World

The European Roma Institute: Frequently Asked Questions

10.6.2015 18:33 The Roma Initiatives Office of the Open Society Foundations, which is one of the founding members of the nascent European Roma Institute (ERI), has released a set of answers to the "Frequently Asked Questions" now circulating about the ERI. The responses were drafted jointly by the Open Society Foundations, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Roma Issues of the Council of Europe, and the spokespersons for the Alliance for the European Roma Institute; an abridged version of the text is below and the full paper can be read here.  full story

UN Human Rights Council review of anti-Gypsyism will be webcast live next week

10.6.2015 3:12 Rita Izsák, the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, will present her study of the human rights situation for Romani people worldwide before the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday, 15 June 2015. Last year the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution recognizing that Roma have faced widespread discrimination worldwide, in all areas of life, for half a millenium or more.  full story

From the Balkans to the Baltics, Roma groups express support for a European Roma Institute

4.6.2015 21:10 During the past week, three declarations of support for the establishment of a European Roma Institute (ERI) have been issued by Roma from very different parts of Europe, in English, through the Roma Virtual Network listserv. Zeljko Jovanovic, director of the Open Society Foundations' Roma Initiatives Office (RIO), also discussed the idea of the ERI at a conference in Prague last week as part of the Khamoro World Roma Festival.  full story

Bulgaria: Regional governor says situation in Garmen is calming down

4.6.2015 17:03 The Focus Information Agency (FIA) reports that the Regional Governor of Blagoevgrad, Biser Mihailov, met with Bulgarian Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova this week to discuss recent anti-Romani unrest in the town of Garmen. "CCTV will be installed in the municipality by the municipal administration at the order of the mayor," Mahailov said.  full story

Norwegian photographer fascinated by Roma ability to maintain cultural heritage in desperate conditions

3.6.2015 15:15 In Oslo a book about Norwegian Romani people was recently been published featuring the photographs of Gorm K. Gaare. He has also documented the lives of Roma in Bulgaria, in the Czech town of Bělá nad Radbuzou near Plzeň, and in Slovakia.  full story

Nine aid workers of Czech NGO murdered in Afghanistan

2.6.2015 13:49 Nine Afghani employees of the Czech organization People in Need were killed last night during an attack perpetrated by armed men in the north of Afghanistan. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported the news, citing a local representative, and the Czech News Agency confirmed the reports with the organization's director, Šimon Pánek.  full story

France sees annual celebration of Sara e Kali, the patron saint of Roma

31.5.2015 8:47 On Sunday, 24 May, the traditional pilgrimage of Sara e Kali, a celebration of the patron saint of Romani people, Saint Sarah, took place in the south of France. The festival takes place in the village of Saintes Marie de la Mer and tens of thousands of Romani people from all over Europe visit it annually.  full story

Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner criticizes Norway for taking Romani children into care

22.5.2015 9:21 Half of the children from Norwegian Romani families in Oslo are in foster care or at risk of being removed from their birth families by the courts. Nils Muižnieks, the Human Rights Commissioner at the Council of Europe, has included that information in his current report on Norway.  full story

video Marine Le Pen visits former Czech President, activists confront her in Prague

8.5.2015 11:38 Activists from the Young Greens (Mladí zelení) organization in the Czech Republic protested on 6 May at a conference called "Peace and Prosperity in Europe After the European Union" against the appearance of French politician Marine Le Pen in the Czech Parliament. The chair of France's Front National (FN) arrived in Prague on Tuesday and attended the conference, which was organized by the Civic Conservative Party (Občanská konzervativní strana - OKS).  full story

EP is for quotas on refugees, Czech politicians can't agree

7.5.2015 16:53 On Saturday, 2 May a total of 3 427 refugees were rescued from boats in the Mediterranean Sea during several interventions near the coast of Libya, according to the Italian Coast Guard. The service has been rescuing thousands of African immigrants from overcrowded smuggling vessels that frequently capsize on their way to Italy, with many lives lost.  full story

Boxer Tyson Fury, proud of his Irish Traveller origin, has challenged Wladimir Klitschko

Great Britain, 1.5.2015 5:46 BBC.com reports that Tyson Fury, the British professional boxer who is the current EBU heavyweight champion and has embraced his Irish Traveller heritage, will be the next challenger to Wladimir Klitschko. Last Saturday night Klitschko reconfirmed his position as world champion, defending his heavyweight title.  full story

Most Czechs agree with accepting refugees from war

1.5.2015 5:04 People in the Czech Republic are more willing to accept refugees today according to a survey performed by the Median agency for Czech Radio. The survey found that 42 % of Czechs would accept some refugees in a spirit of solidarity.  full story

Germany: Former concentration camp prisoner outrages co-accusers by shaking the hand of indicted former SS member

29.4.2015 17:37 During the trial of Oskar Gröning, a former volunteer with the SS who worked at the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz, Eva Kor, a former prisoner, shook the indicted man's hand in a gesture of reconciliation. Yesterday the 49 other Holocaust victims who are Kor's co-accusers in the lawsuit against Gröning expressed their objections to her gesture.  full story

UK tabloid columnist calls African refugees "cockroaches"

28.4.2015 0:45 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has charged the British tabloid The Sun with inciting hatred of immigrants. The daily published a column in which author Katie Hopkins compares African refugees to "cockroaches" and talks about them as "savages".  full story

Mattel causes uproar with use of term "Nazi Poland" in card game

27.4.2015 21:57 Poland has been outraged by the use of the phrase "Nazi Poland" in a popular card game produced by Mattel, the largest toy producer in the USA. Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna has threatened to take the maker of the Barbie and Ken dolls to court unless the game concerned is removed from the market.  full story

75th anniversary of decision to create the Auschwitz concentration camp

27.4.2015 17:58 Seventy-five years ago, on 27 April 1940, Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler issued the decision that formed the basis for the establishment of a concentration and extermination camp in the Polish town of Oświęcim. In the infamous "death factory", called Auschwitz in German, more than 1.1 million human beings lost their lives, the vast majority of them Jewish.  full story

EU tripling funds for Mediterranean Sea rescue, Czech Republic providing experts, funds and a plane

25.4.2015 22:51 Speaking after an extraordinary summit on migration in Brussels on 24 April, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists the European Union will triple its funding for the Frontex agency's operations in the Mediterranean Sea. President of the EU Council Donald Tusk added that presidents and prime ministers have already promised airplanes, boats, experts and money.  full story

Council of Europe: Refugees and violence against Romani people are current problems

25.4.2015 1:24 Last year was a bad year for fundamental human rights in the 47 member countries of the Council of Europe (CoE). CoE Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks says in his regular report that the reasons for this are the crisis around refugees in the Mediterranean Sea, the conflict in Ukraine, and attacks on media freedom.  full story

Germany: SS volunteer charged with participating in 300 000 murders at Auschwitz

22.4.2015 21:24 On Tuesday, 21 April 2015, the trial of 93-year-old Oskar Gröning, who worked in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz, began under intense media scrutiny. Gröning, who is charged with participating in the deaths of 300 000 Jewish people, recognized in his opening statement that he bears moral responsibility for his actions and said he believes the court must decide whether he is criminally culpable.  full story

Czech PM wants to increase aid to refugees after 900 drown near Italy, EU convenes extraordinary summit

21.4.2015 21:09 Yesterday foreign ministers from EU countries were slated to review the situation of thousands of people dying in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to get to Europe. Federica Mogherini, the head of European diplomacy, asked over the weekend for this point to be added to the agenda of yesterday's meeting after yet another in a series of accidents at sea evidently cost the lives of as many as 900 people Saturday.  full story