Tag Archives: War

Russia, the War, and Roma

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Russia, the War, and Roma

Police and the Russian National Guard conducted a raid on the night of October 30 in areas of where Roma live in the Gatchina District of the Leningrad Region of Russia. More than 50 men were detained and registered for military service.  A “total check” as part of criminal cases on illegal drug trafficking was carried out in these areas. In one of the houses in the village of Novosiverskaya, according to the Russian police, equipment for the production of synthetic drugs and several kilograms of an unknown substance were found in a family of “nomadic people”. In addition, 15 million rubles, two traumatic pistols and a hunting rifle were allegedly seized.

In brife, Russia is looking for cannon fodder and is highlightin Roma as criminals.

Slovenia, Partisans, and Excecutions

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Slovenia, Partisans, and Excecutions

Communist partisans murdered 3’450 in the cave under Macesnova gorica in early 1945. These were Slovenians prisonners of war and Roma. Some of theme still do not have a burial place. The mayor of Ljubljana refused recently that the Roma killed in this massacre be buried in the city’s cemetery.

Hungary and Ukrainian Refugees

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Hungary and Ukrainian Refugees

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban had a new decree issued removing the refugee status of Ukrainian in “safe” counties. As a result, quite a few refugees found themselves on the street… Sot this issue? They are all Roma from Transcarpathia, a region Orban claims as his, and they all speak Hungarian.

But are not Hungarian in his view.
Bad and sad.

https://youtu.be/3_jLntdu-us In: Telex. 22.08.2024.

Switzerland and Roma Refugees

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Switzerland and Roma Refugees

An article about the current allegations against Roma refugees from the Ukraine in Switzerland. They are accused of having false Ukrainian papers or having bought them and are used by politicians to lobby against the special status granted to Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland.

Ukrainian Roma Refugees in Poland

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Ukrainian Roma Refugees in Poland

Ewelina Bosak from the W Stroną Dialogu Foundation  stated that 87 Roma from Ukraine are camping in the waiting room of the railway station in Przemyśl. There were 44 people there on Sunday, and on Thursday morning there were 87. Most of them were children, the youngest of whom is eight months old. There is also a pregnant woman and a man with cancer.

Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Switzerland

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Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Switzerland

The Bulgarian press took the statements of the head of the Asylum system in the Canton of Bern for truth: That Roma used faked Ukrainian papers to abuse the Swiss Asylum system. The title is as false and racist: “Roma flock to Switzerland for aid with fake Ukrainian passports.” The picture used is also not relevant, as it shows carriages, which is definitively not the mean of travel chosen by the Ukrainian Roma who ask for asylum in Switzerland.

Ukrainian Roma Children

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Ukrainian Roma Children

There is an increasing number of Roma children from Transcarpathian Ukraine in need of integration in the education system in Switzerland. Besides the normal language barrier, the main challenge is that many of these children have never been to school in the Ukraine. This poses an even bigger challenge to the towns who have to integrate them.

Transcarpathian Ukraine and Roma

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Transcarpathian Ukraine and Roma

An attempt to mobilise Roma from the Transcarpathian Ukraine resulted in a riot that was dispersed by using gunfire.

Bad.

Switzerland and Roma Refugees

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Switzerland and Roma Refugees

The Swiss minister in charge of refugees now stats that Ukrainian Roma with dual citizenship will have to leave Switzerland.

Only one little thing is not published: There are less than 10 cases that are officially acknowledged. And none on the Roma who are considered to be “problematic”.

Window dressing in politics. Shameful.

Switzerland and Roma Refugees

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Switzerland and Roma Refugees

The story of a small village that set up a special class for 6 Roma children from Ukrainian Roma refugees, only to see that they left.

This happens, but generally doesn’t happen just because of school. There are other pressures that are applied to those Roma mostly coming from Transcarpathian Ukraine where they lived in very hard conditions, literally overwhelming them. Some prefer simply to leave.

Switzerland and Roma Refugees

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Switzerland and Roma Refugees

Another article on the recent arrivals of Roma refugees from the Ukraine, mostly from the Transcarpathian region of the country. This follows the statements of the chief of the Bern refugee agency who made comments saying that Roma “abuse” the system, work in “clans” etc.

Bad.

Switzerland: Again 

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Switzerland: Again 

Again, an article about the alleged “abuses” of the special status for Ukrainian Refugees by Roma in Switzerland. This time, it is via an interview of the head of the refugee department of the canton Bern. He panders the usual allegations, false papers, criminal clans, and all the same unproven junk.

He is lobbying against the special status for Ukrainians, and is using Roma for that purpose. Bad and racist.

Germany and Roma Refugees

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Germany and Roma Refugees

An article on Roma Refugees from the Ukraine in Germany. They are fleeing war, but instead of help, in Germany they often experience racism. The Center for Reporting and Information on Antigypsyism demands action.

More than 1.1 million people fled to Germany from the war in Ukraine, including, it is estimated, several thousand Roma, members of Europe’s largest ethnic minority. While other Ukrainian refugees received unbureaucratic and warm care, most arriving Roma experienced a very different Germany: overly formalized, unhelpful, suspicious, derogatory and racist.

Roma Refugees from the Ukraine

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Roma Refugees from the Ukraine

A video in the Czech press about Roma refugees from the Ukraine, and a recognition that the Transcarpathian Roma are related to the Czech and Slovak ones (besides the fact that Uzhhorod was Czechoslovak between 1918 and 1945 …

Poland: Ukrainian Roma Refugees Evicted

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Poland: Ukrainian Roma Refugees Evicted

Several hundred refugees from Ukraine – of Roma origin – were left homeless overnight. All because of the closure of the centre in Kidałowice in Podkarpacie. As we found out, the centre was closed due to sanitary problems.

We were alerted to this matter by the W Stron Dialogu Foundation. This is an organization supporting the Roma community in Poland, including refugees who came to our country in the face of a full-scale war in Ukraine. The Foundation knew that there was a centre in Kidałowice in Podkarpacie where several hundred people lived, including women, children and seniors. They told us that overnight they were “put out on the street.”

Poland and Ukrainian Roma Refugees

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Poland and Ukrainian Roma Refugees

Several hundred refugees from Ukraine – of Roma origin from the Transcarpathian region- were left homeless overnight. All because of the closure of the centrer in Kidałowice in Podkarpacie. As we found out, the centre was closed due to sanitary problems. Some families decided to return to Ukraine, others are already taken care of in other centres.

A discussion with Dr. Joanna Talewicz.

Ukraine and Roma

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Ukraine and Roma

On March 7, 2024, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, in partnership with the European Union and the Council of Europe, held a conference “Outlining the challenges faced by Ukrainian Roma in wartime and overcoming obstacles through policy, advocacy and empowerment and opportunities”.

This conference was organized to engage civil society and the Ukrainian government in a constructive dialogue to solve the problems reported by the Roma during the last two years of the war. Representatives of state and regional authorities, Roma public organizations and intergovernmental organizations took part in the event.

Roma in the Ukraine

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Roma in the Ukraine

A reportage in a Roma settlement in the Ukraine close to the Hungarian border. Recently, Roma residents have been afraid to leave the Roma camp in the Transcarpathian village of Berehove. “They are forcibly taking us away. Nobody wanted to go. If you don’t go, you’ll get something for it,” recounts a resident of the Stěpan settlement. At first glance, the camp looks empty, in the streets the CT staff met mainly women and children. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, the local community had five and a half thousand inhabitants, now only a few hundred remain.

The police of the administrative city of Uzhhorod stated that it had nothing to do with the mobilization activity. The military registration and recruitment office of the city of Berehove pointed out that everyone must register. “Everything must be according to the law. No one is taking anyone away by force,” he emphasized. The CT staff was not a witness to forced conscription, added Stomatová.

Poland: Appeal for Roma Refugees

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Poland: Appeal for Roma Refugees

The W Stron Dialogu  (Towards Dialogue ) Foundation works for the Roma community in Poland, writes that “Roma and Roma women from Ukraine who found shelter in Poland faced – and still face – discrimination, worse treatment and rejection.” The organization believes that Roma refugees from Ukraine have become “second-class refugees ignored by the current authorities, which turned a blind eye to segregation and the lack of access of Roma women and men to collective accommodation centres, thus allowing discrimination against this weakest group of refugees.”

They launched an appeal to the Polish Government.

Two Years

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Two Years

Two years have passed already since the beginning of the Russian aggression in the Ukraine. Two years of war, two years of mindless killings. Many refugees, and here, as we are a Romani page, let us pause to think about Roma in this war.

They were displaced, especially in the Eastern part of the country. They were killed by Russian troops in several occasions. They were deported by Russian authorities. They also fought on the Ukrainian side, with many Roma in the current army, even the normally not so accepted Roma from Transcarpathian Ukraine.

Roma refugees in Europe were confronted with racist stereotypes and had to fight there too.

Let’s hope we do not need to commemorate another year.

For those who died, may they rest in peace, and for those who live, may they do so for 100 years.

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