MORE ON HUNGARY

Hungarian anti-Roma marches 

Aug 23rd 2012, 14:31 by P.C. | DEVECSER

 

FROM THE ECONOMIST

 

 http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/08/hungarian-anti-roma-marches

 

"YOU are going to die here," shouted members of a 1,000-strong march as they stopped at houses they thought were a home to Roma, hurling their water bottles and stones to emphasise their point.

On August 5^th, Devecser, a village in western Hungary, was inundated by neo-Nazis. In a village of little more than 5,000, most of the indignant mob was bused in.

Devecser is sadly notorious: two years ago it was hit by a wall of caustic red sludge when the retaining wall of a waste reservoir of a nearby aluminium plant collapsed. The disaster killed four and injured 120.

The leaders of the groups marching included Gabor Ferenczi of Jobbik, a far-right party that won 16% of the vote in the last election in 2010. The party, though no stranger to such set-piece confrontations, had previously shied away from sharing a podium with certain neo-Nazi groups.
This time was different. Zsolt Tyirityán, a leading figure in the Outlaw Army, stood in front of the village church arguing for racial warfare and the need to "exterminate Roma from public life".

Devecser's mayor, Tamas Toldi, a member of the ruling rightist Fidesz party, says he was unable to stop the gathering, which he had been told was a peace march.

Mr Toldi says he was "really angry" at the speeches, but it would have been "unwise" to try and stop proceedings in mid-flow because the police would not have been able to assert their authority. The 200 or so on duty were mustered locally and not trained or equipped to deal with an angry hoard of neo-Nazis.

Not a peep of condemnation has come from Fidesz, which controls a two-thirds majority in parliament. With an election due in early 2014, Fidesz, which has lost voters to Jobbik, knows that there are hardly any votes in standing up for the Roma. The party also doesn’t want to alienate its lunatic fringe or create a barrier to Jobbik voters who might be tempted to switch to Fidesz.

"At the time we were really scared," says Ibolya Domotor, one of four elderly Roma women sitting in the shade of a tree on a street the march passed through. Roma and Hungarians have rubbed along there for decades without serious problems, she says. A police patrol is reassuring, as long as it lasts.
It all began with a slanging match down the street when a Roma driver was blocked by a car on July 23rd. Two days later the row escalated into two bloody scuffles, allegedly involving knives, baseball bats and spades. The only previous trouble was when some of a Magyar family's nine Rottweilers—the same family whose guest had blocked the Roma driver—crawled under a fence and killed their neighbour's German shepherd. (The Roma driver also happened to be the father of the owner of the killed German shepherd.)

The precise details and motivation of the neighbourly battle after the car incident are murky. But within days a post on kuruc.info, a far-right propaganda web site, called for “real Hungarians” to come to the aid of compatriots facing oppression from Roma. "The problem is that the minority do not accept the laws of the majority," says Akos Nemeth, lawyer for the Hungarian side. "I am afraid it will become civil war."

The village's Roma population of around 30% are unrepresented on the council and struggle to secure jobs. Like anyone else those Roma who own houses have seen their value plummet. But the re-housing programme brought by the red mud disaster saw a few Roma, who previously lived in Roma-only neighbourhoods, re-housed in mixed areas. Some of them have found it hard to adapt to their new surroundings, says Alfred Kiraly, a Roma member of an initiative to coordinate the recovery effort after the sludge disaster.

The majority of the inhabitants of Devecser still supports the Roma, but no one of any note is prepared to speak up. Mr Toldi says he is privately called a "Roma-lover" for arranging for Roma to work for their welfare and in trying to reconcile differences with committees of local representatives to agree on codes of neighbourly conduct.

NORWAY

ANTI-RACIST UNITY EBBS AS NORWAY AWAITS COURT RULING ON BREIVIK

FROM HIZB UT-TAHRIR

http://www.hizb.org.uk/news-watch/anti-racist-unity-ebbs-as-norway-awaits-court-ruling-on-breivik

ORIGINALLY IN THE GUARDIAN

BY MARK TOWNSEND

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/22/norway-anders-breivik-verdict-nears

PHOTO Cristian Tudescu, 31, from Romania, came to Norway to look for work

www.statesman.com

Cracks appear in sense of national unity that arose after mass killings, with anti-immigrant antipathy re-emerging

For a while it seemed likely that Norway’s fabled open society would emerge intact from the 22 July killings. Yet as the country waits for Friday when an Oslo court passes its verdict on the mass killer Anders Breivik, cracks in the country’s famed culture of tolerance are starting to show.

There is a growing consensus that Norway’s feeling of national unity, symbolised by the huge “rose marches” in which hundreds of thousands marched in defiance after the attacks, has slowly ebbed away as the country becomes divided over the issues of rising immigration and cultural integration.
Some experts believe that anti-immigrant antipathy has now slid back to levels that existed before Breivik, a far-right militant, slaughtered 77 people last year.

Thorbjørn Jagland, the Norwegian chairman of the Nobel peace prize committee, is among those who believe nothing has been learnt in the 13 months since the attacks.

Jagland, a former prime minister of Norway and now general secretary of the Council of Europe, told the Guardian that while the atrocities had dampened the anti-multicultural rhetoric of politicians, the sentiments remained. “I don’t think we have changed much in the past year. People at the political level have been more cautious regarding the debate around integration and Muslims, but if you look at what is going on at the grassroots level it has not changed,” he said.

“Xenophobic tendencies are still there; there is still a lot of hatred against immigrants; fears of multiculturalism remain. Look at debates online, they are still very much what we had before.”
The eastern Oslo district of Grønland is Norway’s most vividly multicultural neighbourhood. Here, among the tandoori takeaways, mosques and Vietnamese supermarkets, is where Norway’s newest arrivals typically end up. Its skyline is dotted with cranes and scaffolding, a visual reminder that Oslo is Europe’s fastest-growing city.

Driving the growth is an influx of foreign workers. Norway’s population rose 1.3% last year, itself one of the highest rates in Europe. Net immigration accounted for 71% of growth.
But in an episode last month that would have been unthinkable during the scenes of national solidarity witnessed immediately after Breivik struck, the arrival of Roma refugees in Norway provoked a hateful backlash.

Death threats surfaced on Norwegian online forums and a Roma camp was attacked with fireworks and stones. Three weeks ago, Siv Jensen, leader of the populist rightwing Progress party, of which Breivik was a former member, demanded that the Roma refugees be deported.

Bente Guro Møller, who founded Oslo’s Intercultural Museum in 1990, believes that after a brief period of enlightenment following the attacks, attitudes to integration have regressed.

“Things have gone back to where they were. When I started out I thought our anti-racist work would be done in 10 years, now we don’t dare set a date.”

Her colleague, Daniella van Dijk-Wennberg, a Dutch immigrant who has lived in Oslo since 1993, said: “There is a lot of unspoken aggression against immigrants. Norway is no different in that respect.

“It changed a lot in the beginning [after the attacks], but the good feeling has worn out.”
She said Oslo remained broadly split into two, the river Akerselva dividing a largely homogeneous population with the city’s multicultural society in the east. Some residents in the west of Oslo, she said, would not cross the Akerselva.

Jagland blames such attitudes on the continued “distortion” of the immigration debate during mainstream political discussions.

He said Norway – which has more than £300bn in reserves from its oil fund – requires large numbers of foreign workers to keep expanding. “It needs to be explained how dependent we are on immigration.”

The memory of the attacks, however, continues to galvanise the younger generation. Breivik killed 69 people during his attack on the Labour party’s youth wing, the AUF, on Utøya island. But his hopes of eradicating the next generation of Labour politicians has spectacularly backfired – instead it has inspired thousands to join up.

Eskil Pedersen, the 29-year-old head of the AUF, said that one “beautiful” byproduct of the horror was seeing how young Norwegians still believed democracy could defeat extremism.

Pedersen, who Breivik has admitted was one of his top targets, but who escaped the island on a ferry during the shootings, said: “We have been travelling around the country and the implication is that politics is cooler, but also more important.” Membership of the AUF has increased during the last year from 9,600 to 14,000.

Some, though, believe the recent success of the anti-immigrant Progress party has countered such enthusiasm. The party suffered significantly after 22 July, yet it has steadily clawed back support. One recent poll suggests the party has more than 22% support among voters.

Yet while the Progress party appears resurgent, Norway’s far-right nexus remains tiny. Tor Bach, of Norway’s far-right monitoring group Vepsen, said the policies of the Progress party meant there was little political oxygen for them to evolve. Riven by factionalism, their numbers are measured in dozens.

Bach said: “Being a rightwing extremist in Norway is a pretty miserable affair. It must be a sad, dull life.

“But as a society it feels very much the same. It hasn’t changed. At one time it felt this would change society forever but what happened was so extreme it feels unreal.”

Kari Helene Partapuoli, of Oslo’s Anti-Racist Centre, believes the attacks should have been a watershed moment in redefining attitudes to immigration and integration.

Yet Norway still does not record hate crimes and, Partapuoli said, the attacks had not led to government schemes to improve cultural awareness. She said: “Hopefully, we would have realised that hatred can inspire actions, but I don’t think we have learnt that lesson.”

Guardian

ENGLAND

GYPSY SITE IN ESSEX VILLIAGE GIVEN THE GO AHEAD

FROM DUNMOW BROADCAST 24

http://www.dunmowbroadcast.co.uk/news/gypsy_site_in_essex_village_given_the_go_ahead_1_1492377#sharinganchor

PHOTO www.news.bbc.co.uk

Despite widespread opposition to the plans – 80 objection letters and a petition signed by 73 people – the planning committee approved plans for eight caravans on the site, which is currently used as a paddock off The Street.

The site will be occupied by the extended Gypsy families of Mr Jones, the applicant, who lives next door.

Nigel Brown, planning officer for the council, told the meeting the proposals address the shortfall of traveller accommodation in the district.
However, the site has only been given approval on a temporary basis for four years, raising concerns from some.

Cllr Janice Loughlin said: “What concerns me is that in four years’ time, any families and especially children that would be living there, would then be wrenched up away from schools and other things.
“If they then refuse to go in four years’ time, we may have a mini Dale Farm on our hands.”

Takeley Parish Council raised its worries about the site being in the Countryside Protection Zone, as well as the possible loss of local amenities and problems with noise disturbance.

The application was approved conditionally, with 10 councillors voting for, two against and one abstaining.

5 COUNTRIES TO WATCH

EUROPE'S SUMMER OF FASCISM: 5 COUNTRIES TO WATCH

 

Xenophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and anti-Roma sentiment have plagued many places in Europe this summer, as a rising tide of far-right extremism washes over the continent.

 

BY ALEX PEARLMAN  Alex Pearlman

 

FROM GLOBAL POST

 

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/rights/europes-summer-fascism-5-countries-watch

 

PHOTO A supporter of extreme-right ultra nationalist party Golden Dawn (Chryssi Avghi), waits during a rally in Athens in June. Many accuse the party of being complicit in vigilante violence and using neo-Nazi, anti-immigrant rhetoric.  By ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images

 

A legislator from Hungary's far-right Jobbik party made headlines last week when he was dismissed from the party and pressured to quit his position in the EU Parliament after news of his Jewish roots became public.

 

Csanad Szegedi's history of anti-Semitic rhetoric cemented his prominent place in Hungary's right wing, but now amid scandal, he says he wants to get in touch with his roots. He's spoken with a rabbi and says he wants to visit Auschwitz, according to the Independent. Jobbik maintains his removal from the party has nothing to do with his Jewish heritage, and that he was punished for suspected bribery, which allegedly occurred when his Judaism was discovered and he attempted to pay people to cover it up.

 

Szegedi was also a founding member of the rabid paramilitary Nazi spin-off group, the Hungarian Guard, which was banned by the courts in 2009. It bears a striking resemblance to the Arrow Cross, the feared fascist party that rose to prominence in the 1930s and had strong ties to Hitler.

But Hungary isn't alone in its surging right wing. Here are five countries undergoing a rightist resurgence.

 

Austria

 

The central European country generally stays off the world stage, but a cartoon posted on Facebook has shaken things up. The AP reports that Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, posted an anti-Semitic cartoon which showed "an overweight man with a crooked nose and cufflinks with the Star of David in front of plates of food, while an emaciated man looked on. The fat man represented the banking system and his thin companion the people, according to the legend."

 

The cartoon is similar to those used in Nazi German newspapers in the 20th century, and the Jewish community has erupted in protest.

 

It's not a coincidence that a caricature of Jews, like the ones in [Nazi newspaper] 'Stuermer' in the 1930s and 1940s appeared on the Facebook page of FPOe leader Strache," prominent Jewish leader Oskar Deutsch said to AP.

But it gets worse. Strache also posted a picture of himself on his Facebook page standing next to a roast pig with the caption, "Isst du Schwein, darfst du rein," which translates to "If you eat pork, you can come in."

Representatives from the conservative People's Party, as well as the Green and Socialist parties have spoken out against the Freedom Party's anti-Semitic and Islamophobic lines, but so far Strache and the Freedom Party maintain the posts were innocent.

France

We've written here about anti-Muslim sentiment in France, mostly to do with the controversial ban on burqas and other facial/head coverings. But besides the sweeping Islamophobia in the country, the Roma face a similar and brutal kind of discrimination in France. Human Rights Watch and other organizations are concerned that France's methods of dealing with the Roma population violate EU and international rights laws.

Earlier this month, and possibly throughout the summer (there are three known instances, according to Reuters), authorities have swept Roma camps around France, deporting Romanian and Bulgarian ethnic Roma back to their home countries through a "voluntary" process that includes paying 300 euros and a plane ticket. Because they leave "voluntarily," the eviction system "bypasses any court review of the removals," said HRW.

“This week’s raids appear to be just the latest manifestation of France’s notorious expulsion policy targeting Eastern European Roma,” said Veronika Szente Goldston, Europe and Central Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Rather than trying to get rid of unwanted Roma while no one is watching, the government should take a critical look at its sorry record in this area, and act to rectify abuses.”

New President Francois Hollande is facing criticism for the continued removal of Roma and razing of camps, hallmarks of his predecessor, Sarkozy. The anti-Roma movement by the administration is particularly alarming, especially considering Hollande's pre-election promise to end such discriminatory (and possibly highly illegal) practices by the French government.

“Hollande’s promises to end discrimination against Roma couldn’t ring more hollow in the wake of this week’s events,” Szente Goldston said on HRW's website. “Rather than embracing its predecessor’s approach, the Hollande government should urgently fix France’s problematic Roma expulsion policy.”

In another time, the evacuation and relocation of Roma out of France might be called forced deportation, but the 300 euros is both an incentive to move and legal cover.

Greece

Xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment has reached an alarming high in Greece this summer, capped by a victory by the far-right party Golden Dawn in the June elections, which came away with 18 parliamentary seats. Golden Dawn is known for its swastika-like symbol, a salute reminiscent of the Nazis, and a fan base of very serious nationalists.

A recent article in the New York Times and a report by Human Rights Watch explain that along with electoral momentum, Greece is seeing a wave of vigilante violence against immigrants.

The New York Times article opens:

A week after an extremist right-wing party gained an electoral foothold in Greece’s Parliament earlier this summer, 50 of its members riding motorbikes and armed with heavy wooden poles roared through Nikaia, a gritty suburb west of here [Athens], to telegraph their new power. 

As townspeople watched, several of them said in interviews, the men careened around the main square, some brandishing shields emblazoned with swastikalike symbols, and delivered an ultimatum to immigrants whose businesses have catered to Nikaia’s Greeks for nearly a decade. 

“They said: ‘You’re the cause of Greece’s problems. You have seven days to close or we’ll burn your shop — and we’ll burn you,’ ” said Mohammed Irfan, a legal Pakistani immigrant who owns a hair salon and two other stores. When he called the police for help, he said, the officer who answered said they did not have time to come to the aid of immigrants like him.

Golden Dawn denied any of its members were involved in the threats in Nikaia. Meanwhile, HRW reports that immigrants interviewed in Greece said they won't go out at night for fear of assault and attack by "often black-clad groups of Greeks intent on violence."

Austerity and a continuing economic depression has crippled Greece, and as the summer continues, so has the uptick in xenophobic violence and governmental discrimination – curious, as Golden Dawn is a favored party of "many police officers... and disaffected youth," according to the Chicago Herald-Tribune. There have also been reports of a "fascist element" in the Greek police and deep connections to Golden Dawn for years. An op-ed from Al Jazeera also alleges Golden Dawn's police connection and describes their modus operandi.

"They terrorize immigrants, leftists, and journalists; they beat and maul teachers and students; they have infiltrated athletic clubs and have introduced hooliganism to the Greek landscape; and they have assumed the role of vigilantes," wrote Greek anthropologist Neni Panourgia in May. "Police brutality, hooliganism, and the deep-seated intimacy between fragments of the police force and Golden Dawn have made the organisation's temporary surge possible."

However, although reports of Golden Dawn members being complicit in street justice in Greece continue, there is no proof the party is actually behind the attacks, sanctioning them, or directing them, said HRW.

Romania

The Anti-Defamation League called on a Romanian lawmaker last week to apologize for what the ADL is calling "Holocaust denial."

Dan Sova, the newly appointed Minister for Parliamentary Relations, said "no Jew suffered on Romanian territory” during World War II, to the shock and dismay of many in the Jewish community in Romania and abroad. Sova was apparently sent on a field trip to the Holocaust museum, but has yet to publicly apologize for his remarks, according to Israeli news outlet Arutz Sheva.

Arutz Sheva also reported that Jewish parliamentarian Aurel Vainer called Sova "unsuitable for the job," and said she is “willing to wear a black band around my arm [in protest]."

Anti-Semitism is just one of Romania's problems as anti-Roma actions continue and the government turns a blind eye to the massive issues in the ghettos.

When the Roma go back to their countries of origin from places like France (see above), more problems arise: the ghettos in cities like Bucharest are even worse than the Western European camps, according to a recent op-ed by Valeriu Nicolae, founder of the Policy Centre for Roma and Minorities.The instances of HIV/AIDS is increasing, he said, as well as crime and illiteracy. There is little incentive for Roma to leave France return to the East, where they are a despised ethnic minority and face terrible violence and discrimination, which has only increased in recent years.

But most of the serious anti-Roma action comes from Romania's neighbor to the West, Hungary.

Hungary

In July, a mob descended on the small village of Devecser (famous for the 2010 sludge flood) after a 2,000-person Jobbik rally took place in the square there. The predominately Roma-populated village was an obvious choice for a rally of nationalist white supremacists, and Amnesty International reports eyewitnesses said "some members of the crowd chanted anti-Roma slogans and threw pieces of concrete and other missiles at Roma houses. The police did not act to stop the violence and it is unclear whether any arrests were made."

Amnesty called on the Hungarian government to crack down on policing Jobbik and vigilantes aligned with the party, which rose to prominence in the past few years. But there has been little movement besides a softly-worded response from the Prime Minister's office, according to Politics.hu, an English-language news site.

"One activist told Amnesty International that she was in the courtyard of one Roma house when it was attacked," says Amnesty's report of the incident. "The crowd started chanting anti-Roma slogans and threw bottles, stones and pieces of concrete. She was hit in the arm and injured by a piece of concrete and has since filed a criminal complaint with the police."

Hungary is also still reeling from the whiplash-inducing 180-degree turn by Szegedi, who like any good politician, will now look into better understanding his Jewish roots. But don't get excited, he's not totally reformed from right-wing anti-Semite. According to the AP, Szegedi is quoted as saying he just defines himself as having “ancestry of Jewish origin — because I declare myself 100 percent Hungarian." Because you can't be both, apparently.
 

SELMA ALABAMA

FROM CHANGE.ORG

In Selma, Alabama, a monument to the first leader of the Ku Klux Klan is under construction on public land.

PHOTO  Malika Sanders Fortier speaking to youth in Selma

www.drewdellinger.org

The statue of Confederate General Nathan Forrest -- infamous as the first Grand WIzard of the Klan and for massacring black Union soldiers at the Civil War battle of Fort Pillow -- even has the blessing of the Selma City Council.

Selma is home to some of the most important events of the Civil Rights Movement -- including "Bloody Sunday," when 600 activists fighting for African-American voting rights were attacked by state and local police.

Unless the city council stops it, a "bigger and better than ever" monument will be constructed to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest. A group called Friends of Forrest built the original monument, and now the group is planning to lay concrete for a new foundation, add a new bust of the KKK founder, enclose the monument in a wrought iron gate, and add night lighting.

Malika Sanders-Fortier is a community leader in Selma, and when she heard about the plan for the monument she was outraged. Malika is proud of her city's place in history, and she thinks that monuments celebrating violent racism and intolerance have no place in this country, let alone in a city like Selma, where the families of those attacked by the Klan still live.

Malika started a petition on Change.org demanding that the Selma City Council remove the monument to a founder of the Ku Klux Klan. Click here to add your name.

http://grassrootsdemocracy.net/

FRANCE AGAIN

Roma raids intensify in France as Socialists seek ways to end 'PR disaster'

François Hollande looks for ways to end criticisms as Roma families face eviction from squalid sites across France

BY ANGELIQUE CHRISAFIS

PHOTO Roma families expelled by police from their camp near Villeurbanne, outside Lyon. Photograph: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images

 

FROM THE GUARDIAN

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/21/roma-raids-france-francois-hollande

France's new Socialist government is to hold emergency talks on the plight of the country's Roma after a wave of evictions of makeshift camps prompted accusations that François Hollande was following Nicolas Sarkozy's lead in persecuting the ethnic minority.

Human rights groups expressed outrage at a recent dawn raids and forced evacuations of caravan sites and squats across France. The police raids left hundreds of Roma, including many children, homeless after caravans were impounded and no arrangements for temporary housing were made. Others were persuaded to board flights home to Romania, activists in Lyon reported.

The raids have reopened a bitter row over Roma in France. In 2010, Sarkozy prompted criticism from the European Commission and the Vatican when he linked immigration to crime and promised to expel Roma migrants and destroy illegal camps. More than 70% of illegal Roma encampments were bulldozed and families were offered a financial incentive to leave the country. Sarkozy's government was accused of discrimination in expelling Roma Gypsies to Bulgaria and Romania. Critics alluded to uncomfortable memories of deportations during the second world war. Many of the Roma simply returned to France, but, with old camps destroyed, they ended up living in deeper poverty and worse conditions than ever, amid a climate of fear and intimidation towards them.

Hollande had promised during his election campaign that any dismantling of camps would be coupled with the promise of "alternative solutions". But this has not happened with the recent evictions.

Behind a railway siding in Hellemmes, northern Lille, five extended Roma families and their children huddled under tarpaulins on a patch of land near an abandoned building. Flies circled piles of waste, mothers complained of rats and the stench of human excrement rose from a hole in the ground as well as faeces on grass near the edge of the camp.

"We were evicted from our camp two weeks ago, police knocked on my caravan door one morning and told me to leave," said Anita Proda, 27, whose five-year-old son was born in France had been due to start school in September. "They took my caravan, I grabbed a bag of belongings, but had to leave most behind. We've got no water here, we can't wash the children."

Most of the evicted Roma had put a few possessions in shopping trolleys and traipsed to this spot where a makeshift camp of six caravans already existed. They are now living in cramped, donated tents surrounded by rubbish and a burned-out car. Local volunteers had been bringing jerry-cans of water .

"These people are being hunted," said Yann Lafolie of Atelier Solidaire, which had run literacy and education projects and built wooden cabins in the long-standing camp which police dismantled earlier this month. "Our voluntary work used to be about integration, now we're trying to handle a humanitarian crisis. This Socialist president was elected for change but there is no change here."
In the centre of Lille a further 16 evicted families were sheltering temporarily in tents beside a church, where a local priest had said that suddenly seeing boys on bikes carrying jerry-cans of water was like "being in Burkina Faso".

Outside Lille, in Roubaix – known as the poorest town in France – Roma at a makeshift camp in what was once a supermarket car park were nervous, fearing they would soon be evicted too. Families, including a 23-year-old mother of four suffering from cancer, lived in decrepit caravans which leaked in winter, without electricity or proper water supply, although the authorities offer rubblish collection and portable toilets.

"There's a growing anger, a feeling of powerlessness: you can't force people out and leave them without the least sanitary conditions," said Bernadette Defais, a local nursing assistant, and volunteer for a local charity La Solidarite.

On a street nearby, Ramona Ripa, 22, a Roma mother of four from Romania, showed off her spotlessly scrubbed kitchen in a once abandoned terraced house. She and others now await a court ruling on whether they would be evicted from empty houses owned by the local authority which they had squatted for months, with the help of the French charity and activists group, Droit au Logement (Right to Housing). "We just want to settle in one place; put our children in school and work," Ripa said.

Philippe Deltombe, from Droit au Logement, said: "By evicting these people, the government is not addressing the Roma issue, it's just shifting it on to the next location."

Images of the dismantled camps and comparisons to Sarkozy's Roma-crackdown have been a PR disaster for Hollande. Measures under consideration in Wednesday's emergency government talks include the possible lifting of working restrictions for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals in an effort to provide legal status for around 15,000 Roma from those two EU countries currently living in France.

Manuel Valls, the Socialist party's tough-talking interior minister, said his government's approach to the Roma question had "nothing in common" with the Sarkozy era, arguing that "unsanitary camps" were "unacceptable" and "a challenge to community life" in poor neighbourhoods. Officials said police had just been honouring orders made by the courts. But there has been friction within government after the Green party housing minister, Cecile Duflot, said "dismantling Roma camps without solutions is putting people in an even more precarious situation".

A recent poll showed 80% approved of dismantling the illegal camps, but 73% thought it was not an effective measure as it merely "displaced" the problem.

MADONNA DOES IT AGAIN

MADONNA SUED IN RUSSIA FOR SUPPORTING GAYS

The Associated Press

MOSCOW —

Some Russian activists have sued Madonna for millions of dollars, claiming they were offended by her support for gay rights during a recent concert in St. Petersburg.

Anti-gay sentiment is strong in Russia. In St. Petersburg, a law passed in February makes it illegal to promote homosexuality to minors, and the author of that law has pointed to the presence of children as young as 12 at Madonna's concert on Aug. 9.

Russian news agencies quote Alexander Pochuyev, a lawyer representing the nine activists, as saying the suit was filed Friday against Madonna, the organizer of her concert, and the hall where it was held, asking for damages totaling 333 million rubles, or nearly $10.5 million.

Responding to criticism that the plaintiffs were stuck in the Middle Ages, the lawyer said they were using civilized, modern methods to defend their rights. "No one is burning anyone at the stake or carrying out an Inquisition," Pochuyev was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. "Modern civilization requires tolerance and respect for different values."

The complaint includes a video taken at the concert showing Madonna stomping on an Orthodox cross and asking fans to raise their hands to show the pink armbands in support of gays and lesbians that were distributed among the audience, the new agency reported.

Madonna's spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, did not immediately respond to emails asking for the singer's reaction to the lawsuit.

Madonna also has angered conservative Russians with her support for Pussy Riot. Three members of the punk band were sentenced Friday to two years in prison for a protest inside Moscow's main cathedral against Vladimir Putin and his cozy relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Madonna spoke out in support of the group during her concert in St. Petersburg and two days earlier in Moscow. After the verdict was issued, Madonna called on "all those who love freedom to condemn this unjust punishment."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YOU GO GIRL.
I have to admit that I've been really impressed with Madonna.  Remember when she got booed on stage in Romania for speaking out for Romani and Gay people.
And now a quote sent to me that seems very appropriate to this entry.
Morgan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morgan Freeman-- "I hate the word homophobia.  You are not scared.  You are an asshole"

HUNGARY

FROM ROMA LEADERS IN HUNGARY

 

SENT MONDAY AUGUST 20, 2012.

Statement

PHOTO  Hungarian gypsies blame discrimination at home for their flight

www.news.bbc.co.uk

There was a state of emergency in Cegled after the right-wing extremists stated that the Hungarian Guard and the police were attacked by the Roma. The Pest County Police refuted that any disorderly conduct or assaults occurred, but the rumor was enough to mobilize a nationwide call of neo-facists to continue terrorizing the Roma through barikad.hu, kuruc.info, and szentkoronaradio.com. With this action, they have committed a hate crime.

The news on the night of August 19, hundreds (400-500 people, a thousand according to other information) flooded into Cegled. Many of the Roma families fled in fear, many to their relatives. We believe that every legal norm is untenable and the contradictory positions are responsible for the development of the policy on behalf of the government

and police leadership as these are similar to the right-wing as they have tolerated these racist acts through their inaction.

Roma organizations and representatives held a vigil at the National Police Headquarters through the night. They reported the accusations of a criminal offense apartheid of the Hungarian Guard. They asked the Roma to remain calm and not to yield to provocation.

We expect the complete diligence of the state, that the police act with the full rigors of the law on behalf of the public peace, social harmony and human dignity. We are in solidarity with the police, who perform their work and have been also attacked by the right-wing extremists.

We expect the government to fulfill its international obligations and prevent and stop racial violence.

The government should act against the continual physical threats against Gypsies. It is intolerable that the right-wing forces besiege and blockade Hungarian citizens and families in their homes.

Until these conditions are met, Hungary is not a safe country for Roma. For the right-wing, we have become the scapegoats. Their real goal is to overthrow the rule of law and democracy.

Amenca Group; Among Them, Roma Community Network (Ide Tartozunk Roma Közösségi Hálózat); XIII. RNO District; Roma Parliament; Phralipe; A New Approach Group (Új szemlélet csoport); Oprea Roma Group; Bhim Dzsáj Community MCDSZ XIII. District of Member Associations; We Ourselves - For Ourselves Society (Mi Magunk - Saját Magunkért Egyesület)

Contacts:

Parádi Lilla +36 20 396 38 50 lillaparadi@gmail.com

Setét Jenő +36 30 329 14 71 settjen@gmail.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yet the Canadian Government sees no reason to grant asylum to Romani immigrants from Hungary.

Morgan

HODONIN

ROMANI VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATED AT MORAVIAN CAMP

FROM RADIO PRAGUE NEWS

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/news-2012-08-19

BY MASHA VOLYNSKY

PHOTO www.memorialmuseums.org

On Sunday, a ceremony commemorating the Romani victims of Nazi persecution during World War II took place in the town of Hodonín u Kunštátu in central Moravia.

The ceremony was held on an anniversary of the largest transports of Roman to Auschwitz. Around 1400 Moravian Roma were interned at the so-called “Gypsy camp” in Hodonín in the years 1942-43.

Three hundred of them died at the camp, while the others were sent to the death camps in Auschwitz. A memorial will be erected in Hodonín u Kunštátu most likely in August 1916 in commemoration of Romani victims.

After the war, the Hodonín camp was used to intern Germans who could not be deported from Czechoslovakia, in accordance with the Beneš decrees, because of health problems or old age. And later briefly served as a Communist forced labour camp for political prisoners.

NEWS FROM SLOVAKIA

POLITICIANS ARE TOURING ROMA VILLAGES

BY RADKA MINARECHOVA

Radka Minarechová

FROM THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR

http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/47315/2/politicians_are_touring_roma_villages.html

PHOTO www.gamesmonitor.org.uk

RECENTLY several politicians have included Roma settlements in their summer travel plans claiming that their new tourism trend should result in what they called realistic solutions to the problems of the Roma community. Yet, given the nature of politicians’ visits to Roma settlements in the past, which have frequently been seasoned with populism, they have raised questions as to how genuine the interest of politicians is in solving Roma problems.

Igor Matovič and Alojz Hlina, MPs for the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) movement hit the road with a caravan to tour five Roma villages for the purpose of what they have described as learning more about the lives of the Roma in order to prepare better legislation pertaining to Roma communities.

“We want to tell people face-to-face that for the future the solution is not merely to pick up their money at the post office, but that [they are being paid] for work,” said Matovič on July 13, as quoted by the SITA newswire referring to social benefits being paid out.

Two days before Pavol Frešo, chair of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), and some of his party colleagues organised a press conference in front of a Roma settlement in the village of Plavecký Štvrtok to introduce an amendment to the construction law that would simplify the demolition of illegal buildings.

“It is a practical solution which solves a long-term problem pertaining to the flooding of the whole territory of Slovakia with illegal construction,” Frešo told the press conference, as quoted by SITA.

Nevertheless, Irena Bihariová, the head of human rights watchdog People Against Racism, said that the performance of politicians resembled more of a PR gimmick aimed at stirring the emotions of the public, rather than a real attempt to learn about Roma lives in settlements.

“It should be seen as a political gesture through which the deputies wanted to show that they are interested in the Roma issue from the angle that interests the public,” Bihariová told The Slovak Spectator in response to the OĽaNO tour, adding that it was an attempt to approach the public rather than the Roma.

Yet, she admitted that even with these calculations in the back of OĽaNO’s collective mind, their initiative was more agreeable than the gesture of Frešo, who “stood in front of the settlement to declare to the public that he will not be afraid to bring order to the Roma”, which she considers an abuse of the context for Frešo’s personal PR.

Laco Oravec, a programme director for the Milan Šimečka Foundation, agrees that “in the case of SDKÚ it was obviously kind of a demonstration of power and one of the most primitive [examples of] populism”.

“The message was not an attempt to help the Roma, but it was intended to demonstrate the power and radicalisation of the SDKÚ in relation to Roma communities and the approach they choose,” Oravec told The Slovak Spectator.

Yet he also said that the gesture by OĽaNO with the Tour de Roma is meaningful in the way that it shows that “we often speculate and discuss the Roma in pubs with beer and in front of the television, instead of [trying to get] information first hand and to understand their lives in the context of social exclusion or within the sense of social dependency”.

Oravec added that policies should be made based on personal knowledge.

“It would be ideal if standard methods for the creation of public policies are applied, which represent continual and in-depth monitoring and evaluation, so that we can draw information from more detailed studies and more precise surveys,” Oravec said, adding that politicians must have a wider focus and must also get a picture of reality through meeting with people.

Nevertheless Oravec also noted that it is obvious that after years of silence over Roma issues, the parties are now focusing their attention on them, adding that one of the biggest dangers might be that under the pressure of expectations of the majority of society, they will present only proposals which punish the Roma and in some way throw the Roma into social exclusion.

Tour de Roma

Matovič and Hlina started their “Tour de Roma” on July 16. They selected five villages located in eastern Slovakia: four problematic and one village where the Roma are integrated and co-exist well with non-Roma inhabitants.

The chosen spots differed in several ways: while in Lomnička up to 98 percent of inhabitants are Roma, Žehra is known after the fact that there is a Roma majority and non-Roma minority who want to split from the village and establish a new one. Jarovnice has the biggest Roma settlement in Slovakia, while Lunik IX has been used as a typical example of a place inhabited predominantly by the Roma community. Hrabušice, on the other hand, is a village where Roma and non-Roma people live without any major interracial problems. At some places they were accompanied by their party colleague, Peter Pollák, who is the first Roma deputy in the parliament, SITA wrote.

Bihariová suggested that there was no need to organise a tour since Pollák “knows the life of the settlements and Roma very well; he knows a lot about the issue”, and thus this ‘public evidence of competence’ to deal with the problem was not really necessary.

Oravec, on the other hand said he has certain sympathies and certain reservations regarding what OĽaNO did: “The sympathies are for the courage to show an effort [in solving] the problems of the Roma, especially in a kind of calculation with their voters’ base. OĽaNO also did this before the elections when they nominated a Roma candidate [Peter Pollák] to a relatively high position, which led to [his election to parliament].”

On the other hand, he was disappointed with the language the politicians used during a press conference and in the villages since it might “deepen the stereotypes” about Roma and “cast a negative light” on them.

He mostly disagreed with terms like ‘aggressive behaviour’ or ‘irresponsible parents’, explaining that they might bring an impression that it represents a majority of the marginalised communities.

When asked whether the choice of villages cannot deepen the stereotypes about the lives of Roma, Bihariová said she understands why they picked places which are widely known by the public, and not the ones where Roma are integrated into the society.

“Though it supports the perception of Roma as problematic residents, in this case – when we are talking about setting integration policies – these [problematic] settlements have to be in the field of attention,” Bihariová told The Slovak Spectator.

Oravec responded that “our vision for the future has to offer something even to the most complicated localities and settlements; even the most desperate ones and the most segregated ghettoes”.

Frešo’s take

Frešo and Ľudovít Kaník from SDKÚ, presented in front of the Roma settlement in the village of Plavecký Štvrtok, Malacky district, their idea to remove the illegal buildings in, as they said, the easiest possible way – to allow the owner of the land to order the demolition, which should be paid by the constructor of the building. The whole process should last no more than 90 days.
Kaník explained that these measures will help to deal with the problems “uncompromisingly, easily and in short term since it is the only way to end this malady which [is] massively spread[ing] around Slovakia”, SITA wrote.

The press conference outraged several members of SDKÚ, including Miroslav Beblavý and former justice minister Lucia Žitňanská, who called it populism.

“This form [of presentation of the party] disintegrates SDKÚ rather than unites it, thus we have to talk about it,” said Žitňanská, as quoted by the Sme daily.

She added that in politics the symbols have a certain importance, and that she does not like the kind of presentation Frešo had chosen, saying that she would rather “stand in front of a villa”, Sme wrote.

TORONTO

Federal government could detain Roma refugee claimants, report suggests

By Will Campbell, The Canadian Press

FROM THE VANCOUVER SUN

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Federal+government+could+detain+Roma+refugee+claimants+report/7110823/story.html#ixzz23uZKeIcn

PHOTO Hungarian Roma family in Toronto. Photo by Karl Nerenberg

www.rabble.ca

TORONTO - The federal government is prepared to consider detaining Roma refugee claimants unless recent amendments to the refugee system are successful in reducing the number who apply for asylum, newly obtained documents suggest.

A tougher approach may be necessary if a plan to speed up the screening process and block illegitimate claims isn't "aggressive enough" in reducing the number of Roma applicants from Europe, an internal Canada Border Services Agency report says.

"Other deterrent measures being examined include detention for mass arrivals of individuals seeking refugee protection," says the report, which was drafted before before the Conservative government introduced a crackdown in June on bogus refugee claims.

The newly revised refugee law gives Public Safety Minister Vic Toews the power to designate refugee claimants as "irregular arrivals" and detain them upon entry to Canada. The amendments are to take effect by the end of the year.

Asylum applicants falling under that designation would be held by CBSA pending investigations into their admissibility.

Such an approach would "require significant resources from the CBSA, and will have significant legal implications," warns the report, obtained by The Canadian Press under federal Access to Information laws.

Toews's office did not directly respond when asked whether the minister is considering applying the designation to Roma refugee claimants.

In an email, spokeswoman Julie Carmichael said only that any decision to use the designation "would be made in accordance with Canadian law."

Hungary was Canada's biggest source of refugee applicants last year with 4,442 claimants — the majority of which are believed to be Roma, a stateless ethnic group. Almost all of the claims were rejected or abandoned.

A mandatory visa requirement for Hungary would be the "most effective" way to reduce the number of Hungarian applicants in the short term, the report says.

It also says speeding up the processing of claims and placing restrictions on claimants from countries unlikely to produce legitimate refugees was a better solution in the long run — changes that are now being put in place.

Though Ottawa has yet to decide which countries will be on the so-called "safe country" list, it's expected to include European Union nations.

Some applicants from Hungary come to Canada solely for the purpose of "exploiting" social assistance and health benefits, but not all Roma claims are illegitimate, the report notes.
The number of Hungarian claims started to skyrocket after June 2009, when Ottawa imposed a visa requirement on the Czech Republic — another country that has been a departure point for Roma refugee claims.

Immigration Canada spokesman Bill Brown said in an email that immigration officials review a "wide range" of factors when considering imposing travel visa requirements, adding the department is currently "monitoring the situation in Hungary."

A move to detain Hungarian claimants could result in children being locked up with their parents, the report indicates.

It notes that more than three-quarters of the nearly 3,000 Hungarian applicants arriving at Toronto's Pearson International Airport over a 10-month period last year came as a family.

A decision to detain Roma claimants would likely face a legal challenge under provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights that protect against arbitrary detention, said Lorne Waldman, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.

Confining all refugees from a certain country or geographic area would also likely result in legitimate applicants being detained alongside questionable ones, he added.

"Genuine refugees will be thrown into detention for lengthy periods of time while their case is being processed, and they're going to be subjected to the psychological trauma that often accompanies detention," Waldman said.

Though he expects confining specific refugee groups would reduce the number of applicants over time, the human cost and potential rights violations would outweigh the possible benefits of easing pressure on the refugee system, Waldman argued.

The CBSA report was prepared in the wake of the Conservative government's public frustration with the challenge of reducing refugee claims from Europe.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has singled out Hungarian refugee applicants, accusing them of targeting Canada with bogus claims of persecution in order to collect financial support and tap into government resources intended for well-founded claims.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Federal+government+could+detain+Roma+refugee+claimants+report/7110823/story.html#ixzz23uZcvKc6

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read some of the other posts on this blog to understand WHY Roma are seeking asylum in Canada.
Conditions are deplorable in Europe, especially violent in Eastern European countries like Hugary.
Morgan

FRANCE

France Rethinks Gypsy Rights

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444233104577593353007693674.html 

By WILLIAM HOROBIN and NADYA MASIDLOVER

PARIS—The French government is considering giving Bulgarian and Romanian nationals equal working rights to other Europeans in the country, after the dismantlement of Gypsy camps sparked controversy for President François Hollande and drew comparisons with the policies of his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

In the past week, French authorities have raided makeshift camps inhabited by Gypsies, also known as Roma, in Lille, Lyon and Marseille and evicted them. According to Human Rights Watch, the French government flew 240 Romanian Gypsies back to Romania on a flight last week and gave them as much as €300 ($369) each.

The raids "appear to be just the latest manifestation of France's notorious expulsion policy targeting Eastern European Roma," said Veronika Szente Goldston, a director at Human Rights Watch.

A French government spokeswoman said the flight was organized to transport Romanian citizens who had accepted a voluntary return to their country and wasn't linked to the dismantled camps, which she called "illegal settlements."

Mr. Hollande's government will review options next week, including offering the Gypsies the same working rights as other European citizens, Interior Minister Manuel Valls said on French radio Thursday.

Read more on http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444233104577593353007693674.html

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

By KIMBERLEY JONES

FROM THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE

http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/screens/2012-08-17/film-flam/

Dr. Ian Hancock, University of Texas professor and director of the Romani Archives and Documentation Center, is calling for the National Geographic Channel to immediately halt broadcasting its a new reality series called American Gypsies.

The press has been less than kind in its estimation of the show, which follows a single, wildly dysfunctional Roma family in New York City (the New York Times called it "deplorable" and "without with, insight or anything else that might distinguish 'American Gypsies' from shows with 'Housewives' or 'Jersey' in the title").

A press release put out this week by the organization Rromani Zor laid out its case against the show: "[T]he series title and tagline suggest to viewers this dysfunctional family is representative of all “gypsy” Americans. The series tagline — "You don’t know Gypsy” — not only indicates this show is meant to be a broad ethnic portrait, but it’s deeply offensive too: “Roma” is what community members prefer to be called because “gypsy” is considered an serious insult... 

The press release also quoted Dr. Hancock as saying, “It's an abomination. … Our people have a long and fascinating history, but National Geographic slanders us with old and very dangerous stereotypes: the mysterious rogue; the dark, treacherous gypsy; the genetic criminal. … [The show] has set the cause of Romanies back decades.”

Hancock and members of Rromani Zor have asked that National Geographic cease broadcast, never again distribute the show, and issue a public apology to the Romani people. Rromani Zor's website also has a petition link to protest American Gypsies and TLC's reality show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.  More as this develops.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I so wish this horrible show was off the air and National Geographic would own up to the damage they have done by perpetuating these stereotypes.
Morgan

THOSE DARN GYPSIES

Gypsies set up illegal camp at Kate Middleton's former school

Travellers drive their caravans onto fields at posh Marborough College

FROM THE SUN

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4492962/Gypsies-Kate-Middleton-Marlborough-College-Posh-Caravan-Wiltshire-Police.html#ixzz23q0Alr2O

PHOTO  Travellers set up illegal camp on Duchess of Cambridge's former school

www.buzzbox.com

By MATT WILKINSON

GYPSIES have invaded one of Britain's poshest schools and refusing to budge.

Half a dozen caravans and assorted vehicles formed an illegal camp on playing fields at Marlborough College - Kate Middleton’s former school.

Travellers told cops they plan to remain at the exclusive £30,000-a-year school until after the weekend.

Resident Jacqui Broadbridge said: “We could hardly believe our eyes when this convoy of gypsy lorries, caravans and horseboxes drove through the estate.

“They must have been looking for somewhere to set up camp. We then heard they had driven straight through the gates onto the college playing fields.”

Travellers arrived last night after being evicted from an illegal site in nearby Newbury, Berks.

The group, in caravans, horseboxes and even tarmac lorries, drove through the school gates by the Memorial Hall and parked on the playing fields.

Cops are at the scene stopping new arrivals but admitted they powerless to evict them.

One said: “There is little we can do because it is private land. The college staff are aware the travellers are here and it is up to the school to take legal action to remove them.

“All we can do is stand and watch and wait and from what we have been told by a member of the college staff the travellers have said they intend to stay until Monday.”

The Duchess of Cambridge was captain of the college’s hockey team during the 1990s.
Jonathan Leigh, Master at Marlborough College, said: “We are pursuing all legal steps to remove these people as soon as possible.”

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4492962/Gypsies-Kate-Middleton-Marlborough-College-Posh-Caravan-Wiltshire-Police.html#ixzz23pze3Ksr
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ha ha.  Bet those wealthy Brits wished they just LEFT THEM ON DALE FARM.  I'm hoping the travelers visit Paul McCartney and Elton John's estates next.
I'm just saying.
Morgan

EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTER

UPDATE FROM EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS CENTER www.errc.org

Dear Supporters, Welcome to our monthly round-up of news and activity from the ERRC. Summer is traditionally a quieter time, but we’re sorry to report there’s been a lot happening over the last month, as forced evictions continue in a number of countries, and education remains high on the agenda. France Evicts and Expels Roma, Again Around 500 migrant  Roma have been evicted in the last month in France, and   more than 200were put on a plane back to Romania. All this points to the new Government’s insistence on continuing the policies of the previous administration, which is   particularly disappointing given President Hollande’s pre-election commitments to Roma. The ERRC has let the new Government know this is not acceptable. Our blog in the Nouvel Observateur on this got more than 5000 views . The European Commission has indicated it will look at France again, and the ERRC is compiling research data to submit our own report. ERRC and Amnesty Fight Evictions in the Czech Republic The ERRC and Amnesty International have been working together in Ostrava as a number of families face the risk of forced evicton. The organisations have been jointly lobbying to ensure that families are not evicted without adequate alternative accommodation. Eviction notices have been served, and the latest news is that families are still under threat and without a steady water supply. Thanks to our joint lobbying, the Directorate General for Regional Policy at the European Commission has already raised concerns with the local authorities, and we hope that with increased scrutiny the authorities will act appropriately. Either way, we’ll continue to monitor the situation and work hard to ensure these families are not forcibly evicted. Focus on Serbia at the UN The ERRC and the Minority Rights Centre jointly submitted a report on Serbia's human rights record under the UN’s Universal Period Review mechanism. The submission focused on topics including access to education, violence and forced evictions. Serbia has also been in the news as some of the Roma evicted from Belgrade’s Belvil camp have, in the last three months, been forced to live in an abandoned factory without water, electricity, sanitation or other facilities. The ERRC worked as part of the Platform on the Right to Housing to lobby the local government. Authorities finally acted to ensure there was access to water for these families. The ERRC also monitored the situation of several families forcibly relocated from the Belvil settlement to Leskovac threatened with forced eviction. ERRC Calls on Ukraine to Investigate Violent Incident Police were involved in a violent incident with Roma at the start of the month in Lviv, when militia stopped a car to check the documents of the driver and passengers. The situation escalated into an argument and later a fight. The circumstances surrounding the incident are very unclear, and the ERRC is concerned that the Lviv Prosecutor’s press office issued a press release describing a version of the events before an investigation had taken place. The ERRC is calling on the prosecutor to ensure that the investigation is impartial, objective and fair.

HUNGARY

HUNGARY MUST PROTECT ROMA COMMUNITES FROM ATTACK

FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/hungary-must-protect-roma-communities-attack-2012-08-15#.UC1C9O3G5eM.email

PHOTO  www.jonestream.blogspot.com

The Hungarian authorities must do more to protect the country's Roma communities, Amnesty International said in a letter to the government today, after reports that far-right groups attacked Roma residents in the western village of Devecser.

Violence broke out on 5 August, when more than 1,000 people gathered in Devecser's main square at a demonstration organized by far-right party Jobbik and joined by far-right vigilante groups.

According to eyewitnesses some members of the crowd chanted anti-Roma slogans and threw pieces of concrete and other missiles at Roma houses. The police did not act to stop the violence and it is unclear whether any arrests were made.

"The Hungarian authorities are obliged to protect all citizens and must therefore ensure that a thorough, independent and prompt investigation is carried out into the allegations that police did not intervene to prevent the violence in Devecser," said Jezerca Tigani, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme.

"Discriminatory violence, and incitement to discriminatory violence, against any section of Hungarian society should be publicly condemned and all acts of racially motivated harassment and violence thoroughly investigated."

According to media reports, Jobbik called the march following a ‘brawl’ in late July between members of two households, one Roma and the other non-Roma.

A number of speeches were made by Jobbik MP Gábor Ferenczi, László Toroczkai of the vigilante group Sixty-Four Counties and Attila László of the For a Better Future Civil Guard Association.

Eyewitnesses said that all speeches contained anti-Roma sentiments, and that some were even calling for Hungarians to fight and indirectly urging the eradication of "parasite Gypsies".

Zsolt Tyirityán of the group Betyársereg (Outlaw Army) in particular is reported to have made openly racist comments.

"Derogatory or racist comments made in particular by public officials or politicians amount to incitement to racial hatred," said Jezerca Tigani.

"Perpetrators of any acts of incitement to racial hatred must be prosecuted under laws which provide penalties reflecting the gravity of the abuse."

Video footage posted on You Tube appeared to confirm reports that pieces of concrete and other missiles were being thrown at the Roma houses.

One activist told Amnesty International that she was in the courtyard of one Roma house when it was attacked. The crowd started chanting anti-Roma slogans and threw bottles, stones and pieces of concrete. She was hit in the arm and injured by a piece of concrete and has since filed a criminal complaint with the police.

In an open letter to Hungary's Minister of Interior and the national chief of police about the violence in Devecser three Hungarian NGOs said that "by not dispersing the demonstration, the police failed to ensure the rights to freedom, equality and security of the local inhabitants."

The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Eötvös Károly Institute (EKINT) said that the speeches were calling for crimes to be committed and for the restriction of others' freedoms. The groups called for an investigation into police misconduct and for the public to be informed about its findings.

Amnesty International previously wrote to the Hungarian government in April this year, voicing its concerns over a report by the Parliamentary ad-hoc Committee into the activities of far-right vigilantes in the village of Gyöngyöspata in March 2011, which failed to address the human rights abuses suffered by the Romani residents.

Following a march on the village organized by Jobbik and attended by up to 2,000 people, three vigilante groups patrolled the village for almost a month. During this time, they threatened, intimidated and harassed Romani residents.

"The recent events in Devecser indicate that, despite the Parliamentary ad-hoc Committee’s report, such incidents continue to occur without the authorities fulfilling their duty to prevent such attacks and protect those who are targeted by violence," said Jezerca Tigani.

In October 2010, Devecser was one of the villages worst affected when a flood of toxic red sludge escaped from a mining plant and flowed into major waterways.

The sludge swept cars from roads and damaged bridges and houses, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

MORE ON FRANCE

FRENCH AUTHORITIES INTERVENE AGAINST MORE ROMANI PEOPLE

FROM ROMEA.CZ
http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_3552

PHOTO AP PHOTO JACQUES BRINON, FILE                    

French news server Le Progres.fr reports that French Police have evicted 10 Romani families from a municipally-owned building in Lyon which had been unoccupied for years until the families' recent arrival. Most of them are from Romania.

The eviction occurred after French authorities recently dissolved several Romani campsites elsewhere in the country. The European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF) has objected to Paris's procedures. The Council of Europe considers the ERTF the main international organization for the protection of the rights of Romani people in Europe.

Authorities justified yesterday's eviction of 50 adults and children onto the street by claiming they plan to reconstruct the building. Romani representatives say the reconstruction is not to start until 2014. Romani civic associations say this is the seventh such intervention in Lyon, where more than 350 Romani people, most of them from Romania, have been forced to relocate since the start of the summer. The Romani evictees have demanded substitute accommodations, but authorities are refusing to provide any.

Last week the French Police cleared a campsite of approximately 200 Romani people near the northern town of Lille. The intervention followed a series of similar police actions in Lyon and Paris.

Police officers have been targeting Romani people from Eastern Europe who have no official documentation of their residency in France. A group of Romanian Romani people was subsequently deported from Lyon.

The new French socialist government is continuing the policies of the preceding right-wing cabinet in this respect.

The Catholic Church, the European Union and human rights defenders criticized the wave of Romani deportations from France back to Romania that occurred under former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the summer of 2010. Current French Interior Minister Manuel Valls launched the recent interventions by calling them legal and unavoidable because the Romani camps posed a public health threat.  Approximately 20 000 Romani people live in France.

Many of the deported Romanian Romani people received EUR 300 each in support funds from the French authorities during their departure from the country, but returned to France anyway. Valls said the government is re-evaluating the policy of such financial support as well as restrictions on Romanian citizens working in France.

Human rights groups are criticizing the fact that no alternative temporary accommodation has been prepared for the Romani people, such as those evicted from a settlement near Lille, a group that included 60 children.

"What will happen to these families? [The authorities] take everything they have away from them - this is a violation of fundamental human rights," declared Father Arthur Hervet, a Catholic priest.

A spokesperson for the European Commission says the Commission is carefully following the manner in which the French authorities are now dissolving the Romani campsites and wants to investigate whether arbitrary deportations and discriminatory treatment are occurring. Two years ago, Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding criticized Sarkozy for deporting Romani people, most of them from Bulgaria and Romania, which are also EU Member States.

France eventually, under the threat of being taken to court, adopted guarantees which Reding said would "protect EU citizens from arbitrary deportation and discriminatory treatment."

On Monday the Council of Europe reported that the ERTF had sent a letter to French President Hollande asking Paris to radically change its policy toward Romani people, to stop disturbing Romani campsites without providing substitute accommodation, and to ease Romani integration by opening France's labor market to them.

"We regret that the policy of the socialist government regarding the Romani issue is, for the time being, just a continuation of the policy of your predecessor," the ERTF management's statement reads.

The ERTF is headquartered in Strasbourg. According to the Council of Europe, the forum brings together large international non-governmental organizations and more than 1 500 national associations of Romani people and Travellers from all of the countries of Europe.

Czech Press Agency, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA