most of whom are illiterate and had to be convinced by the teachers of the Waldorf school and the community to send their children to school. Through the school they should be able to have a better life than their parents, even if for the most of them, this remain an utopia. The article is written emphatically, but he uses many of the clichés that we already know from the media: The Rroma are poor, often illiterate, discriminated against, which is why many of them are attracted to Western Europe. The presentation is one of people being victims who need the helping hand of the West. The more successful Rroma briefly spoken about at the beginning of the article remain shapeless. She reproduces, despite her empathy, a dichotomous world view of the rich West and the poor East and through this, indirectly confirms the polemical statements of politicians who predict a mass emigration to take advantage of the social system of Western Europe.

Source:

  • Staat, Yvonne (2013) Ein Fenster in eine andere Welt. In: Beobachter online, Ausgabe 14/13. 
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05.07.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Maibaum (2013) reports on the changing social policy in Essen. To reduce economic incentives, in the future, the city will help needy migrants only in kind and not with money. The influx of economic refugees is thus to be minimised. In his representation of the new model of social help, Maibaum reproduces very uncritically racist statements when he states: “It is a three-stage model that divides the people who come to Essen in two classes: those that will be obliged to leave, such as the Roma from Serbia and Macedonia, and those who have a chance of a future life in this city.” Why Rroma from Serbia and Macedonia should have no chance at a future in Essen, is not explained. That Rroma are not just economic refugees but also are political refugees especially from countries such as Serbia due to the aftermath of the war in Yugoslavia or due to the ongoing ethnic discrimination they are faced with, is not discussed in this article.

Langenkämpfer (2013) informs about an event of the Bündnisses 90 and the Green, under the theme “Equal opportunities! Sinti and Roma in education”. The meeting participants criticised in particular the constant discrimination of many Rroma in Europe. In addition to the social, political, and increasingly violent pressure brought to bear on the Rroma, one needs to consider a social anchoring of prejudices among broad sections of the population. The North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Education Sylvia Löhrmann asked in her speech for less thinking about “order” and for more heterogeneity.

Kotte (2013) focuses on the efforts of Romeo Franz who wants to be elected as the first Sinto in the German Bundestag. Franz is known amongst others for training for argument against rightist slogans and ideas. His candidacy is viewed as a transformation of German society, with regard to recognition of its minorities. He also wants to acts against election statements such as the idea that all immigrants from Southeast Europe are economic refugees who only want to take advantage of the German social welfare system. In these simplistic representations, the fact that there also are educated immigrants, as well as a migration due to social deprivation or brutal discrimination remains unspoken. Particular concerns for Frank are the promotion of education, social inclusion and the political participation of Rroma in Germany. Another problem he sees is that one often talks about the Rroma, but seldom talks with them. He states: “We want equality of opportunity in employment, housing and health care. In Germany, there are huge deficits in the perception of the problems, as well in the programs supporting Roma. The European Commission last report has shown it again, and that was a red card for Germany. For the Foundation named after the Holocaust survivor and human rights activist Hildegard Lagrenne, where around 30 organisations of Roma and Sinti have teamed up, this is also a consequence that one often talks about us, but not with us.”

Poley (2013) reports on a meeting of the Rroma organisations “Rroma Drom” and “Terno Drom” in Duisburg. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the role of young Rroma in Germany. Representatives of the organisation are committed to an improved perception of Rroma and, based on a more self-determined presentation of Rroma in German society.

Goebels (2013) reports on the plans of schools in North Rhine-Westphalia to support regular teachers with teachers with knowledge of Rromanes or Bulgarian. Through the establishment of special remedial classes, the language skills and the integration of newcomers should be encouraged. In particular, the cities of Duisburg, Cologne and Dortmund, according to German statistics, record a high influx of Romanians and Bulgarians, who are often identified collectively as Rroma in public discourse.

Sources:

  • Goebels, Wilfried (2013) NRW-Ministerium sucht Roma-Lehrer für Zuwandererkinder. In: Der Westen online vom 2.7.2013.
  • Kotte, Hans-Hermann (2013) Der Sinit-Kandidat. In: Migazin online vom 3.7.2013.
  • Langenkämpfer, Jürgen (2013) “Gleiche Chancen! Sinti und Roma in der Bildung”. In: Mindener Tageblatt vom 3.7.2013.
  • Maibaum, Jörg (2013) Stadt Essen will Roma-Zuzug aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen bremsen. In: Der Westen online vom 5.7.2013.
  • Poley, Volker (2013) Roma als Teil unserer Gesellschaft sehen. In: RP online vom 1.7.2013. 
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28.06.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany and Austria

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In a long article, Carstens (2013) reports on the Romania trip of the Berlin district councillor Franziska Giffey. He tries to present a detailed picture of the situation on the ground, but he fails due to his preconceived belief that all Rroma want to move to Germany. He describes the representatives of the Romanian village Cojasca as caricatures but who are ultimately only interested in profit through economic relations with Germany. The mayor of Cojasca, according to Carsten, tries first to get Giffeys to agree to finance a factory with German money, then switches to asking for funds for the local school canteen and ends with offering his services in Germany as a translator. Carsten’s bottom line reasoning is simple: children’s allowances and benefits in Neukölln and in general in Germany are so high when compared with the low income in Romania, so that it provides essential stimulus for migration wherever poverty exists. He may not be wrong, but he oversimplifies the complexity of transnational migrations. He neglects questions about social cohesion of groups and communities, does not ask anything about the history of the Rroma in Romania, does not question the Romanian and German migration policies. If migration is considered only from an economical perspective as this often happens and is also Carsten’s view, questions about social integration, historicity, the role of individuals and the power of political discourse are simply neglected. Poverty migration exists, but it is not nearly as one-dimensional as Carsten’s represent it: It also takes courage to leave one’s own home behind and to travel to another country whose language you do not speak properly. Transnational relations are formed more or less depending on the structures of the participating countries and the possibilities of the involved persons. He who upholds the rules of the free market and therefore the freedom of workers should be self-critical, if he / she sees the new residents of a given country as poverty migrants from other countries who actually come as bearers of wealth and expertise. The reality is more than the just visible on the surface and certainly not just an intellectual construct.

Dernbach (2013) points out in her article the widespread pejorative views about Rroma. On the occasion of the presentation of Markus End’s findings “antiziganism – the state of research and the counter-strategies” she discusses the situation of Rroma in Germany. End points out that the stereotypes are still strong in the minds of the masses and that the thematising violence and discrimination against Rroma usually only is put in relation to events in Eastern Europe and not in their own country.

End (2013) points out in his publication about strong grievances regarding media coverage and the public abuse of Rroma. There is almost no research which focuses on antiziganism, the regulation of the press provides insufficient protection against discrimination, politicians can even make derogatory or racist remarks against Rroma without any consequences. Broad sections of the population continue to exhibit strong prejudices against Rroma, such as the belief that Rroma tend to criminality. Based on those views, discriminatory acts against Rroma occur regularly and these are seldom followed upon.

Hämerle (2013) spoke with the Romanian President Basescu on the relationship between Romania and the European Union. The conversation also covered the role of Rroma. Basescu stated: “There are virtually no problems with Romanians who emigrated, the whole debate revolves around the economic migration of the Rroma. But the Western states dare not to say this, which is why they prefer to talk about problems with Romanian immigrants. We will then make progress when they openly admit: Yes, the Rroma minority is causing problems, and we need to resolve this.” Regarding this point, Basescu seems to be poorly informed about the German, French and English media. There, this is in fact treated exactly as a Rroma  problem or question. Basescu sees a reluctance of Romanian Rroma to use existing educational opportunities. Combined with the significant differences in wealth between Germany and Romania, the raises the economic migration question. To solve this migration and to better integrate the Rroma needs a pan-European solution.

Gottschlich (2013) reports on the efforts of the North Rhine Westphalia Interior Minister Ralf Jäger to better integrate the Rroma in the cities of the province. The federal government is also required to get involved, as signing of the Schengen Agreement on the free movement of persons resulted in increased migration and in the concentration of migrants in individual cities. Specifically, he called for the safeguarding of health care and the promotion of school enrolment. But efforts in the countries of origin such as Romania and Bulgaria are required.

Sources:

  • Carstens, Peter (2013) Willkommen im Roma-Dorf. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung vom 26.6.2013. 
  • Dernbach, Andrea (2013) Sinti und Roma beklagen Vorurteile. In: Der Tagesspiegel online vom 27.6.2013.
  • End, Markus (2013) Antiziganismus. Zum Stand der Forschung und der Gegenstrategien. In: Mediendienst Integration online vom 28.6.2013.
  • Gottschlich, Peter (2013) Roma-Zuwanderung: Innenminister Ralf Jäger will Städten helfen. In: RP online vom 24.6.2013.
  • Hämmerle, Walter (2013) «Ja, Roma werden diskriminiert» In: Wiener Zeitung online vom 27.6.2013. 
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21.06.2013 The French Rroma Policies

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Alain (2013) presents the French policy towards Rroma. EU Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, in an interview with the International Herald Tribune, called the French policy towards cultural minorities “very reactionary”, even among left-wing parties. This statement, not surprisingly, generated strong reactions from the French politics. François Hollande denounced Baroso’s criticism as being generalizing. Marie Le Pen regards the criticism as an expression of the European system’s bias against France. In the first third of 2013, the number of Rroma evicted from their displaced from their camps grew to more than 30% of the entire French Rroma population. The socialist Interior Minister Manuel Valls is particularly criticised especially for his statements on the cultural incompatibility of Rroma with France: “les occupants de campements ne souhaitent pas s’intégrer dans notre pays pour des raisons culturelles ou parce qu’ils sont entre les mains de réseaux versés dans la mendicité ou la prostitution.” [The inhabitants of camps do not wish to integrate in our country for cultural reasons or because they are in the hands of begging or prostitution networks]. In this context, the French policies on Rroma are described by many critics as being decidedly segregationist. The French police did not succeed to adopt neutral attitudes towards members of this minority, and is regularly involved in racist acts.

Duret (2013) tries to address the question of why so many Rroma leave Romania and go to Western Europe in search of a better life. She begins her article with the question of why many of these Rroma would not go to Germany but rather to France. This had to do with France’s social legislation and because many learned some French in school, according to the answers of anonymous respondents. Prospects for the future in Romania are usually very poor, both with regards to the training opportunities and to the economy. One hopes that children in France will have a better life. In Romania, the enrolment of children in schools is often difficult and unsatisfactory. Many jobs are poorly paid and do not allow one to have a decent life. Duret, like many other authors before her, presents a picture of Rroma as the losers of the capitalist transition. Under Ceausescu, despite his totalitarian policies, Rroma were better integrated and respected as after the changes. This statement is somewhat softened further in the article when she cites a Gypsy woman, who describes the discrimination during and after socialism as being equally strong. The violence against Rroma was simply not quite as noticeable due to closed borders and not smaller. She concludes the article with the intelligent remark that the nomadism attributed to Rroma is not a way of life but a social necessity which is the result of exclusion and persecution: “De nombreux Roms de l’est de l’Europe ont repris la route. Mais leurs migrations ne doivent rien au nomadisme que beaucoup leur attribuent à tort. Contrairement aux Tziganes de France qualifiés de «gens du voyage» depuis le XIXe siècle, les Roms venus de l’Est sont pour la plupart sédentarisés depuis des siècles. Ce n’est pas un mode de vie, plutôt la fuite d’un passé effrayant, d’un futur sans avenir.” [Many Rroma from Eastern Europe are back on the road. But their migrations have nothing to do with nomadism that many wrongly attribute to them. Contrary to the Gypsies of France which are qualified as “travellers” since the 14th century, Rroma from Esatern Europe are sedentary since centuries. This is not a way of life, but rather the flight from a scary past, from a future without future.]

Renoul (2013) reports on a fence being built around a Rroma settlement in Galon d’Eau. The initiators of this action are hoping for a significant improvement of the situation in terms of the noise and tensions with the settlement’s residents. Critics see the fencing and expulsion of residents of the camp only as displacing but not solving social problems. Nevertheless, the mayor of Galon d’Eau plans, who wants to accommodate on a legal wasteland fifty Rroma families, is already meeting resistance.

Hamme (2013) gives information on the initiative of 60 Rroma families in Ivry, who, with their EU citizenship, want to obtain the right to vote in their district. The families. mostly of Romanian origins, have been living for around one and a half years in a site in Ivry. By getting the right to vote where they live, they hope to get better accommodation options according to Hamme.

Harraudeau (2013) gives an overview of the relocations of Rroma in France since January 2013. Of the approximately 20,000 Rroma in the country about one-fifth had been relocated. The interventionist policies of the French government appear therefore as being intense and unconditional with respect to illegal settlements. The timely information of the people and the organization of alternative accommodation required by a circular of the ministries are not really  efficient in practice. According to Harraudeau, a survey by the Conseil Supérieur de l’audiovisual of 2012 showed that around 70% of respondents show massive prejudice against Rroma. The widespread views were that the Rroma are taking undue advantage of their children and lived on theft. The practice of state intervention also exists in other countries such as Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia and Serbia on the agenda. Spain, on the other hand, could be used as a counterexample. Spain specifically promotes the integration with free language courses and quickly accessible temporary housing.

Frouin (2013) also notes a lack of effectiveness in the implementation of the August 2012 ministerial circular. This agreement should have meant that those affected by the evictions should be informed early in order to have enough time to search for an alternative accommodation. Frouin says there is a lack of political will to implement the thing in reality. This is partly attributable to the upcoming municipal elections, in which the politicians do not stand out with philanthropic Rroma policies.

Arte Journal (2013) sees a trend that more and more Rroma, especially big cities like Paris, live in the streets. This is a result of rigorous eviction policies of the French state, with which a considerable part of the illegal settlements were closed in recent months and on the other hand, is compounded by the continued influx of immigrants from Romania and other countries. The sobering conclusion is that life in the streets of France is still better than the lack of perspective and hunger in their homeland.

Eric Pliez of the organization “Aurore” criticises the rigorous eviction policies of the French government as being counterproductive. A consequence of the intervention policies is that relations that are built up with the inhabitants of these camps are destroyed almost immediately. As a long-term, sustained policy of integration is being prevented. A further effect is that more and more Rroma are living as homeless people in the streets. One should much more encourage medium or long-term solutions for the integration of the Rroma. Otherwise, one simply moves the problem from one place to the next (Arte Journal 2013/II).

Metro News (2013) identified a link between the evictions of camps and the weather: During the winter months authorities have been more accommodating and offered an accommodation to many Rroma or officially accepted their unapproved dwellings. By summer, however, the official tolerance towards illegal settlements decreased. Representative of the organization “Rencontres Tisganes” wish humane solutions that rely more on cooperation and integration than on intervention and expulsion. For the authorities the plight of those affected is often not understood or considered.

Laudinas (2013) informs about the eviction of a Rroma camp in Caissargues. The intervention was again legitimised by pointing at the precarious hygienic and sanitary conditions in the camp. Whether these grievances are really the main reason for the intervention is doubtful. But the Caissargues’s mayor want to run on sustainable Rroma politics. The resettlement of those affected is planned on an unused military area. One also wants to promote the successful integration, in particular of young Rroma, in schools and in the workplace. Such a long-term, inclusive policy is the only intelligent way forward with regard to the free movement of persons starting in 2014.

Maliet (2013) reports on the removal of a Rroma camp in Saint-Antoine. The evacuation happened in a highly politicised context, dominated by hatred: The Mayor Guy Teissier (UMP) had recently announced that even ten Rroma were still too much in his arrondissement. Didier Réault, councillor of Marseille, called for Molotov cocktails to be thrown at Rroma camps. These are just a few examples of the current anti-humanist policies towards Rroma. A planned emergency shelter for the displaced from the camp in Saint-Antoine was rejected by the authorities.

RTL France (2013) reported on the arrest of four Rroma pimps in Versailles. The four men were part of a larger network that was operating in Europe and the United States. They were in France, looking for new places for prostitution and had about twenty Romanian women with them. Almost no money was found: Almost everything had already been sent back to Romania. The article males almost no difference between the term of Rroma and that of Romanian. It also states that Rroma operate in networks of pimps, something that needs to be treated with caution. That such existing cases represent “normal activities” is to be critically challenged, and one needs to stress that this is in no way to be understood as an ethnic phenomenon.

O’Neill (2013) manages the feat to use all the stereotypes about Rroma in his article. He speaks of travelling merchants who came to riches and have traded their car for villas. He likes to reproduce the image of the happy so-called Rroma kings who, in Buzescu (Romania), build side by side hundreds of villas. The wealth of these “Kalderash the kings of Buzesc” was made, according to O’Neill, with metal trading. After the collapse of the socialist system, many factories were shut down. Some Rroma put this fact to good use and sold the all the remaning metal inventories of these industrial ruins on the market. The houses were built primarily for a purpose: to impress the neighbourhood and to clarify their own social status. Finally, O’Neill confirms the stereotypes of child marriages and nomadism. He notes: “Les mariages arrangés entre des enfants n’ayant pas plus de 13 ans demeurent courants dans les familles fortunées de Buzescu. Le passé nomade de la communauté reste aussi très présent. C’est une ville en mouvement. Des familles sont toujours en partance vers la France, l’Espagne ou Bucarest. Au coin des rues, des vieillards évoquent leur jeunesse voyageuse; ils ont la nostalgie de la variété et de l’aventure.” [Arranged marriages of children of at most 13 are still common in the rich families of Buzescu. The nomad past of the community is still very present. This is a city in movement. Families are always leaving from France, Spain, or Bucarest. At street corners, elder people speak about their travelling youth, they are nostalgic of adventure and change.]

 

Sources:

  • Alain, Philippe (2013) Barroso préfère les CD aux Roms. In: Agora Vox online vom 19.6.2013.
  • Arte Journal (2013) Roma: Besser obdachlos in Frankreich… In: Arte online vom 17.6.2013.
  • Arte Journal (2013/II) „Die Probleme werden nur verschoben“ In: Arte online vom 16.6.2013.
  • Duret, Manon (2013) Pourquoi les Roms quittent-ils la Roumaine? In: Le Journal International vom 19.6.2013.
  • Frouin, Guillaume (2013) La galère des Roms se poursuit. In: 20 minutes France vom 20.6.2013.
  • Hammé, Pauline (2013) A Ivry, des Roms s’inscrivent sur les listes électorales. In: La Vie online vom 14.6.2013.
  • Harraudeau, Stéphane (2013) Roms : la situation alarmante de l’Hexagone. In: Arte online vom 17.6.2013.
  • Laudinas, Gérard (2013) Des solutions transitoires pour fermer le sinistre campement de Roms de Caissargues. In: Objectif Gard online vom 17.6.2013.
  • – Maliet, François (2013) Destruction de caravanes dans un climat anti-Roms. In: 20 minutes France online vom 18.6.2013.
  • Metro News (2013) Roms de Marseille : “on en fait des boucs émissaires”. In: Metro News vom 18.6.2013.
  • O’Neill, Tom (2013) Le luxe et l’extravagance de Buzescu, la ville des rois roms. In: National Geographic France online vom 29.5.2013.
  • Renoul, Bruno (2013) Le camp de Roms du Galon d’Eau à Roubaix amputé pour éviter de nouveaux débordements. In: La Voix du Nord vom 19.6.2013.
  • RTL France (2013) Quatre proxénètes roms écroués. In: RTL France online vom 20.6.2013. 
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14.06.2013 Rroma and the Slovak School System

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Schultheis (2013) reports on a privately funded secondary school in Kremnica in Slovakia, where Rroma children are supposed to gain better access to higher education. The educational institution is financed by private funds, which the school principal has to search for continuously. The students, who usually come from very modest backgrounds, have nothing to pay. The project creates a counterpoint to the often criticized segregation of Rroma children in Slovak public schools, where, up till now and in spite of massive international criticism, little has changed. The school supports motivated Rroma children from the poorest slums in the east of the country. There, most settlements have unemployment rates that tend toward 100%. Schultheis finally states: “According to a new UN study, one in five Roma children in Slovakia is enrolled in a special school for the mentally disabled. The Slovak government repeatedly rejected claims of alleged systematic discrimination. Nevertheless, a debate has now broken out on how the education crisis can be stopped. Kremnica could lead the way.”

Source:

  • Schultheis, Silja (2013) Slowakisches Vorbild für Integration. In: Deutschlandfunk vom 11.6.2013. 
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14.06.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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Schelp (2013) provides information on the work of so-called Rroma mediators, who in Germany mediate between teachers and newly enrolled Rroma children. One of them is Valentina Asimovic. She helps a teacher in Berlin-Kreuzberg in her work with a class without any knowledge of German. The quoted sociologist Christoph Leucht sees a lack of education amongst many immigrant families. A majority of families rate the importance of education as low, because they themselves only enjoyed minimal training. To counterbalance this view into is important in order to offer the largest possible selection of options for the future of the children. In this perspective, one needs to add, that by no means all immigrants are from educationally disadvantaged social strata. There are also very educated immigrants, but not in the spotlight of media attention. That all parents want to marry off their daughters early and send their sons as early as possible to work also needs to be relativised. The work of the mediators has proved to be very helpful. They are far more than mere translators. They help in conflicts between teachers, students and their families and enable better integration of all involved. In spite of the positive perspective, the article does not succeed to alleviate many stereotypes about the supposed backwardness of Rroma. The impression remains that the great part of them consists of illiterates and women willing to bear child. The article ends with the not really positive statement: “A letter would make no sense: the Roma parents often cannot read it.”

Köhler (2013) covers the same subject with a focus on the “Welcome Class” for Rroma children in Neukölln. Already in the beginning of the article, she falls article in ethnic faux pas. She attests taht the children do not know what social rules are and how to behave in a group. The focus, however, is the visit of the Romanian Rroma responsible Damian Draghici, who was invited by the local education Councillor Franziska Giffey. Around 800 children from Romania currently go to school in Neukölln. The integration of children was very successful in terms of learning the language and structures. However, there were more problems among the children themselves. Many Rroma children were marginalised by children of Turkish and Arab descent. The centre topic of Damian Draghici’s book is, among others, the question of the inefficient integration policy in Romania: Why do so many subsidies are go unused, and how the bilateral policies on the integration of Rroma can be improved.

Kimmel Fichtner (2010) reported in 2010 about the Amaro Kher school in Cologne. There, Rroma children are prepared for the public schools. The goal is “to break vicious circle of misery, exclusion, lack of education and crime.” A media campaign representing Rroma children as thieves is the cause of the school creation. The city of Cologne then decided together with the association Rom e.V. to support the Amaro Kher school. During a year children are prepared for the have public schools and receive intensive preparatory German courses, learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. In addition, they should develop a resilience to difficult situations. According to the insiders, the project has been successful and allows many of the children a better future.

Borchard (2013) covers the situation of Rroma in Romania. He focuses on the fate of Neli Moc, who goes regularly for two months to do harvest work on a farm in Germany. With the money earned there – about 2,000 euro – she can live relatively well for the rest of the year: “Neli Moc is an example that most Romanians, also those from the poorest backgrounds, come to work in Germany quite legally.” As contrast, Borchard tells the story of the Grozav family. According to the mother, they went to France because of paid return assistance of 300 euro per person and stayed there several weeks. The short article concludes with the statement: “One thing is clear among Roma families in Apoldu de Sus [Romania]. As long as the conditions do not improve in Romania, they will keep trying to come to Germany or France either as harvesters, or in the hope of doctors visits or return premiums.”

Bogdal (2013) begins his article on the Rromadebatte with a quote from Thomas Mann. He set firmly in 1945: “A nation, with whom no one can live, how can it live itself” Thomas Mann did not mean anything about Rroma, but was speaking about Germans. After the end of the Nazi regime, many ethnic Germans in in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania, had a real image problem for the residents of their host countries. They were marginalized, displaced and forced to do the simplest work: “Exiled, despised because of their ethnicity, having become homeless, without possessions and shelter. millions [German] moved westward from region to region, suspiciously regarded, often exploited, often forced to beg and to do menial work until they could gain a foothold anywhere. The same could be said of Roma today.” Bogdal sees the fate of Rroma after the collapse of the socialist system as very similar. Many Rroma are attracted away to Western Europe where better economic conditions and less discrimination awaits them, a move encouraged by the removal of borders in the wake of the consolidation of the European Union. Bogdal criticizes that the issue is being hyped as security policy issue, rather than to be accepted as a socio-political challenge to master and to solve bilaterally with the countries of origin.

There follows a paragraph about their migration from India and arrival in Europe. After a short period of acquiescence follows a tradition of exclusion, contempt and negative identity attribution, leading, according to Bogdal to criminalization and ethnicisation of poverty. Since the Enlightenment, they are often described as illiterate with no history, science, and without their own state. Thus, the idea that living together with the Rroma is not possible was consolidated in the minds of many. Even their mere presence is a threat. In this context, phenomena such as mountains of waste, child labour, prostitution or bands of tugs can be described as cultural ones, even though they have nothing to do with culture. Bogdal sees it as a pan-European task to further integration and acceptance of Rroma. This has to happen in Germany but especially in countries with a large Rroma population such as in Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Bogdal’s article provides knowledgeable and eloquent to information about the situation of Rroma in Europe. He doesn’t present a simplified picture but attempts to address the complexity of the issue itself. We wish for more such articles.

Schmidt (2013) discusses the processing of the Holocaust by the German Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ). The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma has asked the ministry to investigate the discrimination of Rroma by the German post-war justice. Romani Rose, chairman of the Central Council clearly states that “The continuing exclusion and discrimination of our minority at the hand of former perpetrators in their new positions after 1945 continued almost unbroken and shaped the resentment against Sinti and Roma.” He refers to the continuity of the commissions and expert from before and after the war, which were maintained by embedding them within the Justice Department and allowing to continue their anti-minority policies. It was thus possible for the lawyer Franz Maßfeller, despite his support and participation in Nazi racial policies, to continue to work until 1964 after the war in a high position within the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Bauerdick’s (2013) book, “Gypsy: Encounters with unloved people” tries to find a direct path to the world of the Rroma. Bauerdick thinks little of intellectual discourses, deconstructions of external attributions and anti-Gypsy research. He shows to an almost radical pragmatism and, through his many years of research trips, promises to provide a realistic picture of the life of the Roma in Europe. He embarks on this tricky terrain and decidedly does not want to be politically correct. He reproaches the Rroma to lack responsibility. Many have made it so comfortable for themselves to be perceived as victims and have now taken this view as their own. In his very emphatic descriptions of life in the slums, which present Rroma as cheerful as well as apathetic and inactive about their own situation, Bauerdick commits the mistake of excessively culturalising his own experiences and of generalizing. He is generalizing in the preface when he states: “For there is also another truth. After countless meetings in more than twenty years, I remember nary a Rrom who wanted a piece of responsibility for themselves as the root of his misery, never mind who acknowledged it.” Compared to the complexity of the reality of Rroma, he falls short. This reality is not just consisting of Rroma in the slums of Europe, but also includes invisible Rroma in Western European countries, Rroma to which one can not just quickly go with the car and camera due to their integration and blandness. But they form part of the Rroma reality exactly as much as the visible Rroma Rroma, that Bauerdick describes in his book. If you read only Bauerdick’s book and not others such as like Bogdals’s book “Europe invented the Gypsies”, one can believe that all Rroma have many children, live in slums and wait for a better life that never happens.

On the other hand, one must agree with him when he denounces the fact that the reasons for many Rroma’s misery is only being looked at in the structures of society and xenophobia, but not among Rroma themselves. He is certainly right, but he does them wrong when he reduces it only to their own power of action, which is very limited in for many. To say that intellectuals and anti-Gyspsyism researcher do not trust Rroma to do something for themselves, simplifies reality too much. When Günter Grass says that Rroma have no voice, he means their weakness in relation to national policies, but not the ability of individuals to change something about their situation. Also, the statements that intellectuals would only ever see Rroma as victims and deny their own responsibility falls short. These statements do not take into account the evident imbalance of power in society, power consisting of structures, policies and spread of knowledge as well as from individual action. Bauerdick does not do justice to the complexity of these circumstances in his polemical descriptions. When he uncritically cites passages from Karl Gauss’ bok “The dog eaters Svinia”, where Rromakönige, begging gangs and mafia-like structures are described as part of the Rromakultur, he commits the very same mistake against which he actually writes: He ethnicises the poverty phenomena and describes the mutual exploitation of Rroma as a cultural problem.

Sources:

  • Bauerdick, Rolf (2013) Zigeuner: Begegnungen mit einem ungeliebten Volk. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.
  • Bogdal, Klaus-Michael (2013) Leben mit Hass und Verachtung. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung vom 10.6.2013.
  • Borchard, Ralf (2013) Warum Roma nach Deutschland kommen. In: Bayrischer Rundfunk vom 11.6.2013.
  • Kimmel-Fichtner, Tatjana (2010) Eine Schule für Romakinder. In: Zeit online vom 15.11.2010.
  • Köhler, Regina (2013) Neukölln ist in Berlin das Zuhause der Roma-Kinder. In: Berliner Morgenpost vom 14.6.2013.
  • Schelp, David (2013) „Er wird es schon lernen“. In: Die Zeit vom 9.6.2013.
  • Schmidt, Wolf (2013) Roma wollen Geschichte klären. In: Die TAZ vom 10.6.2013. 
Hungary News Eastern Europe News Switzerland

07.06.2013 Zoltan Balog and the Hungarian Rroma strategy

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According to the article in the NZZ (2013), Zoltan Balog, the Hungarian Minister of Education, Health and Social Affairs wants that Rroma feel themselves as Hungarian citizens. This also means that they should pay taxes, health insurance and pension contributions. Enrolment in employment programs and scholarships should further the integration of the Rroma in the labour market. Critics see the Hungarian employment programs as humiliating forced labour, which offers no real future.

Friday the 7th of June, Balog will lecture on “Hungary’s Roma – Problem or chance” at the University of Zurich (Zemp 2013). The lecture is organised by the alumni of the Faculty of Law, the European Institute of the University of Zurich and the Hungarian Embassy. The lawyer Philip Stolkin criticised that one thus continues a tradition of lectures set to talk about members of ethnic groups without their participation, i.e. without them. The organisers referred to Balog’s good reputation and to the freedom of expression.

Balog’s lecture proved to be the quintessence of a smart politician: he gave an eloquent, almost blooming speech on Hungary’s integration strategy for the Rroma. He began with discussion of the requirements of life in an industrial society, which he – and this at least can be criticised – he contrasted to the Rroma as a “natural society”, something which does not reflect reality. He then spoke of the forced integration during the socialist times and the portrayal of Rroma as a turning as being losers of the change of system. Concerning the present situation, there is an increasing poverty driven between Rroma and impoverished Magyars underclass, and thus an increased racism. The actual plans of the Hungarian government for Rroma were presented as a costing comparison between integration and segregation. If segregation is maintained it will cost significantly to the state than more than if Rroma were successfully integrated. Hungary European Rroma strategy is based on the promotion of education, support for the integration into the labour market and the fight against social segregation. This includes the establishment of courses on the culture, language and history of the Rroma in public schools. On this point, Balog proved that he isinfluenced by clichés when he began to speak of the role models of successful Rroma musicians: Successful Rroma are far from limited to the field of music, but are also found in many non-traditional professional groups.

All the eloquence and persuasiveness of Balog to demonstrate the enormous efforts undertaken by the Hungarian government to integrate the Rroma, the burning question of the social reality and social practice in the effective use of the Rroma needs to be asked. Balog’s lecture gave the impression it is a part of the Hungarian foreign policy aimed at leaving a positive image of Hungary with its trading partners. Reports in newspapers such as the Pester Lloyd paint a less rosy picture of the situation of Rroma in Hungary. Whether Balog’s ambitious plans are actually translated into reality is to be hoped but is also doubtful.

Source:

  • «Es geht um unsere Zukunft», Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 06.06.2013
  • Zemp, Thomas. Protest gegen Roma-Vortrag eines ungarschen Superminister. Tages Anzeiger, 03.06.2013
News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

07.06.2013 The Khamoro Festival in Prague

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Schultheis (2013) writes about the Khamoro Festival in Prague. With concerts and lectures, the festival fights against prejudice, against one-sided reporting, segregation in schools and the exclusion from the economy. The economic crisis further reinforces racism. The closure of factories after the fall of Communism led to a strengthening of segregation. More and more young well-educated Rroma put poverty-linked stereotypes into question. Rroma representatives criticise in particular that most Rroma programs are initiated by non-Rroma. Gabriela Hrabaňová of the Rroma network Ergo flatly states: “We need more Rroma expertise and Rroma participation. For the last 20 years, those affected have not been involved in the planning of Roma projects. For example, in 2012 at the European Roma Platform there were only two Rroma out of 29 speakers. This is if we were to speak of women’s emancipation and leave women outside.”

Source:

  • Schultheis, Silja (2013) Festival Khamoro: Zur aktuellen Lage der Roma in Tschechien. In: hagalil online vom 4.6.2013. 
Czech Republic News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

07.06.2013 Sobering Status Quo on Rroma in the Czech Republic

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The Praguer Zeitung (2013 I / II) paints a sober picture on the situation of Rroma in the Czech Republic. The relationships between Rroma and the ethnic Czechs of the majority of the society are at a low ebb. In recent weeks, there were repeated pogroms against Rroma who remained nonviolent only thanks to massive police intervention. The segregation of Rroma children in public schools continues and, according to the Prague newspaper, is one of the causes of the bad relationship between the population groups. The EU Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks called recently to abolish the so-called “practical schools” where Rroma children who are declared to be mentally retarded are parked. A campaign to raise the awareness of the value of education among Rroma needs to take place.

Sources:

  • Prager Zeitung (2013/I) Unerreichtes Ziel. In: Prager Zeitung online vom 5.6.2013.
  • Prager Zeitung (2013/II) Handgreiflichkeiten bei Anti-Roma-Demonstration. In: Prager Zeitung online vom 30.5.2013.  
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