Über Roma

Eine Ausstellung in Berlin zeigt Werke von Künstlern, die sich mit kulturellen Zuschreibungen und politischer Repräsentation von Roma in der Gegenwart und in der Vergangenheit beschäftigen.

Im Oktober dieses Jahres räumte die Polizei in Essex im Einzugsgebiet von London einen Wohnwagenplatz. Das Land gehörte zu diesem Zeitpunkt den Bewohnern, auch wenn sie noch nicht über eine offizielle Erlaubnis verfügten, sich auf dem Land niederzulassen oder es zu bebauen. Berichte über diese bürokratische Absurdität und die Bilder von der brutalen Räumung führten dazu, dass die Opfer dieser Polizeiaktion, die Irish Travellers, europaweit ins Bewusstsein der Öffentlichkeit rückten.

Irish Travellers sind eine eigene soziokulturelle Gruppe mit nomadischem Lebensstil. Darin ähneln sie den aus Süd- und Südosteuropa stammenden Roma. Einige Roma wiederum hatten sich in einem Bidonville in der Nähe von Paris angesiedelt. Ihre Siedlungen waren bereits im September auf Weisung von Nicolas Sarkozy geräumt und sie selbst nach Rumänien abgeschoben worden.

Bidonville, das bedeutet Slum, Kanisterstadt oder Barackensiedlung. Eine Art Bidonville, ein Flüchtlingslager, auf mutmaßlich verseuchtem Boden, gibt es auch in Osterode im Kosovo, wo Roma leben, die aus der BRD abgeschoben wurden. Ein Bidonville entwickelte sich auch im Sommer dieses Jahres im Görlitzer Park in Berlin-Kreuzberg, nachdem zugewanderte Roma aus überbelegten Wohnungen vom Vermieter gekündigt und einfach auf die Straße gesetzt worden waren.

In Osterode wie in anderen Siedlungen können abenteuerlustige Touristen jetzt eine authentische Erfahrung machen: »Hotel Gelem – Embedded Tourism« heißt das Projekt der beiden Schweizer Künstler Christoph Wachter und Mathias Jud, die Touristen in Romasiedlungen unterbringen und derzeit an der Kunstausstellung teilnehmen, die am 11. November im Kunstquartier Bethanien eröffnet wurde. Continue reading Über Roma

Slovakia: Residents demand town take care of „whites“ only, not Romani residents

The Romani Press Agency (Romská tlačová agentura – RTA) in Slovakia reports that non-Romani residents of the Podsadok quarter in the town of Stará Ľubovňa have sent an open letter to the town leadership expressing their bitterness over activities undertaken to address the situation of local Romani residents. The letter was sent in response to the town’s decision to purchase a building in Podsadok to serve as a school for local Romani children. The total population of the town is 16 400, 2 000 of whom are of Romani origin.

The town council approved the purchase of the EUR 16 600 property in October. Mayor Michal Biganič told the RTA the building will be run by the Private Technical High School (Soukromá střední odborná škola) in Kežmark and will make it possible for Romani children who have not completed their elementary educations to acquire skills as masons and seamstresses.

Some non-Romani residents of Podsadok disagree with the town’s position, writing the following in the open letter: „We absolutely disagree with the town buying real estate in our neighborhood and literally building a paradise on earth for the Roma there. We have already lost the House of Culture, which once was used for funeral receptions, neighborhood meetings and weddings, but which is now being used as a youth club. We used to have a cinema and a library as well. The town has decided to gift that space, which was built by our (white) fathers and forefathers, to the Roma for a community center – naturally, without anyone taking any interest in the opinion of the white residents in the neighborhood. We unequivocally disagree with this and now, since we do not have a single representative on the Municipal Council to take an interest in us and defend our interests, we will very firmly defend ourselves against any accommodating steps toward the Roma that might be to the detriment of us, the white residents.“

The authors of the letter warn the town leadership that they will vocally oppose helpfulness toward the Roma: „We believe there has been enough indolence and that we must take action against the people who are slowly but surely pushing us out of our homes. How many young people have been forced to resolve their housing situations by taking out mortgages, or subletting expensive rentals, even though they own single-family homes that they cannot use thanks to their dark fellow-citizens? No one is asking where we the money for our housing comes from. Only the Gypsies‘ affairs are dealt with.“

The signatories have called on the town leadership to start doing something „for us, the white people“ too: „We, the citizens of the local area of Podsadok and Mýtna street, unequivocally disagree with the establishment of a school at the bakery in our neighborhood, and we are also against the town bringing Gypsies from the surrounding area into Podsadok. We further demand that the House of Culture be given back to the white residents of Podsadok, and if cannot be returned, then the bakery should be turned into a supplementary House of Culture for white people, as a youth club for white youth. We are warning you, Mr Mayor, and we are warning the members of the town council that as of now, we will put up great obstacles to your activities aimed at improving the standard of living of the Gypsies if those activities target the territory of Podsadok and are to the detriment of the standard of living of us, the white minority.“

The town of Stará Ľubovňa is involved in several projects to aid Romani residents and has raised money for that purpose from various sources. According to Mayor Biganič, the town will receive EUR 90 000 as part of the Community in Motion project for the activities of the community center in Podsadok. The project is part of a larger one linked to the introduction of E-pay cards. All 15 of the representatives present at the town council meeting on the project voted to approve it.

The head of the municipal authority, Anton Karni, told the Slovak daily Korzár that the residents of Podsadok don’t have it easy and that the town is willing to discuss their problems with them. However, in his view the purchase of real estate for the purposes of running a school, as the representatives decided, is a good solution. „Some pupils will be able to re-qualify there and learn a profession. It is always better for them to spend time at school, otherwise they could get involved in bad things,“ Karni said.

Quelle: Romea.cz
Stand: 27.11.2011

Conditions Faced by Roma People – from Bad to Worse

Roma leaders are alarmed at the growing discrimination faced by their people in Europe, especially because of the anti-gypsy stance taken by many political parties, which blame the ethnic minority group for a wide range of social ills.

On a two-day visit to Lisbon this week, Dezideriu Gergely, executive director of the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), and the group’s legal adviser, Lydia Gall, spoke out against the terrible housing conditions faced in Portugal by the Roma, also known as gypsies or Romani.

The most overtly anti-gypsy policies are seen in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Slovakia, Gall said. But, the activist added, in terms of the housing situation, „Portugal is not so different from those countries.“

Gergely, citing in particular the cases of Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, said that „what we have found is that in many countries, the situation of the Romani communities is getting worse instead of better.“

In many European countries, „there are parties that have identified the gypsies as the target of their attacks, through increasingly aggressive and dangerous language – and not only the extreme right but also conservative and centrist parties,“ he added. Continue reading Conditions Faced by Roma People – from Bad to Worse

Kundgebung: Serbische Roma in Münster von Abschiebung bedroht! Wir bleiben dran!

Donnerstag 10.11.2011, 08:00 Uhr, vor dem Amt für Ausländerangelegenheiten, Ludgeriplatz 4 (Eingang Südstraße), Münster. Alle bleiben! Keine Abschiebung von Roma – egal wohin!
Kundgebung des Münsteraner Bündnis für ein Bleiberecht der Roma

In den letzten Monaten haben wir schon mehrmals Münsteraner Roma zur Ausländerbehörde begleitet, deren Duldung auslief. Am Donnerstag, 10. November, begleiten wir wieder die beiden Geschwister, die wir schon öfter begleitet haben. Zuletzt wurde ihnen nur vier Wochen Duldung gewährt! Auch im Status der Duldung bleibt die ständige Drohung der Abschiebung.
Aus diesem Anlass findet die nächste Kundgebung am Donnerstag um 8 Uhr vor dem Eingang der Ausländerbehörde statt! Kommt zahlreich und bekundet eure Unterstützung! Wir werden nicht akzeptieren, dass unsere Nachbarn abgeschoben werden! Auf den zurückliegenden Kundgebungen vor der Ausländerbehörde wurde über die menschen- und völkerrechtlich untragbare Situation der serbischen Roma in Deutschland berichtet. Auch über die von Diskriminierung und Perspektivlosigkeit bestimmte Situation in Serbien, die in den kommenden Monaten durch den Winter noch zusätzlich verschärft wird, wurde informiert. Während in Baden-Württemberg mittlerweile wenigstens ein Winterabschiebestopp durchgesetzt wurde, hat sich in Nordrhein-Westfalen nichts geändert und in Münster sind immer noch viele Roma von auslaufenden Duldungen betroffen.
Deshalb werden wir dranbleiben, uns gegen die Abschiebungen einsetzen und dafür, dass es endlich ein Bleiberecht für Roma gibt!

Zum Hintergrund:
Das Schicksal der Roma, die wir am Donnerstag begleiten werden, teilen viele andere: Sie sind in den neunziger Jahren nach Münster gekommen, hatten hier Freunde, die Kinder gingen zur Schule. Anfang der 2000er Jahre wurden sie nach Serbien abgeschoben und lebten dort in einem kaputten Haus, konnten nicht mehr zur Schule gehen, fanden keine Arbeit und waren Diskriminierungen und Perspektivlosigkeit ausgesetzt. Als die Visumpflicht für Serbien fiel, kamen sie Anfang 2010 voller Hoffnung wieder zurück nach Deutschland – endlich nach Hause! Doch hier treffen sie auf völliges Unverständnis, Arbeitsverbot und „Schnellverfahren“, um sie wie viele andere schnellstmöglich nach Serbien abzuschieben. Continue reading Kundgebung: Serbische Roma in Münster von Abschiebung bedroht! Wir bleiben dran!

Ausgegrenzt und diskriminiert

Internationales Symposium zur Situation von Sinti und Roma in Europa.

Toleranz und kulturelle Vielfalt werden gemeinhin hochgeschätzt. Doch stößt beides europaweit an eine diffuse Grenze: Mit 10 bis 12 Millionen Menschen stellen Roma und Sinti zwar die größte Minderheit in Europa. Gleichzeitig treffen sie wie keine andere Gruppe auf Vorurteile, Diskriminierung und Rassismus.

Mit den historischen Ursachen, der aktuellen sozialen Situation von Sinti und Roma sowie möglichen Strategien gegen den grassierenden Antiziganismus befasste sich ein Internationales Symposium der Allianz Kulturstiftung und der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung in Berlin, das den bewusst provokanten Titel „Was heißt denn hier Zigeuner?“ erhalten hatte.

Dass es sich bei der Diskriminierung der Rom-Völker in Europa um keine neuere Erscheinung handelt, stellten Wolfgang Ischinger, ehemaliger Staatssekretär, und Thomas Krüger, Präsident der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, in ihren einleitenden Statements klar. Seit 600 Jahren sind Sinti und Roma in Europa ansässig – und ebenso lange werden sie verachtet, verfolgt und oft zu Gewaltopfern. Die Ermordung von etwa 500.000 Sinti und Roma durch die Nationalsozialisten wurde lange Zeit allenfalls als Randthema behandelt, und bis heute tun sich Politik und Behörden schwer, Opfer, Überlebende und ihre Nachkommen angemessen zu würdigen. Continue reading Ausgegrenzt und diskriminiert

Gedenken an Milos – Die Demonstration

Trotz massiver Mobilisierung durch Infotische, dem Verteilen von 3000
Flugblättern und Mailkontakt bis hin zu Parteien ließen sich zur
angekündigten Demonstration an diesem Samstag nicht viel mehr als 50
Leute mobilisieren, was bei diesem brisantem Thema auf großes
Unverständnis der Demonstranten_innen stieß. Die Polizei als Hüter der
rassistischen kleinbürgerlichen Syker Ordnung war nicht gewillt eine
reibungslose Demonstration geschehen zu lassen, sondern versuchte alle
Möglichkeiten auszuschöpfen um die Demo zu behindern. So versuchte die
Staatsgewalt ein Verbot des Lautsprecherwagens durchzusetzen, da laut
Demoauflagen dieser erst bei einer Personenanzahl von 50 erlaubt sei.
Nach penibelem Zählen und Feilschen, Auf-, Ab- und Aufbau des
Lautsprecherwagens und dem ersten Redebeitrag via Megafon wurde eine
neue Hürde aufgebaut.

Der nächste Streitpunkt mit der Polizei war die Demonstrationroute,
welche aufgrund der vorgeschrittenen Zeit nur noch die kürzere sein
sollte. Nachdem die Anzahl von 50 Personen erreicht war, gab es von
Seiten der Demonstrationsteilnehmer_innen keinen Diskussionenbedarf,
mensch startete einfach mit Musik vom Lautsprecherwagen die lange
Strecke durch die Innenstadt über die B6 zum Rathaus. Auf der Hälfte der
Demo wurde ein Redebeitrag der Bremer Gruppe Polypol gehalten.

Der Demonstrationszug musste in der Innenstadt feststellen, dass die
Polizei im Interesse des bürgerlichen Weltbildes gehandelt hatte. Eine
heile Welt, die nichts wissen und sehen will von
Menschenrechtsverletzungen. Solange es sie selber nicht betrifft,
schließen sie lieber die Fensterläden und gucken weg. Ob dieses
Verhalten auf Panikmache der Polizei oder Ignoranz zum Thema zurück zu
führen war, sei da hingestellt.
In solch einer Gesellschaft muss mensch sich nicht wundern, dass die
Flüchtlinge der Demo fernblieben, da die Angst vor bürgerlichen und
staatlichen Repressalien allgegenwertig ist.

Am Rathaus gab es noch ein abschließenden Redebeitrag.

Vielen Dank an die wenigen Syker und besonders an die Menschen, die aus
Hamburg und Bremen angereist sind.

Syke wach auf!

Quelle: gedenkenanmilos
Stand: 22.10.2011

Czech Human Rights Commissioner asks anti-Romani reader be withdrawn from schools

Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková is asking that a reader for second-graders as well as other teaching aids be withdrawn from an ongoing „Rainbow School“ project because they include anti-Romani texts. Šimůnková has called on the Czech Education Ministry to take action on the issue.
The Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission for Romani Community Affairs met today to discuss the materials. Šimůnková informed the Czech Press Agency of her decision when the meeting was over.
The second-grade reader includes a story called „Mýdlová Madla“ („The Soapy Rail“) by Ivona Březinová. „Mama told me I shouldn’t talk to those Demeterovic boys at all … she said they’re Gypsies. Gypsies are dirty and steal,“ second-graders read in the textbook, which was published in 2005.
„Seven-year-olds have been reading this for the last six years. That is truly alarming,“ Šimůnková said. In her view, other teaching aids in the Rainbow School project for multicultural education also include „anti-Romani texts that rise to the level of racism“. The project is running in elementary schools in the Moravian-Silesian Region.
The Museum of Roma Culture drew attention to the content of the project. According to museum experts, the material depicts Romani people almost parodically, simplifies the view of Romanipen, promotes stereotypes, and is an insult to members of the minority. The material attributes behavior such as fraud, prostitution and theft to Romani people, the Human Rights Commissioner said. In her view, the teaching aids are instead supposed to serve the purpose of educating people to live in an open society.
The Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Romani Community Affairs is disturbed by the instruction materials and is demanding an explanation, calling on the Czech Education Ministry to follow the content of such teaching aids and devote attention to the issue. Šimůnková believes Czech Education Minister Josef Dobeš (Public Affairs – VV) will have the ministry review the reader and the results of the project and will remove it from instruction. She said representatives of the ministry promised her to do their utmost to address the issue.
Several activists and Romani parents drew attention to the reader three years ago. In their view, it incites racism and supports prejudice. Representatives of the ministry said at the time that the stereotypes were in the text so children could learn to overcome them.
On the other hand, one year ago Romani organizations distanced themselves from a complaint filed by the Roma Realia association over the use of a story about Mikeš the Tomcat in schools. A passage in which the cat is attacked ends with the sentence: „Dear children, those people were Gypsies.“
The Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission for Romani Community Affairs also discussed the situation in Šluknov district today and called on the cabinet to proceed systematically and to consider creating a coordinating commission on events in the region including members of the legislature, ministries, municipalities, police and regional authorities. The team would harmonize various measures in order to improve the status quo in the area. The Inter-ministerial Commission also asked the Czech Labor Ministry to submit data on the impacts of cuts to welfare on ghetto residents. The Czech Education Ministry was also asked to inform the Inter-ministerial Commission as to how many children with light, medium and severe mental disability are attending „special“ schools in the country.

Quelle: Romea.cz
Stand: 07.2011

Czech Republic: Business owner openly admits she would never employ Roma

More and more Romani people in the Czech Republic have recently encountered potential employers openly refusing to hire them because of their origins. Experts say there is a direct link between such incidents and the tense situation in the Šluknov foothills. Labor offices say they have been unable to prove that such behavior occurs, but Czech Television recently filmed one such example on hidden camera.

Employers often refer to previous bad experiences when rejecting Romani job seekers. Dana Pacíková, who wore a hidden camera for Czech Television during a job interview, confirmed this when she tried to get a job at a laundry in Běchovice. The owner, Bohumila Ševčíková, told her directly that she does not hire Romani women. Simona Šenkiová, another Romani job seeker, was also rejected by Ševčíková after the Labor Office sent her there to seek work. „Maybe she did have a bad experience with someone, but everyone is not the same, she should give someone else a chance,“ Šenkiová believes. The owner, however, insists on her policy and even repeated it on camera for Czech Television during a subsequent interview: „I don’t hire Romani people. I did it once and I had problems.“

Not so long ago, Romani people were used to learning during job interviews that their potential employer had just filled the position they were interested in, or were told to come back another time. Cases of open rejection because of their origin started turning up after the start of the unrest this year in the Šluknov district. „The only thing that makes sense, when the situation is escalating like this, is for as many Romani people as possible to be employed. Their cultural standards will start rising if they are included,“ author and journalist Karel Hvížďala told Czech Television.

Even though Ševčíková’s hiring policy contravenes the Anti-Discrimination Act, some politicians have praised it, such as Czech Senator Jaroslav Doubrava (North Bohemians Movement – Severočeši), Czech Senator Jiří Čunek (Christian Democrats – KDU-ČSL) and the chair of the Free Citizens‘ Party (Strana Svobodných), Petr Mach. Czech daily Parlamentní listy quotes Mach as saying „common sense dictates that a person has the right to conclude a contract with whomever he wants and has the right not to conclude a contract with whomever he does not want. Ms Ševčíková behaved according to common sense and the principles of natural law, but now the journalists have sniffed her out.“

Mach said he is aware that „decent“ Romani people who want to work are in a difficult position because they are often rejected due to employers‘ allegedly bad experiences with other Romani workers and said he believes employers who don’t hire „decent, hard-working“ Romani people are only harming themselves: „If, because of prejudice, someone does not hire Romani people who would be more beneficial to his firm than other workers, then that employer is just punishing himself, depriving himself of the profits he could achieve if he invested his money in the better, higher-quality workers whom he has instead rejected on the basis of prejudice.“ Mach does not believe, hower, that an authority to fine such employers is necessary.

Lawyers with the Czech Labor Office Inspection Authority will now be dealing with the case of Simona Šenkiová’s rejection. She told Czech Television that this bad experience will not keep her from continuing to seek work.

Quelle: Romea.cz
Stand: 10.11.2011

Hindus want anti-Gypsy textbook withdrawn in Czech Republic

Hindus want immediate withdrawal of a primary school textbook of Czech Republic, which reportedly stereotypes Roma (Gypsies) and is offensive. Current edition of Čítanka, a textbook for second-year Czech primary school students, reportedly stereotyped Roma as ‘dirty, thieving Gypsies’.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that the reported labeling of Roma as ‘dirty, thieving Gypsies’ was clearly a case of racial stereotyping and was not acceptable.

Mother telling her child—that Gypsies stink and steal and the child should not play with Gypsy boys—in a primary school textbook would send wrong signals to the children’s minds at an impressionable age, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, stressed.

Rajan Zed urged that in future the material of all school textbooks in Czech Republic should be pre-screened and monitored before publishing to make sure that Roma minority was not stereotyped. Moreover, some books in the Rainbow School project in primary schools in Moravian-Silesian region also reportedly contained anti-Roma material bordering on racism and should be immediately replaced.

Zed argued that Roma people in Czech Republic reportedly faced violent attacks, stereotyping, racism, prejudice, growing gap between Roma and other Czechs, fear, beatings, poor quality housing, systemic employment and overall discrimination, persecution, throwing of Molotov cocktails, social exclusion, segregated schools, forced sterilization, marginalization; refused service at restaurants, stores, discos, etc.; municipalities/towns failing to support them; and the state being unwilling or unable to offer protection.

Rajan Zed pointed out that the country of Franz Kafka, Antonin Dvorak, Jaroslav Hasek, Karlovy Vary, and rich cultural heritage should not continue staying apathetic and silent spectator ignoring Roma apartheid. Vaclav Klaus and Petr Necas are President and Prime Minister respectively of Czech Republic.

Quelle: Romea.cz
Stand: 09.11.2011