AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FRENCH AUTHORIES MUST STOP STIMATIZING THE ROMA

Wed, 1/5/11, Forwarded by Roma Virtual Network FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FRENCH AUTHORITES MUST STOP STIGMATIZING THE ROMA 05/01/2011 - Hundreds of marginalized Romanian and Bulgarian Roma families in France face being left without adequate shelter this winter as they face an ongoing threat of eviction from their camps. Anti-Roma sentiment and discriminatory practices by French public officials have been widespread and have intensified during 2010. In July, President Nicolas Sarkozy referred to 'irregular' Roma camps as "sources of illegal trafficking, profoundly degrading living conditions, [and] exploitation of children for the purposes of begging, prostitution and criminality". At a ministerial meeting, he ordered the dismantling of such sites "to proceed within… three months" and called for legislative reforms to speed the process of removing Roma from France. On 5 August, the French Ministry of the Interior issued a policy circular to all local authorities, targeting Roma camps as a "priority" to be dismantled. The 5 August circular followed earlier instructions issued jointly by the Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Immigration, which laid out specific steps for local authorities and law enforcement to (i) dismantle illegal camps, (ii) identify inhabitants who were not French and who do not have regular immigration status, (iii) identify violations of public order, and (iv) then take measures to remove such inhabitants from France. Following public outcry about the discriminatory effect of targeting an ethnic group for a programme of evictions, the Ministry withdrew the 5 August circular which specifically targeted Roma, and replaced it, on 13 September, with an order to dismantle "all 'illegal camps'" on French territory. Even though the specifically discriminatory language of the 5 August circular has been withdrawn, the various existing policy instructions and circulars issued in 2010 appear, when taken together, to devote considerable effort to identifying illegal camps, dismantling them, and expelling their inhabitants from France where possible. These measures, when put into practice, appear to disproportionately target Roma from Romania and Bulgaria. Concerns about discrimination against Roma in France have been raised by numerous international bodies and NGOs, including the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the European Commission and the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg. On his blog, Do not stigmatise Roma, Thomas Hammarberg wrote on 15 September 2010: "Repatriation of Roma EU citizens is now common in several European countries. France's crackdown on crime has specifically targeted Roma from Romania and Bulgaria. Pushing Roma families between member states offers no solutions to any problems". Roma in France generally live in very poor conditions in camps that often lack electricity, water and sanitation. They struggle to access work, education and health care. The government's rhetoric and actions have led to the further exclusion of Roma, isolated from the rest of society in camps built near highways, away from built-up areas and, at times, in the middle of woods. Many live in hiding and fear of being found, moved on and having to find new homes. Some of those evicted also face the prospect of being removed from France. Christèle, a representative of the local NGO Imediat, assisting a Roma camp in Villeneuve-le-Roi, Paris, recently informed Amnesty International that living conditions were deterioriating with the arrival of winter. The climate of stigmatization and discrimination against Roma, fuelled by statements by leading politicians and the issuing of official guidelines for eviction and expulsion, has intensified in the latter half of 2010. Claudia Charles, a lawyer for GISTI (Group for the Information and Support of Immigrants) told Amnesty International, "The harassment, threats and destruction always existed. Now, however, we see it everywhere." Roma communities forcibly evicted Research conducted by Amnesty International in Paris and Marseille in September and October 2010 has shown that many evictions of Roma camps by the authorities have been carried out in violation of international human rights standards. Roma who lived in the dismantled camps and local NGOs told Amnesty International that Roma residents' homes were destroyed minutes after they had been evicted. The local authorities had neither consulted with them nor made offers of adequate alternative housing. Roma camp inhabitants and local NGOs told Amnesty International that eviction orders had not been explained or translated into a language understood by Roma; in many cases they had not even had time to gather their possessions. They had been left to try to find another place to build a new home. Under these conditions it remains very difficult for individuals to legally challenge their eviction. M., a father of four living in a Marseilles squat, told Amnesty International: "Two days before demolishing [the building], they came and told us that we needed to move away. They didn't care where, they just told us to leave. And one morning we saw the bulldozers. Some people came into the house, they threw what was inside out of the windows and started to demolish it." Adrian, living with his family in a Roma camp in the woods in Villeneuve-le-Roi, Paris, said: "We managed to take most of our belongings but not everything. We were afraid as they started demolishing the houses on top of us… they started kicking the barracks and hitting them with metal bars as we were trying to gather our things…  We slept one night on the street with the mattresses on the ground after the police evicted us." Forced evictions A forced eviction is the removal of people against their will from the homes or land they occupy, without genuine consultation with those affected and the offer of adequate alternative housing, regardless of whether they rent, own, occupy or lease the land or housing in question. The effects of evictions are catastrophic. Forced evictions often result in people loosing their personal possessions, social networks, and access to jobs and services, such as schools and health care. People may become homeless or find themselves living in worse situations then before. Not every eviction that is carried out by force constitutes a forced eviction, if the appropriate safeguards are in place. Struggling to live with dignity Amnesty International was told by the Roma people its delegates met in Paris and Marseille about the vicious cycle of marginalization and exclusion in which they find themselves in France and other EU member states in which some of them had previously lived. Most of them try to make a living out of what they can, by recycling scrap metal, as casual labourers, or, by begging in the street. None of these solutions provides for a stable income or for a life lived with dignity. C., a Romanian woman living in a Camp in Massy, Paris, told Amnesty International that many of the people living in the camp want to work but cannot find employment: "Of course we want to work. Even those who go and beg on the streets and don't know the language have boards with written messages like 'We beg for work, we want to work, we want to make a living'". Romani parents also spoke to Amnesty International of their concern for their children's schooling. They described being forced to move on so often that their children were mostly unable to register for school, or faced bureaucratic obstacles when they attempted to register, which resulted in them being unable to attend school altogether. Christèle, a representative of the Paris NGO, Imediat, told Amnesty International that, of about 30 children she had assisted in registering for school during the last three months, only three had been accepted. PHOTO  DEMONSTATORS IN MARSEILLE, FRANCE, 2010 AP GRAPHICS BANK Link with Appeal for Action is on  http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/french-authorities-must-stop-stigmatizing-roma __._,_.___   . __,_._,___

2010: EUROPE'S "SUMMER OF INTOLERANCE"

FROM WORLD WAR 4 REPORT

2010: EUROPE'S "SUMMER OF INTOLERANCE"


Western Leaders and the New "Barbarian Invasions"

by Giulio D'Eramo, World War 4 Report

The most remarkable event signaling the racist shift in Europe's politics in 2010 was probably the mid-September crisis over a leaked French document showing the explicit targeting of Roma people for deportation that the administration in Paris had written over the summer. The following unprecedented complaint against France by the European Union for breaching of EU rules on the free movement of citizens gives a measure of the importance of this scandal.

The complaint was retracted at the end of October when Paris removed overtly discriminatory language from its new immigration bill. But by then, some 1,000 Roma had been expelled, and hundreds of their camps demolished. The European summer of 2010 might well be remembered as the "summer of intolerance."

Europeans started to feel the heat in August, when in Germany one Thilo Sarrazin, an outspoken Bundesbank's consultant and prominent Social Democratic Party member, published a book—Deutschland schafft sich ab ("Germany Does Away With Itself")—in which he blames immigrants and Jews for every social and economic problem of the Federal Republic. The book, upon its release, was #1 on Germany's bestsellers list.

Just as Sarrazin was finally being kicked out from both the Bundesbank and the SPD, the offending French document was leaked to the press. It starts off as follows: "The President of the Republic has fixed on July 28 concrete objectives for the evacuation of illegal camps: 300 illegal camps or settlements have to be evacuated by 3 months, with priority those of the Roma."

The French government had previously assured EU officials that they were kicking out people without documents and living in "favelas." They had made it clear that the process was not carried out on a discriminatory basis. As EU law holds that no member state may have laws that explicitly target an ethnic group, the publication of the document prompted the reaction of European Commissioner Viviane Reding, who issued a strong and angry condemnation. She stated:

During a formal meeting with French ministers...the Commission received political assurances that specific ethnic groups had not been targeted in France. I can only express my deepest regrets that the political assurances given by two French ministers...are now openly contradicted by an administrative circular issued by the same government...

Despite the obvious illegality of the measure as described by the leaked document, Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi rushed to support of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, saying: "Europe had not yet woken up to the fact that the Roma problem is not a uniquely a French or Italian, Greek or Spanish problem. President Sarkozy, on the other hand, is fully aware of this." He added: "We hope that this Franco-Italian convergence will shake Europe and make it confront the problem with coordinated policies."

And indeed, the Italian government had already started to work within its own boundaries.

The mildest representative of the xenophobe Northern League Party, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, has just proposed a new decree on Urban Security. This decree, which would include strong measures against nomadism, has long been awaited from the mayor of Rome, the post-fascist Gianni Alemanno.

A loyal to Berlusconi supporter throughout the latest political crisis, Alemanno started off as a young and violent supporter of the overtly Mussolini-nostalgist Italian Social Movement (MSI), which then became the National Alliance (AN), which in turn melted into the Berlusconi's ironically named party, People of Freedom (PDL). One of his first plans as mayor is the immediate dismantling of some 90% of the 100-plus Roma camps around the city. He obviously adds that the camps will be erased only after a new accommodation is found for the people living there—but that only means until another existing camp (but one out of the city) is enlarged. He says he's waiting for the Interior Minister to pave the way for legal eviction of all nomadic people (read: Rom), even those with EU papers.

Alemanno states: "It is paramount that when there are situations of either vagrancy or absolute misery, we are able to provide compulsory medical treatment to those people for periods up to 6 months." This is a barely veiled reference to internment in psychiatric institutes. From this declarations we learn two useful facts. First: Nomadic people do not deserve civil rights. Second: Roma people like to be poor, and are therefore crazy—and therefore lose their civil rights, as appropriate for crazy dangerous people.

The immigration office of Catholic aid organization Caritas expressed concerns that the moves of Rome's mayor will force more and more Roma to join overcrowded and malfunctioning camps in other regions of Italy—for example in the poor Naples suburb of Scampia, notoriously controlled by the Camorra crime machine.

The Cardinal of Milan, Dionigi Tettamanzi, also protested against discrimination when the city's right-wing administration evicted 200 Roma from an abandoned building they had been squatting in September, asserting, "this operation did not respect human rights." Too bad, one could say, that when it comes to election times the Church always supports right-wing parties because of their "pro-life" stand. Just before Christmas, a Milan judge ordered the city government to offer housing to the evicted families.

Despite recent violent demonstrations in Rome (Dec. 14 saw riots on a scale not witnessed since the '70s, as thousands marched against Berlusconi) and the fact that Alemanno is now at the center of a huge scandal (with many of his relatives and fascist cronies getting top-paid jobs in the administration), he was originally elected on a security platform. (Ironically, one of the directors of Rome's public transport company, Francesco Bianco, is a former member of fascist terrorist groups, charged in the '80s for two politically motivated killings.)

On his original security ticket, Alemmano repeatedly made propaganda use of one of the most famous crimes of recent years, that of a woman who was killed on the way from the train station to her house, in an unlighted alley just beside a Roma camp. Anger was focused on the Roma, rather than the government for failing to provide a paved, well-lit route from the train station to the residential area on the other side of the trafficked Via Tor di Quinto. Alemmano exploited the climate of fear around this episode. The high-profile arrest (on unrelated criminal charges) of a couple of extremely rich Roma families, owning tens of Ferraris and luxury apartments, increased the common feeling that they just "act" poor.

Although with less fanfare than in France and Italy, Germany has also been aggressively deporting Roma—generally, on quietly chartered flights to Kosova and elsewhere in the Balkans. In September, rights groups reportede police arriving at the homes of undocumented immigrants in Frankfurt in the middle of the night and giving the residents two hours to pack.

The French and Italian moves against the Roma, the more successfully hidden moves in Germany, the xenophobic statements of Bundersbank's Sarrazi (supported by 85% of Germans, at least on the Muslim issue, polls indicate), like the growing Tea Party movements in America, show once more that the much-feared "barbarian invasions" are not coming from outside, but from within the West's own boundaries.

To use the power of a state against a minority is to follow the line of the worst and most undemocratic groups within a country. We should always remember that the most important task of a democracy is not expressing the will of the majority, but protecting and giving voice to the many minorities that constitute a nation.
----

Giulio D'Eramo is a freelance writer whose work appears frequently in Index on Censorship, Articolo 21, Red Pepper and other online publications. He recently launched his own website, Blog Me There. An Italian native, he currently resides in England.

Resources:

EU to suspend complaint against France over Roma expulsions
The Guardian, Oct. 19

German expulsions of Roma have long been kept secret
Romea.cz, Sept. 24

Fears of anti-immigration alliance as Berlusconi lauds France's expulsion policy
The Independent, Sept. 17

Orders to police on Roma expulsions from France leaked
The Guardian, Sept. 13

The Bundesbank and Axel Weber's Nightmare Dilemma (on public reaction to Thilo Sarrazin)
Wall Street Journal's The Source blog, Aug. 31

http://ww4report.com/node/9288

NAZIS IN HUNGARY

The Jerusalem Institute for Global Jewish Affairshas published a remarkable report on Anti-Semitism and Racism in Hungary by László Molnár in November 2010. I am quoting from the chapter “Anti-Semitism in the Subculture”:


“After the 1990 transition, the quickly emerging extreme-right subculture also strengthened the traditional anti-Roma attitude. A good many neo-Nazi, Hungarist, “nationalist rock” bands came into being in including HunterSS, White Storm, Endlösung, Blood Libel, Power and Vendetta, Romantic Aggression, New Order, Mos-OI, Stoned Cherry, and others. All of these have used extreme racist language and symbols. A song by Mos-OI threatens to turn the country into a “Gypsy-free zone”. It contains the lyrics: “The flamethrower is the only weapon I need to win, all Gypsies, adults and children we will annihilate, but we can kill all of them at once in unison, after it is done we can say it is a Gypsy-free zone.” A song by White Storm proclaims: “Let's exterminate Gypsies!” In their racist outlook, “every Gypsy is a criminal, there is only one solution for them: Auschwitz.... There is a cloud of dust above Poland, where every Gypsy is traveling in the sky.”

TURKEY

FROM SUNDAY'S ZAMAN

CHILDREN'S ORCHESTRA MELTS DIFFERENT IDENTITIES INTO ONE POT


02 January 2011, Sunday /

TUĞBA MEZARARKALI , İSTANBUL 0 0 1 0

PHOTO Young Tarlabaşı drummers performing in their studio.

In İstanbul’s Tarlabaşı neighborhood, Roma, Kurdish, Turkish, Laz and African communities live on the same street. Although where they live is very close to the city’s heart, Tarlabaşı residents suffer from poverty.

The richness of the neighborhood is its variety of colors. Here people from many different ethnic backgrounds live together. What they have in common is that they all do their best to survive despite their poverty.

In 2006, an immigration center affiliated with İstanbul Bilgi University opened the Tarlabaşı Community Center. The center has the difficult task of trying to take these children and their families from disparate ethnic backgrounds and meld them into a cohesive community. The Tarlabaşı Children’s Orchestra is a beautiful example of this.

A member of the orchestra, Ramazan Gümüş (16), says his life has profoundly changed thanks to the orchestra. “In the places we play concerts, people watch us with interest. The things I see at the universities where we perform affects me deeply. I want to study like them,” he says.

Loving to play guitar and darbuka, Eren Kuş (9) says he spends three days at the center every week. “I come here as soon as I get out of school. I love to play guitar. I want to be a good guitarist in the future,” he says.

Eight-year-old Helin Sukorkut hurries to the center even before she goes home and changes. The youngest person in the orchestra course, she started going to the center six months ago.

The center’s activities target socially alienated individuals who have just moved to the city as well as women and children who live in poverty.

The center’s social services expert, Ceren Suntekin, says children who could not stand one another before are now taking violin or guitar classes together. She highlights the positive effect on the children of the children’s orchestra project, named “Guitar Sounds in Tarlabaşı,” which has been supported by the İstanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency, and says that they got the support of the families because the streets are not an appropriate place for children to spend time safely. “At first, muhtars -- local officials -- criticized us, saying, ‘Many came with the same agendas before you but they failed.’ [Later] even the police officers who visited us said, ‘If they did not love you, they would already be throwing stones at your building and windows’,” she explains.

SILESIA

FROM THE NEWS.PL

NATIONAL

ROMA FLEE HOME AFTER THREATS IN SILESIA

PHOTO FROM BRAVOSOLUTIONS.COM
30.12.2010 09:56

Local authorities in the southern Silesian city of Bytom have held a meeting with local Roma gypsy residents after a spate of incidents forced them to leave their homes for fear of physical harm.

“We are a little calmer, but there’s still a long way to go,” members of the Roma society told the local edition of Gazeta Wyborcza after meeting with local authorities, including the police.

The meeting comes after local gangs tried to extort ‘protection’ money from a resident Roma family, with the stipulation that if an installment was late, then the son would have his legs broken.

As a result, the mother stopped sending her son to school, but he was beaten up in a shopping mall. After calling the police, the family continued to be hassled by the gang, and in the end was forced to move to a nearby hotel. Soon after, other Roma families started receiving similar treatment.

An anonymous Roma ‘judge’ told the Katowice edition of Gazeta Wyborcza that “it is good that the meeting took place, but no message were voiced that would ensure the protection of those people that need it most.” Police in Bytom are looking into the matter. (jb)

PATTI SMITH

Happy Birthday to Patti Smith, now the Grandmother of Punk Music.  In her career she has been called the Princess of Punk, the Mother of Punk, the Godmother of Punk, and now, at 64, the pundits and critics are calling her the Grandmother of Punk. 

Patti accepts every title graciously, but none so much as the recently received award for her book, Just Kids, about her relationship with Robert Maplethorpe.  Patti is, and always has been,  before all else, a poet.

Patti continues to be an outspoken political ally to progressive people and their struggles..

Listen carefully to her songs.  People have the Power is a perfect example of her political prospective.

Happy Birthday Patti.

WOUNDED KNEE 1890

The Massacre at Wounded Knee took place on December 29, 1890 in South Dakota.

 

At least 300 Sioux Indians were killed by United States troops,  many women and children.  Some were chased for over two miles, before being massacred by the troops.

 

In 1973, the "Siege of Wounded Knee" was perpetrated against Native Americans who, led by AIM and traditional tribal members, dared to express the sovereignity of THEIR land.

 

Please check out these stories. 

 

We're all illegals, eh?

DALE FARM

FROM ROMA BUZZ AGGREGATOR

DALE FARM MASS EVICTION DUBBED ETHNIC-CLEANSING


By Jon Austin (ECHO)

14/12/2010 - LABOUR PARTY councillors likened the mass evictions of Travellers to “ethnic cleansing” and branded the development of Dale Farm – Europe’s biggest illegal camp – a “misdemeanour” when the issue came up at this month’s Basildon council meeting.

Phil Rackley refused to retract his comparison between the eviction and ethnic cleansing of minority groups during wars, despite a barrage of criticism from Tories who want the Crays Hill site cleared.

His description “this kind of ethnic cleansing” came after Basildon Labour group leader Lynda Gordon said the ten-year breach of planning laws and High Court orders by 96 families at Dale Farm was a misdemeanour, not warranting the hard line stance.

Another Labour member, Swatantra Nandanwar, said the eviction should not go ahead until alternative sites were found.

Tories warned Labour rivals they would be held responsible for violence at the eviction if they did not encourage families to leave peacefully.

Tory council leader Tony Ball said: “Will councillor Nandan-war go on the site and encourage people to leave? Will he?

“Silence. If there is violence there will be blood on your hands.”

The verbal clashes came during a heated debate updating members of the plans to clear the site by the spring.

It is estimated the eviction could cost £13million in a worst case scenario if anarchist groups such as the Wombles take part.

During the meeting there was heckling from the public gallery, local residents and traveller supporters.

Mr Rackley’s comments on ethnic cleansing led to Conservative mayor Mo Larkin demanding an immediate retraction, while Tory Phil Turner called for his removal.

Tories argued the comparison was an insult to the millions murdered during the Holocaust and other genocides, and said they were simply trying to uphold planning legislation backed by the court and former Labour government.

Mr Rackley said he apologised if he caused offence, but made no retraction, adding: “The whole point is this is about removing people from their homes.”

Lynda Gordon, who was accused of subscribing to anarchy, stood by her comments, arguing the £13million potential cost could not be justified against what was simply a planning breach. Both accepted their views could cost Labour votes at the next local elections, but said their principles were more important.

Geoff Williams, Lib Dem group leader, said his party believed the illegal camp should be tolerated until alternative sites could be found.

WALL IN OSTROVANY

APOLOGY TO ROMA IN OSTROVANY

FROM EUYOUTHSPEAK.ORG

MILAN SIMECKA FOUNDATION

PHOTO : CHRISTINE BEDNARZ

SLOVAKIA :

21/12/2010 - More than a year ago a wall separating the Romani settlement from the non-Roma part of the village was built in Ostrovany, eastern Slovakia. The wall made Ostrovany famous almost all around the world. It became the symbol of segregation of Roma, allegory of frustration of municipalities and a sad inspiration for other villages and towns in Slovakia. Only few days before Christmas a simple inscription appeared on the “Berlin” wall in Ostrovany saying: “Prepacte”. It means “sorry” in Slovak.

The builders of the anti-Roma wall reportedly did not act against the law and are proud about their creation. The authors of the apologizing graffiti likely committed a crime and stay anonymous. Milan Šimečka Foundation would like to express gratitude to these unknown “perpetrators” for their brave deed. Programmes Director of the Foundation, Laco Oravec, commented: “Neither politicians nor general public in Slovakia tend to condemn acts of racism and defend the Roma. We honour that there is someone who feels the need to apologize to the Ostrovany Roma.”

THE PORRAIMOS

The History Lesson Europe Needs Right Now

FROM THE OPEN SOCIETY BLOG

December 22, 2010

BY BERNARD RORKE

PHOTO FROM THE USHMM
As the controversy raged over the ethnic targeting and mass expulsions of Roma from France, it was European Commissioner Viviane Reding’s allusion to World War II in an acrimonious exchanges with French president Nicolas Sarkozy that drew the most fire. There followed much mock outrage and a torrent of denunciations from Paris, but there was scarcely a mention of Roma as victims of the Holocaust.

As the memory of the spat between Reding and Sarkozy recedes, and media attention moves away from the Roma, the European Parliament must intervene to ensure that Europeans never forget, and pass a resolution to inaugurate an official day of solemn remembrance for the estimated half million Roma who perished in the Nazi-orchestrated Holocaust.

The ignorance and indifference of the majority concerning this dark chapter of Europe’s past reinforces ambivalence and prejudice against Roma in the present. As activist Romani Rose put it, there is a need to embed this crime of genocide in the collective memory of our nations and "to raise awareness among political decision-makers of the particular historical responsibility they bear towards the Roma and Sinti minority."

The fate of the Roma at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators in the Baro Porrajmos ("Great Devouring") has been neglected for too long. Elie Wiesel never forgot:

I remember what happened in the "night of the gypsies"... That night will remain with me as long as I live. Throughout the kingdom of the night a whisper of fire ran through from man to man, from child to child. We heard just one word—they are burning the Gypsies.

Almost 3,000 men, women, and children perished in the gas chamber during the night of August 2-3, 1944, as the Germans liquidated the so-called Gypsy family camp (Zigeunerfamilienlager) in Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

In an obscene affront to survivors of the genocide, compensation claims were denied in Germany in the 1950s on grounds that "Gypsies were persecuted under the National Socialistic Regime not for any racial reason, but because of an asocial and criminal record." It is chilling to hear similar rhetoric today. Leading politicians from EU member states would have us believe that Roma are not discriminated against because of their ethnicity, but because they pose a threat to "public order"; because they are genetically predisposed to wrongdoing; because Roma communities function as incubators of crime; and because Roma refuse to assimilate and abide by societal norms. Racist anti-Roma rhetoric, previously confined to the neo-Nazis of the far right, is increasingly seeping into mainstream populist agendas. And those who propagate it do so with seeming impunity.

An awareness of the past is essential to combat anti-Roma prejudice in the present. As Yehuda Bauer has written:

In sheer demonic cold-blooded brutality the tragedy of the Romanies is one of the most terrible indictments of the Nazis. The fact that their fate is hardly ever mentioned and that the mutilated Romany nation continues to be vilified and persecuted to this day should put all their host nations to shame.

There seems to be little shame among EU member states when it comes to treatment of their Roma citizens. There is even less awareness of the dark times endured by the Roma in their history. In a climate of rising anti-Gypsyism, ignorance reproduces prejudice. To break this toxic cycle, the European Parliament should, as a first step, inaugurate an official day of solemn remembrance for Roma victims and survivors of the Porrajmos.
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I encourage people to go to the original blog entry (address below) to read some of the comments.  They are very interesting.

http://blog.soros.org/2010/12/the-roma-holocaust-the-history-lesson-europe-needs-right-now/

ROMANI IN ROMANIA

FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.

Romania urged to provide accommodation for homeless families after eviction

Forced evictions have affected communities in the city of Miercurea Ciuc

22 December 2010

Amnesty International has urged the Romanian authorities to provide urgent housing assistance to several Roma families made homeless by a forced eviction last week.

Authorities in the city of Cluj, in north-western Romania, forcibly evicted a Roma community on 17 December.

Some of the families have been moved to inadequate housing units, while others are homeless. According to local NGOs and testimonies from local Roma, other Roma communities in Cluj are also at risk of being forcibly evicted.

“This pattern of forced evictions, without adequate consultation, adequate notice or adequate alternative housing, perpetuates segregation and violates Romania’s international obligations,” said Andrea Huber, Europe and Central Asia deputy director at Amnesty International.

"When Roma families are being evicted from their homes against their will, they lose their homes, their possessions, their social contacts, their access to work and state services.”

On 15 December, about 56 families were given two days' notice that all improvised barracks and shacks in their community would be demolished. There was no consultation with the affected community and no feasible alternatives to eviction had been explored.

On 17 December, at around 6am, police arrived and told the community to move their belongings by the end of the day. Subsequently, 40 families were re-housed in new housing units in the outskirts of the city, close to a garbage dump.

Several families have been rendered homeless by the eviction, as they did not receive a room in the housing unit nor other alternative housing. Adults and children reportedly sleep outdoors, while the temperature can reach -10 degrees Celcius at night.

One of the Roma evicted from the Coastei Street community told Amnesty International: “There are people sleeping outside, in the cold. They were not given a room and they want to protect their belongings from being stolen. Sometimes they take their children to sleep in their neighbours houses, but otherwise they stay in the cold”.

Meanwhile, access to work opportunities and public services is difficult, as the closest bus stop is approximately 4 km away. This makes it difficult for the children to attend school.

Amnesty International has urged Cluj city authorities to ensure that any evictions are carried out only as a last resort and in full compliance with international human rights standards.

“The ordeal of Roma families in Romania has continued for many years. Now is the time for the local authorities to provide them with adequate housing close to services and facilities in a safe and healthy location,” said Andrea Huber.

SCOTLAND

FROM NEWS.SCOTSMAN.COM

City criticised for treatment of travellersPremium Article !Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button.


Date: 22 December 2010

HUMAN rights campaigners have written to council bosses to highlight their treatment of gypsy travellers.

Amnesty International said it was "proving difficult" to tackle "discrimination" of travelling people in Scotland.

Earlier this year, the city council was criticised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland for introducing a series of measures to prevent travellers using the city's park-and-ride sites as a place to stay.

Now Amnesty has written to a number of councils, including Edinburgh, challenging them to do more for travellers.

A spokesman said: "Local authorities play a crucial role in delivering basic services and Amnesty International has researched the performance of Scotland's 32 local authorities.

"We are now writing to these, highlighting areas where we would like to see improvement."

Edinburgh has just one official site for gypsies and travellers, at North Cairntow, Duddingston, with just 20 pitches.

On several occasions over the past year, council bosses have sought court orders to move on travellers who have begun using park-and-ride sites.

Source: Edinburgh Evening News

HUNGARY

FROM EUROPEAN VOICE.COM

Home > Policies > EU governance > Council of MinistersRoma programme is bid to stop a swing to the right


By Thomas Escritt

16.12.2010 / 04:22 CET

Hungary has decided to make Roma integration a centrepiece of its EU presidency programme.

Hungary's decision to make Roma integration a centrepiece of its EU presidency programme is as much a reflection of its government's domestic political needs as it is a response to the urgent problem of Roma exclusion throughout the region.

Fidesz's major rival to the right is Jobbik, a racist party that has notched up major electoral successes with its promise of a firm response to the “gypsy crime problem”.

On gaining office, Viktor Orbán, the prime minister, promised to focus on law and order and chose as his interior minister a former policeman, Sándor Pintér.

Somewhere between 5% and 10% of Hungary's 10 million citizens are ethnic Roma, making the population smaller in absolute and relative terms than in Bulgaria or Romania.

But the issue is no less pressing for that. The country's Roma spent the summer of 2009 living in fear as a gang of killers, allegedly far-right skinheads, roamed the country killing Roma, including children, who were living in isolation at the edge of remote villages.

Equally, with low levels of education and few employment opportunities, Roma undoubtedly play a role in petty and organised crime and are a growing burden on the budget in a country where the ratio of the active to the inactive is already too low.

“Fidesz needs a success on this,” says Virág Kaufer, an opposition member of parliament specialising in Roma affairs. “That's the one area where Jobbik has an advantage over them.”

Integration

Zoltán Balogh, the Calvinist minister who is responsible for Hungary's Roma programme, says: “Emigration is not the solution: we need to integrate Roma into society where they are.”

In fact, Hungary's Roma have been relatively sedentary. It is the Roma of Bulgaria and Romania who have received such frosty responses in France and Italy.

But Orbán thinks this could change. “If Europe doesn't make an effort to ensure Roma living in one place get adequate education, work and standards of living, then they will migrate, and...nothing can stop them going to countries with better standards of welfare provision.”

ROMANI IN IRAQ

TRANSCRIPT FROM Mosaic News - 12/21/10: World News From The Middle East

PHOTO FROM TOPFOTO.CO.UK
Education brings hope to Kurdistan's Romani children

Sumaria TV, Iraq

Presenter, Female # 1

All across Iraq, the Romani people endure what can be described, at the very least, as bad conditions, lacking even the most basic humanitarian needs. For this reason, an individual initiative emerged in the city of Sulaymaniyah, with the support of the Ministry of Education in Kurdistan, to open a school that focuses on the reintegration of this segment of the population into society through education.

Reporter, Female # 2

According to officials in Iraq's central and southern provinces, local authorities expelled the Romani people because they considered the community to be negatively affecting the morals and customs of the society. However, it seems the reality of the Romanis' life in Kurdistan focuses on their reintegration into society through education. A retired educator was able to convert a modest tent into a school to teach Romani children in Sulaymaniyah after the Ministry of Education approved the plan with the goal of reeducating this segment of the population, numbered at over 300,000 people.

Guest, Female # 3 (Hana Fadel, The school's founder)

I got the idea when I saw the panhandling that takes place on the streets and when I saw acts carried out by the Romanis that are deemed unacceptable to society. So I got the idea to ask the Ministry of Education to open a school to teach them and also offer vocational courses, and they approved.

Guest, Female # 4 (Bahia Raheem Kareem, Teacher)

We offer the same classes as any elementary school: math, Kurdish, English, sports and Islamic education.

Reporter, Female # 2

Romani students expressed hope that this school will lead to a change in their daily lives and the lives of Romani people by expanding their work and educational opportunities in the future.

Guest, Female # 6

I used to sell chewing gum on the street but today I am student. I don't know what the future holds for me but I know that I don't want to sell gum.

Guest, Male # 1

I used to dye shoes in the market and would work long hours but today I study and learn. I feel like other kids, the ones I used to see on my way to work.

Reporter, Female # 2

The Sulaymaniyah Ministry of Education confirmed that it seeks to provide Romanis with an education through this school. The state they're in is similar to that of other segments of the city's population and the ministry attributes its failure to approve the Romanis' request to attend public schools to their families' frequent moves from one region to another.

Guest, Male # 2 (Kamal Nouri, Sulaymaniyah director of education)

Not having permanent housing in Sulaymaniyah and other regions leads to a lack of commitment to our normal schools.

Reporter, Female # 2

It seems that the opening of a school specifically to teach the Romani children for the first time in cities across Kurdistan, and Iraq in general, indicates that there is at least partial recognition of their rights. It coincides with local authorities in south and central Iraq expelling them from cities, such as from the city of Karbala, and preventing them from entering and exiting some regions, such as the Iraqi province of Diwaniya. Rana Ahmad, al-Sumariya.

** Contact Mosaic News: mosaicnews{at}linktv{dot}org

HARK! WALMART FLASH MOB

I received this message from a friend of mine.  These videos were filmed this week at a Seattle Walmart.
Both videos are great.
Enjoy.
______________________________________________________

"Here's a little action that yours truly participated in. There are two parts. When they didn't stop us we decided to keep the action going all the way through the store. We got a great response from folks shopping in the store and also from the employees themselves. Hope you enjoy; we had a blast doing it! Please share with others!"


Hark! Walmart Flash Mob is here:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz1nWKV0YxE

Hark! Walmart Flash Mob (Part 2) is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDR70xu29W4

ITALY

FROM THE DESIGN OBSERVER GROUP

PHOTO OF CAMP IN ITALY FROM THE JON CALAME GALLERY

The Roma of Rome: Heirs to the Ghetto System

In Italy today, politicians have become the lead architects of a low-cost human-warehousing system designed to contain the minority Roma, or Gypsy, community. Visitors to the city remark that the visibility of the Roma — especially around train stations, restaurants and tourist sites — is lower than in past decades. What they do not realize is that this superficial change reflects a series of political actions which have profoundly reshaped the Roma’s status within the Italian state.

For years, and most notably with the closure in February of the Casilino 900 enclave, Italian authorities have pushed the Roma out of squatter settlements that were unofficially tolerated and into sanctioned housing developments, where fences, gates, guards, flood lights and surveillance cameras box in and monitor the residents. Legislation passed in 1985 enabled the provincial government to build special camps in undesirable areas on the periphery of the capital. This ordinance, together with special police powers granted in 2007, and the subsequent declaration of a regional state of emergency, allowed municipal authorities in Rome to create and subsidize a separate zone — a separate reality — for the Roma. Operating through this loophole, politicians delivered on their increasingly xenophobic campaign platforms and at the same time evaded the constraints of human rights covenants established by the European Union. Other EU nations followed suit. This summer’s Roma eviction campaign in France prompted Italian Foreign Minister Roberto Maroni to complain that the French were "doing nothing more than copying Italy."

Today Italian provincial governments — particularly in Rome, Milan and Naples — are busily creating and expanding camps for the nation’s most reviled and historically mistreated minority. The result is deepening hardship; of the approximately 140,000 Roma in Italy, including 7,400 in Rome, 35 percent are settled in enclaves built or tolerated by the government, 15 percent are itinerant, 75 percent are illiterate, and fewer than 3 percent will live beyond 60 years — fully twenty years behind Italy’s national average. [1]

The nine authorized Roma enclaves of Rome are bleak places. Water and sewage are inadequate, housing is crowded and uncomfortable, proximity to neighbors is tight and inflexible (and does not take into account the affinities and antipathies among Roma groups of different national origins). The only places for children to play are the concrete slabs between the boxy housing containers. Inoffensive when new, the containers are quickly degraded by high occupancy and insufficient maintenance. Manufactured and marketed as temporary housing for disaster relief and humanitarian emergencies, the units have thin walls with little insulation, and in Rome they have been adopted as a permanent response to the "Emergenza Nomadi." This is in part because some Italians believe the Roma prefer lightweight dwellings, a notion woven into the nomadic mythology that surrounds them, and in part because the Roma are deemed unworthy of the housing options available to others.

The deplorable outcome is that Italy now has a publicly subsidized network in which vastly inferior living standards are systematically maintained. Medical studies have tracked the disproportionate incidence of respiratory disease and diarrhea among Roma children. Criminological studies have shown Roma incarceration rates in Italian prisons far out of alignment with the demographic profile. Simple spatial analyses of living conditions within the authorized enclaves, which I carried out with others in 2009 and 2010, have assessed the average living space per resident at a mere 41 percent of the minimum allocation specified by the Roman building code, with interior ceilings 14 percent lower than allowable minimums. Discrepancies with housing criteria in the EU’s International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (to which Italy is a signatory) are even wider.

It is revealing to consider these enclaves alongside historic ethnic ghettos, penal colonies and internment camps. Not surprisingly, municipal authorities in Rome would reject these comparisons. From their viewpoint, the authorized enclaves are generous and progressive, a humanitarian gesture supporting a mode of living superior to the squalor of the unauthorized camps and preferable to no housing at all, which is what some Romans believe the Roma deserve. But photos of the material living conditions tell a different story. Five hundred years after the Jewish ghetto of Venice, the ethnic enclave system in Europe has a new heir. By institutionalizing within their democratic social framework a permanent double standard, Italian authorities have thrown down a gauntlet to be taken up by the European Union in defense of adequate housing for all.

Notes

1. These and other statistics regarding the Roma community in Italy can be found in Samuel Loewenberg, "Plight of Roma worsens in Italy," The Lancet, January 2, 2010, 17-18; Elisabetta Povoledo, "Italy assailed over plan to fingerprint Gypsies," New York Times, July 3, 2008; Encyclopedia of Minorities, faqs.org; Nando Sigona and Lorenzo Monasta, "Imperfect Citizenship: Research into patterns of racial discrimination against Roma and Sinti in Italy" (pdf), osservAzione: Centre for Action Research Against Roma and Sinti, June 2006. These estimates are rough because reliable official data on life expectancy, infant mortality, employment and literacy rates for the Roma are difficult to find, yet "all are deplorably lower than those of mainstream society" ("Bottom of the Heap," The Economist, June 19, 2008).

ENGLAND

THIS IS FROM DERBYSHIRE

Tuesday, December 21, 2010,


Protest group pledges to fight scheme to build travellers' site

MORE than 30 people have objected to plans to create a caravan site for four gypsy families in Church Broughton.

Villagers were left frustrated in November after travellers moved on to the Sutton Road site and started building work without planning permission.

South Derbyshire District Council issued a temporary stop notice, which prevented more work being carried out.

The authority also threatened to fine them up to £20,000 if they continued work before obtaining planning permission.

A retrospective application has now been submitted to the council.

It proposes to change the use of the land to a residential site for four gypsy families, with each one having two caravans.

A spokesman for the council confirmed there had been 32 letters of objection towards the plans and no letters of support.

Councillor Michael Bale, who represents the North West ward, said he would not be surprised if more letters against the proposal were sent to the authority.

He said: We've never had an application before where there is so much feeling against it.

“People are very cross about it and the protest group which has been set up against it has said it will fight all the way.

“The site itself is terrible because it is suitable for development. I’m very confident it will be refused.”

In a statement to South Derbyshire District Council, agent Philip Brown Associates said the four families were in need of a lawful site.

It said: “In the meantime they have been living on derelict land at Glossop Street, Derby.

“The city council originally attempted to get the 16 or so related families removed but were prevented from doing so by a judge who ordered they should not be removed until an alternative site has been provided.

“The site residents have been waiting for more than six years for an alternative site to be provided.”

The statement also said there were eight children living on the site who were of school age and their parents were trying to get them into primary school at Church Broughton.

The proposals will appear before the council’s planning committee on Tuesday, January 18.

_______________________________________________________
Does anyone see a pattern here as far as sites for Gypsies/Travelers ?
This situation goes back to the 1960's Caravan Sites Act.  It made it illegal for Travelers to stop anywhere BUT on caravan sites.  Truth be told, few sites were ever established.

ROMANI IN FRANCE

FROM ROMA VIRTUAL NETWORK
ROMANO LILORO

The 'devastating' stigmatisation of the Roma in France

Louise Fessard

19/12/2010 -

In the summer of 2010, the French government launched a crackdown on Gypsy immigrants in France, causing outrage at home and abroad. The demolition of hundreds of Roma camps and mass expulsions, mainly to Romania, of their inhabitants met with sharp condemnation from the European Union Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Redding. She compared the programme akin to the deportation of Gypsies during the World War II collaborationist Vichy government of German-occupied France. More than 8,000 Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants found to be living in illegal conditions have been expelled since January 1st, according to official figures.

This is the final report in our five-part series which has focussed on projects by some local councils in the Greater Paris region which, in stark contrast to the government's expulsion policies, have tried to re-integrate Roma into stable living conditions.

For a conclusion, we turned to French sociologist Jean-Pierre Liégeois, one of Europe's leading experts on Gypsy history, culture and the conditions and trends of modern Gypsy communities. He has contributed to studies on Gypsy affairs for the European Commission and the Council of Europe and is the author of several books, including the European Council's 2007 publication 'Roma in Europe'. He was also the founder in 1979 of the Centre for Gypsy Research at the Paris René Descartes University (Paris 5), and was its director until 2003.

In this exchange with Mediapart's Louise Fessard, he brushes a portrait of the Roma community in France and slams the campaign of stigmatisation launched against them by President Nicolas Sarkozy in July. "It's not by offering a handful of euros that you can change migratory dynamics that are a synonym for survival," he says.

Mediapart: After first treating the Roma and Travellers* as a single entity, the government chose to target the Roma from Romania and Bulgaria. Who are these Roma immigrants deported to Romania and Bulgaria? How long have they been in France?

Jean-Pierre Liégeois: "First let's go back to the fact that the government implies that all Roma are foreigners. This is false, but it undoubtedly facilitates a move to deport them, and to do so en masse. It creates an all-embracing entity that can easily be explained and manipulated, just like the expression 'travelling people', which is an arbitrary administrative classification. Focusing the position on Romania and Bulgaria is also a politically expedient short cut, but based on falsehood. .

In reality, many Roma have had French nationality for generations: when Roma were freed from slavery in Moldavia and Wallachia in the 19th century many families took to the road, and some of them settled in France. Bilateral agreements between France and the former Yugoslavia in the 1970s brought a new wave of Roma families to France, where they have since settled, in large numbers but invisible, living in apartments, getting qualified work, particularly in the building trade. Conflicts where Roma were caught in the crossfire also brought forced migrations: for example, before the Russian Revolution of 1917 large numbers of families came to France and settled here. Then there was the war in Kosovo. Less than 10% of the original 120,000 Roma who lived there stayed; the others left to seek refuge in various countries, but rarely France, or stayed in refugee camps. Add the fact that the first Gypsy families arrived in France in the 15th century, and you can see that their migrations form part of several centuries of history, and that many Roma are citizens of countries where they have lived for longer than a large number of other citizens.

This should therefore be seen in the context of several centuries of a history of negation, going from rejection to assimilation via the use of their workforce, as galley slaves to populate the colonies, from England to Australia, from Portugal to Brazil or Angola, etc., or in other forms of forced labour. And since Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union there has not been an invasion at all. There are 12 to 15,000 foreign-born Roma in France, which is a very small percentage of the total number of foreigners in France and has hardly any impact on the migration figures. [Interior minister] Brice Hortefeux himself indicated the number of Roma was 'around 8,500 on our territory' when he appeared on the national evening newson July 27th. The Roma targeted by Brice Hortefeux are among those most recently arrived, because they are the more visible

Mediapart: How many are there in France and in Europe? Are we talking about immigrants who settle or people who come and go?

J-P.L.: The Roma and the Travellers represent ten to twelve million people in Europe and around 400,000 in France. Their existence and their linguistic and cultural originality, after a thousand years of difficult history, negation and dispersion, are the proof of the strength of their culture, which is composed of far more than what is generally said. They are ready, if you give them the opportunity, to contribute to the economic, political and cultural dynamism of a Europe that is today distinguished by the diversity of its populations.

The majority of families have tended to settle in one place. We have to distance ourselves from the nomad image that has attached itself to them, and, when it is appropriate, speak of mobility rather than nomadism, because often this mobility is only adapting to the living conditions that they have been given. These families didn't ask to be evicted several times a month, but they have to adapt. They didn't ask to be sent back to the border for centuries, but the wish to settle in better living conditions, or simply to survive, has led them to return to the place from which they were deported.

That said, history has dispersed families over several states, and their wish to travel comes from a desire to stay in contact through visits. This illustrates the situation that is developing today in Europe, which is marked both by an increase in mobility for various reasons - economic, family, retirement to a warmer climate - and by the emergence of minorities. These two facts are united in the Roma, who perfectly embody today's European ideal and who lived it before the European Union was even formed. Despite this, they find themselves in a paradoxical situation, as the most frequently rejected of all European populations.

Mediapart: What awaits them when they return to Romania and Bulgaria?

J-P.L.: A difficult economic situation, which only exacerbates a latent rejection that is quick to manifest itself. This makes it difficult to find work because discrimination is very active there. In these states and elsewhere, the Roma easily become scapegoats in every domain because they are in a weak position. All the more so since the families that have come to France, in the difficult conditions we know of, were in their country of origin among the poorest, the worst housed and the worst employed when there was any employment [...] What's more, in November 2008 the Senate Finance Commission was already worried about the cost of sending them back across the border. Sending them back works out at 20,970 euros per person. The cost of sending back 100 people, which works out at two million euros, could therefore have been used to start a positive policy of sustainable integration in France.

Mediapart: And in France, what discrimination are they subject to?

J-P.L.: It is important to highlight that the authorities that have sanctioned France for its violation of international conventions are neither motivated by a partisan political view, nor a charity standpoint. Take the Council of Europe's European Committee of Social Rights, take the reports by the European Commissioner for Human Rights or the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance.

The European Committee of Social Rights, which monitors compliance with the European Social Charter, mentions in its decision, for example, failure to comply with the right to housing which leads to social exclusion as well as 'a racial discrimination', living conditions that don't comply with minimal standards, the absence of measures to relieve the 'deplorable living conditions of Roma migrants'.

The decision concludes that seven points on the charter have been violated. Even in France, the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights has called the government into question on this discriminatory treatment, and the HALDE1 has asked the government to modify discriminatory texts, such as the 1969 law that governs the status of 'travelling people' and makes them carry circulation documents and records. Up till now, these questions have not been followed up. The access to social rights remains complex and compromised in most domains: education, health, employment, training, the exercise of civil rights.

Mediapart: Has France put policies in place to assimilate these Roma migrants?

J-P.L.: In terms of policies the answer is no. A few isolated initiatives have been put in place, mainly led by
local authorities who have had the courage to be more welcoming. But despite the value of such initiatives we're still talking about the isolated and the short term. It would be useful therefore to evaluate them and to let people know about them so that, if they bring together different partners, they can inspire more structured and organised long-term initiatives. It would also be useful if the government's attitude moved in this direction to make such initiatives possible.

Mediapart: What has been the result of the provision of repatriation aid? The government has announced the introduction of the Oscar biometric file, supposed to stop foreigners sent back to their country from claiming several times over the repatriation aid granted by the French State. Will this change anything?

J-P.L.: As far as I know, no assessment of the result has been made. The public powers should calculate this, in consultation with the Roma organisations in France and in other states, and that all of the things it can teach us are learnt. The Oscar file introduces yet another means of control and documentation, which won't reassure either the Roma or citizens as a whole. The Roma have lived through centuries of this, when they were branded on the shoulder during deportations, so any that returned could be recognised. They were also tattooed with of Z for 'Ziguener' under the Nazi regime, and intensively documented.

Thirty years ago, I published an article entitled 'The speech on law and order'2 and taking the Roma as an example. I pointed out that the digital records, which were beginning then, wouldn't change anything about the way they were treated and since then it's transparency that has caused imprisonment, through the traceability made possible by the digital handling of files. In addition, the repatriation aid, which in reality is an aid for leaving, makes me think of French practices in previous centuries, of the droit de passade , a right by which local authorities offered a handful of coins to encourage the predecessors of these Roma to go away and try their luck with neighbouring districts. It's not by offering a handful of euros, or by forcing it on people to buy yourself a good conscience, that you can change migratory dynamics that are a synonym for survival.

Mediapart: The French government rejects any responsibility for Romania and its lack of a policy of integration for the Roma, while the Romanian authorities argue that 'the Roma problem' is now a European issue. How can we resolve this debate?

J-P.L.: It's true that there are more than two million Roma in Romania, which shows that it's a question of scale. Ten percent of the Romanian population is Roma. It's as if there were more than six million Roma in France and the government said it didn't want 10,000 of them. It's true that they have encountered difficulties in Romania, for economic reasons as well as discrimination. But it's a mistake to raise a hue and cry against Romania, to blame it for all ills. It has its share of responsibility but not all the responsibility. It is developing several initiatives in favour of the Roma, and it's the first state in Europe to have innovated in several domains, such as instigating a network of education inspectors, Roma health and education mediators, distance learning for Roma teachers, development of specific teaching materials, and so on.

It recognizes the Romani as a minority, unlike France. It has signed and ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, both fundamental texts in this field, unlike France. The debate is thus skewed: how can a state that doesn't recognise the Roma or any other minority begin to reproach another state that has put in place several initiatives for minorities? It's true that funds are limited, that the political and administrative management leaves a lot to be desired, that the level of discrimination is very high, that the extreme right nationalist political parties are growing stronger, which is also the case in Bulgaria, Hungary and elsewhere, that the police and judicial authorities are not very active in pursuing sometimes violent acts committed against the Roma. All this is a major impediment to putting reforms in place to improve the situation.

Mediapart: Is it then the European Union's job to resolve this question?

J-P.L.: The Romanian authorities' stance of sending back the 'Roma problem' to Europe, shared by France and other countries, is a mistake. The Roma population, which is larger than the population of half of the states in Europe, amounts to less than 10 to 12 million people. It does not have the support of a state behind it in terms of, for example, providing educational material in its language, while other minorities can simply borrow from another state. For example, the German minority in Slovakia can borrow from Germany, the Romanian minority in Hungary from Romania, and so on. The European institutions therefore have a role and a responsibility to support the Roma, and work has been underway in this field for 40 years.

But above all it's about respecting the international conventions adopted by the member states, respecting the rights that go with them, launching pilot projects that could inspire national initiatives, making connections work so as to pass good practice from one state to another, to stimulate thought and exchange between national players and across frontiers, without appropriating the role of states. Citizenship is a legal bond that links an individual and the state of which he is a citizen, and it is thus a mutual responsibility.

In addition, this sudden wish to transfer expertise and responsibility from a state to a European organisation goes against the states' wish to protect their prerogatives, and it's hard to see how this can be suddenly and uniquely abandoned for their Roma citizens. These are states that have always insisted on the principle known as subsidiarity, and they have often defended it. This principle stipulates that decisions and actions must remain as local as possible.

The Roma concern all the European states. They are present across Europe, and embodied Europe before it was even politically formed. I've highlighted that Europe is today distinguished by an increased mobility of populations, for several reasons, and by the emergence of minorities.

All states must learn to operate in the intercultural and multicultural approach that is developing. In this perspective, the Roma take on the character of a paradigm. The initiatives that concern them open up pathways of thought and action that have consequences for all the other minorities and for all populations. In the context of the free movement that they desire, all states must together consider how to set cooperative and lasting projects in motion, must take action to put structured measures in place, rather than reacting once again with short-term propositions that are ill-adapted and have no future, as well as being economically costly and humanly devastating, responding to immediate facts manipulated for political ends.

GYPSIES AND TRAVELERS IN ENGLAND

Friday, December 17, 2010,

'You've nothing to fear,' gypsies tell protesters

BY TOM BEVAN

PICTURE : ANTI GYPSY DEMONSTRATION IN ENGLAND.  GUARDIAN.CO.UK

THE gypsy community has broken its silence on the controversy surrounding new sites in Exeter – and told protesters they have nothing to fear.

Public opposition to the proposal by Exeter City Council to include a gypsy and traveller site within the Newcourt development is continuing to mount and hundreds of protesters are expected to turn out to a public meeting at Sandy Park on Sunday.

But members of the Romany gypsy community who live in the area said the feeling of hostility and opposition has had a "heartbreaking" impact on them and their families.

Sally Woodbury, who used to live in Exeter but is now in Somerset, told the Echo: "We are no different to anyone else who wants somewhere to call home.

"It is total NIMBYism and whether they like it or not it is racism. But for some reason it is deemed socially acceptable.

"The majority of the people that will go to the meeting on Sunday will never have met a gypsy but the only answer to fight the stereotypes is to try to educate people.

"You can not kick a community of people around the country and push them to the outskirts of humanity, bullied and rejected their whole lives, and then want them to mix with the mainstream.

"But members of our community do contribute to society and we have more to fear from the settled community than they do from us. It is so distressing what is happening in Exeter at the moment, but it is something that goes on throughout the country.

"My message to them would be we are human beings and have feelings too and I just ask everyone to remember that.

"It has been really scary. The most upsetting thing is the comments the young children get when they go to school. "

Elizabeth Isaacs, also a Romany gypsy, who lives in a village near Exeter, said: "I watch the comments posted under the stories and every night I am reporting abuse.

"Some of the stuff they write is outrageous. One calling themselves Adolf Hitler posted: 'you did not like my idea'. How can that be acceptable? You are not allowed to say things like that about blacks or Asians or any other group of people in society.

"There are no statistics to say there is more crime in the gypsy community than any other community but it is a historical stereotype developed over hundreds of years.

"Other groups of people have come and been accepted but the Romany gypsies have not. The fear is so inbred and we always have to prove we are not thieves and dirty criminals. No other community is tarred with the same brush like we are. I am not saying all travellers are angels, but like everyone else there is good and bad in all groups of people and that includes the settled community."