World

Filip Borev: Genocide by another name? Assimilation and the 'Roma Question'

Londýn, 13.12.2013 15:22, (ROMEA) Young British Romani blogger writes on growing antiziganism in the UK - Genocide by another name? Assimilation and the 'Roma Question' Filip Borev is an 18-year-old British Romani writer whose voice is one of the freshest and most interesting in the UK today. He has been blogging, mainly about Romani issues, for two years and the extremely witty, mature and forthright style of his writing has won him many fans and also helped to dispel a lot of ignorance about the lives of Romani people and their history. In 2012, he came to the attention of the mainstream media when he wrote an open letter to one of the major UK TV channels, Channel 4, challenging the damaging racist stereotypes in their popular programme My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding
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Canadian media: Czech visas lifted for EU trade agreement

Ottawa, Canada, 19.11.2013 15:31, (ROMEA) The lifting of Canadian visas for Czech citizens, according to the Canadian press, is linked to a trade agreement between Canada and the European Union. The Globe and Mail reported on 14 November that the Czech Republic had made it clear that it might not ratify the agreement unless the visa requirement was lifted.  full story

The real story of Britain's Roma: excluded, ignored and neglected

Sheffield (UK), 17.11.2013 0:48, (ROMEA) The headquarters of Britain's biggest Roma charity is a large building beside a major thoroughfare in east London, yet its official address is a PO box. The fear of reprisal against Britain's Roma community, even in the capital's most multicultural borough, remains real.  full story

OSCE conference on Roma inclusion

Strasbourg, 9.11.2013 19:24, (ROMEA) The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights held a two-day conference on the implementation of the 'OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti' in Vienna. In her keynote speech, MEP Lívia Járóka reminded that due the economic and social upheaval following the fall of communism in Eastern Europe had left the majority of Roma practically detached from national economies and sinking ever deeper into poverty.  full story

The Romanes language celebrates its international day today

Prague, 5.11.2013 22:53, (ROMEA) Aspirated sounds and an eighth additional case - those are just some of the differences between the Czech and Romanes languages. As part of the International Day of the Romani Language, we reflect on these differences today.  full story

Roma evictions right in the heart of the European capital

Brussels, 5.11.2013 11:01, (ROMEA) More than 220 people, including 90 children, will be doomed to live in the street after they were ordered on Thursday, 31 October to leave the building where they used to reside for more than four years. After many days of pressure and not knowing, the house is (on Monday 4, November) full of the police ready for the eviction. The police turn up 5:45 this morning!  full story

videoEuropean panic over "white" children in Romani families

Dublin/London/Atheny, 24.10.2013 0:20, (ROMEA) Fair-skinned children in Romani families have recently been taken into temporary care by authorities in Greek and Ireland and have been threatened with such removal by members of the public in Serbia. The mention of the family's Romani ethnicity in the reporting on the Greek case has resulted in a frenzy of international media coverage.  full story

Serbia: Skinheads try to abduct fair-skinned child from Romani family

Novi Sad, Serbia, 23.10.2013 17:50, (ROMEA) On 22 October news server Blic.rs reported that a group of men described as skinheads almost succeeded in abducting a two-year-old child last Saturday evening from in front of his home on Šafarikova Street in Novi Sad just because the child's skin was fairer than that of his father, Stefan Nikolić. The men accused Nikolić, who is of Romani nationality, of having stolen the child from its biological parents.  full story

ERIO calls for an ethical journalism free of stereotypes and prejudices

Brussels, 23.10.2013 16:07, (ROMEA) The European Roma Information Office (ERIO) is deeply concerned with and condemns the recent media coverage of the case of a Greek girl found in a Roma camp in Greece. Media is reproducing negative stereotypes and myths of Roma reinforcing prejudices that can incite racism and discrimination against these communities.  full story

ERRC Urges Restraint and Responsible Reporting in Child Removal Cases

Budapest, 22.10.2013 16:07, (ROMEA) The ERRC is concerned by increasing reports of children being removed from Roma families, following reports about a child taken from her home in a Romani settlement in Greece. Another child has since been removed from her home in Ireland, according to media reports.  full story

videoItaly: Romani people attacked in Naples

Naples, 16.10.2013 21:58, (ROMEA) The situation for Romani residents of Naples is deteriorating. On 15 October press agencies reported on an alleged “accident” in which acid was spilled onto a Romani child and his mother from a balcony above them.  full story

AEDH condemns racist statements made by certain members of the European Parliament

Brussels, 16.10.2013 0:42, (ROMEA) The European Association for the Defense of Human Rights (AEDH) firmly condemns statements made by certain members of the European Parliament during the plenary discussion on the situation of Roma people, held on Wednesday 9 October at the European Parliament.  full story

EU Commissioner "ashamed" of debate at European Parliament on Roma

Strasbourg, France, 9.10.2013 23:52, (ROMEA) Today's debate at the European Parliament on the situation of Romani people in Europe has been accompanied by a sharp exchange of opinions. According to many MEPs, the Member States must continue to work on eliminating discriminatory behavior in order to help Romani people get out of their current situation.  full story

EBU talk sheds light on the importance of media in Roma integration

Brussels, 3.10.2013 15:52, (ROMEA) The EBU hosted a discussion in Brussels (2 October) on the socio-economic integration of the Roma people, focusing on how the media can improve the perception of Europe’s largest minority.  full story

videoGreek police arrest head of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party and several of its MPs

Athens, Greece, 28.9.2013 22:07, (ROMEA) The Greek police undertook an extensive raid today against the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, which is currently seated in parliament. Police have arrested party head Nikolaos Michaloliakos and sever members of the party, including MPs.  full story

Europe Roma International plans demonstration against neo-Nazism in front of Czech embassies worldwide

London/Prague, 29.8.2013 21:02, (ROMEA) The Europe Roma International political movement has issued a declaration on the overall situation in the Czech Republic and is calling for a series of anti-racist demonstrations worldwide. The text condemns both right-wing extremists and the owners and operators of residential hotels in the country.  full story

Leading Roma representative Ján Cibuľa passes away

Bern, Switzerland, 19.8.2013 17:37, (ROMEA) Leading Roma representative MUDr. Ján Cibuľa passed away on Sunday, 18 August after a difficult illness in the Swiss town of Bern. A niece of the deceased informed the TASR press agency of his death.  full story

Florin Cioabă, "King of the Roma" and president of the International Romani Union, has passed away

Antalya, Turkey, 19.8.2013 4:03, (ROMEA) Florin Cioabă, the self-proclaimed "King of the Roma" worldwide, passed away on 18 August in a hospital in the Turkish city of Antalya. The 58-year-old had been admitted to the hospital there last Tuesday in very serious condition.  full story

British folk singer Sam Lee: "Gypsies are our Indians"

Náměšť nad Oslavou, Czech Republic, 17.8.2013 0:21, (ROMEA) In this interview, British singer and folk song collector Sam Lee describes how he has discovered forgotten singers among British Roma and Travellers, how he learned to sing from them, and why it is important to keep their songs from being forgotten. He also explains why we have two ears and only one mouth.  full story

ODIHR Director saddened by death of Nicolae Gheorghe, architect of OSCE work on Roma issues

Warsaw, 9.8.2013 22:47, (ROMEA) The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, expressed sadness today at the death of Nicolae Gheorghe, a prominent Roma human rights activist and former ODIHR’s Adviser on Roma and Sinti issues.  full story