May 2012
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US ambassador calls for Czech action to end Roma...
golden-zephyr:
The US ambassador to the Czech Republic, a former top advisor to President Barack Obama, has made a public all for Czechs to do more for the Roma (“Gypsy”) minority.
“Roma have for a long time faced problems on the margins of society in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe. The unequal access to education and job opportunities have further worsened their situation,” Amb....
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'Landmark' Roma eviction ruling sets precedent,...
golden-zephyr:
HUMAN RIGHTS
‘Landmark’ Roma eviction ruling sets precedent, rights group says
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that evicting Roma from an established community outside of Sofia, Bulgaria, would violate the right to life. Amnesty International called it a “landmark judgment.”
The Strasbourg-based rights court issued the ruling last week in favor of 23 Bulgarian...
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The Great ScapeGoats
golden-zephyr:
I was reading articles on ROMEA this morning, trying to figure out what the hell is happening in Europe when I came upon a paragraph that …. really just grabbed me.
From ROMEA:
Discrimination against Romani people and violence committed against them is reportedly deeply rooted in the European population, and great differences do not exist between various countries’ treatment of...
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diaryofaromanifilmmaker:
Let us take up the legacy of the Gypsy heroes of May 16th 1944
By Roberto Malini - La Voix des Rroms
On May 16th, 1944 four thousand Roma imprisoned in the “zigeunerlager” in Auschwitz decided to stand up to their murderers who according to programme had come to get them to lead them to the gas chambers.
The most powerful and well-organized machine of oppression and...
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Unique Romani-Slovak and Slovak-Romani dictionary... →
Košice 16 May (RPA) –The christening of a Romani-Slovak/Slovak-Romani dictionary took place in Košice (14 May) along with a press conference. The christening took place at the Spots cultural exchange center on Brigádnicka Street.
The publication of the dictionary is an important landmark for the development of the culture of the Roma community, allowing further development and study of the Romani...
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Roma will be Music Master →
14 Roma have been employed as music master as a result of joint work of Bursa Governorship and Bursa Roma Association. The president of Bursa Roma Association Efkan Özçimen said that they will try to improve the project in the upcoming days. Roma who are employed within the scope of the Public Education Center are happy that they have had a regular job with social security.
Roma musicians...
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ADRA Bulgaria is starting a new programme for the... →
The ADRA Bulgaria foundation is beginning the implementation of a new project for literacy amongst the Roma. The first problem is having someone who will meet training requirements. The ADRA Bulgaria foundation won funding by the programme “Lifelong learning” on the first invitation for project proposals for the ROMA programme.The project partners are from five European nations.In addition to...
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Analysis (part one): Polls show media largely...
The standards for conducting public opinion polls are not so high that their results should be considered certainties or reliable truths. We can, however, consider polling results to be helpful indicators and take them into account along with other data. That holds for the most recent research published by the CVVM agency on the relationship between Czech and Romani people. More than four-fifths...
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Roma protest xenophobic sentiments →
Lety, South Moravia, May 13 (CTK) - Political parties should not abuse the tense xenophobic situation between Romanies and majority in the Czech Republic in their election campaigns, Stefan Tiser, chairman of the Equal Opportunities Party (SRP), said yesterday.
Some 200 people attended a commemorative act devoted to the Romany Holocaust victims near the place where a concentration camp for...
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WatchSULUKULE: Kimin için dönüşüm?/ Transformation for whom?
Özet: 2006 yılında ‘Kentsel Dönüşüm’ projesi kurbanı olan Sulukule, İstanbul’da 1000 yıllık geçmişi olan bir mahalle. Çoğunluğu Roman olan ve evleri belediye tarafından hukuksuzca yıkılan mahalle sakinleri, 40 km ötedeki Taşoluk’ta TOKİ’nin inşa ettiği evlerden satın almak zorunda bırakıldı. Ev sahibi olma umuduyla oraya mecburen...
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RomaReact.org →
RomaReact is about us. We are people - both Roma and non-Roma - who want to shape the public debate on Roma inclusion. We want our voices to be heard. We are connecting through RomaReact, an interactive multimedia mapping platform that allows us to share everyday Roma realities and to challenge the stereotypes and prejudices that Roma face. Through RomaReact we want to build a global online...
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Czech Republic: Crossbow shooter regrets shooting... →
Mediafax reports that members of the Romani community have spontaneously organized a collection for the funeral of the man who was shot to death with a crossbow recently in the town of Chotěbuz (Karviná district). The family had originally delayed his burial for financial reasons.
Jaromír Šebesta, who shot the man, has spoken out for the first time in an interview with TV Nova. He said he regrets...
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Guest Post: Racism against Europe’s Roma on the... →
The United States announced earlier this year that it would become an official observer to the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015. This is an international initiative that gathers governments and international and nongovernmental organizations into a concerted effort to improve the well-being of one of Europe’s most vulnerable minorities—the Roma, or gypsies—who have for centuries endured...
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Roma in Turkey want more social visibility →
The Roma community in Turkey is beset with widespread unemployment, illiteracy, housing problems and poverty that account for their general marginalisation in society.
A dramatic improvement was achieved for them two years ago when the ruling AK Party initiated a dialogue between government officials and Roma representatives. The talks involved a significant number of Roma throughout Turkey,...
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New Decision on Italian State of Emergency Must... →
Budapest, Rome, 10 May 2012: Yesterday, Italy’s Council of State accepted the Italian Government’s request to suspend the effects of its decision from last year, which declared the State of Emergency was illegal and unfounded. The new decision means that various contracts started under the State of Emergency can go ahead, which may have a negative impact on the housing situation of Roma and Sinti...
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URGENT: An Appeal to Roma Friends and Allies
golden-zephyr:
I recently posted information about a Roma rights activist, Toma Nikolaev, who is facing extradition from the UK back to Bulgaria, where his life is in danger. There is a petition (here), but it is well documented that LETTERS, actual physical letters written by MANY people are a better source of providing justice. So, I ask you, no I humbly BEG you to help Toma (and ALL Roma...
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Romanian authorities leaving vulnerable families... →
Romania’s continuing economic challenges which have seen two governments fall in fewer than three months are all the more reason for the authorities at all levels to close legal loopholes that affect the housing of some of the country’s most marginalised groups, Amnesty International has said in a new briefing released on 4 May.
Jezerca Tigani, Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Deputy...
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Czech Govt Human Rights Commissioner meets with... →
On 24 April 2012, the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner, Mgr. Monika Šimůnková, met with leading Romani activists at Lichtenstein Palace in Prague. Civil society members of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission for Roma Community Affairs, representatives of pro-Roma and Romani nonprofits, newly-created initiatives, experts in Romani social integration and others were invited...
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Czech Republic: TV Nova rejects allegations of... →
Commercial broadcaster TV Nova has responded to a press release issued by the civil society members of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission for Roma Community Affairs, rejecting allegations that the station is intentionally conducting an anti-Romani campaign. “We thoroughly reject those charges as groundless. We also protest the generalizations made about TV Nova in that...
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Czech Republic: Has a Romani man died as a result... →
The case reported by the Czech media of an “aggressive man” from Kynšperk nad Ohří is slowly starting to turn into a case of a Romani man assaulted by police. Ludovít Kašpar, a 33-year-old father of three, passed away on Sunday at a hospital in Sokolov. According to initial reports, which have yet to be confirmed, he was beaten by police officers prior to his hospitalization.
Rudolf...
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Roma Britain →
This is the blog of an independent documentary project about Roma migration and integration into British society by photographer and writer Ciara Leeming.
The work has developed out of a series of written stories published in 2010-11 by the Big Issue in the North, the Guardian and the Times Educational Supplement, and a collaborative book project,Elvira and Me.
Roma Britain is open ended and...
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Vantaa takes hard line on illegal camping →
Vantaa is following the example of neighbouring Helsinki and is taking an increasingly tough line on illegal camping in the city. According to a decision made by the city, police can evict those setting up unauthorised camps immediately without a separate request from municipal authorities.
Vantaa has received increasing reports from local residents of unauthorised camps. Already in the...
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German Club presents a look into Romani Culture →
The sweet and flowing deep voice could be the talent that carries the Romani history. With passion and spice, the music of Ruzsa Nikolic-Lakatos was brilliant and alive. Last Wednesday, the Sonoma State University German Club and Green Music Center hosted the talented Romani singer from Vienna. She performed some love, table and whisky and upbeat rhythmic and clapping tempo songs. “This is truly...
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Bosnia asked to end discrimination of Roma, Jews →
(SARAJEVO) - The head of the Council of Europe asked Bosnia on Monday to propose amendments to its constitution within a month to end the discrimination of its Jewish and Roma minority.
“We want to see a clear, concrete and formal proposal submitted to the Bosnian parliament” before the June 4 meeting of the Council of Europe’s ministerial comittee, Thorbjorn Jagland told...
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Traditional commemoration ceremony honors Romani... →
The Committee for the Redress of the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic (Výbor pro odškodnění romského holocaustu v České republice - VPORH) is holding its traditional commemoration ceremony on Sunday, 13 May at the memorial to the Romani victims of the concentration camp at Lety by Písek.
INVITATION
The former Romani prisoners of Nazi concentration camps and their bereaved invite you to the...
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Greek neo-Nazis win 20 seats, eight European...
golden-zephyr:
The Greek neo-Nazis who won almost 7 % of the vote in early parliamentary elections last weekend and who are now represented by 20 MPs have been boisterously celebrating their unheard-of success. The chair of their Golden Dawn organization, Nikos Michaloliakos, has said of their victory: “Veni, vidi, vici [I came, I saw, I conquered].”
“I want to thank the hundreds of thousands...
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Italy must prevent reprisal attacks on the Roma... →
After a football supporter involved in an argument with a man from the Roma community was attacked in his home and killed execution style by gunfire, football fans in the Adriatic port city of Pescara have threatened the local Roma community with a pogrom if they do not leave the city this week.
In today’s europe, and in a civilized country like Italy it can not be allowed that football...
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Roma: Europe’s Silent Minority →
Anti-immigration and anti-Muslim vitriol pervades the European press. This focus obscures the fact that the largest and most disenfranchised minority on the continent is native to Europe: the Roma.
Known as Europe’s “gypsies,” there are between 10 and 16 million Roma currently living in the EU. Most reside in Eastern countries that joined the Union in 2004 and 2007. The Roma are plagued by lower...
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Civil society members of Czech Govt... →
Civil society members of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs have thoroughly protested the way in which some Czech media outlets report on criminal activity for which Romani people are either actually or allegedly responsible. Members of the “Roma Commission” have called on the editors-in-chief of Czech television stations and other periodicals...
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Multimedia course for studying the Romani language →
Romaninet is the first ever multimedia course designed to study the Romani language for children and adults, suitable for all regardless of educational level. The product itself is designed in six languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Bulgarian and Romanian, covering levels A1 to B2 CEFR.
The course provides opportunity for direct access to information anytime during the learning process, and...
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The Roma of Central Europe “feel fear” →
Can Roma (“gypsies”) from “liberal, democratic, EU countries” really be refugees, fleeing persecution? If I were a Roma person living in Central Europe I know I would not feel safe.
Last year, while we were filming the documentary Never Come Back, Malcolm Hamilton and I visited Roma enclaves in the Czech Republic and Hungary. A first glance, it seemed to us that those communities were not that...
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Declaration from the Electoral Congress of World... →
Please read and sign the declaration if you are able to.
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golden-zephyr:
O hederlezi ko Izmiri – katar ki...
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Baxtalo Hederljezi~
golden-zephyr:
I wish all my fellow Roma a great St. Georges Day ( Djurdjevdan ) if y’all celebrate it!
We won’t be having a sacrifice (sheep) or a feast—probably not even any dancing or what not.
But, I still want to remember it and celebrate how best I can!!!
Sastimaske! ッ
T’ avel baxtalo Hederlezi vaj Djurdjevdan tumende savorende!
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ROMA ACTIVIST FACES EXTRADITION →
Leading activist Toma Nikolaev, editor of the one-time bilingual DeFacto, is facing extradition proceedings from the UK which if successful could result in his imprisonment in Bulgaria.
Arrested recently on a European warrant Nikoleav spent three days in custody before being released on bail. He is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court at 9.30am on 22 May.
It is believed that...
