World

videoHungary: Second annual BUVERO camp for young Romani women underway

Dunavarsány, Hungary, 15.8.2014 23:35, (ROMEA) The second year of BUVERO, the Romedia Foundation's summer camp for young Romani women is underway from 9-23 August in Dunavarsány, Hungary. This year the number of participants has doubled and24 young Romani women are attending what the foundation calls an "intense and rewarding learning experience".  full story

John Kerry: Statement in Commemoration of the World War II Genocide of Roma

Washington, 2.8.2014 21:07, (ROMEA) We pause today to mourn and remember the hundreds of thousands of Romani men, women and children who were savagely and senselessly murdered by the Nazis during World War II.  full story

Council of Europe: Handbook Launched on Remembrance Day of the Roma Holocaust

Strasbourg, 2.8.2014 20:54, (ROMEA) Even in 2014 many people have never heard of the Roma genocide or porrajmos in which at least half a million Roma died. A new handbook, launched on August 2 – Roma and Sinti Genocide Remembrance Day – is designed to change that.  full story

Ahead of 70th anniversary of “Gypsy camp” liquidation at Auschwitz-Birkenau, ODIHR Director urges leaders to speak out against anti-Roma rhetoric

Warsaw, 2.8.2014 15:49, (ROMEA) Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), speaking ahead of Saturday’s 70th anniversary of the liquidation of the “Zigeunerlager”, or “Gypsy Camp”, at Auschwitz-Birkenau called today on political leaders not only to refrain from scapegoating Roma and Sinti communities, but also to speak out against racist rhetoric in public discourse that can fuel anti-Roma sentiment in society.  full story

ERTF commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Genocide on Roma

Brussels, 1.8.2014 23:58, (ROMEA) With a minute of silence at noon beside the Holocaust memorial stone in front of the Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg, the European Forum for Roma and Travellers (ERTF) remembered more than 3,000 Roma exterminated by the German Nazis during the night of 2-3 August 1944 in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.  full story

UN: Ensuring the right to remembrance and dignity for the Roma people

geneva/New York, 1.8.2014 23:53, (ROMEA) On the 70th anniversary of the Roma Holocaust –‘Porrajmos’ or ‘Pharrajimos’– two United Nations human rights experts urge all governments around the world to ensure the right to remembrance for the Roma people.  full story

videoVIDEO: 1.000 young Europeans remember the 70th anniversary of the Roma Genocide

Krakow, 31.7.2014 10:07, (ROMEA) This coming August 2 marks the 70th anniversary of the Roma Genocide. On this date in 1944, 2,897 elderly men and women, as well as children were murdered in the gas chambers of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. TernYpe – International Roma Youth Network and its partners organize an international conference and youth event gathering 1.000 people from 25 countries to both honour the past and to ensure a future where the rights and dignity of Roma communities are respected.  full story

ERRC: No Place in School for Roma Children in France?

Budapest/Paris, 30.7.2014 11:13, (ROMEA) According to research conducted by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) in the beginning of 2014, children of many Roma in France have restricted access to primary education. More than half of those surveyed are out of school. The ERRC calls on French authorities to provide the children of Roma EU citizens with access to education.  full story

New book describes the fates of Czechoslovaks executed by Soviets

Moscow/Prague, 29.7.2014 23:31, (ROMEA) The fates of more than 100 Czechoslovak citizens and members of the Czech minority executed by the Soviet regime in Moscow have been described for the first time in a newly-published book entitled Moskevská pohřebiště (Moscow's Burial Grounds). The author is historian Mečislav Borák  full story

German Constitutional Court won't release intelligence files on Eichmann

Berlin, 29.7.2014 18:14, (ROMEA) The German Constitutional Court has rejected a request from the daily Bild to have the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) publish the complete file it has on Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust. The publisher of Germany's most-read newspaper reported the rejection on 25 July and said it was considering filing suit with the European Court of Human Rights to gain access to the file.  full story

Kosovo: Evidence found that hostages were killed for their organs

Brussels, 29.7.2014 17:16, (ROMEA) Investigators commissioned by the European Union have gathered convincing evidence that hostages were murdered so their organs could be harvested and sold during the 1990s war in Kosovo. American prosecutor Clint Williamson, who has been entrusted with investigating crimes in Kosovo, has arrived at that conclusion.  full story

videoEuropean Roma Institute: An answer to what question?

EU, 25.7.2014 22:37, (ROMEA) In a video produced by the Council of Europe and posted to YouTube this week, Ulrich Bunjes, the Special Representative for Roma Issues, discusses the idea of creating a European Roma Institute (ERI). Outgoing Commission President Barroso and George Soros announced plans for such a development at the EU Roma Summit this past spring in Brussels.  full story

Western European leaders condemn recent wave of anti-Semitism there

Berlin/Brussels/Paris/Rome, 24.7.2014 19:28, (ROMEA) Anti-Semitic sentiment is growing throughout the countries of Western Europe due to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel. The sentiment is most visible in states with strong Muslim minorities.  full story

videoBulgaria: Roma blockade demolition of their homes, riot police intervene

Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, 22.7.2014 23:24, (ROMEA) Clashes between police officers and Romani people broke out yesterday morning in the Bulgarian town of Stara Zagora. Romani people formed human chains in an effort to prevent authorities from demolishing their homes.  full story

videoRoma guys see a piano on the street - look what happened next!

Trnava, Slovakia, 16.7.2014 18:06, (ROMEA) A video from Slovakia is spreading like wildfire online featuring an upright piano on the street and three Romani guys. The footage was shot by Peter Bročka of Trnava, who posted the breathtaking clip to YouTube.com.  full story

videoA Flood Lays Bare Inequality in Bulgaria

Varna, 16.7.2014 12:02, (ROMEA) Asparuhovo district in Varna, Bulgaria, was the hardest hit area during the June 2014 floods. The tragedy is enormous; entire streets and houses have vanished. A total of 14 people were killed, including 4 children. I visited the area weeks after the disaster and the scenes remain apocalyptic.  full story

Russia: Romani scientists were also sisters

Russia, 15.7.2014 0:14, (ROMEA) This article is yet another in our series about eminent Romani figures, this time about two sisters who were scientists from Russia, or rather from the former Soviet Union. They are the biologist Lyubov Pankova and the chemist Natalya Pankova.  full story

ERRC: France Continues to Evict Roma on a Massive Scale

Paris/Budapest, 11.7.2014 10:26, (ROMEA) France continues with its unlawful and costly policy of evicting Roma who have made use of their right to freedom of movement within the European Union from countries such as Romania. Between 1 April and 30 June 2014, 3,807 Roma were evicted from 40 different places. Fires in two settlements left 51 Roma homeless, while the French authorities implemented forced evictions in 38 settlements.  full story

videoSpain: Mob sets two Romani-occupied homes on fire

Estepa, Spain, 9.7.2014 17:23, (ROMEA) Spanish media report that about 300 people gathered on the afternoon of Saturday 5 July in the small town of Estepa near Seville in Spain to protest rising crime rates. The demonstration turned into a violent attack on the homes of Romani residents whom the protesters believe responsible for theft.  full story

Czech Jewish community protests film award to Mel Gibson

Prague, 5.7.2014 17:53, (ROMEA) On Thursday 3 July the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic issued a statement addressed to Jiří Bartoška, president of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The statement expresses their concern and regret over the decision to award the festival's Crystal Globe (Křišťálový globus) award this year to the American actor and director Mel Gibson.  full story