World

Human Rights Commissioner urges the Czech authorities to adopt bill on reparations for involuntary sterilisation of Roma women

22.10.2015 11:33 The Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks today urged the Czech authorities to adopt a bill on reparations for the involuntary sterilization of Roma women. “I regret the Czech government’s decision not to proceed with the adoption of the law allowing the granting of compensation to the Roma women who were victims of forced sterilisations,” he said after publishing a letter he addressed to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mr Bohuslav Sobotka, on 6 October.  full story

Czech Republic: Survey of Roma finds they do not view refugees as a threat

22.10.2015 8:16 At a time when a humanitarian crisis is impending at several European border crossings simultaneously and demonstrations both against migration and for receiving migrants have been held several times in one month in the Czech Republic, news server Romea.cz has decided to survey Romani people for their opinions on the topic of refugees. Bear in mind that this is just a narrow sample of Romani representatives and our first such report, which has more of an illustrative character than being of any compelling predictive value. We are convinced that it makes sense to familiarize our readers with the perspective of at least a few ROmani individuals, as the viewpoint of Romani minority members on this issue remains hidden from view to the broader public due to a lack of relevant sociological research.  full story

Germany: Pegida protests get ugly, mayoral candidate stabbed by xenophobe wins election in Cologne

20.10.2015 7:41 Last week Germany was in an uproar over a demonstration by the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West (Pegida) to which a protester brought a gallows with the names of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel inscribed on it. Politicians condemned the protest style as unacceptable and the state prosecutor is investigating whether it constitutes a crime.  full story

Survey shows Czechs are the least tolerant in EU toward blacks, Buddhists, Muslims, Roma

18.10.2015 12:28 A recent survey of EU countries sponsored by the European Commission to determine the level of discrimination in the Member States was published at the beginning of October. The Czech Republic comes out of the survey as one of the least tolerant countries in the EU when it comes to foreign nationals, the members of various religions, national minorities and sexual minorities.  full story

SocDems in EP may suspend Slovak ruling party for a second time over refugee crisis

18.10.2015 0:07 In a blog post for the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), Bernard Rorke, who teaches a course on "Roma Rights" at Central European University in Budapest discusses the recent proposal from the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) faction at the EP to suspend Slovakia's SMER party from the S&D Group. Rorke says Gianni Pitella, President of the S&D Group met with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to discuss his attitude about the Syrian refugee crisis on 9 October and was quoted as saying the PM's position had embarrassed the "whole Progressive family".  full story

German Police: Xenophobe stabs mayoral candidate

17.10.2015 23:42 One day prior to tomorrow's local elections an assailant has stabbed Henriette Reker, a candidate for Mayor of Cologne, at a marketplace. The online version of the daily Die Welt reports she has been seriously injured but that her life is not in danger.  full story

Trial of the Czech cell of Blood & Honour enters its final phase

17.10.2015 15:27 A nine-member group of alleged neo-Nazis from various parts of the Czech Republic has been on trial before the Regional Court in Plzeň since February. From 12-13 October, closing arguments in the case were made by the prosecution, the attorney for the victims, and two of the defendants gave final statements.  full story

Europe's human rights watchdog disturbed by Czech Republic's segregated schools and treatment of asylum-seekers

17.10.2015 0:05 The Czech Republic has not yet managed to eradicate the reprehensible segregation of Romani children in its schools - despite its integration strategy many educational institutions continue to exist that are "only for Roma" where children are taught according to reduced curricula. The Council of Europe has published this criticism in a recent report.  full story

Belgium charges French comedian over racist remarks

15.10.2015 19:59 The Belga press agency reports that controversial French comedian Dieudonné has been charged with using anti-Semitic, discriminatory speech during a performance in Belgium and faces prison time of up to six months without parole should he be convicted. "His performance is full of so many defamatory, offensive expressions that it makes one want to vomit," said Damien Leboutte, the prosecutor in Liège, when reading the indictment.  full story

Canadian airline could be sued for not honoring tickets purchased by Romani passengers

14.10.2015 23:54 CBC News reports that a human rights group based in Hungary wants Canadian-based Air Transat and other airlines that have rejected Romani passengers travelling to Canada to refund their fares. The group says as many as 50 passengers have been prevented from boarding flights to Canada recently because they either actually were or appeared to be Romani and their fares have not been refunded.  full story

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee: Opportunistic politicians evicting Roma for political gain

13.10.2015 20:39 On 9 October, Kaloyan Stanev of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee published an opinion piece through the Open Society Foundations about the evictions of Roma that have been ongoing there. He describes police giving families one hour to leave their dwellings before they are bulldozed.  full story

Austria: Not even refugee crisis could bring the ultra-right full victory, SocDems still rule Vienna

13.10.2015 5:07 The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) has won 39.4 % of the vote over its competitors, the ultra-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), and has therefore won the regional elections in Vienna. The FPÖ won 32.1 % of the vote, 6.4 % more than in 2010.  full story

Romani youth from Czech Republic receiving the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award

13.10.2015 2:31 "I would primarily like to be a role model for others who grow up in children's homes," says 19-year-old Lukáš Kotlár, who will be receiving the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award at the end of the school year. Part of the award is the Duke of Edinburgh's education program, which has supported young people from all parts of society since 1956 in dozens of countries worldwide on the way to their future employment, independence, self-awareness and social sensitivity.  full story

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