Category Archives: Posts in English

Analyse und Kritik des Antiziganismus, Antiziganismus von Rechts, Antiziganistische Übergriffe, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Ungarn

Remembrance for 2009 Roma slayings

Candles were lit and a mass was celebrated in Budapest on Tuesday in memory of the Roma father and his son who were murdered two years ago in the central Hungarian village of Tatarszentgyorgy.

27-year-old Robert Csorba and his five-year-old son were killed by gun shots as they were trying to escape their house set ablaze by a petrol bomb. The six-year-old daughter of the family suffered serious injuries.

The murder was part of a series of attacks carried out in central and eastern Hungarian villages from July 2008 to August 2009. The brutal attacks killed six Roma people and seriously injured five others. A total of 78 shots were fired at nine different locations and Molotov cocktails thrown at seven homes.

Four suspects taken into custody in August 2009 awaiting trial, scheduled for this March.

„We should not let Hungary to be split, and people to be killed only because they were born as Roma,“ Agnes Daroczi of the Phralipe Independent Roma Organisation told the commemoration in front of Saint Stephen’s Basilica.

She said that the Tatarszentgyorgy victims had been killed by „neo-Nazi murderers“ and expressed hope that the court trial would clarify who had stood in the background and commissioned the perpetrators.

Quelle: caboodle.hu
Stand: 23.02.2011

Analyse und Kritik des Antiziganismus, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Tschechien

Museum of Roma Culture removed from Holocaust memorial project at Hodonín by Kunštát

Representatives of the Society of Roma in Moravia are criticizing the fact that the Museum of Roma Culture in Brno will not be a co-designer of a new memorial to the Roma Holocaust to be erected at Hodonín by Kunštát. Karel Holomek told the Czech Press Agency today that the museum has devoted itself to the creation of such a memorial for the past 20 years and has a full understanding of the history of the camp. He has sent a letter to the Czech Prime Minister, the Culture Minister and the Education Minister protesting the fact that the museum is about to lose its ability to influence the project.

Last year the Czech Education Ministry planned to build the world’s first information center about the Roma Holocaust at the site of the former concentration camp for Roma in Hodonín by Kunštát. The ministry has recently released the following statement about those plans: „Construction of the large International Educational and Conference Center on a far-off site in the forest is not an economical option. Above all, it would be unsustainable without permanent increases in state investment.“ Continue reading Museum of Roma Culture removed from Holocaust memorial project at Hodonín by Kunštát →

Antiziganismus auf politischer Ebene, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Ungarn

Controversy over comments about Roma by Hungarian far-Right leader

Gábor Vona, chairman of the radical nationalist party Jobbik, has recently come under fire for comments made about Roma in Hungary.

During a parliament session on the 14th February, he said that a major problem in Hungary was the fast reproductive rate of the gypsy community.

The Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly László Kövér made no objection to this remark. When the Socialist chairman Attila Mesterházy later advised Kövér to take action against similar behaviour in the future, he was told by the Speaker to not commentate on how the session was being led or else he would not be allowed to speak. Continue reading Controversy over comments about Roma by Hungarian far-Right leader →

Antiziganismus auf politischer Ebene, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Rumänien

Romanian Senate rejects bill to officially rename Roma „Gypsies“

The Romanian Senate has voted down a bill to officially rename the Roma minority „Gypsies“. Romanian press agency Mediafax reports senators voted 51 against the bill and 27 in favor, with five abstentions.

The bill claimed the change was needed because of the similarity between the name of the country of Romania („Romania“ in Romanian) and that of the Roma („Romi“ in Romanian). It also argued that the term „Gypsies“ („Tsigani“ in Romanian) is more widespread in the country. The Associated Press reports that two parliamentary committees endorsed the change last week.

Roma associations did not like the idea from the start, as they consider the label of „Gypsies“ to be abusive. In their view the term labels the Roma as a nation that is poor, rootless and uneducated.

Quelle: Romea.cz
Stand: 10.02.2011

Fundstücke, Posts in English, Staatlicher Antiziganismus, Tschechien

Romani agency ends activity over alleged segregation

Prague, Feb 3 (CTK) – The Czech government agency for Romany inclusion will immediately stop its activities in Holesov, south Moravia, over the town hall’s allegedly segregationist policies, Vaclav Zeman, from the agency, has told CTK, citing the monitoring committee’s decision.

The 20-member committee comprises experts from Romany associations, ministries, regional authorities and town halls.

Holesov mayor Zdenek Janalik, however, dismisses the claim, saying it is a misunderstanding.

„The Holesov town hall applies practices of segregation instead of integration. We want to send a clear sign to Holesov and other towns that such approach is incompatible with the agency’s,“ said Czeslaw Walek, director of the Government Office’s human rights section and a member of the monitoring committee.

The agency, which provides advice to towns on issues related to Romany integration, will discontinue its cooperation with Holesov after the town hall had more than 70 local Romanies moved from the town to container-like houses on its outskirts, Walek said.

According to an analysis experts completed a couple of years ago, there are over 300 excluded localities, houses or neighbourhoods, in the Czech Republic. Romanies prevail among their inhabitants. Many Romany children end up in „practical schools“ for pupils with learning difficulties, which critics say is inappropriate.

The agency’s workers try to coordinate cooperation of local town halls, labour offices, schools and NGOs on a local Romany integration plan outlining the necessary steps in areas such as education, housing, safety and employment.

The agency also helps towns apply for EU subsidies.

The agency started operation in 12 towns in 2008, and later it extended it to include another 11 towns.

In accordance with schedule, it plans to end its activities in six towns in mid-2011. In another six it will continue to operate until end-2012.

Quelle: Prague Daily Monitor
Stand: 16.02.2011

Antiziganistische Übergriffe, Fundstücke, Italien, Posts in English

Italy: Fire Attack Against Roma Settlement in Sesto Fiorentino (Florence). Urgent Help Needed

Sesto Fiorentino (FI), January 1, 2011. Arson is the cause of the fire that destroyed a Roma settlement in Sesto Fiorentino. EveryOne and Opera Nomadi urge authorities to investigate because of attempted murder of 100 Roma people. Urgent project to protect and integrate the Roma families is needed!

Florence, January 1, 2011. Opera Nomadi Toscana and EveryOne Group is asking the Public Prosecutor of Florence to establish the dynamics and evidence on the fire destroying a large shed last night, December 31, 2010, in Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), via del Ponte di Quaracchi No. 72, to proceed against unknown criminals if the Prosecutor recognizes the crimes of arson and attempted murder against the local Roma community. Continue reading Italy: Fire Attack Against Roma Settlement in Sesto Fiorentino (Florence). Urgent Help Needed →

Analyse und Kritik des Antiziganismus, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Sonst in Europa

Colorful but colorblind

Introduction

It is generally thought that the Roma journey westward started in India more than a thousand years ago, though the group didn’t appear in Europe until the fourteenth century. Estimates on the number of Roma in Europe today range between ten and twelve million, with most living in Central and Eastern Europe in conditions of social deprivation and often facing outright discrimination. The scant historical records on the Roma people and its dispersion through much of the continent account for centuries of negative stereotyping-and sometimes romanticizing-that portrays Roma as nomadic, mythical and exotic people who neither fit in, nor belong.

This project seeks to counter these age-old prejudices with twenty-five stories featuring personal insights into the daily lives of Roma people. Colorful but Colorblind, uses multimedia storytelling to promote social integration of Roma in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. The stories journey into Roma life in some of the newest EU member states, exploring contemporary Roma identities and culture and obstacles that Roma communities face in achieving equality. The stories were produced by teams comprising Roma and majority-community journalists from these countries in collaboration with graduate students from the School of Communication at the University of Miami.

Tihomir Loza
Project Director

-> Colorful but colorblind

Fundstücke, Posts in English, Rumänien, Staatlicher Antiziganismus

Basescu denounces Roma bill

By Neil Buckley, Eastern Europe Editor

13/12/2010 – Traian Basescu, the Romanian president, has denounced a bill before the country’s parliament to rename the country’s 1.5m Roma minority internally as “Tigani”, or gypsies, saying he would refuse to sign it into law.
The controversial bill, put forward by Silviu Prigoana, a member of the centre-right PDL party that is the biggest in Romania’s two-party coalition, would ban Romanian institutions from using the word Roma. It would replace it with a word meaning “gypsies”, but which is seen as having negative connotations in Romanian. Continue reading Basescu denounces Roma bill →

Analyse und Kritik des Antiziganismus, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Sonst in Europa

Hearing discusses plight of Europe’s marginalised Roma

There are around 12 million Roma living in Europe and they are the EU’s largest ethnic minority. They continue to suffer serious systematic discrimination in education, housing, employment and often have limited or no access to healthcare and other public services. „Roma are EU citizens like everyone else,“ said Kinga Göncz (S&D) who is drafting the opinion of the Employment Committee on Roma inclusion. A recent hearing looked at the plight of the Roma in Europe and ways to improve their lives.

The hearing by the Civil Liberties Committee on 30 November- 1 December brought together all those involved and affected by the EU’s „Strategy on Roma inclusion“. Hungarian MEP Lívia Járóka has just drafted a report on the strategy and the issues involved. It formed a basis for much of the debate. Continue reading Hearing discusses plight of Europe’s marginalised Roma →

Antiziganismus von Rechts, Antiziganistische Übergriffe, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Tschechien

Czech court may soon rule in case of attack on Roma in Havířov

On Tuesday, 30 November the trial of eight young men charged with jointly committing a racially motivated attack on Roma in the Šumbark and Prostřední Suchá quarters of Havířov will continue at the Regional Court in Ostrava. One of the victims has been permanently injured as a result. The trial is closed to the public because at the time of the crime, one of the defendants was still a minor. Continue reading Czech court may soon rule in case of attack on Roma in Havířov →