DEPORTED FROM GERMANY TO KOSOVO

***The following is a witness account of the deportations of Romani from Germany to Kosovo.  There has been no moral outrage to these "discreet" deportations.  Conditions for Romani in Kosovo are horrendous.  Remember the lead mines.  Sometime it is hard to take seriously the statements of the E.U. (Roma Inclusion), and the U.S. Secretary of State.   Morgan
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43 people exposed at Pristina Airport


Yesterday, about 17:00 the deportation planes came after a stopover in Vienna to Pristina. One of our supporters on the ground could see 43 people who arrived by plane. Thus, there are at least less than the planned more than 100 passengers and also less than initially estimated at Dusseldorf Airport. Nevertheless, any deportation is too much and caused great suffering among those affected! Our observer told us of for him hardly bearable scenes on the Pristina airport: children crying, frustrated and desperate people looking for a place to go.

Representatives of the German Embassy and the URA II project were also present and offered the deportees in a few days in a hotel near the airport to descend. This offer was hardly noticed because after their arrival, most fled the airport. Further integration aids are anyway only open to 'voluntary' returnees and not for deportees.

Sabilje Begani and her four children were also found. Whether there will be an opportunity for her to return is uncertain and will probably not succeed overnight. As long as they will have to set up in Kosovo, which might be problematic for a single woman with four small children. All this in addition to the concern is for her critically ill husband, whom she now cannot visit in hospital.

The situation of a man from Rheine is also dramatic. He was deported along with his 20-year-old pregnant daughter while his wife remained with five children in Rheine. Here was again ruthlessly separated a family, too! Previously, they had lived 21 years in Germany.

TWO PERFORMANCES I WISH I COULD ATTEND

The association AMCT (Friends of the Memory of the Gypsy Camp), founded byJacques Sigot organized a day devoted to the commemoration of concentration camp Gypsies Montreuil-Bellay in France (exhibition, conference, concert).

DEPORTATIONS IN GERMANY

Today the future of many inocent people was destroyed!

We do not tolerate any further deportations!

Today, on 12 April, it came despite massive protests and concerns to a large collective deportation to Kosovo. Among the deportees were many Roma, who had been tolerated for years here in Germany. Apart from the fact that deportations represent a violent intrusion into the lives of those affected and therefore already are reprehensible, the deportation of long term tolerated Roma to Kosovo is a special cruelty against innocent people.

Roma in Kosovo are a highly discriminated minority and are exposed to racially motivated attacks and exclusion from society. Their lives are not save there.

Single mothers, elderly and sick people are particularly at risk. In particular, the common practice of the authorities in charge of the tearing apart families, away leads to dramatic destinies and those affected live in fear and vulnerability.

Even now, Germany has an opportunity missed to make amends to a small part of the consequences of the crimes committed against the Roma community by granting Roma refugees protection from discrimination and persecution. On the contrary! New suffering was caused. If we not act quickly especially the youngest generation of children who was born and raised in Germany will have to suffer.

In one case today, a young mother with four young children (1-5 years) was separated from her husband lying in the hospital. Her husband is in a verry bad condition after he was already in January 2010 alone deported to Kosovo. There he lived for several months as a homeless man on the street, before he managed to escape and return to Germany. But he not succeeded his family to see again. He was discovered in Bavaria and put back in detention. After his stay of several months in Kosovo, in deplorable conditions, he was now so ill that he had to be moved to a hospital, where he still fights for his life. In addition to severe tuberculosis and an eye disease he has to cope with the psychological consequences of his experiences. Intensive efforts to prevent the mothers’ deportation failed.

This is just one of known fate of deportation. In the plane were estimated up to 80 involuntary passengers. Many thousands will follow after the plans of the German government. Against the plans has indeed became formed a widespread resistance in the population and the Roma community, but this is not yet enough perceived by the public. Now is important that this resistance is also heard by the people and the politicians. It should be clear that these expulsions cannot be implemented without notice and without resistance. We need the attention of the press for the victims and the fight for their right to stay, so that all may be clear that it should not give these deportations.

Begani family from the district of Wolfenbüttel was lucky. The deportation of the four adult children could be prevented by the decision of a court. The children can stay for the moment with their seriously ill father in Germany.

admin@alle-bleiben.info

http://www.alle-bleiben.info/

HILLARY

International Roma Day

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of StateWashington, DC

April 7, 2011

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send greetings to all Roma everywhere as you celebrate International Roma Day this April 8. In communities across Europe and around the world, Romani people have contributed in ways large and small to culture, music, and the arts. This is also an occasion to commemorate the history of brave resistance against Nazi persecution.

Protecting and promoting the rights of Romani people everywhere is a personal commitment of mine. Far too often and in too many places, Roma continue to experience racial profiling, violence, segregation, and other forms of discrimination. Individuals, organizations, and governments must establish the political, legal, and social landscape to encourage and value diversity. I call upon European leaders to redouble their efforts to ensure that Romani people are not discriminated against in access to education, healthcare, housing and employment opportunities.

I am pleased to announce that in the coming days, we will be launching two new programs to assist members of Romani communities in Romania, Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary. These programs are in addition to our ongoing support in Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and elsewhere across Europe. We are working to increase legal assistance, expand educational opportunities, and help more Romani people participate in political discourse to strengthen a new generation of Romani community leaders. With the help of governments, international organizations, civil society groups, and others around the world, we are helping Romani communities and individuals everywhere chart a new path so that every Romani person may live up to her or his God-given potential.

ROMANI RESPONSE TO EU ROMA FRAMEWORK

EU Shuts Roma Groups Out of Policy-Making Process

Leading groups say new EU Roma Framework is woefully inadequate

Budapest 7 April 2011 –

Leading Roma organizations lashed out at the European Commission for failing to include Roma voices and input in the development of its new “EU framework for national Roma integration strategies up to 2020.” The groups complain that new strategy for Roma integration, which was released this week by the executive arm of the European Union, misses an important opportunity to address the rising tide of anti-Gypsyism in Europe.

The group of 36 organizations from 16 countries met in Budapest as part of a conference organized by the Decade of Roma Inclusion, an initiative of governments and civil society aimed at improving the lives of Europe’s more than ten million Roma.

Among the main shortfalls of the Framework, the group highlighted:

• The target on education lacks ambition. Education is at the core of any effort to improve the livelihoods of the Roma yet the Framework falls woefully short.

• The Framework lacks a clear gender dimension, which experience has shown is crucial to achieve good results.

• The Framework does not explicitly address Roma youth.

• The Framework fails to mention the worrying rise of anti-Gypsyism, negative prejudices, and institutionalized discrimination.

“Expectations were high for this proposal but at the end of the day what we have is a watered-down Framework that offers little clarity for what member states need to do and the role for the European Commission in taking this framework forward,” said Valeriu Nicolae, executive director for the Bucharest-based Policy Center for Roma and Minorities.

The Roma group also underscored three key questions for the European Commission:

1. How does the Commission plan on ensure effective national policies involving all relevant stakeholders including civil society and regional and local authorities?

2. How will the Commission in working with the Fundamental Rights Agency and other agencies ensure there is full and effective monitoring?

3. In light of the new Framework how can the EU Roma Platform provide proper oversight and debate on national strategies involving a much wider part of Roma civil society?

“The Framework offers no guarantees to ensure national strategies will be developed in close consultation with Roma civil society. Civil society is ready to play an active role in the policy-making process; we only ask the European Commission to engage with us,” said Zeljko Jovanovic, Director of the Open Society Roma Initiatives.

ROMANI INCLUSION

FROM OPEN SOCIETY

Europe: Act Now to Make Roma Inclusion a Reality


April 8, 2011

by Bernard Rorke

Last month in the Hungarian town of Gyöngyöspata, uniformed neofascist paramilitaries, backed up by skinhead auxiliaries with whips and pit bulls, set up checkpoints and patrolled a Roma settlement with seeming impunity, as policemen stood idly by. According to eyewitness reports, the local police looked on while guardsmen intimidated Roma women and children on their way to and from school, and spat on members of parliament who dared crossed the lines to meet local Roma leaders.

The siege lasted for two and a half weeks. One local mother described how her child came home from school terrified by the taunting from the fascists: "saying that we are going to die, our blood will flow." She said that all parents were keeping their children home from school, but feared being penalized and losing their child benefit if the kids missed more than 50 classes.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed that "ugly things could have happened" and were avoided because the police acted with sufficient deterrent force.

I beg to differ: it is a profoundly ugly thing for democracy when the state’s monopoly on the use of force is usurped by fascist militias acting on the behest of the Jobbik party, whose representatives sit in both the Hungarian and European Parliaments. It is a profoundly ugly thing when ethnic minority citizens are terrorized, abused, and besieged in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s.

Jobbik and its foot-soldiers have vowed to repeat the exercise in other towns and villages across Hungary. This signals a clear intent by the far right to instill fear among Roma citizens. For too many Roma, this scenario seems more likely than the dawning of a new day of inclusion, equality, and mutual respect.

But the latest attempt at forging a strategy on Roma inclusion by the European Union marks a step in the right direction. The European Commission’s request that all member states develop and implement targeted strategies, and devote sufficient resources to promote integration in four priority areas (health, housing, education, and employment) takes it cue directly from the Decade of Roma Inclusion. And this new document may signal that Roma integration has moved from the margins to the mainstream of policy concerns in a wider Europe.

However the framework is lacking in one key area. On March 8, a resolution of the European Parliament called on the Commission (the executive arm of the European Union) to link social inclusion priorities to a clear set of objectives that included protection of citizens against discrimination in all fields of life; promotion of social dialogue between Roma and non-Roma to combat racism and xenophobia; and for the Commission, as guardian of the treaties, to ensure full implementation of relevant legislation and appropriate sanctions against racially motivated crimes. This link is missing.

The challenge facing a European Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies is stark. There are two possible scenarios for Europe 2020:

•There is the viable prospect of forward-looking and fully inclusive societies that foster a sense of common belonging, cohesion and mutual respect among all citizens regardless of their ethnicity.

•There is another possible future for Europe: One of illiberal democracies and increasingly closed societies where Roma are denigrated and humiliated as scapegoats and pariahs.

Continued exclusion is not only ethically repugnant but also economically stupid: it impoverishes and humiliates Romani men, women, and children every day. Continued exclusion carries a hefty cost for society: as the economists remind us, it’s costly in terms of human capital needlessly squandered.

But there is another cost: continued exclusion and anti-Gypsyism degrades the quality and moral standing of Europe’s democracies and corrupts the sense of citizenship as something that binds us together as equals.

Without a doubt for most people, EU Roma Summits, platforms, and communications seem remote from the reality on the ground. For now, Roma communities continue not only to endure acute poverty and discrimination, but now find themselves literally under siege.

http://blog.soros.org/2011/04/europe-act-now-to-make-roma-inclusion-a-reality/

ROMANI IN AMERICA - VOA



IAN HANCOCK

 VOA NEWS

For Roma, Life in US Has Challenges

People commonly known as 'Gypsies' face stereotyping, discrimination

Glenn Kates and Valer Gergely

Texas April 07, 2011

April 8 is International Day of the Roma. Romani communities in Europe face a variety of challenges. Last month the European Court of Human Rights began hearings in the case of a Romani woman from Slovakia who says she was sterilized against her will. And France's decision to expel Romani immigrants living in temporary settlements was met with consternation by human rights activists.

But do similar issues surface in Romani communities outside of Europe? In the United States, the country's cultural diversity provides Roma with both benefits and drawbacks.

In the shadows

Cristiana Grigore studies at Vanderbilt University in the U.S. state of Tennessee - on a prestigious Fulbright scholarship. Grigore is Romanian. She is also Romani, or Roma, part of an ethnic group often referred to as Gypsies.

“Most of the Americans I have met don’t know much about the Romani people," she says. "They know about Gypsy, but not as a real ethnic group, real people. They see it more like a Halloween costume, a role that you play once a year.”

In the United States, Roma are often associated with a distant, even exotic, culture. University of Texas Professor Ian Hancock estimates as many as one million Roma live in the America. According to Hancock, there have been waves of Roma immigration since the early 1800s. Hancock, who previously served as a Romani representative at the UN, says that historically it has been easy for Roma to blend in while holding on to their traditions. Doing so, however, has not been without consequence.

“Here, being an immigrant country, you get people of all backgrounds, of all complexions and appearances," says Hancock. "And so Roma don’t stand out as in opposition to white, in the same way. Which has helped to foster the idea that Gypsy is a behavior and not an ethnicity.”

Hancock maintains the Romani Archives and Documentation Center at the University of Texas. The collection includes books, pictures and movies that he says encourage this distorted image of Roma.

“The media can get away with saying things about Roma that they wouldn’t dare say about other minority populations," he says. "This includes the entertainment industry even today.”

Faye Williams is a third-generation Romani-American who lives with her family in Texas. “Most people don’t even have a clue about our culture. They think, you know, it’s just people running around stealing little kids and chickens.”

Growing up, Williams was told not to tell people she was Romani. Despite the stereotypes though, she says the ability of her people to blend in has been a blessing rather than a curse. Especially when compared to Europe.

“I think it was the greatest thing in the world that happened to us, you know, when our folks come over here because [people] from all the countries was coming in. You know it was like a melting pot and so it was so easy to blend in and to move around and work and do that. We had it 100 times better than anybody overseas.”

But Cristiana Grigore says the United States’ cultural diversity is what prompted her to talk publicly about her Romani identity for the first time. She contrasts this to perceptions in her home country of Romania, where Roma still experience discrimination.

“Imagine it took me 20 years to talk about my ethnic identity, so imagine how strong the negative stereotypes are,” says the amateur ballet dancer, who adds that she has not experienced racism in the United States. In fact, she says her ethnic heritage has been an asset. “When I talk about me as a Gypsy people are like ‘Oh that’s so cool.’ You know, it’s like my life is suddenly more interesting.”

Stigma

Some Romani-Americans, however, say discrimination is still a substantial burden in the U.S. - especially when it comes to the workplace and the stigma associated with some traditional Romani occupations.

Gene and Aaron Williams are cousins. They are pavement contractors, based in Texas, but they travel to other parts of the country to work as well. They say they frequently feel discriminated against based on their ethnicity.

Gene saved a recording of an advertisement run on local radio by a business competitor in 2008 in which the narrator says: “Watch out for the Gypsies that are running around town. They’ll take your money and run.”

Aaron says his own record of over more than 30 years as a contractor is stellar. Still, he says the ad demonstrates why he never tells clients he is Romani.

“It would be the same as if I told them I was a brownie or a leprechaun," said Aaron. "People don’t think that Gypsies exist or they think Gypsy is a lifestyle, that you want to be a crook so you have to move. No, it’s just our culture to move.”

According to Romani filmmaker George Eli, Roma feel targeted - especially by law enforcement. He has produced a documentary about his experience as a Romani in the United States. He says most of the women in his family are fortune tellers - one of whom became particularly upset when he filmed her.

“I said, 'Why? What did you do? Tell me what you did? It’s okay, tell me what you did.' I know she didn’t do nothing. [She said] 'We’re Rom, we’re Gypsies.' I said, 'Think about what you’re saying.' You know what she told me? ‘You’re crazy, you’re going to put us all in jail.’”

Retired Baltimore city police officer Jon Grow heads The National Association of Bunco Investigators, an organization that trains law enforcement on how to fight confidence crimes - scams that involve gaining the trust of an individual for the specific purpose of stealing money. He says his organization does not specifically target Roma. Nonetheless, he says, confidence crime suspects are frequently Romani.

“Our focus is on the crimes and the thieves that commit the crimes. In some of these offenses - specifically fortune telling, specifically home-repair frauds - a lot of the suspects happen to be Gypsies.”

Aaron Williams, the Romani-American contractor, thinks law enforcement is often biased.

“That’s how the cops treat us. They just come up with stuff out of the blue. It has nothing - we’re not doing one thing wrong. We’re actually a service to the community and it’s just racially-motivated.”

Grow provides training sessions are closed to media, but a flier for a recent training promised to provide “insight into the mindset of the societies” that commit so-called “Gypsy” and “traveler” crimes.

“It’s a separate society. It has evolved and maintained itself over the years by constantly adapting," says Grow. "And they have their own rules and they obey their own rules as opposed to our rules. Our laws are basically inconveniences to them.”

But University of Texas Professor Hancock maintains there are no crimes Roma commit that other populations do not. He says occupations like fortune-telling and traveling construction work may be explained by Romani history. Near the end of the 13th century Roma immigrated to Europe from India, where Hancock says fortune telling is a prestigious profession. By the 1500s many were enslaved in Romania. Other Roma populations were constantly on the move because of various types of discrimination.

“In a world where they were being moved on constantly and had to leave everything, drop everything and go," says Hancock, "you couldn’t have materials that you couldn’t pack up quickly and leave with.”

Aaron Williams says he is proud of his Romani heritage - and the products of his labor. But he is angry about treatment he feels would not be accepted against other groups. “You know we’re not aliens. We were obviously born on this planet somewhere. And I think we should have a right to be here.”

Blending in

Some younger Romani-Americans are integrating more fully into American society than their parents did, balancing the pressure to assimilate against the desire to hold on to their culture.

Today is one of the most important days of Alex Eli’s life. A Romani, he is about to become engaged but this is not just any engagement. His family is throwing a party during which the elders from each side will negotiate a dowry.

“What they do is settle on a price. They settle a price of how much we have to pay for his daughter. I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty expensive," says Alex. "I can put a down payment on a new house but whatever it’s no big deal. After they settle with the price, they pour the two glasses of drinks for my father and for my future father-in-law and they toast and they drink.”

At 18, Alex contends he is ready. “I’m very happy and I can’t wait to start my life.”

Alex is part of a younger generation of Roma that stays in school longer than their parents may have. He will be the first member of his immediate family to graduate from high school. It was his choice because he realized how important school was to him after he won an academic award in the eighth grade.

"Now I’m on a plaque for life in the middle school - plaque for life. That changed my ideology of being a gypsy. Then, when I went to high school freshman year, I didn’t want to leave, because there are so many cultures," he says. "There’s Jewish, there’s Russian, there’s Italian. There’s all different kinds of people and I realized, 'Yes you’re a Gypsy, but you don’t have to hang out with them all the time.'”

Alex’s father, George, featured his son in his film "Searching for the 4th Nail," a documentary about the quest to discover meaning as a Romani in America. George Eli says he kept Alex in school despite so-called “boundary laws” which teach Roma to keep a distance from non-Roma or “gadjze.” He believes this is a tradition that may have developed over time.

“The modern Rom of today, like myself, assumed that it’s a tradition, that this is just tradition, that this is who we are for 1,000 years to keep away. They didn’t know that our ancestors were doing it as survival mechanisms. That’s called, in my opinion...oppression through tradition. It started out as oppression and now it’s tradition.”

University of Texas Professor Hancock says, whatever the origin of boundary laws, maintaining them is very important to some Roma.

“The older generation feels that too much outside education dilutes the identity and can even be polluting in a spiritual sense. Too much involvement in the non-Romani world can debilitate you and can affect you socially.”

Alex’s great-uncle John agrees, insisting that as younger Roma integrate into American society, they lose Romani culture.

“Somebody told me once that we can be Gypsies, but we can be American Gypsies," says John. "You know, we don’t have to stay in the culture. We can be Americans and we can still call ourselves Gypsies. But, without the culture, we’re not Gypsies. That’s the only thing that’s holding us together.”

John dropped out of school in the 8th grade because his father said it was time to get married. Despite his own deep-seated fears about loss of culture, John realizes the importance of education for the next generation of Roma. "We don’t want to be old-fashioned Gypsies in the modern world. We want to keep up with the times.”

Gene Williams, the contractor, also worries about the effects of assimilation on their culture, but he wants his two children to have more opportunities than he did.

“I wanted to go to school my own self. I didn’t get to finish high school, you know, because I had to work and my parents moved around a lot, and I didn’t get to stay in one school," says Gene. "I went to the 10th grade, that’s as far as I got, but I want them to have more than I had, more opportunity.”

At Alex Eli’s engagement party, a middle ground between assimilation and cultural stability seems to have been found. The family takes a break from dancing to American pop music to focus on the evening’s most important task. The two families agree to a deal that Alex seems happy with.

“The price was unbelievable," says Alex. "It was $12,700, money given back from him $2,700, so we got her for $10,000. Great, successful price. Great deal, great situation. Now it’s time to have some fun.”

Alex can’t have too much fun, though. He’s a high school senior so he'll need to be back in class on Monday.
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To see a video of this report, and to read comments, please visit
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/For-Roma-Life-in-US-Has-Challenges-119394819.html

HILLARY

FROM RTT NEWS

General News

US To Launch New Programs To Assist Romani Communities

4/8/2011 4:49 AM
(RTTNews) -

The United States will be launching two new programs to assist members of the Romani communities in Romania, Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary. This is in addition to the U.S. government's ongoing support in Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and elsewhere across Europe.

This was announced by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a message marking the International Roma Day celebrations on April 8.

Conveying the Obama administration's greetings to Romani people across Europe and around the world, Clinton said it is also an occasion to commemorate the history of brave resistance against Nazi persecution.

Clinton vowed that she was committed to protecting and promoting the rights of Romani people, as they continue to experience racial profiling, violence, segregation and other forms of discrimination in many places.

She called upon European leaders to redouble their efforts to ensure that Romani people are not discriminated against in access to education, healthcare, housing and employment opportunities.

Washington is working to increase legal assistance, expand educational opportunities, and help more Romani people participate in political discourse to strengthen a new generation of Romani community leaders, she added.

by RTT Staff Writer

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1594155&SM=1

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This is the second year in a row that Hillary has made a strong statement of support for the Romani people.  We'll see.

STEREOTYPES

STEREOTYPES

What comes to mind when you think of Gypsies, romantic travelers or stealers of children and chickens?

Either end diminishes our reality and minimizes us as a people.

Stereotypes are often based in reality but must be understood in an historical context.

For example, it is true that Romani/Gypsy women have always worn jewelry, and that traveling has been a way of life.

What must be acknowledged, however, is that both of these “traits” were born of persecution. Romani were forbidden from settling in the countries through which they traveled. It meant survival to be able to flee quickly, wearing your assets.

Stereotypes become dangerous when they are the only lense through which an entire people are perceived.

Lolo Diklo: Romani Against Racism confronts and deconstructs the common stereotypes of the Romani people.

We are proud of our vibrant and gentle culture and invite everyone to explore and enjoy it.

But it is important that you recognize and remember that we are much more than the stereotypes of us.

Real Gypsies are living real lives, and in Europe those lives are extremely difficult.

FACTSHEET: ROMA RIGHTS RECORD 2011

FROM THE EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTER (ERRC)
errc@errc.org


Budapest, 8 April 2011:

On the occasion of the 40th International Roma Day and the 5th European Roma Platform, the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) recalls the many human rights issues that continue to affect Romani communities in Europe.

Violence against Roma: In cases brought by the ERRC in Croatia (2009), Bulgaria (2010) and Macedonia (2008), the European Court of Human Rights confirmed that the State is obliged to investigate and prosecute persons who commit violence against Roma, whether they are private actors or State officials. Despite this, most perpetrators of violence against Roma in Europe act with impunity. Since 2008, the ERRC has registered at least 48 violent attacks against Roma in Hungary, at least 19 attacks in the Czech Republic and at least 10 attacks in Slovakia resulting in a combined total of at least 11 fatalities and involving Molotov cocktails, hand grenades and guns, police violence, arson attacks, mob violence and demonstrations. In December 2010, skinheads attacked 2 young Romani men exiting public transportation with bats in Bulgaria and in March 2011 a Romani boy was attacked and insulted on the way to school by three men in Serbia. Other incidents of mob violence against Roma were recorded in Italy, Northern Ireland and Turkey in the last three years. ERRC monitoring of the State response to violence against Roma in 44 selected cases in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia found that only 20% of cases have resulted in convictions (only one final judgment), police investigations were suspended without identifying suspects in nearly 1/3 of cases and racial motivation was ruled out or not confirmed during police investigation in 50% of all cases.

Freedom of movement: In July of 2010, France announced plans to evict Travellers and Roma from "illegal settlements" and to expel Roma from other EU states. French authorities expelled roughly 10,000 Roma in 2009 and more than 8,000 as of September 2010: after that time the French Government stopped publishing relevant statistics but ERRC research in March 2011 found ongoing evictions and expulsions. From May 2008 until present, Italian authorities have instituted a State of Emergency to deal with Roma and have aggressively evicted Roma from settlements. Italy publicly supported the French expulsions and piecemeal evidence of expulsions from Italy has come to light. Denmark summarily expelled 23 Roma back to Romania in July 2010 one day after they were detained: ERRC appeals against these deportation orders are pending. Sweden expelled 50 Roma to Romania in 2010. Germany paid more than 100 Roma to return to Romania in June 2009. Finland, amid public outcries about public security, threatened expulsions in 2010. In many cases, police action has been concurrent with statements by public officials that Roma as an ethnic group are predisposed to crime and other antisocial behaviour.

Increasing activity of extremist political parties and politicians: Extremist political parties and politicians have sharpened their anti-Romani rhetoric and actions in many EU countries. In Hungary, the Magyar Garda (banned in 2009), Szebb Jövőért Polgárőr Egyesület and related organisations engaging in paramilitary activities with an explicit racist agenda continue to operate openly. In Gyöngyöspata the groups patrolled a Romani neighbourhood for 16 days in March 2011, intimidating and harassing Romani residents. Jobbik, an extremist party with an explicit anti-Romani platform, won four seats in European Parliament elections in 2009 and 47 seats (17% of the vote) in national elections in 2010. In Italy, the Government has continued to use anti-Romani rhetoric to harden public opinion against Roma and Sinti and has moved aggressively to evict Roma from their homes and herd them into controlled camps. In Slovakia in 2010, the far-right Ludova Strana Nase Slovensko has been increasingly active with rhetoric specifically referring to "Gypsy criminality." In the Czech Republic, the far right Workers Party and its successor the Workers Party of Social Justice have organised high profile rallies which have attracted neo-Nazis and sparked violent clashes. The Czech National Party ran advertisements for the European Parliament election in 2009 calling for a “final solution to the Gypsy problem”. In February 2010 the Romanian Foreign Minister made public statements suggesting that Roma are genetically predisposed to criminality and media reported that the President defended the Minister. Romanian MPs also attempted to officially change the name of Roma to “Gypsies” to avoid confusion with “Romanians”. During the media frenzy surrounding the expulsion of Roma from France, the Bulgarian Prime Minister and the Romanian President erroneously referred to the Roma as nomads.

Systemic segregation in education continues: The European Court of Human Rights has affirmed that school segregation of Romani children (in schools for children with disabilities and in separate schools or classes in mainstream schools) constitutes illegal discrimination in judgments against the Czech Republic (2007), Greece (2008) and Croatia (2010). Despite these rulings, educational segregation of Romani children is systemic in many European countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia are noteworthy, with credible reports of segregation in Macedonia, Northern Ireland (UK), Portugal and Spain. Romani children complete school at much lower rates than their non-Romani peers. The response of Governments has been wholly inadequate: In the Czech Republic, the Government has recognised the problem but its action plan does not address ethnic discrimination; in Bulgaria, successful integration pilots have not been incorporated into a scaled-up Government programme after more than a decade; and in 2010 in Slovakia the then Prime Minister suggested further segregation of Roma in boarding schools.

Widespread residential segregation and forced evictions: An October 2009 report of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, prepared by the ERRC, found that “segregation is still evident in many EU Member States, such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, France, Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia, sometimes as a result of deliberate government policy.” In Italy, the placement of Roma and Sinti in “nomad camps” constitutes an official policy to segregate Roma and Sinti from the Italian majority. Since 2008, evictions of Roma in violation of international law have continued in Albania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. Italy has been particularly active: in Milan alone since 2010, authorities report having conducted over 100 evictions affecting more than 3,600 people (a portion of this group are repeatedly evicted persons).

Trafficking in human beings: Low socio-economic status, low educational achievement and high levels of unemployment, compounded with high levels of discrimination and racism, place Roma at an inordinately high risk of human trafficking. A 2010 US State Department report discusses the overrepresentation of Roma as victims of trafficking and their high vulnerability to sexual exploitation, forced labour and child begging in nearly half of the European countries covered. ERRC research in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia during early 2010 indicated that Roma represent 50-80% of victims in Bulgaria, at least 40% in Hungary, 70% in Slovakia and up to 70% in parts of the Czech Republic.

Child protection: In Bulgaria, Romani children account for around 50% of the children in the State-run children’s homes and about 33% of the children in State-run homes for children with intellectual disabilities. In the Czech Republic, around 40% of the children in a sample of 17 children’s homes visited by the ERRC in 5 regions were Romani. During research in 5 counties in Hungary, Romani children were found to represent 65% of the children in State care. The General Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection in Romania reported that Romani children constitute up to 80% of the population in children’s homes in some regions. In Slovakia social workers and child protection officials report that Romani children compose at least 70% of the children in institutional care.

Denial of access to health care and social assistance: Discrimination remains a barrier to health care and social assistance for Roma in many European states. In 2009, the European Committee of Social Rights found Bulgaria in violation of the European Social Charter twice by failing to ensure that Roma have adequate access to the health care system and to social assistance, prompting the Government to amend the law on social assistance. In Kosovo, lead contamination of IDP camps housing Roma in Northern Mitrovicë/Mitrovica is considered one of the biggest medical crises in the region. Despite significant international and EU attention, Roma continue to live in one of the camps after more than 10 years, exposed to lead contamination which has reportedly resulted in dozens of deaths.

Coercive sterilisation of Romani women: In Hungary the ERRC has documented sporadic cases, most recently from 2008. Czech cases have also been reported as recently as 2007. In 2009 the Czech Government expressed regret to the victims of this practice and the Hungarian Government compensated one victim, but no Government has adopted a comprehensive plan to compensate all victims or adequately reformed health care law regarding informed consent. Although numerous cases have been documented in Slovakia, there has been no Government response to date.

Factsheet: Roma Rights (PDF)

Contact: Sinan Gokçen,
Media and Communications Officer,
sinan.gokcen@errc.org

ROMA HUNTING SEASON SET TO CONTINUE

FROMPRESSEUROP

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/586961-roma-hunting-season-set-continue

 6 April 2011 Le Monde Paris

Gyöngyöspata (Hungary)

PHOTO. March 12, 2011.  Members of Szebb Jovoert surround the house of a Roma family.
BY Hungarianambiance
ARTICLE BY JOELLE STOLZ


At a time when the EU has called on member states to make greater efforts to integrate Roma living on their territories, Viktor Orbán’s government, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union, continues to turn a blind eye to the ongoing campaign to intimidate "Gypsy criminals" conducted by far-right Magyar groups.


At the end of March, paramilitary members of Hungary’s extreme-right Jobbik political party organised several weeks of village patrols to counter “Gypsy criminality” — a worrying demonstration of strength that failed to prompt a reaction from Viktor Orbán’s government. At the same time, the EU called on member states to take concrete action to improve conditions for the 10 to 12 million Roma living in Europe.

Apart from its medieval church, and its wine cellars nestling against the surrounding hillsides, there is not much to distinguish Gyöngyöspata — with its communist era village hall, Coop grocery, muddy Roma ghetto and well-weeded gardens where the first hyacinths are beginning to bloom — from so many other Hungarian villages.

However, last month the events that took place in the village, which is an hour’s drive northeast of Budapest and home to 2,850 inhabitants, may well have a significant bearing on the future of Europe. In an initiative organised by Jobbik (the political party that took 16.8% of the vote in 2010 general elections but whose popularity is now declining in the polls), the far right made Gyöngyöspata the site for a experimental programme to counter "Gypsy criminality," which included more than two weeks of daytime and night-time patrols by militia-men, supported by local people who provided free food and accommodation.

On 6 March, Jobbik’s national leader, MP Gabor Vona, arrived to address a crowd of 1,500 paramilitaries, most of whom were kitted out in the black uniform of Szebb Jövoert ("For a more beautiful future"), an organisation that is covered by the legal umbrella of village self-defence militias. There were also a number of particularly aggressive looking individuals sporting combat fatigues and skinhead haircuts, who were armed with axes, whips and accompanied by pitbulls. When the patrols began, Roma families were too terrified to send their children to school.

In spite of the resemblance between Szebb Jövoert and the Hungarian Guard, a Jobbik-linked militia which organised similar campaigns to intimidate the Roma minority until it was banned by Hungary’s constitutional court in 2009, the police did not intervene. The government led by conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán took no notice of the situation until 16 March, when the militias had already left the village.

On 15 March, which is a day of national celebration in Hungary, Mr Orbán gave a speech in Budapest in which he praised the Magyar people’s courageous resistance to the diktats of foreign powers, including the European Union, whose presidency Hungary took over in January of this year — but not a word about Gyöngyöspata.

On the same day, a handful of counter demonstrators led by Aladar Horvath, who heads a well-known Hungarian civic association for Roma rights and freedoms, arrived in Gyöngyöspata. Among them were Pastor Gabor Ivanyi and two MPs from the liberal Green LMP party, (which only obtained 314 votes in the constituency in 2010 general elections, even though there are 6,000 Roma voters in the area). "The overwhelming majority of our votes went to Fidesz” (Mr Orbán’s party, which now has a two-thirds majority in parliament), points out Janos Farkas, the leader of Gyöngyöspata’s 500-strong Roma community, “because he promised us jobs."

A year later, the rate of unemployment in Hungary is as high as ever, while the government has axed family allowances and cut back on funding for "self-governing bodies" for minorities.

Ever since forests were re-privatised in 1992, the Roma have been deprived of the right to gather mushrooms and collect firewood. "In exchange we were promised work cleaning up the forests. Then the owners blocked that idea,” explains Mr Farkas. “But we have been living here for five centuries, our ancestors defended this country against the Turks, we are Hungarians first and Roma second!"

Crime is on the increase in the Hungarian countryside, where residents feel they have been neglected by the authorities. A number of murders have had a major impact on public opinion: they include the 2006 killing of a teacher in Olaszliszka (Northeastern Hunagary) who was lynched in front of his children, when he knocked down a 12-year-old Roma girl. Jobbik has a erected a monument to his memory. However, the 2009 series of Roma murders perpetrated by a group of neo-Nazis, who are now on trial in Budapest, has failed to move the country’s population.

In Gyöngyöspata, the conflict appears to have been prompted by the purchase by the Hungarian Red Cross of number of houses that it intended to use to re-house Roma families who had been left homeless by the floods in 2010. The plan to move Roma families into the centre of the village met with stiff resistence from locals who wrote to Gabor Vona, explains Oszkar Juhasz, the president of the local branch of Jobbik (which obtained 26% of the vote in the constituency in 2010).

Mr Juhasz is a wine-grower and a descendent of one of those low-ranking noble families which were barely better off than the serfs, but which believed themselves to be the lifeblood of Hungary. In the hall of his house, there is a map of country with its pre-1920 borders. For the extreme right, which is obsessed by the historic loss of two-thirds of Hungary’s national territory, the high Roma birth rate is a serious threat: "Since 1898, their numbers have increased by a factor of more than 100,” he says. “We are not racist, but more often than not the policy of Roma integration simply results in lower living standards for non-Roma."

On Saturday 2 April, Oszkar Juhasz put on his black uniform to march in the streets of Hejöszalonta, a village in the Northeast of the country which has a population of 900, alongside other "Hungarian patriots." In a press conference on the previous day, the leader of the Fidesz parliamentary faction, Janos Lazar, raised the question of liberalising gun control laws to facilitate self-defence — a measure that is one of Jobbik’s political demands.

From the EU side

Anti-discrimination road-map more pious than effective

"Roma integration in EU member states will be supervised by the European Commission," explains Hospodářské noviny in its report on the EU policy framework for national Roma strategies presented by the Commissioner for Justice and Fundamental Rights, Viviane Reding, on 4 April.

The Commission wants each of its member states to adopt a new integration strategy that will take into account the specific differences between Roma communities in individual countries. Mrs Reding also acknowledged that member states have been slow to make use of existing resources: only 100 million of the 260 million euros that have been earmarked for Roma integration projects have actually been spent. According to a study conducted in six European countries (Romania Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia) most of the EU’s 12 million Roma are victims of discrimination, which is particularly bad in Romania and Bulgaria.

The study also notes that only 42 percent of Roma children finish primary school as opposed to a 97.5 percent average for European children. According to the Commission, Roma integration should first and foremost focus on education, but also on housing, health and employment, explains Hospodářské noviny.

The newpaper also cites a study by the World Bank which remarks that "full integration could result in savings of 500 million euros a year for concerned countries, which would benefit from gains in productivity, increased tax revenues and a reduction in welfare spending." However, Roma rights groups contacted by EUobserver, are not satisfied with the new policy framework. The Brussels based news website quotes a representative of the ERGO network who describes the document as as "disappointing," because “ it leaves it up to member states to deal with the discrimination of this minority – something governments like the one in Hungary are not really willing to follow up on.”

EUROPEAN ROMA AND TRAVELLERS FORUM

EUROPEAN ROMA AND TRAVELLERS FORUM


EVROPAKO FORUMO E ROMENGO THAJ E PHIRUTNENGO

FORUM EUROPEEN DES ROMS ET DES GENS DU VOYAGE

PRESS RELEASE

INTERNATIONAL ROMA DAY - 8 APRIL

THE TIME FOR CHANGE IS NOW

Strasbourg, 7 April 2011:

This years celebration of the International Roma Day, 8th April, takes place at a time of important change. Recent events in North Africa and the Middle East have forced many of us to think again about our attitudes, encouraging us happily to believe once again that anything is possible. The Spring revolutions are a thrilling and uplifting example of the irresistible force of people eager for change and with nothing to lose. The images of the thousands of people demonstrating for their basic human rights had a resonance far beyond their national boundaries. As Roma, we need the spirit of the spring revolutions right here in Europe. The time for change is now.

The past four decades have seen enormous changes confronting both the Romani people, and those who study us and work with us. For so many Roma, these changes have meant adapting once again to new and typically hostile surroundings, seeking security in employment, education, housing and in health and legal care. For the non-Romani world it has meant making room for newcomers who arrive with a complex baggage of stereotypes and a legacy of persecution.

Anti-Roma hate speech and violence stir dark memories of events more than 70 years ago which brought this continent to the brink of the moral abyss. Extremism is once again finding its range and its voice, bringing a poisonous cocktail of ancient gossip, medieval superstition and callous discrimination into mainstream politics.

“We must stand together as believers in common decency and the fundamental values of human rights and the rule of law and condemn in the strongest terms those whose only purpose is division and discord. Politicians and media organisations should not have license to use their bully pulpits to whip up anti-Roma prejudice.” said Mr. Rudko Kawczynski, President of the European Roma and Travellers Fourm.

In order to succeed in eliminating discrimination, it is crucial for everyone to understand that it expresses itself in many different forms. It is not only the most overt examples, such as the use of racial slurs or hate graffiti. Nor is it just the denial of employment, housing or education due to ethnic or cultural background. Discrimination can also take on much more subtle forms, and involve systemic barriers to access leading to real exclusion.

‘I call upon all States to honour their legally and politically binding obligations, including commitments, for those in a position to do so, to give the Roma and Traveller communities equal opportunities and assistance. Today, I encourage all States which have not yet done so, to accede to all these legally and politically binding documents as soon as possible.’ said Mr. Kawczynski.

There are enormous challenges ahead in the quest for a equal opportunities for all -- from achieving more effective coordination and mobilization of resources at the international level, to building better capacity at the national and local levels. All of us can play a part in raising awareness of these challenges; all of us can play our part in overcoming them.

* * *
The European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF), which has a partnership agreement with the Council of Europe and a special status with this institution, is Europe’s largest and most inclusive Roma and Traveller organisation. It brings together Europe’s main international Roma--‐NGOs and more than 1,500 national Roma and Traveller organisations from most of the Council of Europe member states.
http://www.ertf.org/

INTERNATIONAL ROMANI DAY

FROM NATIONAL ROMA CENRUM  MACEDONIA

WEB: http://www.nationalromacentrum.org/

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT ON BEHALF OF INTERNATIONAL ROMA DAY

Macedonia, 8th April 2011 - National Roma Centrum (NRC) on the occasion of International Roma Day is underlying the urgency and importance of improving the situation of Roma community urging for real and visible actions. Starting from current perspective and dimension

We are witnesses that Roma are trying to survive confronted with constant deterioration of socio-economic condition, stereotypes, prejudices, discrimination, lack of measures to protect cultural and language identity. Many initiatives were raised and formally supported, but still we have very clear gap in between, and should decide - Discrimination or Inclusion?

This year marks four decades since the First Roma Congress was held in London, and besides the fact that the movement for improvement of the situation of the Roma community has improved, the lives of millions Roma throughout Europe have not been visibly improved. The Roma community is faced with extremely low conditions for normal living and migrates in order to look for stability and normal development. NRC appeals to all Governments responsible for the lives of millions of Roma citizens, decrease migration, by offering stability.

Certain number of Roma are without civil status, without ID Cards, having no possibility to access institutional support and protection, no access to health services or social protection.

NRC is highlighting that in the area of employment Roma community is at he bottom, having serious impact on socio-economic condition of Roma families as barrier to access other rights. Roma community is insufficiently and non equitably involved in the labour market. Unemployment tendency is continuing rapidly to grow for Roma.

NRC is concerned about the fact that most Roma families live in substandard living conditions in urban areas, national data base and mapping for Roma settlements is not available, for illegal housings as well, means for improving infrastructure and minimum living conditions were not funded yet.

Substandard living conditions, difficulties in access to health protection and services, having no information, having no prevention, highest rates of infant mortality are characteristics of the real picture regarding health and Roma.

Education is the bright point in the strategic aims of Republic of Macedonia to improve situation of Roma and to foster their inclusion in society. Positive step forward has been made with increased number of enrolled Roma children, positive atmosphere in schools, scholarships for students and free school books. But still we lack continuance in ensuring quality education, we lack measures for desegregation at local level, extremely high rate of illiteracy among Roma and the process to educate them has not been started yet, parents are not motivated for greater cooperation with schools.

Media reporting has been increased regarding common problems faced by Roma families that now are receiving media attention.

In the frameworks of the Decade for Roma Inclusion 2005-2015, Macedonia has provided nearly 5 EUR per capita for Roma inhabitant, is it enough to build home, to be employed, to educated, or to receive health services?

Macedonia and the EU must demonstrate strong political will and action for improving and inclusion of Roma.

07th April 20111

STATEMENT PREPARED BY ASMET ELELZOVSHI

Kumanovo President

National Roma Centrum-NRC

JOBBIK

FROM ROMEA.CZ

First joint protests held by anti-racism NGOs

Last Saturday the Hungarian opposition Jobbik party held a demonstration against alleged "Gypsy terror" in the settlement of Hejoszalonta, roughly 150 km to the east of Budapest. Hungarian civil society confronted the demonstration.

Roughly 600 sympathizers and MPs of the neo-Nazi Jobbik party met in Hejoszalonta. The party won 17 % of the votes in last year's parliamentary elections, the first time it has ever held seats in the Hungarian Parliament. Some demonstrators were wearing uniforms of the Hungarian Guard, an organization which the courts have dissolved for its similarity to the Hungarian fascist brigades in operation at the end of the Second World War. The Hungarian Guard, like the dissolved Workers' Party in the Czech Republic, has been exacerbating inter-ethnic relationships in society for years. Their agitation eventually led to homicidal attacks against Roma people during which a minimum of nine people, some of them children, died and dozens of people have been injured, some of them severely. After the Hungarian Guard was dissolved, alternative organizations immediately sprang up with names such as the "New National Guard" or "Hungarian Crew".

At the rally, Jobbik representatives also criticized the government's economic policy. The governing Fidesz party, in their view, has become the party of the rich. Hungarian MP Marton Szegedi (Jobbik) told the rally: "They take absolutely no care of the ordinary farmer in this country.”

Organizations for the protection of civil and human rights, such as Amnesty International, organized a counter-demonstration last Saturday. In their call for a counter-demonstration, they declared that "it is not possible to pronounce Roma people the generators of all evil. It is unacceptable for various extremists to attempt to take justice into their own hands." They also demand an end to the discrimination of Roma in the country.

Agnes Daroczi, a Roma political writer and chair of the Roma association Pralipe, speaking in front of roughly 150 counter-demonstrators on Saturday, said: "Many of us are terribly poor only because we were born Roma. We need a color-blind policy that will reach those on the fringes of society."

Ilonka Balogh, a Roma woman from Hejoszalonta, was aghast at the fact that police did not prevent the neo-Nazi gathering from taking place near her home and feared for her family's safety. Jozsef Anderko, the mayor of the village who unwillingly permitted Jobbik to hold the gathering there, admitted that pickpocketing is a problem in Hejoszalonta, but generally evaluated relations among people in the village as good.

A tutor from the local school who is an ethnic Hungarian also participated in Saturday's neo-Nazi march. Roma women from the village are now drafting a petition to have her removed from her position. "At the nursery school, 90 % of the children are Roma. It is not appropriate that she teach there now," Ilonka Balogh said.

The Jobbik party is demanding that authorities keep files on so-called Roma criminality. According to party representatives, members of the Roma minority are the main cause of increased crime in the countryside. Other parliamentary parties have now jointly taken a strong exception to the Jobbik demands for the first time ever.

Hungarian Guard brigades also recently marched through Gyöngyöspat, a village in the northeast of the country. For more than two weeks they literally terrorized Roma inhabitants there, who stopped leaving their homes or sending their children to school as a result. Under pressure from police and protests from abroad, they eventually had to end their marches. This is the first time representatives of various civic associations have met to protest these racist actions.

Amnesty International and other organizations from around the world demanded of the Hungarian government in March that it better ensure security for members of the Roma minority. At the end of March, the trial began in Budapest of four men charged with organizing a minimum of nine homicidal attacks on Roma families throughout the entire country in 2008-09.

This coming Saturday, the Czech political party DSSS is organizing a similar march in the North Bohemian village of Krupka. Various civic associations are organizing counter-demonstration

Czech Radio

TRANSLATED BY GWENDOLYN ALBERT

ROMEA

ROMANI CHILDREN IN EUROPEAN UNION



http://www.stolenchildhood.net/entry/vampires-gypsies-and-roma-kids/

 FROM DEUTSCHE WELLE

06.04.2011


Just 42 percent of Roma children finish school in Europe

BY JOANNA IMPEY

Less than half of Roma children living in the European Union finish school, according to the EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. As part of a new EU-wide strategy, Reding says their access to education must improve.

More jobs, better housing and improved access to education - those were the goals outlined by EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding in Strasbourg on Tuesday as part of a new common EU strategy for the mainstream integration of Roma.

"To my mind, the most important goal is that all Roma children get a school education," said Reding.

Of the 10 to 12 million Roma living in the European Union, just 42 percent finish their education. That compares with an average of 97 percent for all children. Reding said if Roma children had more access to education, they would have a better chance on the job market.

EU member states have until the end of this year to lay down an integration strategy, the implementation of which would be examined annually by the commission.

Gaps in the proposals

Nele Meyer of Amnesty International, who works in Brussels on the Roma issue and lobbies the EU to improve their measures for integration, welcomes the strategy, but says it doesn't go far enough to address the issue of discrimination.

"We fear that it will only focus on socio-economic aspects of the situation for the Roma today," Meyer explained to Deutsche Welle. "And while it is very important to address the poverty of Roma, it is just not sufficient. We have to also look at discrimination with regard to the citizenship of Roma.

"Some of them are not allowed to vote and they don't have identity papers," Mayer added. "We see discrimination in law enforcement, we see discrimination in society… and we fear this won't be addressed in the framework… and if so that would be a severe and significant gap."

French deportations

France was one of a number of member states which called on the EU to come up with a common strategy. The French government was heavily criticized last year after breaking up a number of illegal camps and deporting Roma to Eastern Europe.

At the time, the European Commission described the deportations as a "disgrace." But Meyer expects France will welcome this strategy.

"The case of what happened last year in France is actually not part of the framework at the moment," Meyer said. "And that's the big danger that we actually warn about - that the framework at the moment has too narrow a focus."

The commission says there would be economic benefits from integrating Roma into society. In the Berliner Tagesspiegel newspaper, Reding referred to calculations by the World Bank, which suggest the Roma could contribute up to 2 billion euros ($2.8 billion) to European economies if integration issues were tackled.

Reding added that it was important that access to health services improve. In some states infant mortality rates among Roma families is six times higher than average, according to the UN. Life expectancy for Roma is 10 years below that of other EU citizens.

"That cannot go on," Reding told the newspaper.

The proposals put forward in the EU strategy will be hammered out at a summit in June.

SCOTLAND



An illegal traveller encampment at Inverkeithing

 FROM THE COURIER.CO.UK


Public asked for views on official stopover sites for travellers


Fifers are to be canvassed on plans to set up stopover sites for gypsy travellers passing through the region.



By Aileen Robertson

Published in the Courier : 05.04.11

Sites at Cairneyhill, Crossgates, Cardenden and Crail are to be created by Fife Council to address the problem of large illegal encampments costing businesses thousands of pounds.

The council has spoken to councillors and intends to meet community councils this month. Next month, council officers are set to hold public information sessions to hear the concerns of residents.

Last year, problems arose when large encampments of gypsy travellers descended on private land.

The council says it is trying to prevent private land owners and businesses having to shell out thousands on taking legal action to have travellers moved on and clearing up after they have gone.

As well as proposing stopover sites, the council set up a working group, which has submitted a paper to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Association of Chief Police Officers calling for more powers to take enforcement action when travellers pitch up illegally.

Housing management and homelessness senior manager John Mills said the council would find it difficult to take legal action without offering travellers drop-off sites as an alternative.

"We've been talking for some years about creating stopover sites and this is the first of four sites in Fife," he said.

"If the council doesn't set up these sites, it would make it more difficult in the future to take legal action against unauthorised encampments."

Responsibility

While the sites are set to be unpopular with some residents, Mr Mills said the council had a responsibility to accommodate the needs of gypsy travellers.

"We're still looking at Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes for suitable sites. We envisage six or eight of these stopover sites eventually across Fife.

"We need to inform people better about what gypsy travellers are about. When we have unauthorised encampments close to residential and business areas we do tend to have conflict."

Councillor Alice McGarry, the chairwoman of Fife's gypsy travellers working group, said she hoped the public information sessions would "allay fears".

She said, "The permanent sites that we have in Fife do not cause any problems whatsoever. The majority of gypsy travellers just want somewhere to pitch up while they are travelling through Fife and then move on.

"One or two of them will cause difficulties but then again some settled people cause problems as well.

"We want to have discussions and alleviate any concerns. It would give us a better chance to argue in front of a sheriff that we have to move them on if we have sites already available."

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Fife/article/12585/public-asked-for-views-on-official-stopover-sites-for-travellers.html

PAKISTAN

FROM THE DAILY TIMES

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C04%5C06%5Cstory_6-4-2011_pg13_3

Gypsy Mela and Women Expo 2011 today


Staff Report

PHOTO FROM r4e.org

LAHORE: Grass Root Organisation for Human Development (GODH) and Punjab Social Welfare Department are to organise a “Gypsy Mela and Women Expo 2011” at the Children Library Complex today (Wednesday).

The event is being organised with the aid of Social Welfare and Children Library Complex district officer. MPA Mohsin Latif and artist Usman Peerzada would be chief guests of the event. The children gypsy community would also be present at the inauguration ceremony of the event.

Before the beginning of the carnival itself, some activities are going to be presented at the complex, like donkey cart race, hen show, pigeon competition, guli danda, dance competition, stappo in the settlement of gypsies. The prizes to the winners would be distributed during the carnival.

Stalls of gypsy products would also be set up at the carnival, with several civil society organisations showcasing their publications and handicrafts as well. Gypsies from all over Pakistan would perform their folk dances and stage plays, not just for the entertainment of the participants but also to highlight the challenges and situations they have to face.

The social welfare department would also arrange an exhibition of handicrafts made by women, along with the display of 30 other stalls. GODH is a non-government organisation, which strives for the socio-political and economical welfare of the city’s indigenous community of gypsies. The organisation is involved in provision of education and health facilities within the gypsy settlements since last twelve years, and from the last three years they are organising this campaign to uplift the conditions of the gypsy community.

ORCA SCHOOL

This week I did a presentation at the fouth and fifth grade class at Orca School in Columbia City, Seattle WA. 

I really enjoy talking with young people and have had wonderful experiences at many schools including Alternative School #1 and St. Lukes.

Most often, when i do a presentation on the Romani people, I need to begin with an explanation of who we are and why we are more than the stereotypes put upon us.

To my surprise and endless happiness, this class not only knew who Romani are, but had done independent research into the realities of the Romani.  They did not rely on stereotypes for even one instant. 

When I arrived at the class, I expected to have similar questions to most engagements, but the questions these students asked showed not only a sophistication, but also the respect to do research before.

They had drawn several flags which were hanging around the room, along with the words to Gelem, Gelem.  They had created language books where they discovered simple words in Romanes and translated them. They created a model varda. THEY KNEW WHO HITLER WAS....

I was so touched that I was almost in tears.  In all the years I have been talking with young folks, this was one of the few times I talked with a class who already saw us beyond the stereotypes.

I offer my sincere thanks to Orca School, to teacher Patrick Scott, and to all the wonderful  students with whom I met. 
Your efforts and respect mean a lot to me.  I have been spreading the word about Orca School.

Nais tukai
Your friend
Morgan

ROMANI OF EUROPE

FROM NEW EUROPE

http://www.neurope.eu/articles/Reality--not-reality-TV--is-the-real-key-to-change-for-Roma-/105629.php

Reality – not reality TV – is the real key to change for Roma

Author: Gutenberg

3 April 2011
Over the past months, viewers of the Channel 4 series “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding” have waited eagerly for the next episode of what the producers call “a window into the secretive, extravagant and surprising world of gypsies and travellers in Britain today”.

Purportedly showing the colourful courtship rituals of UK Travellers, the show attracted as many complaints as it did viewers for trivialising the way of life and ignoring the real story of poverty and social exclusion. Above all, it heaped confusion on an already confused society which knows next to nothing about the complex community that is collectively known as the Roma.

Anyone following reality, rather than “reality TV” will see a very different picture. Some examples: a UK council votes one third of its annual budget to evict families at one of the largest Traveller sites in Europe; Finnish authorities warn against an “influx of Roma panhandlers”; a Roma woman complains about forced sterilisation at the Court of Human Rights; the Council of Europe’s Social Rights Committee accepts a case against France for housing rights violations against the Roma …. and the list goes on.

Since the extraditions of Bulgarian and Romanian Roma from France last year, Roma stories are high on the agenda. The European institutions are acting, with the Council of Europe rolling out the mediator programme jointly agreed at its High Level meeting last year and the Commission strategy on Roma now in preparation.

In the meantime, a people that fled India in the 11th century to escape persecution continue to be persecuted. Reports from Council of Europe monitoring bodies and the EU Fundamental Rights Agency show racism against Roma on the rise everywhere. And even with this growth in awareness, how many people are aware that Vlax Roma were enslaved for 500 years, and that nearly the entire Roma population of Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands were amongst the estimated million and a half Roma that died in Hitler’s Final Solution?

The ignorance of the majority community is one hurdle, the heterogeneity of the Roma another. Despite a common origin and history, there is a huge divergence of traditions and culture – Finnish Kaale and Spanish Calé are more different than similar, the Sinti people - and even the English Romani – have little in common with the Travellers featuring on UK’s Channel 4. Roma academic Ian Hancock spelled this out to a European Commission meeting last year “If we knew who we were, and had more status allowing us to be heard, we would have a say in how we are portrayed,” he said.

Experience shows that great social projects only work if they are aligned with the lives of the people for whom they are designed. That is why the Council of Europe mediation project offers hope, building up the capacity of Roma communities to be part of society.

This year alone, over 400 Roma mediators in 15 countries will be trained in liaison skills, creating a network of ambassadors of trust between local public services and Roma communities. Each of them will be working in the community right away – getting children school places and making sure they attend, talking to doctors and health practitioners to make sure their community members get adequate care, and increasing job prospects for people for whom the labour market has remained closed for too long. This year, April 8, Roma Day, the mediators will be working to create a different reality for the Roma: one that will at long last empower Roma communities to break out of the spiral of social exclusion.
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THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 8TH, IS INTERNATIONAL ROMANI DAY.

Raise one persons awareness of the realities of the Roman

Morgan

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

On April 4 1968, civil rights leader and union advocate Martin Luther King Jr was ambused and shot to death in Memphis Tenn.  He was 39 years old at the time


PHOTO  twopeasinabucket.com

FLORIDA

A GYPSY CHURCH

FROM BROWARD PALM BEACH NEWS

Gypsy, Move On: Roma Church Evicted in Fort Lauderdale

By Brandon K. Thorp,

Mon., Apr. 4 2011 @ 1:02AM

Last week, the Christian Romany Church in Fort Lauderdale learned it would be evicted within a month to "make way for at least one government social services center," according to the Sun-Sentinel. This sad little story contains more than a little historical irony, which went unremarked upon in the media covering it.


The Christian Romany Church has about 250 members, all of whom are Roma. Gypsies, in other words -- the descendants of many generations of European wanderers who came out of India (or Egypt, if you ask the French) in the Middle Ages. As it happens, they're no strangers to forced relocation. Their millennium-long sojourn through Europe has seen them booted from almost every place where they've tried to erect a home. And that's when they were lucky.


They were kept as slaves in Wallachia and Moldova until the 19th Century. In the Holy Roman Empire of the 18th Century, under Joseph I, Roma men were hanged and their wives and children "flogged and banished." Elsewhere, they had their ears cut off or were branded so that other folk would know them on sight. Charles VI ordered Romani women executed and their children locked up in sanitariums. In the 20th Century, they were a primary target of Hitler's exterminations.


And now they're here and having their church taken from them. To be fair, the eviction might well have gone forward if the church were Methodist. It wasn't, of course, so we'll never know. Still -- it seems like our city's leaders would have hesitated to forcibly relocate the worship place of any oft-put-upon minority with a better publicist.


On the site of the church, in the Edgewood neighborhood, the county intends to build a substance-abuse treatment center and sanctuary for victims of sexual assault. Building plans have yet to be finalized.


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http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/juice/2011/04/roma_church_relocation.php