Ko¹ice 9 December (RPA) – Editors at the Roma Media Center (MECEM) have officially asked the leadership of the town of Medzev to include in a book of personal statements by Rudolf Schuster, as a representative of the Carpathian German community, a chapter on his responsibility for the creation of the Lunik IX housing estate. The town received a grant of 20,000 euro for the book from the Slovak Office of the Government for the support of national minority cultures and ethnic groups.

According to the authors of the letter, director of the Roma Media Center (MECEM) Kristína Magdolenová and chief editor of the Roma Press Agency (RPA) Jarmila Vaòová, this is not an attempt to stop publication of the book but an effort to tell the truth and for the first time to publicly name the local government representatives who are historically responsible for the segregation of the Roma in Slovakia. In this regard the authors of the letter welcome the bestowal of the grant on the town of Medzev.

“We request via this letter, in the interest of preserving the historical truth, and we believe that you feel the same way… and the fact that Rudolf Schuster is the father of Lunik IX is historically indisputable,” says the letter. Magdolenová emphasized that “the publishing a book which will not manipulate reality and which also presents these facts could be the first positive step for speaking about the responsibility of local government for the segregation of the Roma. For this reason we welcome the decision of the commission regarding support for the book.” The authors of the letter also hereby challenge the international organizations dealing with the situation of the Roma in Slovakia to join in the initiative and via an open letter ask the leadership of the town of Medzev about the recording of the historical truth as one small opportunity to speak about the responsibility of specific persons for the segregation of the Roma in Slovakia, so that efforts from international institutions at the removal of discrimination does not remain merely empty phrases.

More information can be found at www.mecem.sk/rpa/.

You can address your comments via e-mail to the address of Medzev mayor JUDr.Valéria Flachbartová at: primator@.... You can also send a copy of the mail to the RPA editorial staff at: rpa@....

Link: http://www.mecem.sk/rpa/?id=housing&lang=english&show=17826

First ever EU-wide survey of minorities: Mapping Discrimination across Europe

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) will release today (Wednesday 9 December 2009) in Stockholm the results of its survey of over 23,000 individuals from ethnic minority and immigrant groups about their experiences of discrimination, racist crime, and policing in the EU. The results reveal shocking evidence about the discrimination faced by minorities in everyday life; in the classroom, when looking for work, at the doctor’s, or in shops. On the eve of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, the FRA calls for targeted policies to combat the marginalisation of these groups.

1 in 4 (24%) of all respondents was a victim of crime at least once in the last 12 months. Members of minority groups, often stereotyped as criminals themselves, can clearly also be victims of crime in need of assistance, protection, and support.

The survey exposes the serious lack of awareness of anti discrimination legislation amongst ethnic minority and immigrant groups. Almost half (46%) of respondents were unaware that legislation exists forbidding discrimination against people on the basis of their ethnicity in relation to shops, restaurants, bars or clubs.

82% of those who were discriminated against in the past 12 months did not report their most recent experience of discrimination either at the place where it occurred or to a competent authority. The most common reason for non-reporting was the belief that ‘nothing would happen’.

FRA Director Morten Kjaerum: “The results of the EU-MIDIS survey reveal the serious difficulties faced by significant numbers of those from ethnic minority and immigrant groups in accessing the most basic of services. Discrimination in education is particularly damaging as it can have a negative impact on young people’s opportunities in the labour market. Actors at all levels, from governments to service providers, must use this evidence, collected on the ground through in-depth interviews, to develop targeted policies to prevent the exclusion of these groups from European societies.”

For more information please see: http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/press/mr-091209_en.htm

 

Première enquête européenne sur les minorités: cartographie de la discrimination en Europe

L’Agence des droits fondamentaux de l’Union européenne (FRA) présente ce jour (mercredi 9 décembre 2009) à Stockholm les résultats de son enquête menée auprès de plus de 23 000 personnes appartenant à des groupes de minorité ethnique et d’immigrés. L’ enquête porte sur leur vécu en matière de discrimination, de crime raciste et de maintien de l’ordre dans l’UE. Les résultats apportent des preuves choquantes de la discrimination à laquelle sont confrontées quotidiennement les minorités: à l’école, dans la recherche d’emploi, chez le médecin ou dans les magasins. À la veille de l’année européenne de lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale, la FRA réclame des politiques ciblées visant à combattre la marginalisation de ces groupes.

Une personne interrogée sur quatre (24 %) a été victime d’un délit au moins une fois au cours des 12 derniers mois. Les membres de groupes minoritaires, souvent considérés comme des délinquants eux-mêmes, peuvent manifestement être victimes de manque d’assistance, de protection et de soutien.

L’enquête met en évidence le manque de connaissance des législations anti-discrimination au sein des groupes de minorités ethniques et d’immigrés,. Près de la moitié (46%) des personnes interrogées ne savaient pas qu'il existe une législation qui interdit toute discrimination à l'égard des personnes sur la base de leur caractère ethnique dans les magasins, restaurants, bars ou clubs.

82% des personnes qui ont été victimes de discriminations au cours des 12 derniers mois n’ont signalé leur expérience la plus récente en termes de discrimination ni sur les lieux où ces actes discriminatoires ont été commis, ni auprès d’une autorité compétente. La principale raison qui pousse les gens à ne pas signaler de tels actes est leur conviction que «ça ne changera rien».

Selon Morten Kjaerum, le directeur de la FRA: «Les résultats de l’enquête EU-MIDIS révèlent les graves difficultés qui attendent un grand nombre de personnes appartenant à des groupes de minorité ethnique et d’immigrés lorsqu’ils veulent avoir accès aux services les plus fondamentaux. La discrimination en matière d’enseignement est particulièrement dommageable dans la mesure où elle peut compromettre les chances des jeunes sur le marché de l’emploi. Les acteurs à tous les niveaux, depuis les gouvernements jusqu’aux fournisseurs de service, doivent exploiter ces preuves, collectées sur le terrain au cours d’entretiens approfondis, afin de développer des politiques ciblées pour empêcher que ces groupes ne soient exclus des sociétés européennes.»

Pour plus d’informations suivez le lien suivant: http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/press/mr-091209_en.htm

Czech Republic

 

A disused brick factory serving as shelter for Roma families in Uh ín ves, east of Prague.

 

Photo : www.romove.radio.cz - Mark Wiedorn

08/12/2009 - A third of Roma children in the Czech Republic attend special schools for the mentally handicapped. A situation against which a number of associations are speaking out, and which ends up backfiring on the state when it has to foot the social and economic bill.

According to recent estimates by the World Bank, Roma cost the Czech Republic no less than 16 billion crowns (€650m) a year. Though it isn’t so much the Roma themselves, we should add, but their maladjustment to society. The experts say this phenomenon is chiefly due to the below-average level of education most Romani children receive, after which they have no chance whatsoever of landing a decent job. And the state is losing money because unemployed Roma do not create any economic value or pay taxes, though they do draw social security benefits. The World Bank figure does not allow for such “incidental costs� as the mediocre quality of life for socially excluded Roma, mounting social tensions, ethnic conflicts, crime and so on and so forth.

For nearly 20 years now, national and international NGOs have been sounding the alarm about the disproportionate number of Roma children placed in special schools, a fact corroborated by the first sociological survey ever commissioned by the Czech education minister. 30% of Roma children attend schools for the mentally handicapped, as against roughly 2% for the country’s “white� pupils, which corresponds to the worldwide average. The vast majority of the remaining Roma children attend “Gypsy schools�, where the results are not much better than in the schools for the mentally retarded.

Local populations press for segregation

In Brno, the local population is well aware of the scholastic segregation. But the town council, which runs Brno’s public education system, is completely oblivious to this reality. According to one councillor, there are no “classes for Roma� and “classes for whites�; the children attend the school corresponding to their place of residence. And the locals are pressing for even more segregation: “white� families in Brno, as elsewhere in the country, are simply of the opinion that Gypsy kids are more stupid and unrulier than their own children – and more inclined to violence. And as the authors of one petition put it, “It’s bad enough we have to live with them, at least we shouldn’t run in to them at school….�

The segregationist pressure is linked to another reality: every year, nearly a third of Roma children fail to get into a “Gypsy� primary school and, after being diagnosed “mentally retarded�, are assigned to so-called “specialised� schools. This is peculiar to the Czech Republic, which has four times more children attending special schools than Austria, and a hundred times more than Sweden. The percentage of “mentally retarded� Czech Roma is ten times the average. There are two possible explanations: either Czech Roma are less intelligent than those in other countries, or our society is racist and systematically relegates them, from childhood on, to a second-class status.

Cold economic calculation

For over 30 years psychologist Petr Klíma has been working in a child counselling centre, of which he is now the head. It is centres like his that recommend placement in “special schools�. Based on his experience, “Roma kids fail the tests en masse. I’m not inventing, it’s a fact: 80% of them are borderline mentally retarded.� Klíma feels Roma families ought to be grateful that special schools exist, thanks to which their children can acquire the rudiments of literacy.

Throughout the Czech Republic, dozens of centres dole out the same recommendations as Klíma. “I truly think the vast majority of my colleagues make these recommendations entirely in good faith,� says Jana Zapletalová, psychologist and director of a counselling institute. “We need to change that. But it will not be easy.� To her mind, a change of method begins with an overhaul of primary schools. It absolutely vital to increase their budgets in order to create smaller classes , train teachers, hire assistants and give pupils individual attention. Let’s not forget the economists’ cold calculations that the Czech Republic loses 16 billion crowns (€640m) every year owing to an education system that turns out thousands of jobless Gypsies. Viewed from this angle, investing billions of crowns in improving the education system would seem a wise economic choice that promises a net return on investment.

 

Link: http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/151951-apartheid-begins-school

 

 

 

 

 

Swedish EU Presidency - Discrimination against marginalised groups a widespread problem in the EU

The conference ‘Making Rights a Reality for All’, to be held in Stockholm on 11–12 December, will put the issue of discrimination against marginalised groups on the agenda. Meet Andreas Accardo from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which is arranging the conference in cooperation with the Swedish Presidency.

The conference will have a special focus on some marginalised groups. In what ways are the rights of these groups violated?

"The Fundamental Rights Agency is about to release the results of an unprecedented EU survey, called EU-MIDIS, for which we have interviewed over 23,000 individuals from ethnic minority and immigrant groups about their experiences of discrimination. The results are very sobering. Significant numbers have reported serious difficulties in accessing the most basic services and have faced discrimination in all walks of life. Over a one-year period, 11 percent of North Africans had experienced discrimination when in or simply trying to enter a shop. Almost a quarter, 22 percent, of Sub-Saharan Africans had been subject to discrimination when looking for work. Every second Roma respondent had experienced incidents of discrimination. The discrimination and exclusion faced by many Roma and other marginalised groups is a tremendous challenge to our vision of a European Union where all members of society are treated with respect and can realise their potential. Only if we can guarantee that everybody not only has equal rights, but also equal chances in life, can we honour the values on which the EU is built."

The EU-MIDIS survey on discrimination and minorities will be the basis for parts of the discussions during the conference. According to you, which is the most important result from this survey?

"Most shockingly was the low level of rights awareness among groups most vulnerable to discrimination. For example, 59 percent of Muslims surveyed did not know that there was a law that forbids ethnic discrimination in employment. Only 16 percent of all respondents knew of any organisation that can support people who have been discriminated against. 82 percent of those who were discriminated against did not report these cases anywhere. People do not have access to basic goods and services, and don’t even know that this is a violation of their fundamental rights. They accept unequal treatment as normal, they say it is part of life; but is this the life we want people to lead in the EU? It means that those who discriminate can act with impunity and that a large proportion of our population is treated with injustice."

At FRA, have you seen any signs of the situation for different minority groups being affected by the financial crisis?

"According to the EU’s latest Employment Report, younger men, with lower levels of education, working in manufacturing, have suffered most in terms of job loss in the current recession. Minorities and migrants are over-represented in these more labour-intensive industries. There is a risk that they are pushed into the unofficial labour market where they can be subject to severe exploitation. As countries tighten their belts, essential programmes for education, health care, or social assistance may fall victim to budget cuts - at a time when they are most needed. Here history teaches us a bitter lesson: The most vulnerable in society have often served as scapegoats in such moments. We risk seeing an upswing in extremist ideologies, and also increasing exclusion or discrimination of persons with disabilities or the elderly, or also of women who often are in more precarious employment situations."

What is the biggest challenge to securing the rights of marginalised groups in Europe today?

"Europe can take pride in its human rights standards. With the Charter of Fundamental Rights becoming legally binding on 1 December, we have further strengthened this. However, the best legislation is useless if people do not apply it. In the EU today, we must work on closing the gap between the rights proclaimed on paper and the ability of people to exercise these rights in practice. This requires concerted efforts and targeted policies by actors at all levels to combat discrimination and exclusion. For instance, how will marginalised groups ever emerge from being ‘marginalised’ if they do not have proper access to education? Without access to quality education and participation in the labour market, the situation of these groups cannot improve."

Can you give an example as to how FRA works in order to strengthen the rights of persons belonging to these groups?

"EU-MIDIS is a good example. The survey provides very extensive quantitative data, which the EU did not have before. This data helps to better understand what is needed to combat discrimination and exclusion. Policy makers in the EU can use the FRA’s data to develop more targeted responses, which address discriminatory practices where they occur and improve support structures for victims. The survey has also identified the need to make people aware of their rights and encourage them to report discrimination. As long as only few cases get reported to the authorities, incidents don’t get sanctioned, victims do not obtain justice, and no preventive action can be taken."

What are your expectations for the conference on 10-11 December?

"I hope that, during these two days, we will develop concrete ideas, together with the more than 200 participants from all over Europe, to better protect people in vulnerable situations against discrimination and exclusion. We aim to do nothing less than to put fundamental rights protection for marginalised groups at the centre of the EU agenda. 2010 will be the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. Has there ever been a more appropriate year to make fundamental rights a reality for all?"

Link: http://www.isria.com/pages/8_December_2009_73.php

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Council conclusions on enlargement/stabilisation and association process
2984th GENERAL AFFAIRS Council meeting

Brussels, 7 and 8 December 2009

WESTERN BALKANS

27. The Council stresses the importance of protection of all minorities and encourages the governments of the region to take the necessary action to address these issues.

Overall, the Roma minority continues to face very difficult living conditions and discrimination.

Dear Friends,

 

 

Dear friends,

 

The linguists in this group may be interested in following this project.  Though it is not immediately relevant to Romani studies, it might well show the way that current thinking is going.

 

 

We might all have thoughts on how to spend 2.7 million euros to benfit minority groups...

 

Best wishes

 

John M Brear
Abergefryn, Capel Seion
Drefach, Llanelli
Carmarthenshire, SA14 7BP
UK
+44 (0) 1269 832970

Dear Roma brothers and sisters!

Dear Friends!

 

The names of the proposed European Union Commissioners are already announced on http://ec.europa.eu/commission_designate_2009-2014/index_en.htm

 

The proposed Commissioners will soon have to face a round of public hearings in the European Parliament, where respected Members of the European Parliament will have a chance to ask them questions that relate to their future work.

 

So, in order to influence the hearings in the European Parliament, I would like to ask for your active contribution into this process!!!

 

In case, if you have some questions that you would like to be delivered to the Commissioners, please, feel free to send these questions to me on martin.demirovski@... and I promise that I will try to convince some members of the European Parliament to ask them.

 

OSI-Brussels

Romani Baht Foundation congratulates the Sofia Municipality for acknowledging the need of educational desegregation activities

and for rendering support for the later. On its last Municipal Council session 101 members of the Sofia Municipal Council voted

for financial support for transportation of Romani children from the segregated Fakulteta Roma settlement to 5 integrated schools

in Sofia. The civil activists do hope that this means the Sofia Municipality is taking permanent responsibility to support the process.

 

Romani Baht Team

 

Manchester City Council is likely to be advertising up to three positions, of 1-2 years each, for Romani mediators/interpreters. The Council is searching for young people who are fluent speakers of Romani and English (preferably also with knowledge of Romanian and/or Czech or Slovak), who are well acquainted with Romani culture and customs, to serve as community support workers. The jobs involve primarily work with Romani immigrants from Romania, and possibly also 
from the Czech Republic. The candidates will be required to have completed secondary school and to have some kind of formal further qualification, e.g. as social workers, teachers, or translators. They will be expected to take up residence in Manchetser for the duration of the position.

The work is part of a pilot project to improve community relations and strengthen self-confidence and social and economic opportunities among Romani immigrants. If successful, the Council is likely to seek funding to continue the project beyond the initial two years and a continuation of the positions is therefore not unlikely.

The positions are likely to be advertised formally early in the new year, with a very short term deadline for application of around three weeks. Interested individuals who meet the pre-requisites are urged to make informal contact with Professor Yaron Matras yaron.matras@..., who is serving as advisor to the 
recruitment procedure, to ensure that the official job advert is forwarded to them. Send a complete CV, along with names of referees who can recommend you. Once the formal job advert is published, applicants will have to apply directly to Manchester City Council.

Note that this notice is for information only and is NOT an official notice of a vacancy nor a call for applications, either on behalf of Manchester City Council or on behalf of the University of Manchester, and that it is being posted by the author in strictly private capacity.

Yaron Matras
Professor in Linguistics
School of Languages, Linguistics & Cultures
University of Manchester
Manchester M13 9PL, UK

Phone (direct): (00)44 (0)161 275 3975
Romani project: (00)44 (0)161 275 5999
http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk
http://languagecontact.manchester.ac.uk

The Discriminatory Law directed at Roma People should immediately be abolished

Regarding the anti-discrimination acts for Roma People, the first step should be to abolish the article 21 of the Law regarding the Residence and Travel of Foreigners in Turkey. According to this law, “The Ministry of Internal Affairs is authorized for the expulsions of the Gypsies, who are stateless or citizens of a foreign state, and of the foreigner nomads, who are not affiliated with Turkish culture”. After this initial step, some more precautions should be taken regarding the issues of discrimination, health, employment and housing. 

Hacer Foggo, hacerfoggo@...

07/12/2009 - When the last house in Sulukule was bulldozed on 12 November, Gülsüm Bitirmiş, born in 1956, was crying out after her house, where she was born and raised, after her memories and her childhood: “my castle has been demolished”. Meanwhile, the officials of Fatih Municipality had already set off with their truck, loaded with her belongings, which would be put in the storage of the municipality.  Later that week, the preparations for the construction of luxurious housings in Sulukule started. 

The investor landlord, who would settle in the luxurious housing with an underground parking garage to be built in, where Gülsüm Bitirmiş’s house used to be, probably supports “the expansion of Roma people out of Sulukule”. Likewise, the new owners of the shopping center to be built in  where Asım Hallaç’s grocery store used to be before it was bulldozed, probably heaved a sigh of relief when this last Roma resident was displaced out of Sulukule.  

Yet, Mr. Bayraktar, the president of Mass Housing Administration, had made promises for the realization of the alternative project and for the relocation of Roma people back to Sulukule. Bayraktar did not keep his promise and worse still, he made some remarks such as “the concern of Sulukule people is not housing”, “We created new rentable areas with the demolitions of gecekondus”. All of the houses in Sulukule, known as the second Roma settlement on earth, were bulldozed and turned into an empty space thanks to the cooperation of public authorities, which, all in all, ignored the human factor. Thousand years old Roma history has been destroyed.  

Not Rent but Housing Rights to Roma people

After that Sulukule was turned into an empty land, it is not only the investors, who heaved a sigh of relief. Legitimized with discourses about “urban customs”, “urban culture”, “blighted area” and with that “a modern and healthy urban life is necessity”, “The laundry should not be hang out in the streets”, “people should not sit out at the doorsteps”, “people should not make music in the streets, weddings should not take place in the streets”, the demolitions in Roma neighborhoods – 300 houses in Sulukule, 240 in Küçükbakkalköy and 40 in Yahya Kemal Neighborhood- also comforted some “democrat” literate people, who are in love with Istanbul and lovesick for gated communities.  

While the city is being rebuilt in line with their tastes and preferences, everything in the neighborhoods, where Roma people and urban poor used to live for years, was razed down by the bulldozers: the patter of tiny feet, the custom of drinking tea at doorsteps, tea houses and everything. Congratulations to all the ‘Gaco’s, who are ill-at-ease with neighborhood culture and support the displacement of the urban poor to the outskirts of the city: There is not anymore a Roma neighborhood in Istanbul!!

In Küçükbakkalköy, a Roma neighborhood bulldozed in 2006, now a parking garage has started running while legal practitioners have already pushed the button to build their cooperative housings. Some of the displaced Roma residents are still living in barracks or under bridges. Some live in one room housings and try to survive buying and selling scrap materials or selling flowers as long as the municipal police allow them, and try to send their children to school. After their houses were demolished, some of these displaced families set their tents on the side of D-100 highway in Bakırköy. Not taking any notice of the children’s screaming, the municipal police from Bakirköy set the tents of Roma families on fire.  

Roma people are in a very harsh struggle, or better to say, have to struggle for their housings and survival. For instance, Zeynep, five-months-old baby of a Roma family, who set their tent on a viaduct after their house was demolished in Kağıthane in November 2006, died because of the cold. Likewise, Gökhan, eigth-months-old baby of another Roma family, which stayed in a half demolished house after their house in Sulukule was razed down, died in 2009 because of  lack of good care, because of poverty. 

Turkey should participate into the Decade of Roma Inclusion

Unfortunately, Turkey did not participate into the international initiative, the Decade of Roman Inclusion, between 2005-2015, which attempts to solve the problems of Roma community regarding poverty and discrimination. The main aim of the project is making contributions to strengthen the socioeconomic position of Roma people. This project is the first international project aimed at improving the living conditions of Roma people. The countries, which take part in this project, are Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia- Montenegro and Slovakia. There is considerable Roma population living in all these countries and they all suffer from poor economic and social conditions. In the year 2005, the governments of all the above mentioned countries declared with this project that they will provide equal opportunities to Roma communities vis-à-vis the rest of the society. Now the turn is ours!

Discriminatory Law should be Abolished

As a very important development, the dishonorable article 134 of the “Regulation about the Police Organization, the duties of the police organization, and the role of the police regarding ceremonies and ensembles and the discipline of the police”, which considered Gypsies as suspects, was abolished by the minister’s approval on 20.06.2006. The next step should be to abolish the article 21 of the Law regarding the Residence and Travel of Foreigners in Turkey, which is a discriminatory legislation. According to this law, “The Ministry of Internal Affairs is authorized for the expulsions of the Gypsies, who are stateless or citizens of a foreign state, and of the foreigner nomads, who are not affiliated with Turkish culture”. Unfortunately, this article, which legalizes discrimination, stands on our way as an unbelievable fact. It is estimated that 100 thousand Roma people, who have no identity cards, live in Turkey. Any step taken for Roma people would probably be of no use unless that this article is abolished. As long as this law is in force, it means that Roma people do not have the right to live in their own country. Besides, the lack of official identification papers should also be resolved in accordance with the demands of Roma families and it must be warranted that their children can participate into the formal education.

After these main steps, more steps should be taken to improve housing, health, employment and education and citizenship rights of Roma people. Regarding these five main issues, below are some of the very practical suggestions that can be implemented immediately:  

Citizenship Rights and Discrimination

·        Right after abolishing the article I mentioned above, public servants at public institutions and organizations, especially the police and teachers, who are working at the schools that Roma children largely attend, should be subject to a training program regarding the discrimination of Roma People. 

·        Education programs about discrimination should be implemented. 

·        Certain sanctions must be applied to written-verbal- visual, any kind of discrimination against Roma people that take place in the media.  

·        Roma children, who are exposed to discrimination in education, should be identified and the relevant institutions and organizations should be warned about this issue. 

·        The bureaucratic procedures should be eased for the Roma people without identity cards so that they can get their identity cards. A committee that would work on this issue should be formed.  

·        Roma families with an income below the poverty line, should be determined by the Social Services and Society for the Protection of Children (SHÇEK) and the local governments.  

·        Daily milk should be provided to the families with children, which have incomes below the poverty line. Likewise, free food programs should be implemented at the schools (e.g. daily provision of eggs and milk etc.). 

·        Roma people’s employment in public sector, their participation into political party activities and self- organization should be promoted.   

Housing

·        Regarding the issue of housing, not the projects that lack an understanding for a multicultural and social life but the alternative projects that are prepared in accordance with the life styles and economic conditions of Roma people should be put into implementation.

·        Regarding the urban transformation projects, civil society organizations and opinion leaders in the neighborhoods should be made partners of the projects and be closely involved in the decisions at any phase of the projects.

·        Decent housing conditions should be provided for the nomadic and/or settled Roma communities without displacing them from where they live.

·        Roma people, who are nomads within the country, should be allowed to stay freely at pre-determined sites and mobile health units should provide services for these sites.  

Education

·        The children, who don’t or cannot go to schools, should be identified in the Roma neighborhoods with the cooperation of the local governments and civil society organizations.  Any assistance should be provided to make sure that they get registered to the schools. 

·        In every Roma neighborhood, day-care centers, kindergartens and study halls must be established. 

·        Social aid practices that the Ministry of Education initiated regarding various issues, such as the conditional cash assistance, should be explained well and made public in Roma neighborhoods and the families that would get these aids should be determined by the local governments. 

·        Scholarship programs for the students should be promoted. Students from low income families should be able to attend free of charge to the private education establishments, which prepare students to various exams.  

·        For the participation of the children of the nomad Roma communities, into education, local municipalities and the Directorate of Ministry of Education, should cooperate with each other at the places, where the nomad communities are located, and if necessary, children’s education should be supported with mobile education units.  

·        To contribute to the development of Roma music and culture, education and culture centers should be opened especially in the neighborhoods where musicians live. 

·        Research about Roma music should be promoted and an academic field for this topic should be formed.  

·        At the schools, to which Roma children attend, Roma children should be separated from other kids in the classrooms.  

Health

·        A health clinic must be established in every Roma neighborhood and an urgent health program directed especially at women, children and disabled persons should immediately be started. 

·        Free training programs for childcare should be provided at houses. 

·        The children and their families should be informed about vaccinations and when necessary, vaccination programs should be implemented in these neighborhoods.  

·        Soup kitchens must be opened in the neighborhoods for the elderly and orphan children.  

Employment

·        For Roma people, various vocational and crafts courses should be provided at the local level.

·        Roma community’s traditional fields of occupation should be supported. Besides, employment of Roma people should be encouraged in other sectors. 

·        Places, where Roma people that sell flowers can work freely without the pressure of the municipal police, should be determined and the municipal police should be warned about this implementation.

·        The Roma people involved in buying and selling scrap materials should be allowed to work without the pressure of the municipal police. Free health checks should be provided for these people on monthly basis.

·        Workplaces and artists, which employ Roma musicians without any social security, should be warned and regular inspections should be made regarding this issue.

 

National Party representative charged over Roma “study”, party falling apart

Prague, 6.12.2009, 09:09, (ROMEA)

South Bohemian police detectives have charged the author of a publication entitled “The Final Solution to the Gypsy Question” (“Koneèné øe¹ení otázky cikánské”), the main idea of which is that the Roma should be deported to India. The book’s author now faces up to three years in prison. News server Týden.cz reported yesterday that the accused is evidently Jiøí Gaudin, a former member of the National Party’s National Council. Gaudin is the only author listed on the “study”; other contributors have hidden behind the anonymity of collective authorship.

"Detectives have initiated the criminal prosecution of a 30-year-old male from the Mladá Boleslav region on suspicion of the crime of inciting hatred against a group or restricting their rights and freedoms,” South Bohemian police spokesperson Jiøí Matzner told Týden.cz. Matzner says Gaudin both wrote the “study” and then distributed it.

The publication was released in April in Lety by Písek. Around 20 members and promoters of the National Party chose to release it at the very site where a Nazi concentration camp for Roma was in operation during the Second World War. At the time, Gaudin declared the “study” was a serious work: "This is not a provocation. It is a serious work of scholarship to which currently publishing academics have also contributed, although their names are not listed.” Gaudin claimed those writing on the controversial topic had chosen anonymity as the work might otherwise cause problems for them in their other activities, although he personally did not believe this meant the “study” broke the law.

Týden.cz reports that police have been investigating Gaudin ever since. According to Matzner, the “study” was made accessible on CD after its release and has continued to be distributed over the internet. Detectives had an expert evaluation produced of the publication. "The content of the ‘study’ incites hatred against a group of people to a significant degree,” Matzner claims.

The extremist National Party is now in the throes of a deep crisis. Experts say it has practically fallen apart. After Petra Edelmannová resigned as party chair in October, three other members of the party’s National Council, including some of its most active nationalists, resigned last week. "As of 1 December 2009, National Council members Michal Kubík, Mgr. Jan Skácel and Bc. Jiøí Gaudin are resigning all of their posts. The reasons for their decision will not be publicized,” the party’s official website reads. The Lidové noviny (LN) daily reports it is now impossible to learn more about the resignations, as no one from the party is responding to written questions and the phone number for its official spokesperson is disconnected.

A new party leader was to have been announced on 28 October, but no such announcement occurred. Miroslav Mare¹, who studies extremism, says these most recent resignations are proof that the National Party is in a deep crisis. "The entire concept on which it was based has probably been called into question, this playing at being a modern, populist party using theses that are provocative to attract media attention, the emphasis on the Hussite identity. It has been proven that this has not taken hold in the current Czech environment,” LN quotes Mare¹ as saying.

The party did its best to revive the fascism of the era of the First Republic, primarily emphasizing nationalism and the Hussite tradition. National Party representatives last drew attention to themselves prior to the EP elections this year when their television campaign ads were withdrawn for inciting racism and xenophobia.

Link: http://romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_1414

Read all Roma news on http://www.idebate.org/roma/

 

 

On particular countries: http://euyouthspeak.org/roma/?page_id=5456

 

 

Read and join the discussions on Roma issues on http://www.idebate.org/discussion/view_forum.php?id=54

Register as a member of the discussion board on http://www.idebate.org/registration/index.php

  

Additional reading:

Updates on anti-trafficking issues and legislation
http://euyouthspeak.org/roma/?cat=10962

Positive outlook on contemporary relations between Muslim and Jewish communities
http://euyouthspeak.org/roma/?cat=10961

Slovak Republic: visit of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

A delegation of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities will visit Bratislava and Kosice from 30 November - 04 December 2009 in the context of the monitoring of the implementation of this convention in the Slovak Republic.

This is the third visit of the Advisory Committee to the Slovak Republic. The Delegation will have meetings with the representatives of all relevant ministries, public officials, as well as persons belonging to national minorities and Human Rights NGOs.

The Delegation includes Ms Ilze BRANDS-KEHRIS (First Vice-President of the Advisory Committee and member elected in respect of Latvia), Mr Giorgi MELADZE (member of the Advisory Committee elected in respect of Georgia) and Mr Alan PHILLIPS (President of the Advisory Committee and member elected in respect of the United Kingdom). They will be accompanied by Ms Eva KONECNA of the Secretariat of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

Note: The Slovak Republic submitted its third State Report under the Framework Convention in July 2009. Following its visit, the Advisory Committee will adopt its own report (called Opinion), which will be sent to the Government for comments. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will then adopt conclusions and recommendations in respect of the Slovak Republic.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: http://www.coe.int/minorities

Racism, intolerance still a reality in Europe, report shows 

04/12/2009 - Ethnic and religious minorities in Europe continue to suffer from discrimination and prejudice and face disadvantages in a whole host of areas, from employment and education to housing and policing, a report published yesterday (3 December) by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) reveals.

Amnesty International benefit concerts to draw attention to segregated education

Prague, 5.12.2009, 08:08, (ROMEA/RV)

Amnesty International will celebrate Human Rights Day, 10 December, by holding a series of benefit concerts worldwide to bring attention to the human rights failings the organization is trying to correct. In the Czech Republic, proceeds from the Prague benefit will support AI’s educational programs, which use an interactive format to inform children at Czech schools about the significance of human rights and how to defend their own rights and those of others. In Hradec Králové, proceeds will benefit the Hradec Králové regional AI branch.

In Prague, the benefit event “©vihadlo for Franti¹ek” will take place on 9 December starting at 19:00 at the Roxy. The bands performing are supporting Amnesty International’s “Let’s Change It!” campaign, which is drawing attention to the lack of access to education suffered by hundreds of millions of children around the world. In the Czech Republic, this primarily concerns the significant percentage of Romani pupils, most of whom belong at standard elementary schools, being improperly educated according to curricula for the mentally disabled which reduces their chances for a good future. The fictitious character of “Franti¹ek” represents all of the real children in the Czech Republic who have met a similar fate. The bands Traband, ©vihadlo and The Spankers will be performing.

Another benefit concert will take place in Hradec Králové on 10 December at the La Putika club. DJs Miquel, Sense, Maria.n a Marionette will play music accompanied by Ptaaka on drums. On 11 December Alah, Winyl, Kadel, Fiila and MC Bombicz will play at the Hlad Klub there. Both benefits start at 20:00. Information stands on human rights, petitions and merchandise for sale will be part of both evenings.

Radka Steklá, translated by Gwendolyn Albert

ROMEA/RV

Link: http://romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_1413

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your participation in our activities is very important to us! 

 

 

Hello everyone: I wanted to let you know about a panel that will be held at World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies in Barcelona, on July 19th – 24th 2010.
 
The panel is entitled: The Dom: Examining the Current Research Trends Across the Middle East and North Africa
 
below is a brief description
 
The Dom are an often forgotten minority who have lived in the MENA region for hundreds of years. Across the region they have faced social, economic and political disenfranchisement. Issues of poverty and discrimination have combined to create barriers to greater inclusion and involvement in the societies which they reside. In 1908 it was written that little research had been done on the Asiatic Gypsies. This situation has improved little in the hundred years since. Limited research has resulted in a lack of analysis of the social, political and economic inter-actions of this ethnic group with the wider societies in the region. That said, over the past ten years there has been an increasing awareness among scholars. This panel will explore some of the current research and research trends. The combination of these two factors, general disenfranchisement and limited research, creates a necessity to raise awareness about the issues faced by members of this ethnic minority, as well as encourage greater academic research with the Dom. This panel represents an opportunity for scholars to come together to share their research of the Dom with others. It is also a chance to encourage those with an interest in the MENA region to begin to address the issues facing this group in earnest. The individual papers presented at this panel can cover a wide range of disciplines, but the panel as a whole, is aimed at raising awareness, sharing good practice and information, and presenting the current trends in research with the Dom. Paper proposals should be submitted ASAP as I must forward the complete panel proposal to the WOCMES secretariat with all the abstracts before December 15th 2009.
 
If you would be willing, I ask that you share this with your networks, or send me a proposal for your own papers ASAP. As I have to send a summary of the panel by December 15,  I would request your proposals be to me by the 11th.
 
for more information on this panel visit:
http://wocmes.iemed.org/en/prelim-dom
 
Congress Home page: http://wocmes.iemed.org/ 
 
I look forward to hearing from you all and finding out about what research is being carried out and helping to facilitate it being presented at WOCMES.
 
All the best
Scott Phillips

 

Naples, December 4th, 2009. News has just reached us of the measure taken by the Juvenile Court of Naples which has denied the concession of any alternative to prison for Angelica V, a young Roma teenager. Angelica was sentenced without proof, merely on prejudice, both  in the judgment of first instance, and at the appeal, for the attempted kidnapping of a baby in Ponticelli, a charge brought by the mother in the summer of 2008.

that of Rita Bernardini MP:

and the Senator Annamaria Carloni:

In the summer of 2007 at Montalto di Castro (Viterbo) a young girl of 15 (the same age as Angelica when she was rescued from the lynch mob in Ponticelli) was kidnapped and raped for hours by eight “respectable Italian boys”, all of whom confessed to the crime, and all of them “fully integrated into that typical pattern of behaviour that is slowly becoming our own culture”.

It is essential that a great number of people in authority speak out against the motivations given by the Naples Juvenile Court in the Angelica case. Motivations which come on top of a sentence which was just as shocking seeing it was based on testimony full of contradictions and no evidence - if not the medieval prejudice (which over the last few years has raised its ugly head again in Italy) according to which,  “gypsies steal children”.

EveryOne Group

info@...

www.everyonegroup.com

+39 334 8429527

+39 331 3585406

+39 334 3449180

Roma, Ashkali and Balkan-Egyptians in former Yugoslavia

The Southeast Europe Association (Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft - SOG) in cooperation with Schroubek Fonds, Giessen Center for East European Studies (Gießener Zentrum Östliches Europa - GIZO) and the chair of Southeast European History at Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen invite to a conference in Giessen, Germany.

Date:
22nd January 2010, 9:00-18:00

Location:
Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Alexander-von-Humboldt-Haus, Rathenaustraße 24a.

Since the 1990ies, a growing concern in both the media and academia emerged regarding the situation of Roma in Eastern Europe due to the fact that they became, in countries in transition, a target and victim of nationalism resulting in the worsening of the groups’ living conditions, especially in comparison with the majority society. This is also the case in former Yugoslavia, specifically after the wars of the Nineties. Since 1999, if one mentions Roma in Kosovo but also in Serbia and Macedonia, “Ashkali and Egyptians” has to be added for reason of specification. All three groups are referred to as “Gypsies” by the majority society and were expelled from Kosovo in 1999 and 2004.

Not only in Kosovo but also in the neighbouring countries such as Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, members of all three communities are living as refugees from Kosovo or citizens of the country. As yet, only few scholars have discussed the issue of the nation building of Egyptians and the dilemma they are facing in a society predominantly Albanian, Serbian or Macedonian.

This conference aims at discussing PhD projects regarding the history and anthropology of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians in former Yugoslavia.

Program and further information:
http://www.uni-giessen.de/cms/fbz/fb04/institute/geschichte/osteuropa

Contact:

Claudia Lichnofsky
Osteuropäische Geschichte
Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen
35394 Gießen

Deutschland

Tel. 0641-99-28024