In a Roma settlement, a recipe of the cheapest bread possible, with flour, water, and salt.
Ondrej Balog shows only ruins of what remained of his home after last week’s fire. Ttwo small children died in the flames. “I built it for my children, for my grandchildren, so that we could all be together, so that we could be happy. If at least there was water, something could be saved,” says the victims’ grandfather Ondrej Balog with difficulty.
Although water is brought to the settlement, the official connection to the houses is complicated by illegal construction and the debts of non-payers. Most locals are therefore dependent on the only drinking water dispenser, which operates on a credit system. When a fire breaks out, residents without access to hydrants are practically helpless.
A review of land owenership in one of the largest settlements in Novo Mesto shows that the largest share of land is still owned by the state (44.1%). 13.2% of the land is owned by Roma, and 22.3% is owned by others. The municipality of Novo Mesto owns 20.4% of the land.
Why they put a picture of poor Tuskish Roma from Istanbul as a picture is somewhat strange …
A former Roma neighbourhood in Odessa is being refurbished, with the creation of a large residential building xalles “Soho Quarter”. There is a catch though: the nearly 2100-square-meter plot is designated “for other historical and cultural purposes,” where residential construction is prohibited. Furthermore, the property was previously seized as part of a criminal investigation on suspicion of fraud, and the court explicitly prohibited any construction work.
Seems that the developer nevertheless got the permit … What happened to the Roma who used to live there is unclear.
A fire broke up on an illegal dump in a Roma neighbourhood in Varna.
A settlement in Slovenia is increasing in size, and apparently, there are more and more illegal constructions built on agricultuyral land.
Žabjak was first legalized in 1984, when around 250 Roma lived there. Today, there are reportedly around a thousand of them, with more than 300 of them registered with the municipality and the social work center.
“Despite the seal due to illegal construction, they continue to build on agricultural land. “After the illegal renovation of the building, a Roma family has now poured concrete on a new slab to expand the building, despite the ban. The owners are exclusively recipients of social assistance. Who will take action? On which side will the Human Rights Ombudsman be this time?” was the view of the residents of one of the villages around Šentjernej echoed in public earlier this week.
The Sinti camp in Piazzale Europa on the banks of the Ticino River, in Pavia. The settlement has existed since 1984, and 265 people live there. It needs to be moved, the problem is that no one wants it …
A documentary from Arte about a village in Romania with a large Nato base.
Residents of Vrh pri Šentjerneju and Dobravice warn of increasingly unbearable living conditions near the Roma settlement on Trdinova cesta. Roma councillor says it’s not that bad. Residents complain of noise up till after midnight; shooting, even with semi-automatic weapons; and of speeding cars even at night. They say the police doesn’t do anything.
The deputy mayor of the Pribislavec Municipality, a Rom, Rajko Kovačić, spoke out, expressing great dissatisfaction at the stop of the work in the Roma settlement aimed at preventing the illegal dumping of garbage. Ther cause of the stop seems to be tensions within the municipal council.
The contract for building a new multicultural centre in the Sitnice settlement in Mursko Središće was signed. With the construction of the Roma Multicultural Centre, the Sitnice settlement will receive a long-awaited space that will be used for work with children, education, culture and various social activities of the Roma community, which will significantly contribute to improving the quality of life and integration.
We’re not sur this is the best help for integration.
A series of photos taken in a Roma settlement. Bad.
An investment decision by the Vratsa municipality is forcing some of the residents of the “Mladost” district to leave their homes. The demolition of some of the houses in the neighborhood began this morning.
Initially, four of the buildings that are no longer habitable will be destroyed. The rest are being given a grace period so that people can find new homes. New houses will be built on the site instead.
Roma families live in some of the properties being demolished by the municipality. However, people in the neighbourhood claim that the place has been an arena of tension for more than 20 years.
Not much in France this week … A fire in a Roma camp near Nantes, in Western France; one site also in Wenstern France needs rehabilitation, as it has been too degraded; and one camp being dismantled near Paris.
An action to remove 101 illegal buildings near the Stara Zagora “Lozenets” quarter is underway. In the months before it, 14 buildings were voluntarily removed; another 30 are awaiting a court decision under an appeal procedure. A total of 450 illegal Roma buildings in and near the quarter have been removed in recent years.
The Stara Zagora municipality in Bulgaria has started the demolition of more than a hundred “illegal” Roma houses. According to the municipality, there was no way that these houses could be regularised. A few families have apparently accepted the offers for municipal housing, but most have not.
Bad.
A fire on a beach in Otmanli near Burgas, Bulgaria, is being blamed on the nearby Roma settlement, as according to the paper, Roma often use barbecue. They then add that one doesn’t yet know the exact cause …
According to a news article, 140 Roma lost their houses because of a fire in their settlement in the Poprad district.
The Atlas of Roma Communities estimates the number of Roma living in Slovakia at over 405 thousand, which is about eight percent of the population and much higher than the official last census, almost by a factor 3. Larger communities live in over 800 villages and towns.
The largest Roma settlement in Slovakia is in Jarovnice in the Prešov Region. About 8,500 Roma live there, and almost a thousand of them live illegally. i.e. their houses are not legally registered.
According to the article, Roma love to live there… This can sincerely be doubted.
The residents of Jarovnice, Slovakia, will never forget July 20, 1998, when six storm clouds combined and brought the most devastating flood in the last millennium. To this day, when it starts to rain, Roma from their houses by the stream run to the hill for safety.
Jaroslav Červeňák was 14 years old when the largest Roma settlement in Slovakia was flooded.
“It was hot and muggy, and then around 2 p.m. it started to rain. At first it looked like a summer shower. Then a big storm hit. Today there would be a warning, but there were no mobile phones back then. People were cooking and washing, no one was prepared for it,” recalls Mr. Červeňák, who lost his aunt and cousin that day.
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