Media monitoring

Slovakia: Punishment for shooter of three Romani victims called absurdly low

Hurbanovo, Slovakia, 28.3.2013 23:12, (ROMEA) The sentence of nine years in prison and an order to undergo psychiatric treatment handed down by a court in Slovakia against municipal police officer Milan Juhász, who shot dead three people and injured two others in Hurbanovo last year, has prompted much reaction. The defendant originally faced the possibility of life in prison, but the judges chose a lighter sentence for him at the suggestion of the prosecutor and after experts testified that he had not been completely sane when he committed the shooting. The verdict has taken effect, as neither side has appealed.  full story

International focus: Roma people denied social housing in Italy

Rome, 23.3.2013 17:06, (ROMEA) Roma people in the Italian capital are being denied access to social housing – despite living in segregated and basic camps, far from facilities such as schools and hospitals. Rome's authorities have put in place regulations which prevent thousands of Roma, many of whom were born in Italy, from applying for public housing in a move which has angered human rights groups.  full story

Czech President's remarks aggravate Journalists' Syndicate

Prague, 15.3.2013 22:07, (ROMEA) The Czech Journalists' Syndicate (Syndikát novinářů) is alarmed by the fact that Czech President Miloš Zeman compared some of the Czech media to neo-Nazi militants and organized crime in his inaugural address and has sent an open letter to him in response. "This downgrading of a significant part of the Czech media is all the more striking because it is our firm conviction that the better part of the Czech media are precisely those who have steadfastly, systematically pointed out the dangers linked to the infiltration of organized crime into politics and the threat to democracy in the Czech Republic posed by extremist movements," reads the letter, which is signed by Syndicate chair Adam Černý.  full story

NPR: A 'Recovering Skinhead' On Leaving Hatred Behind

Philadelphia, 14.3.2013 16:31, (ROMEA) As a teenager, Frank Meeink was one of the most well-known skinhead gang members in the country. He had his own public access talk show, called The Reich, he appeared on Nightline and other media outlets as a spokesman for neo-Nazi topics, and he regularly recruited members of his South Philadelphia neighborhood to join his skinhead gang.  full story

Romania: They dump the Roma to the landfill

Romania, 18.2.2013 13:11, (ROMEA) In December 2012 the ERRC published its report on the Romanian Roma eviction to a rubbish dump. On the 17th December of 2010 the Romanian government evicted 270 people from the Coastei Street in the centre of Cluj-Napoca, even though it is forbidden by the Romanian law to carry out eviction during winter. The families living there just got the notice one day before they were evicted from the homes, in which they were living for 20 years. They were sent to Pata Rât which is located right next to the municipal landfill and dump. It is still operating, despite its official ‘closing’ because it could not comply with the EU waste management obligations.  full story

The ERRC submits its reports to the UN

Budapest, Hungary, 7.2.2013 11:26, (ROMEA) The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is monitoring the implementation of the homonymous convention. Their task is to investigate the racial inequality and non-discrimination. In this framework, the ERRC (European Roma Rights Centre) has handed in its parallel report concerning Slovakia. The Committee is holding the session in which this report should be considered at the 82nd Session that will takes place from the 11th February to the 1st March 2013.
 full story

The European Court of Human Rights decided: the placement of Roma children in schools for mentally disabled is discriminatory

Strasbourg, France, 31.1.2013 16:16, (ROMEA) The claim was that there is a systemic misdiagnosis of Roma children as mentally disabled which was going on since at least the 1970s. The Hungarian government was accused to use this as a tool to segregate Roma children form non-Roma children.  full story

Canada: Why are the Hungarian Roma fleeing to Canada?

Canada, 31.1.2013 13:25, (ROMEA) The situation of the Roma in Hungary is indisputable very difficult and the reasons to leave the country are obvious. The discrimination of Roma takes place very publicly. This month there was a demonstration against the governing party because of anti-Romani commentaries. And also the living standards do not fulfill human right standards. But why do they choose Canada? A flight to Canada is about 1000 $ so it is very difficult for the Roma to get there, in fact they have to sell everything they own and that is not a lot.  full story

Germany: TV discussion Sinti and Roma a concept of enemy: are we too intolerant?

Germany, 24.1.2013 14:11, (ROMEA) 58 Percent say that they do not want Sinti and Roma as neighbors. Where do those prejudices come from? Are the Germans to intolerant? There is an increase in incoming Sinti and Roma from new and future European states. It is without controversy that in their countries the Sinti and Roma live under horrible conditions and in penury. But the public fight started, not just in politics, if Germany can and should accommodate them. This public interest was the reason why they brought up the topic “Sinti and Roma a concept of enemy: are we too intolerant?” in the TV discussion round “Menschen bei Maischberger” on the 20th of November in 2012.  full story

Britain: Roma children are Britain’s hidden care problem

Rotherham, Britain, 24.1.2013 10:11, (ROMEA) “I’ve seen the news and read the stories on the internet. They’ve made me worry about my children,” says Jonas, father of four and a Roma immigrant form Czech Republic, now living in Rotherham. “They think we're stupid and can't take care of ourselves... if social services knock at my door, I won't let them in. "It's because we're Roma. We can't speak English; we're an easy target," adds his wife Yvetta. The distrust between Rotherham's Roma community and social services has grown in recent years - as has the city's Roma community.  full story

Italy: Forced evictions still continue

Italy, 17.1.2013 11:05, (ROMEA) Forced evictions of Romani communities and discrimination against them continued. The “Nomad Emergency” 9a state of emergency declared in 2008 in relation to the settlement of nomad communities in several Italian regions) was declared unlawful by the Council of State in November 2011  full story

videoHungary: Hundreds protest governing party over anti-Romani commentary

Budapest, Hungary, 14.1.2013 16:42, (ROMEA - UPDATED) Several hundred supporters of the opposition in Hungary demonstrated yesterday against racist statements made about the Romani minority by a co-founder of the conservative governing party Fidesz in front of the party's headquarters in Budapest. The protest was organized by the Democratic Coalition group of former socialist PM Ferenc Gyurcsányi.  full story

Michael Mates investigated over Gypsy comment in PCC election statement

Hampshire, 16.11.2012 12:28, (ROMEA) Hampshire police refer two complaints alleging use of racist language by candidate to neighbouring force for investigation.  full story

Spanish gypsies lament after homes demolished

Madrid, 6.11.2012 11:19, (ROMEA) Photographer Susana Vera documented the demolition of a long-standing gypsy community in Spain over the course of several months. She has created diptychs that pair images from before and after the demolition, as well as tell the story of the effect on the communities, showing the demolition of houses and the displacement of families.  full story

Many questions, few answers for Toronto’s Roma: Fiorito

Toronto, 29.10.2012 23:02, (The Star) There is more to know as a result of the Roma Health Forum held a while ago. As you recall: the purpose of the forum was to discuss the problems faced by Roma refugee claimants in Toronto.  full story

Life through a Lens with Roma children

Kosice, 29.10.2012 22:16, (Creative Boom) A photographer and lecturer from Cambridge is hoping to stage a photography project which will run for two weeks at the Roma community, Lunik IX in Košice, Slovakia.  full story

Jerusalem gypsies want Israeli citizenship

Jerusalem, 28.10.2012 20:29, (The Jerusalem Post) The 2,000 members of Jerusalem’s Muslim gypsy population want to become Israeli citizens, Mukhtar Abed Salim told Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat on Sunday. Barkat visited the capital’s small and impoverished gypsy population on Sunday to wish them happy holidays for the Eid al Adha [Feast of the Sacrifice], one of the most important Muslim holidays of the year. The gypsies, in turn, celebrated the mayor’s 53rd birthday last week with a special cake featuring the mayor’s face.  full story

Bregovic breaks down racism with 'gypsy' music

Srajevo, 27.10.2012 20:21, (Dw.de) Discrimination against Roma and Sinti communities continues to be a major problem across Europe. But the "gypsy" inspired music of world-famous Balkan musician Goran Bregovic is breaking down stereotypes.  full story

Fotis Filippou: Europe’s Roma discrimination shame

London, 27.10.2012 19:02, (CNN) A new memorial in Berlin to commemorate hundreds of thousands of Roma who were systematically murdered by the Nazis during World War II is an important official step towards marking the atrocities of the past. But given the treatment of Roma in today’s Europe, the monument near the Reichstag should give current political leaders pause for thought about the 12 million Roma who continue to face prejudice and persecution across the continent.  full story

Germany: Angela Merkel has opened a memorial in Berlin to Roma Nazi Holocaust victims

Berlin, Germany, 24.10.2012 14:41, (ROMEA) The memorial - a circular pool of water with a small plinth in the middle - is in Tiergarten park, near the Reichstag, the German parliament building.
The unveiling comes after years of delays and disputes over the memorial's design and its cost. Politicians, Holocaust survivors, the artist and various victims’ associations were debating for 20 years.  full story