They are fighting against racism.
- Rising Against Bias: Gypsies and Travellers Challenging Racism in the UK and Wales. In: IWA.19.09.2023. https://www.iwa.wales/agenda/2023/09/gypsy-traveller-grt-racism-wales/
Tag Archives: Travellers
Switzerland and Travellers – Basel
The canton Basel Land is opening a new temporary camping site.
- Baselland lässt Fahrende länger bleiben als Basel-Stadt. In: Nau.ch 05.09.2023. https://www.nau.ch/ort/basel/baselland-lasst-fahrende-langer-bleiben-als-basel-stadt-66592289
Switzerland and Travellers
A commentary in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung saying that local Yenishe and Sinti are literally suffering from the travelling foreign Roma who do not respect local rules.
One has to stress here that Switzerland is the only place where camping sites for travellers are de-facto segregated.
- Es braucht mehr Halteplätze für fahrende Roma – aber diese müssen sich auch stärker an hiesige Regeln halten. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 06.09.2023. https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/fahrende-roma-es-braucht-mehr-halteplaetze-und-mehr-regeltreue-ld.1753793?reduced=true
Switzerland and Travellers
The country has an issue with actually providing camping sites to travellers. Not only are there not enough, but they also distinguish between “local” Travellers, the Jenische and Sinti and Manouche and “foreign” ones, i.e. the Roma.
Now one canton is setting up a working group on the topic. See you again in five years …
- Ungeliebte Pendenz anpacken: Kanton Solothurn setzt Arbeitsgruppe ein, die sich um die Halteplätze für Fahrende kümmert. In: Solothurner Zeitung. 23.08.2023. https://www.solothurnerzeitung.ch/solothurn/kanton-solothurn/fahrende-ungeliebte-pendenz-anpacken-kanton-solothurn-setzt-arbeitsgruppe-ein-die-sich-um-die-halteplaetze-fuer-fahrende-kuemmert-ld.2502687?reduced=true
Austria and Travellers
The usual story. No space for travellers, hence illegal camping, hence complaints.
- Trotz Verbot parken Roma-Wildcamper Seeareal zu. In: Kronen Zeitung. 17.08.2023. https://www.krone.at/3088033
- Trotz Verbot parken Roma-Wildcamper Seeareal zu. In: Linz News. https://linz.news/2023/08/trotz-verbot-parken-roma-wildcamper-seeareal-zu/
UK Travellers
An article about the largest horse drive in the UK.
- Hundreds of travellers and their ponies flock to the New Forest for Britain’s biggest horse drive event. In: The Daily Mail. 14.08.2023. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12405121/Hundreds-travellers-ponies-flock-New-Forest-Britains-biggest-horse-drive-event.html
Switzerland and Travellers
Another conflict between Swiss towns and Roma travellers. This time in Yverdon. The town has blocked access to a camping site with concrete blocks, preventing the Roma who are there from leaving with their caravans.
There are not enough sites in Switzerland, and the highest court in the land is prompting the cantons to remedy this issue. Nothing is of course done.
- Betonblöcke gegen illegalen Aufenthalt: In Yverdon spitzt sich das Seilziehen zwischen ausländischen Fahrenden und Behörden zu. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 08.08.2023.https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/konflikt-zwischen-fahrenden-und-behoerden-spitzt-sich-in-yverdon-zu-ld.1750527?reduced=true
Switzerland and Travellers
Yeniche, Sinti and Roma are entitled to camping sites, which are rare in the Lake Zurich region. The site in Meilen is now to be renovated and expanded. Specifically, ten parking spaces are to be created. Ten is not much when one knows that there are often up to 50 caravans underway.
- Mehr Platz für Fahrende am Pfannenstiel. In: Goldküste24. 20.07.2023. https://goldkueste24.ch/articles/200320-mehr-platz-fuer-fahrende-am-pfannenstiel
Switzerland and Travellers
The Swiss government decided to cut the subsidies for Jenische and Sinti in Switzerland. They were already not generous.
- Weniger Fördergelder für Jenische und Sinti. In: SRF. 17.07.2023. https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/fahrende-in-der-schweiz-weniger-foerdergelder-fuer-jenische-und-sinti?fbclid=IwAR16Kef2oEedH-DoWw4ieORHfqtwmfMd3numiyNLr7CS4K_a7OyuBZ4hg74
Switzerland and Travellers
The Swiss are not exactly generous to Travellers. And they do not even recognise Roma (but they do recognise Sinti and manouches) besides the Jenishe as a national minority. Now they are cutting the meagre amount they spend.
Bad.
- Sinti und Jenischen sollen weniger Fördergelder erhalten. Das Bundesamt für Kultur muss diesen problematischen Schritt umgehend korrigieren! https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=672480931573897&set=a.485686176920041
Switzerland and Travellers
There are not enough camping sites for travellers in Switzerland. This is definitively not new. The Council of Europe is now telling Switzerland it must act.
Let’s see, as the country is very good at doing nothing on this topic.
- Switzerland considers more transit sites for itinerate communities. In Swissinfo. 29.06.2023. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/switzerland-considers-more-transit-sites-for-itinerate-communities/48629380
London Drive
Roma and Travellers drove through London as part of a charity event.
- Roma and traveller people parade horses and carts through London Bridge as part of ‘The London Drive’. In: Southwark News. 19.06.2023. https://southwarknews.co.uk/area/southwark/roma-and-traveller-people-parade-horses-and-carts-through-london-bridge-as-part-of-the-london-drive/
Camping Interdiction
The rightist party FPÖ in Linz is proposing a camping interdiction for Sinti and Roma in a site ner Linz and asking for a caution.
Reason behind this was the damages sustained recently that were the subject of several articles in the local press.
- Campierverbot und Kaution für Roma und Sinti. In: Kronen Zeitung. 19.05.2023. https://www.krone.at/3010535
Poland: Exhibition
The District Museum in Nowy Sącz, Poland, is presenting an exhibition consisting of exhibits collected by Paweł Lechowski, an ethnographer who has been continuously interested in Roma culture since the 1960s. Thanks to his collection showcases the life of travelling Roma for those who know travels only from the stories of the older generation.
- Wystawa “Jadą wozy kolorowe. Tabor w pamięci i w twórczości artystycznej Cyganów/Romów”. In: Sądeckie. 08.05.2023. https://sądeckie.pl/artykul/wystawa-jada-wozy-kolorowe-tabor-w-pamieci-i-w-tworczosci-artystycznej-cyganowromow
Travellers in Switzerland
The country does not have enough camping sites for travellers. So what do they do, instead of building more, they produce a manual on how to deal with them…
- Nouveaux standards pour l’accueil des Yéniches, Sintés et Roms. In: Le Léman Bleu. 16.03.2023. https://www.lemanbleu.ch/fr/Actualite/Suisse/Nouveaux-standards-pour-l-accueil-des-Yeniches-Sintes-et-Roms.html
Camping Sites in Switzerland
Nothing new here: There are not enough camping sites for Travellers in Switzerland. They talk about it but do nothing. Apparently, the state is now wanting to put some money aside for this purpose. This will take another 20 years, as usual in Switzerland.
- Jetzt öffnet der Bund das Portemonnaie. In: Basler Zeitung. 17.03.2023. https://www.thunertagblatt.ch/jetzt-oeffnet-der-bund-das-portemonnaie-427598176690
Poland: The end of Travels
A book about the interdiction of travels for Roma in Poland. On May 24, 1952, the Polish government’s presidium adopted a resolution “On assistance for the Gypsy population in transitioning to a settled lifestyle”. This had more to do with the fact that Roma were not conforming to the socialist norm rather than anything else.
The book and article are wrong in that they say that “Most of the Gypsy tribes living in Poland had wandering in their tradition and eternal way of life”. First, these are not tribes, and second, most of these Roma had houses, especially among Xaladytka Roma, and were travelling during the summer to sell horses.
- Koniec epoki taborów, czyli co władza ludowa zrobiła z Cyganami. In: Nasza Historia. 15.03.2023. https://tomaszowmazowiecki.naszemiasto.pl/koniec-epoki-taborow-czyli-co-wladza-ludowa-zrobila-z/ar/c15-9248345
Switzerland and Travellers
There are still too few camping sites for travellers in the canton of Zurich. This as been the case for ever, and I seems that now, the government plans to find two new sites. One of them should come to the Limmattal, the second in the Zurich Oberland.
Come back in 10 years – chances are, they won’t be there.
- Regierungsrat sucht neuen Standplatz für Fahrende im Zürioberland. In: Zuerioberland. 22.12.2022. https://zuerioberland24.ch/articles/171228-regierungsrat-sucht-zwei-neue-standplaetze-fuer-fahrende
Switzerland and Camping Sites
Another article on the fight of travellers in Switzerland to get camping sites, this time in Thal, Canton St. Gallen. The commune voted against the required zoning changes to allow for sur a site to be constructed.
One needs to say also that there are camping sites and that by and large, foreign Roma are parked in so-called “transit sites”.
- Gemeinde Thal sieht keinen Handlungsbedarf für einen Durchgangsplatz: Radgenossenschaft zieht Anliegen ans UNO-Komitee für Menschenrechte weiter. In: Tagblatt. 17.10.2022. https://www.tagblatt.ch/ostschweiz/stgallen/dauerthema-gemeinde-thal-sieht-keinen-handlungsbedarf-fuer-einen-durchgangsplatz-radgenossenschaft-zieht-anliegen-ans-uno-komitee-fuer-menschenrechte-weiter-ld.2357897
UK Funerals
The description of funeral among UK Travellers and Roma.
- Inside a Traveller funeral with gold-plated caskets and VIP red carpets to the graveside. In: Stoke Sentinel. 15.10.2022. https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/inside-travellers-funeral-gold-plated-7703882?fbclid=IwAR2UweYXb8TYqGgBA19Gdgoplk5WiQAQ5tagL_IWWN2TW_IBPVxHdtsFXQc
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