Tag Archives: War

Bosnia News Eastern Europe

Massacre Survivor

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Massacre Survivor

Ribic survived a brutal attack by Serbian paramilitaries, who believed him dead and buried him with his family, but he escaped and was later saved by Serbian soldiers who refused to return him to his attackers.

The Ribic family had previously fled to Serbia to escape ethnic cleansing but returned to Bosnia, where they were ultimately killed in the Skocic massacre, a significant crime against the Roma during the Bosnian war.

The suffering of the Roma community during the war has been largely overlooked, with a recent study highlighting their persecution, and calls for justice remain unfulfilled, reflecting a historical pattern of neglect.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

War and Roma

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War and Roma

The article discusses the impact of war on the Roma community in Munkács, Ukraine, highlighting how traditional gender roles have shifted, with women becoming breadwinners while men face conscription.

The Romodrom integration center provides support for Roma children, offering education and meals, as many families struggle with poverty and lack of access to basic services like water. The article also addresses the stigma faced by the Roma community, including discrimination and stereotypes, while emphasizing the resilience and efforts of individuals to improve their circumstances.

Bosnia News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Yugoslav Wars

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Yugoslav Wars

An interesting  article about Roma victims of the Bosnian war. Among the victims in Srebrenica were also Roma, but this is not recorded, because, like in other parts of the world, Roma also took on local names.

Human rights lawyer Lejla Hadžimesić talks about what went wrong, so that the process of reconciliation and dealing with the past in Bosnia and Herzegovina stopped years ago and started the journey back. She cites Milorad Dodik’s speech about secession fifteen years ago as a turning point. She sees this situation as the reason why it was (only) three decades after the war that the space for researching Roma victims opened up, which she herself is also involved in.

Bosnia News Eastern Europe

Roma in Bosnia

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Roma in Bosnia

Three decades after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Roma still remain outside the institutional memory, justice and reparations system, although, according to new findings, they were exposed to all forms of war crimes, from murders to expulsions and displacement, it was emphasized at the conference on the suffering of Roma in the period 1992-1995.

The conference was held in the building of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the title “Through Truth to Justice: Thirty Years of Silence on the Suffering of Roma in the Period 1992-1995”, within the project “Improving Roma Participation in Transitional Justice in BiH”, funded by the Government of the United Kingdom.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Zakarpattia: Mobilisation

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Zakarpattia: Mobilisation

On March 10th, near the village of Patskanovo in the Uzhhorod district, a group of Roma blocked the road of a service vehicle and attacked military personnel with wooden sticks.

According to the police of the Zakarpattia region, the incident occurred during the notification of residents of the district about mobilization and verification of military registration documents. People deliberately blocked the movement of a military vehicle, after which they provoked a conflict.

News Eastern Europe News Switzerland Ukraine

Switzerland and Ukrainian Refugees

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Switzerland and Ukrainian Refugees

The Swiss government has decided that a large part of Western Ukraine, including Lviv, are safe and that Ukrainian refugees from those regions can safely return home… It was announced right after Lviv was bombed.

This will affect quite a few refugees, and many Roma from Transcarpathian Ukraine.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Transcarpathian Ukraine: Help?

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Transcarpathian Ukraine: Help?

On August 15, 2025, a humanitarian action was held in the Roma settlement of the village of Domboky of the Velykyluchkivska community, aimed at supporting vulnerable families. The event was organized by the head of the charitable organization “SOS Children’s Villages Uzhgorod” Natalia Kryvoruchko with the participation of the Regional Coordinator for National Minorities from the OSCE Projects in Ukraine at the Representation of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights in the Transcarpathian region Mykola Chyzhmar.

It looks like a nice alibi exercise. Much more needs to be done.

Europe Kosovo News Eastern Europe

Thaci in the Hague

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Thaci in the Hague

Former KLA leader Hashim Thaci will begin his defense against charges of war crimes committed in Kosovo and Albania between 1995 and 1998 before the Special Tribunal in The Hague on September 9, the tribunal announced.

Alongside Thaci, Kadri Veselji, Redžep Seljimi, and Jakup Krasnići were charged with crimes against Albanians, declared “collaborators,” Serbs, and Roma, in more than 40 cases held by the KLA. All the defendants were leading members of the KLA Main Staff and the self-proclaimed Provisional Government of Kosovo.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Transcarpathian Ukraine: Shootout

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Transcarpathian Ukraine: Shootout

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.

News Eastern Europe News Switzerland Ukraine

Reportage in Transcarpathian Ukraine

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Reportage in Transcarpathian Ukraine

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.

Italy News Western Europe

Roma in Resistance

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Roma in Resistance

“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.”

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Transcarpathian Ukrainian Roma

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Transcarpathian Ukrainian Roma

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.

News Eastern Europe Poland Ukraine

Ukrainian Refugees

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Ukrainian Refugees

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.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Czechia, Roma, and Ukrainians

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Czechia, Roma, and Ukrainians

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.

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