Roma were victim of the war in Bosnia. They were victims of all sides in the conflict but this is still not really a topic to be discussed in Bosnia.
In a Roma settlement in Velykyi Berezne, in Transcarpathian Ukraine, right on the Slovak border, a confrontation between Ukrainian border guards and local Roma escalated. Background is not clear, but Roma threw stones at the border guards, and they fired live rounds. There are wounded, apparently on bth sides, although between stones and rifles, this can’t really be equitable.
All what we said all along about the dreadful situation of Roma in Transcarpathian Ukraine in a reportage in the Swiss press. Well, their history is not quite straight, as the existence of these camps goes back to the Ungarian domination of this region and to Maria-Theresia of Austria. And there, they still call it cigánytelep [Gypsy settlement] rather than the term tabor meaning a camp.
“One of Us. Roma and Sinti in the Resistance” is a podcast against anti-Gypsyism, proposed by the Carta di Roma Association and the Human Rights Foundation.
The document intended for students and addresses the issue of anti-Gypsyism to counter stereotypes that dehumanize an entire community and to remember the Roma and Sinti who fought for liberation from Nazi-fascism. “They did not fight for a homeland that discriminated against them,” explains Danilo De Biasio, author of the work, “they fought together with other Italians to bring back democracy.”
For once, quite a good article on Roma in Ukraine and specifically in Transcarpathia. While they obviously do not know the various Roma communities, (Servi, Xaladytka, Polska, Kirimlides, Ursaria, Kalderaša, Lovara, etc.) they know that they are different with different histories and issues.
Olena Vaidalovich, defender of Roma rights says that some Roma Don’t Admit Who They Are
In refugee shelters, Ukrainians of Roma origin were separated from other Ukrainians. Coordinators said they were trying to avoid tensions. “Better” Ukrainians had more comfortable conditions – beds, chairs. Where there were Roma, there might have been nothing. I saw children sleeping on cardboard boxes in winter.
An event in Marseilles to help a women organisation of Mukachevo in Transcarpathian Ukraine, who are trying to create a women’s house to better inform about contraception.
An interview with the coordinator of a facility for children in unfavourable situation who explains that they now have Roma and Ukrainians amongst their client, and that they had to deal with prejudice towards Roma.
An official of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic attempted to recruit researcher and Roma community leader Yanush Panchenko to work with the ethnic minorities and persuade them to participate and vote in the referendum. Under enormous pressure, he fled occupied Kakhovka.
25,000 Roma fled from Ukraine to Poland according to this article, which also states that “Most families were completely illiterate”… Both statements are definitively wrong. There are more Roma refugees, and many are well integrated.
Now four journalists and reporters have published a book describing their plight. “The War of Our Times” by Maria Kądzielska-Koper, Arleta Bojke, Michał Owerczuk and Tomasz Piechal is a collection of ten stories.
An editorial by Kamila Plachetkov, a Czech Romni who tries to understand why some Roma are spreading hatred against Ukrainians in Czechia. She says: “I have been watching with great concern how hatred in the Czech Republic, which for many years was directed primarily against Roma, is turning against Ukrainians. But what shocks me most is the fact that some Roma are also participating in this hatred.”
Roma who fled from Ukraine to Germany and the European Union after the Russian attack want to network better. In Göttingen, Roma representatives living in exile founded the association “Ukrainian Roma Advocacy Alliance” (Aura) on Tuesday. “Many Ukrainian Roma abroad do not even know what kind of help is available here,” said Aura board member Janush Panchenko. “We want to inform people about these offers and also advocate for the interests of the Ukrainian Roma in our host countries.” Projects in the areas of political education, culture, humanitarian and legal aid are also planned. In Germany, the association wants to work closely with the Society for Threatened Peoples, among others.
On Wednesday, February 12, the Metropolitan Court in Hungary ruled on the lawsuit of Transcarpathian families, who were evicted from shelters in August 2024 after the Hungarian government’s decision to limit assistance to Ukrainians from non-frontline regions. The court ordered the state to initiate a new procedure for granting asylum to 84 Ukrainian refugees from Transcarpathia.
Astonishing when you know Hungary.
An unusual article about Roma in the Ukrainian Transcarpathian region. It states that over 10’000 Roma have left the region, and that the rest is living under difficult conditions. Journalists from the website zaholovok.com.ua talked with Myroslav Horvat, leader of the Roma community, Ivan Jonash, deputy of the Mukachevo City Council, and Viktor Ilchak, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, about what the past year was like for the Roma community, whether changes are felt, whether there are positive developments, as well as about the negatives.
Ukraine is pushing forward registering and issuing papers to its Roma minority. For very long, this did not happen. Now they need soldiers…
Yes, it is equal opportunity as the article says, but … You also have to appreciate the traditional Ukrainian shirt on the illustration.
In January 2025, thanks to the employees of the Shostka Department of the Migration Service, a 14-year-old citizen of Roma nationality received an ID card for the first time.
News on the Hungarian TV about the current raids on Roma settlements in Transcarpathian Ukraine. According to the news, “even the sick and half-blind are being dragged to the front, and companies do not have enough workers to carry out their tasks”.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?mibextid=WC7FNe&v=1413523512949840&rdid=DZ3sqqoCElq7Lwes
Az ukrán területvédelmi erők toborzóparancsnok helyettese szerint Ukrajnának militarista polgári országgá kellene válniaUkrajna mindeközben egyre nagyobb bajban van. Már a betegeket és a félvak embereket is elhurcolják a frontra, a vállalatoknál pedig nincs elég munkaerő a feladatok ellátásához. Egyre kegyetlenebb kényszersorozás zajlik az országban. Az ukrán területvédelmi erők toborzóparancsnok-helyettese azt mondta, hogy a háború után megfosztják az alapvető állampolgári jogoktól azokat, akik nem szolgáltak a hadseregben és felelős állást sem tölthetnek be.
Posted by M1 on Wednesday 29 January 2025
Our sources in Transcarpathia indicate that the Ukrainian Military Police is raiding Roma settlements in the region and taking men to enrol them in the army.
Many of them do not have even yet Ukrainian papers …
The UNESCO has granted “temporary enhanced protection” to two significant cultural sites in Ukraine: the Literary Museum in Odessa and the Babyn Yar Memorial in Kiev. The move comes as the third anniversary of the Russian war in Ukraine approaches, which caused extensive damage to Ukrainian cultural heritage.
Babyn Yar commemorates the victims of the Nazi massacre of 1941, in which more than 33,000 Jews, Roma and Soviet prisoners of war died. In 2022, the monument was threatened when a Russian missile hit nearby, killing five people. The Holocaust memorial itself was unharmed, but the building intended for the new museum was damaged.
A pogrom against Roma happened recently in Korkino, in the Cheliabinsk region. It happened after the murder of a 40-year-old taxi driver. She was killed by a teenage Rom. He probably argued with the woman about the fare. After her death, riots broke out in the city.
Seven Roma from Korkino have received summonses to report to a military recruitment centre. This was reported by Igor Dongauzer, the prosecutor of the Chelyabinsk region, during a regular meeting with the residents of Korkino. This is probably a punishment that is supposed to help the authorities rebuild their authority in the city.
A long reportage about the Western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod. Beside speaking to residents, refugees, people getting rehabilitated, they also looked at Roma from the city. 6’000 of them lived there prior to the war, and now almost 600 of them are enrolled in the Ukrainian Army. In addition, there are Roma refugees from currently occupied territories.
Unfortunately, they also speak about “barons” (which do not exist), and other stereotypes.
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