World

Hungary: Demonstration against fence on Serbian border says "Jesus was a refugee too"

20.7.2015 19:57 Reuters reports that approximately 1 000 people demonstrated on 14 July in the center of Budapest against the construction of a fence on the border with Serbia that is supposed to prevent immigrants from entering Hungary. The declaration of the civic initiatives who organized the demonstration reads as follows: "As far as the construction of the wall goes, the Hungarian Government seems to exceptionally competent. The Government is erecting ever-newer walls between the various layers of society... It is blowing up bridges between politics and society... After so many symbolic walls it has now, at the height of its own cynicism, arrived at an actual wall... There have been enough walls - let's instead build hospitals, houses and schools for Hungarians and immigrants! Asylum seekers are neither angels nor devils but human beings, and as such they have a right to humane treatment and a dignified reception procedure... The money allocated to build this wall is already, at this phase of design planning, the equivalent of the entire budget of the Hungarian state for refugee matters for the last 11 years."  full story

European Roma Information Office publishes fact sheet on anti-Roma hate speech in European media

19.7.2015 3:29 The European Roma Information Office, a Brussels-based international advocacy organization promoting discussion of Romani issues, has published a fact sheet to raise awareness about hate speech against Romani people in the European media. The fact sheet defines hate speech against Roma as any public conduct that "wilfully expresses intense hostility towards Roma on the basis of their ethnicity".  full story

Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner: Romani migrants' rights are being violated

18.7.2015 23:00 Nils Muiznieks, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, published a commentary on 16 July calling for myths about Romani migration in Europe to be debunked. In the commentary, Muiznieks asserts that media in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the UK have "often put forward unfounded figures about actual or potential arrivals of Roma."  full story

European Court of Justice finds Czech utility discriminates against Roma in Bulgaria

18.7.2015 19:32 Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that yesterday the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that the decision by the Bulgarian division of the Czech power company ČEZ to install electricity meters in the predominantly Romani-occupied quarter of the town of Dupnica at a greater height than in other parts of town constitutes discrimination. ČEZ spokesperson Barbora Půlpánová, however, told the Czech News Agency that the meters were installed prior to ČEZ entering the Bulgarian market.  full story

Commentary: A hijacked ceremony and the moral power of the Mothers of Srebrenica

16.7.2015 19:24 When Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić set out last Saturday for the ceremony commemorating the 20th anniversary of the genocide near the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, he probably did not expect to be received with applause, but he probably did not suspect he would have to quickly leave the memorial to the victims at the former UN base in Srebrenica-Potočari in a stampede under a hail of curses, plastic bottles and rocks. On a day that was supposed to honor the memory of the more than 8 000 ethnic Muslims massacred by Bosnian Serbian military units in July 1995 near Srebrenic the victims instead became yet again a target of hypocritical political games at truth and reconciliation.  full story

Germany: Arsonists set another refugee facility on fire, shooting also reported

16.7.2015 18:09 Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that unidentified arsonists in Germany have set yet another building on fire that had been prepared to accommodate refugees. Last night arsonists attacked the still-empty complex in the Bavarian town of Reichertshofen.
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Slovakia: Romani pharmacy student attacked, her father claims it was racism

16.7.2015 16:00 An unidentified assailant used a wooden stick to attack Tereza Berkyová, a young Romani woman who is a gifted violinist and pharmacy student, after she performed with a folklore ensemble at a festival last weekend in the town of Detva. Her father told the Slovak TV station Markíza that he believes the attack was racially motivated.  full story

Slovak ombud says police raid on Roma settlement was unnecessary

15.7.2015 0:29 The SITA agency reports that the Slovak Public Defender of Rights (the ombud), Jana Dubovcová, says the police raid on the village of Vrbnica in Slovakia this past April was not necessary and should never have happened. She has completed her investigation of the intervention.  full story

MEP and OSCE/ODIHR call for evictions of Roma to end in Bulgaria

14.7.2015 19:01 Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), called on Bulgarian authorities yesterday to immediately address inter-ethnic tension and halt evictions in Roma communities. On 29 June, Romani families were forcefully evicted from their homes in the municipality of Garmen.  full story

Bulgaria: European Court of Human Rights says Gov't must stop house demolition in Garmen

12.7.2015 21:45 The Equal Opportunities Inititative Association (EOIA) in Bulgaria reports that on 10 July the European Court of Human Rights issued "urgent interim measures" over the house demolitions planned for tomorrow in the town of Garmen. Under Rule 39 of the Rules of the Court, the measures urge the Bulgarian government to “stop the demolitions, until alternative housing is secured for the vulnerable claimants”.  full story

Portugal releases its first national Roma survey

11.7.2015 0:39 News server theportugalnews.com reports that the first-ever national study of the Roma in Portugal was published at the end of June. Its findings include the information that Portuguese Roma have little formal education, marry young, and mainly work in fairs.  full story

Poland: Roma Caravan commemorates Holocaust

10.7.2015 22:05 The unmarked graves of hundreds of Romani people murdered during WWII are scattered throughout Poland, according to Adam Bartosz, curator of the Regional Museum in Tarnów. One mass grave of Romani victims in Szczurowa village (Małopolska province) is probably the largest, containing 93 people, as almost the entire Romani settlement was killed and buried there.  full story

Pope Francis asks forgiveness for crimes against indigenous people and criticizes "new colonialism"

10.7.2015 18:30 "I humbly ask forgiveness, not just for the sins of the Church itself, but also for crimes committed committed against the indigenous inhabitants during the so-called settling of America," Pope Francis told an applauding crowd during a world meeting of movements representing impoverished people in the Bolivian town of Santa Cruz. The Pope acknowledged that "in the name of God", serious sins had been perpetrated against indigenous people.  full story

EU-28 ministers have not yet reached full agreement on refugee redistribution

10.7.2015 16:19 Interior Ministers of the Member States of the European Union were unable to fully reach agreement yesterday on how they will redistribute 40 000 asylum seekers currently in Greece and Italy throughout the EU over the next two years. Jean Asselborn, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg, which currently presides over the EU, is convinced that agreement will be reached at the next meeting on 20 July.  full story

Roma in Denmark, Norway and Sweden not being "run" by organized crime

9.7.2015 22:06 News server west-info.eu, which reports on European welfare policies, say a new report from Fafo, a Scandinavian social research foundation, has found no evidence that Romani people in Denmark, Norway and Sweden are being managed by organized crime. The report contradicts claims that Romani people are being trafficked into those countries.  full story

Hungary adopts law allowing construction of fence against immigrants

9.7.2015 19:53 Reuters reports that the Hungarian Parliament adopted a law on 6 July tightening conditions for granting asylum and allowing the construction of a fence on the border with Serbia to halt the influx of immigrants entering the country illegally. The new law shortens the time for evaluating asylum requests and facilitates the rejection of applications from immigrants who have passed through a so-called "safe country" where they were not in serious danger while fleeing, for example, Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria.  full story

ERRC publishes Roma Rights issue honoring the late Nicolae Gheorghe

9.7.2015 16:39 The current issue of Roma Rights, the journal of the European Roma Rights Centre, is dedicated to the life and work of the late Nicolae Gheorghe. Guest editor Nicoleta Bitu compiled the issue.  full story

Croatia: 500 stateless persons are mostly Roma

9.7.2015 4:12 News server dalje.com reports that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are approximately 500 stateless persons in Croatia and twice as many at risk of statelessness. They have no citizenship or personal identification and are therefore unable to exercise their rights, find jobs, get married or apply for health insurance.  full story

Canada accused of racially profiling Roma travellers from Hungary at European airport

9.7.2015 0:28 In an echo of the approach taken by the UK toward Romani air passengers from the Czech Republic in 2001, Romani citizens of Hungary say Canadian border officials are stopping them in Europe from boarding flights to Canada, according to thestar.com. Romani author Eva Kalla (age 60), a citizen of Hungary, was stopped at the airport in Vienna and referred to a Canadian border official who refused to let her fly to Toronto - even though EU citizens need no visas to do so.  full story

Bulgarian NGO to sue over ongoing forced demolition of Romani homes in Garmen

8.7.2015 20:49 News server novinite.com reports that the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) has issued a press release stating its objections to the ongoing forced demolition of buildings in the "Kremikovtsi" Romani quarter of the village of Garmen. The 29 June demolition rendered four families with a total of 15 children homeless and more demolitions are scheduled for 13 July, according to the Amalipe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance, which also reports that 124 of the quarter's 134 houses are slated for demolition.  full story