8 April 2013 - World Rroma Day
8 апреля 2013 - мир цыган день
08 de abril 2013 - Mundo Gitano Días
8 Avril 2013 - Monde des Rroms Jours
08 kwiecień 2013 - Świat Rroma Dni
8 Nisan 2013 - Dünyanın Rroma Gün
08 aprilie 2013 - Lumea Rromilor Zile
8 Απρ 2013 - παγκόσμια ημέρα των Ρομά
8. April 2013 - Welt Rroma Day
8. април 2013 - Светски дан Ррома
08.04.2013 - Světový den Rroma
08 april 2013 - Wereld Rroma Dag
8 Aprili 2013 - Lumna Rromani Djes
Verkami: Latcho Drom →
Latcho Drom en romaní significa buena suerte y buen viaje. Latcho Drom es un proyecto que quiere documentar a traves de la imagen fija, el viaje de la musica gitana desde el Rajastan hasta España . El proyecto finalizá con la publicación de un libro que se distribuirá entre todos sus protagonistas.
English:
Latcho Drom means good luck and good riddance in Romani. Latcho Drom is a project that wants to document the journey of Romani music from Rajastan to Spain through a series of images. The project will end with the publication of a book, which will be distributed among all those involved.
Roma under fire in crisis-hit EU: Council of Europe chief [The New Age Online] →
Europe’s Roma are paying a high price amid the spiralling economic crisis, the head of the Council of Europe said Tuesday, warning that many more were likely to head westward as conditions deteriorate in the East.
“Minorities in Europe are coming under a lot more pressure than they have in a long time,” Thorbjoern Jagland said in an interview with AFP ahead of an address at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“The tensions are really growing,” he said, speaking in his native Norwegian.
“Many more Roma will be coming westward because the situation is so dire where they live” in the East, he said, pointing out that “when times are rough, it is the minorities who often suffer the most from economic hardship.”
At the same time, the Roma are often used as scapegoats in countries facing crisis, with other inhabitants blaming them for taking low-wage jobs or receiving benefits.
The situation is worst in countries where the majority of Roma live, such as Romania and Bulgaria, said Jagland, who is also the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee that hands out the prestigious peace prize.
Romania has the biggest Roma minority in Europe with 620,000 people, according to the latest official census more than two million, according to NGOs while as many as 700,000 Roma live in Bulgaria.
Most live in poverty and suffer severe discrimination in the employment and health care sectors.
“When you see the conditions Roma are living in here in Western Europe and they say that it is better than where they came from you start getting an idea of what conditions are like back home,” Jagland said.
But tensions are also growing in Western countries, which increasingly are becoming unwilling hosts for impoverished Roma seeking a better life.
And when EU migration rules are relaxed on January 1, 2014, many more are likely to make the trip, Jagland said.
“I think there is reason now to send out a warning to all countries in Europe about what they have in store,” he said, cautioning that “this situation with the Roma can become very uncomfortable in Europe.”
The 47-member state Council of Europe has noted growing tensions in a number of German cities and in France, where nearly 12,000 ethnic Roma were evicted from makeshift camps last year.
Jagland stressed the need for Western countries to prepare for an influx of Roma and to improve conditions for those already in those countries, but lamented that many seem reluctant to do so.
He said despite the glaring needs of Roma both in eastern and western Europe, governments were barely tapping into the funds the European Commission makes available to help such populations.
“This should be a political priority, but countries are not using the funds available. I don’t know why. Probably because it is not very popular to do things for the Roma,” he said.
Not all is bleak however. Jagland emphasised that Spain was a good example of how a country can successfully integrate Roma.
“The Roma there are accepted as regular citizens. The children go to school. They are involved in cultural life,” he said, pointing out that Roma did not seem to be disproportionately affected by Spain’s deep economic crisis.
That is not the case in many other countries, he said, cautioning that Europe seems to be headed towards a new period “of inherited prejudices that come to the surface in a hateful way when social conditions deteriorate.”
The New Age Online
Russian authorities are getting ready to improve the image of Roma. [РБК] →
Photo: ИТАР-ТАСС
The Russian Federation’s government in 2013 intends to begin improving the image of Roma and their process to socio-economic integration. The cabinet has already approved a comprehensive plan that will incorporate the ethnic group in a number of cultural, educational and business projects. The newspaper “Известия” (Proceedings) writes on 20 February.
According to a government source, this is the only “comprehensive ethnic-oriented programme” in Russia. “There is not such a programme for other ethnicities. Roma, especially, are adrift and in need of care in the nation-state”, said the newspaper.
The document provides the establishment of television films and programmes, which will tell the history of the Russian Roma and the “problems of integrating into a modern society”. In addition, the government will organise a press conference with Roma leaders from the autonomies.
The ministry of regional development and the regional governors have mandated to help the Roma that would like to do business. Potential entrepreneurs will be trained and advised. In addition, Roma businessmen will receive benefits on the receipt of communication channels and the purchase of office equipment. Free legal advice centres will be open for them; however, for those without documents, there will be a simplified process organised to issue passports.
A separate unit of government will be designed to address the problem of neglect and lack of education of Roma children. A special alphabet-learning-book will be developed to help teach them the Russian language. Younger students will receive textbooks on the Romani language. In placed where Roma live, youth clubs will be opened, which will teach traditional crafts, such as the blacksmith business, horse breeding, sewing, embroidery and weaving.
The documentation notes that under the members of the Roma community, there will be tightened control to help stop the spread of drugs.
According to the national census of 2010, there are more than 200 thousand Roma living in Russia.
Shorter Social Distances between Roma and Non Roma in Razgrad Region are Good Base for Efficient Roma Integration Policy [Integro Association] →
A workshop on reducing stereotypes and prejudices between Roma and non Roma in Razgrad region was organized by Integro Association and regional administration of Razgrad on 29 and 30 of January 2013. Members of 6 municipality administrations, local councilors, servants of public services and Roma NGO activists came together to discuss the situation and indentify the main problems of Roma population from the region.
The workshop gave opportunity for identifying and debating the main stereotypes existing of each other among the Roma and non-Roma population as well. Prof. Ilona Tomova from Bulgarian Science Academy’s Institute for population and human studies presented the findings from in-depth interviews and opinion survey, held in 2012 in Razgrad region, on interethnic relationships and attitude towards Roma. One of the main findings of the research was that social distances between ethnic groups in Razgrad are shorter than in the other part of the country. This appears to be an opportunity for reaching real effectiveness in realization of the Roma integration policy in the region.
The event gave opportunity also the participants together to look for possible measures and steps that should be taken by municipalities, NGOs and regional administration in order to tackle the problems faced by Roma community. All this finally contributed for the efficiency of regional strategy planning that is going currently in Razgrad region.
The workshop was one of the three workshops planned in the frame of the project “Identifying and Reducing Prejudices as a Source of Conflict between Roma and Non-Roma Population - Cases of Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, and Slovenia Compared – REDUPRE”, co-finance by the EU fundamental rights and citizenship program.
A People Uncounted tells the true story of the Roma, commonly referred to as Gypsies—a people who have been both romanticized and vilified in popular culture and who have endured centuries of intolerance and persecution in Europe, including an estimated 500,000 who were murdered in the Holocaust.
A People Uncounted documents their colorful but often difficult lives, including how their present state has been shaped by the tragedies of the past. Filmed in 11 countries and featuring dozens of Roma—including Holocaust survivors, historians, activists and musicians—A People Uncounted brings the Romani history to life through the rich interplay of their poetry, music, and compelling first hand accounts.
As ethnic intolerance flares up across Europe, A People Uncounted sheds light on this unique culture while presenting the Roma tale as emblematic of the world’s legacy of racism and genocide.
Roma Gypsy Children In France Banned In Lyon Schools, Taught In Police Station [Huffington Post] →
Roma gypsy children in France are being educated in a police station - because schools refuse to let the children learn in regular classes.
France 24 reported that the 20 children, aged between six and 12, are being taught on the second-floor of a police station in Saint-Fons, Lyon, by one teacher.
Roma people in the central French city of Lyon
The children do not receive school meals, and walk 1.5km home to their encampment by the city’s bypass, according to the report.
France anti-racism charity MRAP called the situation a “ghetto” and said it denounced the move by authorities.
It said in a statement: “We condemn the refusal of the municipality to admit children in a school canteen, which forces them to return home by foot.”
The makeshift school has “poor hygiene and safety,” the charity said. “School should be a place where children integrate, but some officials have sought to make it a divider.”
The temporary Roma camp in the city is controversial with Mayor Christiane Demontès attempting to have its inhabitants forcibly removed. Approximately 15,000 ethnic Roma, mostly originating from Bulgaria and Romania, live across France.
Romani Chib: E Lavuta →
Sas-pe ekh chej, laki daj, lako dad, thaj lake shtar phralja. Ando ekh gunjo, dombojune, ando ehk vesh baro, traji’ile. Ando o vesh, sas ekh lovach barvalo thaj o chajako yilo vo chordjas’as, de late kan nas-das.
Sako djes thaj sako ratji po les voj roveljas.
Leste te vorbil voj zumeljas….
RROMALE & GADJIKANE
I am asking Romani & non-Romani alike to help us get this show cancelled before it even airs.
TLC has created a spin-off version of their series, “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding” called “Gypsy Sisters”. It features the two most outlandish & controversial women of the entire series.
These women are not part of any Romanichal community.
These women are making money & a holy show of the Romanichal because they merely have “ancestry”.
They in no way represent Romani or Romanichal culture.
I would love to see Romani, Romany & Gadje alike stand up for the American Romanichal community. Let’s put aside our differences & fight for fair & just representation in the media.
Please, tell TLC how racist this show is.
The Book on Katarina Taikon [È Romani Glinda] →
Lawen Mohtadi, born in 1978, is a Swedish journalist with Kurdish heritage. Her parents came to Sweden as political refugees. She had worked as a freelance reported at SR, as well as at a number of newspapers. She was the editor in chief for the culture magazine Bag between June 2008 and March 2011.
In 2003 she was named “Media Rookie of the Year” and rewarded with 25,000 kronor of Swedish journals. Now she has written the book on Katarina Taikon, which has become highly acclaimed.
Lawen talked about how she first got the idea to write “Den dag jag blir fri” (The day I become free), a book about Katarina Taikon, at the book’s release at the Södra Theatre in Stockholm.
“It was in 2005 that I went down in SR’s library and saw a book cover with Katarina’s photo. The book is, among other things, the battle with Ivar Lo Johansson. After I had seen the photo, I was hooked. I discovered that there was nothing written about Katarina and made contact with Rosa Taikon, her sister.”
When the book “Zigenare” (Gypsies) came out in 1963, it lead to a big debate.
“Katarina clearly described the Romas’ situation in Sweden who even now continue to live in camps and are not allowed to go to school.”
Katarina also wrote in the book about Ivar Lo Johansson who met and interviewed Roma.
“She criticised him for his view of Roma, which looked at Roma as an exotic element in Sweden, something she absolutely could not agree with. The book got a big impact mostly because she criticised one of Sweden’s most famous writers.”
Lawen soon realised that she had to start her research from scratch.
“My resources were Rosa Taikon, her family and close friends. Talking with them about what happened 50 years ago brought up strong emotions.”
She draws a parallel with Martin Luther King.
“There was both happiness and frustration in Katarina’s life and work. Many times it was both brutal and hard. In 1964, she met Martin Luther King. Her work was in its constructing phase then.”
The questions that Katarin drew were on schooling and housing issues.
“At the time, Roma lived in camps. She was about to empty them and obtain flats for the Roma. I knew that this was a story of discrimination, but I had no idea the wave of antipathy that came when the Roma began moving into the flats in the 60s, a time when welfare was abundant, but not for Roma. It was not evident that all men would be part of the wellfare committee.
Although Katarina originally sympathised with the Social Democrats, she later left them.
“She was disappointed in how they discriminated against Roma. In the late 60s, she criticised the Social Democrats in the strongest terms.”
Lawen believed that Katarina had been very important for the Romas’ situation in Sweden, especially in terms of housing and school issues. She also raised Roma on the political agenda and made them visible in the social arena.
“She made the Roma visible for the first time. There is only one Katarina Taikon, but there are many who are inspired by her work, myself for example. The book on Katarina.”
"They should not exist, these animals, nowhere. One has to solve this - immediately and by all means!" →
Comments made by Zsolt Bayer, Confidant and personal friend of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
(…) The majority of Gypsies is not suited to living in community. Not suited to live amongst humans. These Gypsies are animals, and behave like animals. They immediately want to copulate/fuck with anybody they see. When they encounter resistance they murder.
Gypsyland - Documentary by Martyn Bray — Kickstarter →
When we started out making this exciting documentary about the Gypsy festival in the Camargue, the gypsies, who are one of the most persecuted people in history, were once again being threatened. President Sarkozy had offered them €300 each to leave France voluntarily. Those who declined his offer had to watch while bulldozers destroyed their homes. I had already been over in France and started work on the film so I felt outraged and at the same time a great deal of compassion for the people and characters I had come to love & trust.
If like us you value freedom, self-expression in music and dance, tribal traditions and those who live in harmony with our natural resources, then please join us. Your collaboration will result in the creation of this inspiring documentary that might help change people’s perceptions of the gypsies.
While filming the pilgrimage, I became fascinated by the mysterious story of the Gypsy Saint Sarah. Following in her trail laid down by the eminent Gypsy scholar Prof Ian Hancock, I was led back through time to mediaeval India.
I can’t say I like the title much, but the subject is intriguing.
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