World

EU-funded online Roma resources project draws criticism from academics and activists

12.10.2015 16:42 Stefan Benedik of the History Department at the University of Graz in Austria has written a protest letter regarding the online promotional video for a project called "e-roma-resource" (e-RR) funded by the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme. The video has since been removed.  full story

As evictions continue in Albania, Romani women reach out to local elected officials

7.10.2015 21:58 Activist Ola Tare in Albania has contacted the Roma Virtual Network to report the planned eviction of Roma families living in an informal encampment near a man-made lake in the capital, Tirana. The municipality reportedly announced the eviction on 2 October because of redevelopment plans and alleged that the families were "harm[ing]... the environment and their [own] health."  full story

Anti-immigrant arson, violence mark 80th anniversary of Nazi race laws, German civil society and leaders respond

6.10.2015 8:09 The month of September saw more arson attacks on prospective asylum-seeker facilities in western Germany. A former school in Gersheim meant to shelter several dozen people was intentionally set ablaze on 10 September, according to the Saarland State Police Presidium.  full story

Roma Pride marches in 14 European cities call for removal of pig farm on concentration camp site in Czech Republic

5.10.2015 5:22 Roma Pride 2015 took place yesterday in Prague and other European countries. About 50 people attended carrying banners reading "Hate is No Solution", "Remove the pig farm from the site of the Romani concentration camp at Lety" or "For dignified conditions for all Holocaust victims".  full story

Dom refugees from Syria tell ERRC "We just want to live"

3.10.2015 2:07 Members of the Dom minority have been subjected to decades of discrimination in Syria and across the Middle East. Now that they are fleeing Syria and seeking refuge in neighboring countries, they are experiencing discrimination on a whole new set of grounds as asylum-seekers.  full story

Compensation for victims of forced sterilization raised at OSCE event on Roma

2.10.2015 2:27 Speaking at the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw on 1 October, two Romani civil society members raised the urgent issue of the Czech Government's decision not to compensate the victims of forced sterilizations, human rights abuses that have taken place over the course of decades in the former Czechoslovakia and its successor states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, including into the 21st century. Karolina Mirga of the Ternype network raised the issue as well as the continued presence of an industrial pig farm on the site of a former concentration camp for Roma at Lety in the Czech Republic.  full story

LIVE: OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting addresses Roma today and tomorrow, watch online

1.10.2015 2:49 At 10 AM CET today the second week of the OSCE's Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) comes to a close with two days devoted to Romani issues. The live webcast of the meeting is available at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cWS7cst3aUm and will be archived there.  full story

France: Roma celebrity Eric Cantona offers to house asylum-seekers

29.9.2015 21:40 Online news server TheLocal.fr reported on 10 September that famous ex-footballer Eric Cantona has criticized the French Government's approach to asylum-seekers and is ready to house them in his own home. Cantona made his remarks in an interview for the French daily Le Parisien.  full story

Iulius Rostas: Social change for Roma is not about money, but political will

28.9.2015 19:33 Iulius Rostas is a Visiting Lecturer at Corvinus University of Budapest currently teaching a course on "Roma - State and European Policies". News server Romea.cz interviewed him about the course and his work.  full story

Amnesty International: EU refugee summit lacked courage, chaos will continue

25.9.2015 19:12 European politicians have been criticized by human rights NGOs over the results of their extraordinary summit on migration. Amnesty International (AI) believes the summit's emphasis on protecting the EU's external borders ignores both the reality of the global migration crisis and those countries' obligations to offer protection to those who cannot find it elsewhere.  full story

EU approves refugee redistribution quotas, extraordinary summit says chaos must end

24.9.2015 20:55 On 22 September the interior ministers of the EU-28 cast a majority vote to approve quotas for redistribution of refugees among EU countries. Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec tweeted that those opposed were the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, while Finland abstained.  full story

European Association for the Defence of Human Rights: Europe, quo vadis?

24.9.2015 19:19 Is there a migrant and/or refugee crisis? Or is there a European crisis? The European Association for the Defence of Human Rights (AEDH) considers that this issue has implications for the future of the European Union, given the powerful consequences of member states’ decisions for the rights of migrants, whether they are fleeing war, repression, poverty or death. While thousands of human beings – men, women and children – have put their faith in Europe in order to survive and rebuild their lives, the governments of EU countries have responded with, at best, a limited form of generosity and, at worst, national preference, violence, xenophobia and racism. The Council of Ministers’ failure to understand that global instability cannot be solved with barriers or walls has led to meetings that reveal serious flaws in European integration. Despite claiming to uphold the rule of law, it has shown itself to be fearful, poisoned by suspicion and even hatred of outsiders. Some governments have spread the illusion of an illegal and organised invasion to justify the use of violence, with potentially fatal consequences.  full story

Spanish Romani Union offers to aid Gov't with Romani refugees from Syria and elsewhere

23.9.2015 23:07 The Spanish Romani Union (SRU) sent a letter on 7 September to Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría offering the services of its Legal Department for working with Romani and other refugees about to be redistributed to Spain by the European Union. In the letter, the SRU praises the Government for publicly confirming that Spain will not turn away any asylum-seekers and for creating an inter-ministerial commission on the issue of refugee redistribution.  full story

European Parliament supports Commission's proposal for refugee redistribution

23.9.2015 19:03 On 17 September the European Parliament supported by a large majority the European Commission's proposal to redistribute 120 000 asylum-seekers currently in Greece, Hungary and Italy throughout the EU-28. The vote preceded the recent meeting of EU Member State interior ministers at which the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia were outvoted on the issue of quotas for redistribution.  full story

Zazzle responds about anti-Gypsyist T-shirt

23.9.2015 16:50 News server Romea.cz reported yesterday that the German-language pages of the Zazzle online retailer were offering a T-shirt reading "GYPSY HUNTER BADGE - WE KILL THE GYPSIES". The item was no longer for sale approximately two hours later.  full story

European Commission wants concrete statistics on the integration of disadvantaged children into Czech schools

23.9.2015 5:21 The European Commission will be following the Czech Republic's next steps aiming at better integrating children from socially disadvantaged families into the Czech school system. EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová announced the news today after meeting with Czech Education Minister Kateřina Valachová in Brussels.  full story

Juan de Dios Ramírez-Heredia: Hunger and fear are stronger than barbed-wire fences

23.9.2015 1:32 The following opinion piece by Juan de Dios Ramírez-Heredia, former Member of the European Parliament and current President of the Spanish Romani Union, was first distributed through the Roma Virtual Network on 17 September 2015 and is reprinted here with permission.
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T-shirt reading "WE KILL THE GYPSIES" for sale online by Zazzle

22.9.2015 17:26 At 15:12 CET today the Czech edition of news server Romea.cz reported that the German-language pages of the Zazzle online retailer were offering a T-shirt reading "GYPSY HUNTER BADGE - WE KILL THE GYPSIES". Zazzle is one of the biggest, must progressive firms in its field, offering customers the opportunity to create their own logos for placement on T-shirts or other items and then to sell their creations through the firm's online store.  full story

Central European artists and politicians call for solidarity with migrants

18.9.2015 20:51 Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Associated Press (AP) report that Czech film director Jiří Menzel and former Czech Prime Minister Petr Pithart are among hundreds of artists and politicians from Central Europe who have called on the citizens and representatives of their countries to demonstrate solidarity with asylum-seekers. The AFP reports that Central European citizens frequently are antagonistic and sometimes hostile towards migrants coming to Europe.  full story

Bulgarian NGOs get injunction suspending demolition of Roma homes in Peshtera

17.9.2015 20:48 A Bulgarian coalition of Romani NGOs called the National Roma Coalition "Intellect" has issued a press release in response to the advice given to the Bulgarian Government by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on 15 September. The ECtHR has advised that “without a definite commitment on its part to ensure the accommodation of the vulnerable members of the applicants’ families before the demolition of their homes, the Court will, in application of Rule 39 of its Rules, indicate to that Government not to proceed with this measure”.
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