World

Hungary makes historic apology for its role in the Holocaust

Hungary, 27.1.2014 14:41, (ROMEA) Speaking at the United Nations in New York, Hungary has apologized for the first time ever for the role the country played in the Holocaust. News agency MTI reported today that the apology was made on Thursday by the Hungarian Ambassador to the UN, Csaba Körösi.  full story

French MP avoids jail after saying Adolf Hitler "maybe didn't kill enough" Roma gypsies

Paris, 26.1.2014 14:04, (ROMEA) A French MP has avoided jail after he was caught on camera saying “Hitler maybe didn't kill enough of them” during an altercation with a Roma community close to the town he is mayor of.  full story

Hungarian far-right leader Gabor Vona vows to address rally in London

London, 26.1.2014 13:45, (ROMEA) The leader of an extreme Hungarian nationalist party has declared that the furore over his controversial visit to London on Sunday has made him even more determined to speak in Britain.  full story

Russia criticizes Czech Republic over Roma, EU over human rights

16.1.2014 22:10, (ROMEA) The Russian Foreign Ministry says it is disturbed by the state of human rights in the European Union, with Russian diplomats saying there are "serious flaws" in that area. The ministry published a report on the issue on Tuesday which has been reviewed by the international and the Russian media.  full story

Roma Activist Musician Assaulted in Serbia

Belgrade, 13.1.2014 23:43, (ROMEA) Olah Vince, a Roma activist and musician, said that he was attacked and beaten up by six unknown men as he was walking with his wife at Christmas outside their house in the Telep quarter in the northern city of Novi Sad.  full story

Russia: 20 people murdered last year in ideologically-motivated attacks

Moscow, Russia, 8.1.2014 0:31, (ROMEA) Last year a total of 20 people were murdered in Russia during ideologically-motivated attacks rooted in racism and xenophobia. That information has now been released by the non-governmental center for analysis, Sova, which has long monitored attacks on foreigners and immigrants there.  full story

Gyulla Banga: FIFA punishes Croatian footballer for promoting Nazism

Prague, 30.12.2013 17:25, (ROMEA) Josep Šimunič, a player with the Croatian football team, has been harshly punished by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) for making an inappropriate display of joy after successfully winning a close match with Iceland. Šimunič was "awarded" the privilege of watching the next 10 matches from the warmth of his home on TV (the punishment includes a clause banning him from the stadium and being with the other players) and, as if that weren't enough to regret, he also received a "Christmas present" in the amount of a fine for 30 000 Swiss francs for his "exemplary" behavior.  full story

Racism, discrimination, intolerance and extremism: Learning from experiences in Greece and Hungary

Vienna, 21.12.2013 0:13, (ROMEA) Racism, discrimination, extremism and intolerance currently pose a great challenge for the European Union. In a new report, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights examines the responses of two Member States, taking these countries as case studies to demonstrate the need for more targeted and effective measures to combat these phenomena throughout the EU. The report ends by proposing a number of steps to improve the situation.  full story

Roma discrimination: end illegal expulsions and ethnic profiling, MEPs say

Brussels, 14.12.2013 21:56, (ROMEA) EU countries must stop illegal expulsion of Roma people and end ethnic profiling, police abuse and human rights violations perpetrated against them, says Parliament in a non-binding resolution adopted on Thursday. It assesses member states' strategies to boost Roma integration and calls for more funds to prevent discrimination and reach small community projects.  full story

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
 full story

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