European MPs criticise France's expulsions of Roma, as French ministers travel to Bucharest for talks with Romania.
France has been heavily criticised for forcing Roma community members to leave the country to Romania [Al Jazeera]
The European Parliament has passed a strongly worded resolution criticising France's controversial policy of forcing members of its Roma community to leave the country.
The non-binding resolution expressed "deep concern at the measure taken by France and other member states targeting Roma and Travellers," and urged the French government to "immediately suspend all expulsions of Roma".
But France reacted angrily to resolution, with Eric Besson, the immigration minister, who is in Bucharest for talks with Romanian authorities on the issue, describing it as a "political diktat" and refusing to comply with its demands.
"The European parliament has exceeded its prerogatives," Besson said, adding that it was "out of the question" for France to cease its Roma expulsions.
The issue has proven a major test for the European Union, which is based on the principle that Europeans can live and work in any member state they please.
France argues that the Roma are abusing this principle to immigrate and commit crimes, and has called on Romania to do more to integrate the Roma citizens that it deports.
"The truth is the Roma are not integrated in Romania," Pierre Lellouche, France's European Affairs minister said earlier on Thursday.
"France will call for commitments on police and judiciary cooperation, the fight against human trafficking and integration of Roma in Romania, as part of a national emergency plan spanning 2010-2013," Lellouche said before a meeting with Emil Boc, the Romanian Prime Minister.
But Romanian leaders are angry with the way France has handled the affair. Traian Basescu, the Romanian president has warned that the French minister's visit to his country will be useless if they have come to "lecture" Romania.
And the country's foreign minister, Teodor Baconschi, attacked France's expulsion policy in an opinion piece in Thursday's edition of the daily newspaper Evenimentul Zilei.
"Neither a security crackdown nor a paternalist form of welfare are the answer to Roma problems", he wrote."Only a European strategy will allow for a lasting response to the problems and legitimate expectations of this vast community."
France is seeking to deflect criticism for the expulsions by freeing up funding to help reintegrate the deported Roma when they arrive in their home country.
"We have a road map on Roma inclusion, we have made several proposals, but things are not progressing," Lellouche said.
Banconschi stressed Romania had already adopted a national plan for Roma integration and spent nearly 50 million euros since the beginning of the year on programmes meant to improve conditions for the community.
France has deported almost 8,000 Roma migrants to Bulgaria and Romania this year, drawing criticism of human rights groups, the Catholic church and domestic politicians.
Sarkozy's political opponents have denounced the crackdown as an effort to boost his crumbling popularity and deflect attention away from unpopular spending cuts.
Sarkozy and his ministers have defended their policy in the context of a crackdown on foreign-born criminals. But Bucharest has said that none of the Roma expelled had a criminal record.
In more international criticism of French policy, Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, compared France's rhetoric on the issue to that used by Nazi and fascist regimes.
While the remarks brought an angry reaction from France, Hammarberg stood by them on Thursday, insisting that he had not singled out the French government for criticism.
*Source: Aljazeera
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Hiatus
Hello, few readers,
I was on hiatus. I don't know. Blogging is strange. I guess I'm still not used to it! Although there have been a lot of things to blog about, especially Roma Rights issues and publications.
Actually, there is so much that this is really just a post to say that I'm still here.
I will mention right now though that I have a poem, "Hyssop in the Forest" coming out in the Los Angeles Review in October.
Also, the new issue of Moloch is out here so check me out! My poems "Heathcliffe" and "The Empty Fishpond of Baileard" appear. There are a lot of really WONDERFUL writers in there, some of which I had the pleasure to hear read at the Moloch launch at the Writer's Museum in Dublin on July 30th. I read too (first! ahhh!) and it was so much fun. What a great crowd; what a great city.
Er... also I deferred St Andrews. I think I may to returning to the States for a spell... if all goes well with immigration.
I was on hiatus. I don't know. Blogging is strange. I guess I'm still not used to it! Although there have been a lot of things to blog about, especially Roma Rights issues and publications.
Actually, there is so much that this is really just a post to say that I'm still here.
I will mention right now though that I have a poem, "Hyssop in the Forest" coming out in the Los Angeles Review in October.
Also, the new issue of Moloch is out here so check me out! My poems "Heathcliffe" and "The Empty Fishpond of Baileard" appear. There are a lot of really WONDERFUL writers in there, some of which I had the pleasure to hear read at the Moloch launch at the Writer's Museum in Dublin on July 30th. I read too (first! ahhh!) and it was so much fun. What a great crowd; what a great city.
Er... also I deferred St Andrews. I think I may to returning to the States for a spell... if all goes well with immigration.
Friday, April 30, 2010
New Poems in Arsenic Lobster
3 of my poems are in the new issue of Arsenic Lobster. Check it out here: http://arseniclobster.magere.com
Yay!
Yay!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
This is a formal request
One generous benefactor required to financially support a studious poet and her musically inclined husband in all their endeavours: international, whimsical, scholarly, and otherwise.
It's amazing how I'm utterly unable to find funding for school despite all my best efforts. It's amazing how these past few years have been meandering and fraught with failures.
So, one generous benefactor, please.
It's amazing how I'm utterly unable to find funding for school despite all my best efforts. It's amazing how these past few years have been meandering and fraught with failures.
So, one generous benefactor, please.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Molotov attack on Romani family in Czech Republic
I found this article here: http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_1552
I'm posting the whole thing instead of merely excerpts because I think the amount of information and detail is crucial-- unfortunately these attacks don't normally get so much coverage, even though they deserve it. Please take a moment to read the article below.
A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in the city of Ostrava during the early hours of Sunday morning. No one was injured. Speaking at a press conference today, Tomáš Landsfeld, director of the Ostrava Police, said that so far there is no reason to believe extremists were behind the attack. The case is being investigated by a special 15-member team as one of reckless endangerment. An unidentified perpetrator threw the Molotov cocktail through the window of a bedroom in which a 14-year-old girl was sleeping.
"Unacceptable, shocking, insane – such events have no place in a normal society. I firmly believe this case will be successfully investigated,” commented Czech PM Jan Fischer.
"We are afraid. Mainly we fear for our children. We will be patrolling," Jiří Koller, whose house is immediately adjacent to the scene of the attack, told the Czech Press Agency.
The victimized family said a white car with tinted windows drove by just before the attack. "I heard that, but I don’t know anything more. They say it was impossible to see into the car," Koller said. Police have also begun investigating this information.
"An as-yet unidentified perpetrator threw it through the window pane - it did not explode,” said Radovan Vojta, chief detective in Ostrava. Since the bottle did not break on impact, the burning fluid did not spill or flare up. The wick was the only part on fire. "The occupants were lucky. Had the bottle broken, a fire would have started. The house would have caught fire very quickly and the blaze could have reached the neighboring family. As many as eight people were endangered,” Vojta said.
Ludmila Podraná, whose home it was, is also afraid. "Our 14-year-old daughter saved our lives. If she had not put it out in time, we would all have gone up in flames,” she told the Czech Press Agency with tears in her eyes, adding that she had immediately thought of the fate of little Natálka from Vítkov. Ludmila’s husband Dušan said they heard nothing during the attack. "Our daughter woke us up afterward. The bottle flew through the window over her bed. Shards of glass rained down on her. The bottle hit a table and then the floor, where the carpet started to burn. She threw a blanket down on it and put out the fire. Then we called the police,” he said.
Detectives are now waiting for the results of the expert examination; while they already have some initial results, they will have not definitive results until the end of the week. "What we can say is that this was a highly flammable chemical, a first-class combustible. For tactical reasons we do not want give more specifics,” Vojta said, adding that for the time being, according to the available information, there is no evidence that this was a racially motivated attack by right-wing extremists. "Nothing links this case to Vítkov - maybe just the fact that a Molotov cocktail was used. However, those have been used in other cases,” the police officer said.
"I must admit that despite all my experience with racially motivated attacks during the past 10 years, I am once again completely aghast both at the news of another arson attack in Ostrava-Bedřiška and even more aghast at the news that once again, a case of this sort has not been taken up by the homicide division at regional police level, but is being initially investigated by local, district-level detectives,” Markus Pape told news server Romea.cz.
Pape believes this approach unfortunately means the Czech Interior Ministry and Czech Police Presidium have still not yet learned anything from the Vítkov case and are continuing to minimize similar cases, which will only lead to other, similar crimes. "The main thing missing is a simple order by the police president that every arson attack on a residence should be immediately classified as attempted murder. That would make it possible to employ the necessary top-level staff, technicians and methods to successfully hunt down the perpetrators. It is simply unacceptable that someone has to suffer burn injuries before the police adequately respond,” Pape said.
Pape believes that unless such an order is issued, such crimes will have more and more tragic results and certain people will have even more of a feeling that there is no place for them in the state. "This republic is slowly but surely gaining a reputation abroad as Molotov cocktail country,” Pape told Romea.cz.
Other residents of the Bedřiška settlement, which is not solely Roma-occupied, were also frightened by the attack. "We are concerned, mainly for our children. We are going to stand watch here ourselves. We will take turns being on the telephone. If something happens, we will call the police,” resident Koller told the Czech Press Agency. However, police want to dissuade the Roma from forming their own militia. "That is not necessary. We have no information that another attack might occur. We have increased our patrol services in the locality,” police director Landsfeld said. He said police have also contacted social workers and activists from non-profit organizations who should be active on the scene in order to dissuade people from establishing a militia.
Kumar Vishwanathan, chair of the Life Together civic association, who has devoted himself to working with the Roma minority for many years, intends to participate in that effort. "There is no reason to take any desperate steps like starting militias, etc. We want to calm the situation so the police can do their work, because they proved themselves capable of it in the Vítkov case, thanks to which they also have the very strong trust of the people,” Vishwanathan said.
The Bedřiška settlement, the site of several wooden single-family homes, became the topic of intensive discussion five years ago. Then-Mayor Liana Janáčková and Vice-Mayor Jiří Jezerský made controversial statements about the Romani inhabitants of Bedřiška. "Give me a gun license and permission to shoot and I’ll go do it,” Jizerský said. Janáčková identified herself as a racist and spoke of “Gypsies breeding” and the use of dynamite or a high electric fence.
The comments were captured on a recording made during a meeting of the neighborhood housing department at which long-term residents of the settlement complained about the behavior of the Roma. Jezerský was even brought before the Ostrava District Court in connection with his remarks. The court acquitted him, saying he allegedly had not committed a crime. Janáčková was never prosecuted because the Czech Senate refused to strip her of immunity.
According to the Czech Labor Ministry, there are 10 similar ghettos in Ostrava predominantly occupied by Roma. As many as 6 600 people may be living in these areas. Most of the Roma were intentionally relocated to these areas in recent years. The majority of the adults in these areas are out of work; in some places, unemployment is 100 %. These families are dependent on welfare benefits. Usually residents of these areas have achieved only an elementary school education at the most. Loan-sharking thrives in many of the Ostrava localities, as do drug dealing, drug dependency, and shoplifting.
Last April arsonists attacked the home of a Romani family in Vítkov. Investigators found three Molotov cocktails had been thrown into the home. Three people were injured in the subsequent blaze. The most seriously injured was little Natálka, who was not yet two years old. She suffered extensive second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body.
The trial of the four right-wing extremists from the Bruntál and Opava districts accused of the Vítkov arson will begin at the Regional Court in Ostrava on 11 May. The main hearing will involve extraordinary security measures. The men are accused of racially motivated attempted murder against more than one victim, including one child. They face up to 15 years in prison, but exceptional sentencing, including life sentencing, is also a possibility.
Selected cases of arson attacks on Romani family residences
11 July 1994 – In the Zelené údolí neighborhood of Jablonec nad Nisou, a small group of skinheads threw Molotov cocktails into an apartment occupied by a Romani family. A 12-year-old girl and her mother suffered severe burns during the attack. The others present escaped without injury.
4 February 1996 – In Krnov (Bruntál district) four youths, evidently skinheads, threw Molotov cocktails through the windows of two ground-floor apartments. One of the dwellings caught fire; it was not put out until firefighters responded. A second attack took place there on 16 February, when a different group of two new attackers attempted to set another house on fire. Six youths were charged with these racially motivated arsons (police investigated them as individuals). In 2002, the court gave four of the men suspended sentences; a fifth man, the oldest of them, was sentenced to three years in prison.
17 January 1998 – A group of assailants threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a five-member Romani family in Krnov (Bruntál district) in the early morning hours of 17 January. A 48-year-old woman suffered severe second and third-degree burns and a man suffered light injuries. The fire destroyed all of the fixtures in the apartment. One hour after this attack, an unidentified assailant set a personal vehicle owned by a Romani man on fire elsewhere in Krnov. Police charged three local youths with the first attack. In February 2002 the District Court in Krnov sentenced Radek Bedrim, a member of several neo-Nazi groups, to two years in prison without parole. The court acquitted his two accomplices for lack of evidence.
28 February 1998 – Another nighttime attack in Krnov; hooligans threw another Molotov cocktail through the window of a ground-floor apartment occupied by Roma. No one was injured.
19 October 1998 – At 2 AM, an unidentified perpetrator threw a Molotov cocktail into the flat of a four-member Romani family on Foerstrova street in the Mariánské Hory neighborhood of Ostrava. Residents managed to put out the fire and there were no injuries.
12 June 1999 – An unidentified arsonist set fire to a Roma dwelling in Plavy (Jablonec district) by throwing two Molotov cocktails through a closed window. A 22-year-old woman was sleeping in the room with her two-month-old son and two other children aged two and three when the curtains and valance caught fire.
14 July 2000 – A Romani family in Rokycany reported two skinheads attacked their single-family home with a Molotov cocktail in the evening. The bottle filled with gasoline hit the window frame and landed outside the house. No damage was caused to the targeted room in which three children were sleeping.
24 July 2002 – Unidentified arsonists threw two Molotov cocktails into a Roma-occupied home in the Hranice neighborhood of Karviná at around 23:00. One hit the front wall of the house and the parapet of the kitchen window while the second flew through an open window. Residents put out the fire. No one was injured.
30 June 2007 – Unidentified arsonists threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in Vrbno pod Pradědem at around 23:00. Five people were in the house, two adults and three children. No one was injured.
21 September 2008 – Kitchen fixtures were set on fire after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a Romani family in Bruntál. Five people were sleeping there at the time, no one was injured.
19. April 2009 – Arsonists attacked the single-family home of a Romani family in Vítkov (Opava district). Police say three Molotov cocktails were thrown into the house. Three people were injured during the subsequent blaze. The most serious injuries were suffered by a girl who was not quite two years old and sustained second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body. Four right-wing extremists from Bruntál and Opava districts have been charged with racially motivated attempted murder. Their trial is to begin in May.
24 May 2009 - In Zdiby u Prahy, arsonists attacked a Romani family, throwing two Molotov cocktails into their home. Nothing happened to the family members, who succeeded in putting the fire out in time.
24 September 2009 – The Prima television station reported that attackers threw a Molotov cocktail at a Roma-occupied home in Mikulov, South Moravia. No one was injured. The time of the attack was not reported.
15 March 2010 – In the early morning hours of 14 March, someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in Ostrava. Residents succeeded in putting out the fire and no one was injured. A special police team is investigating the case as one of reckless endangerment.
ryz, Czech Press Agency, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA
A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in the city of Ostrava during the early hours of Sunday morning. No one was injured. Speaking at a press conference today, Tomáš Landsfeld, director of the Ostrava Police, said that so far there is no reason to believe extremists were behind the attack. The case is being investigated by a special 15-member team as one of reckless endangerment. An unidentified perpetrator threw the Molotov cocktail through the window of a bedroom in which a 14-year-old girl was sleeping.
"Unacceptable, shocking, insane – such events have no place in a normal society. I firmly believe this case will be successfully investigated,” commented Czech PM Jan Fischer.
"We are afraid. Mainly we fear for our children. We will be patrolling," Jiří Koller, whose house is immediately adjacent to the scene of the attack, told the Czech Press Agency.
The victimized family said a white car with tinted windows drove by just before the attack. "I heard that, but I don’t know anything more. They say it was impossible to see into the car," Koller said. Police have also begun investigating this information.
"An as-yet unidentified perpetrator threw it through the window pane - it did not explode,” said Radovan Vojta, chief detective in Ostrava. Since the bottle did not break on impact, the burning fluid did not spill or flare up. The wick was the only part on fire. "The occupants were lucky. Had the bottle broken, a fire would have started. The house would have caught fire very quickly and the blaze could have reached the neighboring family. As many as eight people were endangered,” Vojta said.
Ludmila Podraná, whose home it was, is also afraid. "Our 14-year-old daughter saved our lives. If she had not put it out in time, we would all have gone up in flames,” she told the Czech Press Agency with tears in her eyes, adding that she had immediately thought of the fate of little Natálka from Vítkov. Ludmila’s husband Dušan said they heard nothing during the attack. "Our daughter woke us up afterward. The bottle flew through the window over her bed. Shards of glass rained down on her. The bottle hit a table and then the floor, where the carpet started to burn. She threw a blanket down on it and put out the fire. Then we called the police,” he said.
Detectives are now waiting for the results of the expert examination; while they already have some initial results, they will have not definitive results until the end of the week. "What we can say is that this was a highly flammable chemical, a first-class combustible. For tactical reasons we do not want give more specifics,” Vojta said, adding that for the time being, according to the available information, there is no evidence that this was a racially motivated attack by right-wing extremists. "Nothing links this case to Vítkov - maybe just the fact that a Molotov cocktail was used. However, those have been used in other cases,” the police officer said.
"I must admit that despite all my experience with racially motivated attacks during the past 10 years, I am once again completely aghast both at the news of another arson attack in Ostrava-Bedřiška and even more aghast at the news that once again, a case of this sort has not been taken up by the homicide division at regional police level, but is being initially investigated by local, district-level detectives,” Markus Pape told news server Romea.cz.
Pape believes this approach unfortunately means the Czech Interior Ministry and Czech Police Presidium have still not yet learned anything from the Vítkov case and are continuing to minimize similar cases, which will only lead to other, similar crimes. "The main thing missing is a simple order by the police president that every arson attack on a residence should be immediately classified as attempted murder. That would make it possible to employ the necessary top-level staff, technicians and methods to successfully hunt down the perpetrators. It is simply unacceptable that someone has to suffer burn injuries before the police adequately respond,” Pape said.
Pape believes that unless such an order is issued, such crimes will have more and more tragic results and certain people will have even more of a feeling that there is no place for them in the state. "This republic is slowly but surely gaining a reputation abroad as Molotov cocktail country,” Pape told Romea.cz.
Other residents of the Bedřiška settlement, which is not solely Roma-occupied, were also frightened by the attack. "We are concerned, mainly for our children. We are going to stand watch here ourselves. We will take turns being on the telephone. If something happens, we will call the police,” resident Koller told the Czech Press Agency. However, police want to dissuade the Roma from forming their own militia. "That is not necessary. We have no information that another attack might occur. We have increased our patrol services in the locality,” police director Landsfeld said. He said police have also contacted social workers and activists from non-profit organizations who should be active on the scene in order to dissuade people from establishing a militia.
Kumar Vishwanathan, chair of the Life Together civic association, who has devoted himself to working with the Roma minority for many years, intends to participate in that effort. "There is no reason to take any desperate steps like starting militias, etc. We want to calm the situation so the police can do their work, because they proved themselves capable of it in the Vítkov case, thanks to which they also have the very strong trust of the people,” Vishwanathan said.
The Bedřiška settlement, the site of several wooden single-family homes, became the topic of intensive discussion five years ago. Then-Mayor Liana Janáčková and Vice-Mayor Jiří Jezerský made controversial statements about the Romani inhabitants of Bedřiška. "Give me a gun license and permission to shoot and I’ll go do it,” Jizerský said. Janáčková identified herself as a racist and spoke of “Gypsies breeding” and the use of dynamite or a high electric fence.
The comments were captured on a recording made during a meeting of the neighborhood housing department at which long-term residents of the settlement complained about the behavior of the Roma. Jezerský was even brought before the Ostrava District Court in connection with his remarks. The court acquitted him, saying he allegedly had not committed a crime. Janáčková was never prosecuted because the Czech Senate refused to strip her of immunity.
According to the Czech Labor Ministry, there are 10 similar ghettos in Ostrava predominantly occupied by Roma. As many as 6 600 people may be living in these areas. Most of the Roma were intentionally relocated to these areas in recent years. The majority of the adults in these areas are out of work; in some places, unemployment is 100 %. These families are dependent on welfare benefits. Usually residents of these areas have achieved only an elementary school education at the most. Loan-sharking thrives in many of the Ostrava localities, as do drug dealing, drug dependency, and shoplifting.
Last April arsonists attacked the home of a Romani family in Vítkov. Investigators found three Molotov cocktails had been thrown into the home. Three people were injured in the subsequent blaze. The most seriously injured was little Natálka, who was not yet two years old. She suffered extensive second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body.
The trial of the four right-wing extremists from the Bruntál and Opava districts accused of the Vítkov arson will begin at the Regional Court in Ostrava on 11 May. The main hearing will involve extraordinary security measures. The men are accused of racially motivated attempted murder against more than one victim, including one child. They face up to 15 years in prison, but exceptional sentencing, including life sentencing, is also a possibility.
Selected cases of arson attacks on Romani family residences
11 July 1994 – In the Zelené údolí neighborhood of Jablonec nad Nisou, a small group of skinheads threw Molotov cocktails into an apartment occupied by a Romani family. A 12-year-old girl and her mother suffered severe burns during the attack. The others present escaped without injury.
4 February 1996 – In Krnov (Bruntál district) four youths, evidently skinheads, threw Molotov cocktails through the windows of two ground-floor apartments. One of the dwellings caught fire; it was not put out until firefighters responded. A second attack took place there on 16 February, when a different group of two new attackers attempted to set another house on fire. Six youths were charged with these racially motivated arsons (police investigated them as individuals). In 2002, the court gave four of the men suspended sentences; a fifth man, the oldest of them, was sentenced to three years in prison.
17 January 1998 – A group of assailants threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a five-member Romani family in Krnov (Bruntál district) in the early morning hours of 17 January. A 48-year-old woman suffered severe second and third-degree burns and a man suffered light injuries. The fire destroyed all of the fixtures in the apartment. One hour after this attack, an unidentified assailant set a personal vehicle owned by a Romani man on fire elsewhere in Krnov. Police charged three local youths with the first attack. In February 2002 the District Court in Krnov sentenced Radek Bedrim, a member of several neo-Nazi groups, to two years in prison without parole. The court acquitted his two accomplices for lack of evidence.
28 February 1998 – Another nighttime attack in Krnov; hooligans threw another Molotov cocktail through the window of a ground-floor apartment occupied by Roma. No one was injured.
19 October 1998 – At 2 AM, an unidentified perpetrator threw a Molotov cocktail into the flat of a four-member Romani family on Foerstrova street in the Mariánské Hory neighborhood of Ostrava. Residents managed to put out the fire and there were no injuries.
12 June 1999 – An unidentified arsonist set fire to a Roma dwelling in Plavy (Jablonec district) by throwing two Molotov cocktails through a closed window. A 22-year-old woman was sleeping in the room with her two-month-old son and two other children aged two and three when the curtains and valance caught fire.
14 July 2000 – A Romani family in Rokycany reported two skinheads attacked their single-family home with a Molotov cocktail in the evening. The bottle filled with gasoline hit the window frame and landed outside the house. No damage was caused to the targeted room in which three children were sleeping.
24 July 2002 – Unidentified arsonists threw two Molotov cocktails into a Roma-occupied home in the Hranice neighborhood of Karviná at around 23:00. One hit the front wall of the house and the parapet of the kitchen window while the second flew through an open window. Residents put out the fire. No one was injured.
30 June 2007 – Unidentified arsonists threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in Vrbno pod Pradědem at around 23:00. Five people were in the house, two adults and three children. No one was injured.
21 September 2008 – Kitchen fixtures were set on fire after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a Romani family in Bruntál. Five people were sleeping there at the time, no one was injured.
19. April 2009 – Arsonists attacked the single-family home of a Romani family in Vítkov (Opava district). Police say three Molotov cocktails were thrown into the house. Three people were injured during the subsequent blaze. The most serious injuries were suffered by a girl who was not quite two years old and sustained second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body. Four right-wing extremists from Bruntál and Opava districts have been charged with racially motivated attempted murder. Their trial is to begin in May.
24 May 2009 - In Zdiby u Prahy, arsonists attacked a Romani family, throwing two Molotov cocktails into their home. Nothing happened to the family members, who succeeded in putting the fire out in time.
24 September 2009 – The Prima television station reported that attackers threw a Molotov cocktail at a Roma-occupied home in Mikulov, South Moravia. No one was injured. The time of the attack was not reported.
15 March 2010 – In the early morning hours of 14 March, someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in Ostrava. Residents succeeded in putting out the fire and no one was injured. A special police team is investigating the case as one of reckless endangerment.
ryz, Czech Press Agency, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA
A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in the city of Ostrava during the early hours of Sunday morning. No one was injured. Speaking at a press conference today, Tomáš Landsfeld, director of the Ostrava Police, said that so far there is no reason to believe extremists were behind the attack. The case is being investigated by a special 15-member team as one of reckless endangerment. An unidentified perpetrator threw the Molotov cocktail through the window of a bedroom in which a 14-year-old girl was sleeping.
"Unacceptable, shocking, insane – such events have no place in a normal society. I firmly believe this case will be successfully investigated,” commented Czech PM Jan Fischer.
"We are afraid. Mainly we fear for our children. We will be patrolling," Jiří Koller, whose house is immediately adjacent to the scene of the attack, told the Czech Press Agency.
The victimized family said a white car with tinted windows drove by just before the attack. "I heard that, but I don’t know anything more. They say it was impossible to see into the car," Koller said. Police have also begun investigating this information.
"An as-yet unidentified perpetrator threw it through the window pane - it did not explode,” said Radovan Vojta, chief detective in Ostrava. Since the bottle did not break on impact, the burning fluid did not spill or flare up. The wick was the only part on fire. "The occupants were lucky. Had the bottle broken, a fire would have started. The house would have caught fire very quickly and the blaze could have reached the neighboring family. As many as eight people were endangered,” Vojta said.
Ludmila Podraná, whose home it was, is also afraid. "Our 14-year-old daughter saved our lives. If she had not put it out in time, we would all have gone up in flames,” she told the Czech Press Agency with tears in her eyes, adding that she had immediately thought of the fate of little Natálka from Vítkov. Ludmila’s husband Dušan said they heard nothing during the attack. "Our daughter woke us up afterward. The bottle flew through the window over her bed. Shards of glass rained down on her. The bottle hit a table and then the floor, where the carpet started to burn. She threw a blanket down on it and put out the fire. Then we called the police,” he said.
Detectives are now waiting for the results of the expert examination; while they already have some initial results, they will have not definitive results until the end of the week. "What we can say is that this was a highly flammable chemical, a first-class combustible. For tactical reasons we do not want give more specifics,” Vojta said, adding that for the time being, according to the available information, there is no evidence that this was a racially motivated attack by right-wing extremists. "Nothing links this case to Vítkov - maybe just the fact that a Molotov cocktail was used. However, those have been used in other cases,” the police officer said.
"I must admit that despite all my experience with racially motivated attacks during the past 10 years, I am once again completely aghast both at the news of another arson attack in Ostrava-Bedřiška and even more aghast at the news that once again, a case of this sort has not been taken up by the homicide division at regional police level, but is being initially investigated by local, district-level detectives,” Markus Pape told news server Romea.cz.
Pape believes this approach unfortunately means the Czech Interior Ministry and Czech Police Presidium have still not yet learned anything from the Vítkov case and are continuing to minimize similar cases, which will only lead to other, similar crimes. "The main thing missing is a simple order by the police president that every arson attack on a residence should be immediately classified as attempted murder. That would make it possible to employ the necessary top-level staff, technicians and methods to successfully hunt down the perpetrators. It is simply unacceptable that someone has to suffer burn injuries before the police adequately respond,” Pape said.
Pape believes that unless such an order is issued, such crimes will have more and more tragic results and certain people will have even more of a feeling that there is no place for them in the state. "This republic is slowly but surely gaining a reputation abroad as Molotov cocktail country,” Pape told Romea.cz.
Other residents of the Bedřiška settlement, which is not solely Roma-occupied, were also frightened by the attack. "We are concerned, mainly for our children. We are going to stand watch here ourselves. We will take turns being on the telephone. If something happens, we will call the police,” resident Koller told the Czech Press Agency. However, police want to dissuade the Roma from forming their own militia. "That is not necessary. We have no information that another attack might occur. We have increased our patrol services in the locality,” police director Landsfeld said. He said police have also contacted social workers and activists from non-profit organizations who should be active on the scene in order to dissuade people from establishing a militia.
Kumar Vishwanathan, chair of the Life Together civic association, who has devoted himself to working with the Roma minority for many years, intends to participate in that effort. "There is no reason to take any desperate steps like starting militias, etc. We want to calm the situation so the police can do their work, because they proved themselves capable of it in the Vítkov case, thanks to which they also have the very strong trust of the people,” Vishwanathan said.
The Bedřiška settlement, the site of several wooden single-family homes, became the topic of intensive discussion five years ago. Then-Mayor Liana Janáčková and Vice-Mayor Jiří Jezerský made controversial statements about the Romani inhabitants of Bedřiška. "Give me a gun license and permission to shoot and I’ll go do it,” Jizerský said. Janáčková identified herself as a racist and spoke of “Gypsies breeding” and the use of dynamite or a high electric fence.
The comments were captured on a recording made during a meeting of the neighborhood housing department at which long-term residents of the settlement complained about the behavior of the Roma. Jezerský was even brought before the Ostrava District Court in connection with his remarks. The court acquitted him, saying he allegedly had not committed a crime. Janáčková was never prosecuted because the Czech Senate refused to strip her of immunity.
According to the Czech Labor Ministry, there are 10 similar ghettos in Ostrava predominantly occupied by Roma. As many as 6 600 people may be living in these areas. Most of the Roma were intentionally relocated to these areas in recent years. The majority of the adults in these areas are out of work; in some places, unemployment is 100 %. These families are dependent on welfare benefits. Usually residents of these areas have achieved only an elementary school education at the most. Loan-sharking thrives in many of the Ostrava localities, as do drug dealing, drug dependency, and shoplifting.
Last April arsonists attacked the home of a Romani family in Vítkov. Investigators found three Molotov cocktails had been thrown into the home. Three people were injured in the subsequent blaze. The most seriously injured was little Natálka, who was not yet two years old. She suffered extensive second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body.
The trial of the four right-wing extremists from the Bruntál and Opava districts accused of the Vítkov arson will begin at the Regional Court in Ostrava on 11 May. The main hearing will involve extraordinary security measures. The men are accused of racially motivated attempted murder against more than one victim, including one child. They face up to 15 years in prison, but exceptional sentencing, including life sentencing, is also a possibility.
Selected cases of arson attacks on Romani family residences
11 July 1994 – In the Zelené údolí neighborhood of Jablonec nad Nisou, a small group of skinheads threw Molotov cocktails into an apartment occupied by a Romani family. A 12-year-old girl and her mother suffered severe burns during the attack. The others present escaped without injury.
4 February 1996 – In Krnov (Bruntál district) four youths, evidently skinheads, threw Molotov cocktails through the windows of two ground-floor apartments. One of the dwellings caught fire; it was not put out until firefighters responded. A second attack took place there on 16 February, when a different group of two new attackers attempted to set another house on fire. Six youths were charged with these racially motivated arsons (police investigated them as individuals). In 2002, the court gave four of the men suspended sentences; a fifth man, the oldest of them, was sentenced to three years in prison.
17 January 1998 – A group of assailants threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a five-member Romani family in Krnov (Bruntál district) in the early morning hours of 17 January. A 48-year-old woman suffered severe second and third-degree burns and a man suffered light injuries. The fire destroyed all of the fixtures in the apartment. One hour after this attack, an unidentified assailant set a personal vehicle owned by a Romani man on fire elsewhere in Krnov. Police charged three local youths with the first attack. In February 2002 the District Court in Krnov sentenced Radek Bedrim, a member of several neo-Nazi groups, to two years in prison without parole. The court acquitted his two accomplices for lack of evidence.
28 February 1998 – Another nighttime attack in Krnov; hooligans threw another Molotov cocktail through the window of a ground-floor apartment occupied by Roma. No one was injured.
19 October 1998 – At 2 AM, an unidentified perpetrator threw a Molotov cocktail into the flat of a four-member Romani family on Foerstrova street in the Mariánské Hory neighborhood of Ostrava. Residents managed to put out the fire and there were no injuries.
12 June 1999 – An unidentified arsonist set fire to a Roma dwelling in Plavy (Jablonec district) by throwing two Molotov cocktails through a closed window. A 22-year-old woman was sleeping in the room with her two-month-old son and two other children aged two and three when the curtains and valance caught fire.
14 July 2000 – A Romani family in Rokycany reported two skinheads attacked their single-family home with a Molotov cocktail in the evening. The bottle filled with gasoline hit the window frame and landed outside the house. No damage was caused to the targeted room in which three children were sleeping.
24 July 2002 – Unidentified arsonists threw two Molotov cocktails into a Roma-occupied home in the Hranice neighborhood of Karviná at around 23:00. One hit the front wall of the house and the parapet of the kitchen window while the second flew through an open window. Residents put out the fire. No one was injured.
30 June 2007 – Unidentified arsonists threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in Vrbno pod Pradědem at around 23:00. Five people were in the house, two adults and three children. No one was injured.
21 September 2008 – Kitchen fixtures were set on fire after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a Romani family in Bruntál. Five people were sleeping there at the time, no one was injured.
19. April 2009 – Arsonists attacked the single-family home of a Romani family in Vítkov (Opava district). Police say three Molotov cocktails were thrown into the house. Three people were injured during the subsequent blaze. The most serious injuries were suffered by a girl who was not quite two years old and sustained second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body. Four right-wing extremists from Bruntál and Opava districts have been charged with racially motivated attempted murder. Their trial is to begin in May.
24 May 2009 - In Zdiby u Prahy, arsonists attacked a Romani family, throwing two Molotov cocktails into their home. Nothing happened to the family members, who succeeded in putting the fire out in time.
24 September 2009 – The Prima television station reported that attackers threw a Molotov cocktail at a Roma-occupied home in Mikulov, South Moravia. No one was injured. The time of the attack was not reported.
15 March 2010 – In the early morning hours of 14 March, someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in Ostrava. Residents succeeded in putting out the fire and no one was injured. A special police team is investigating the case as one of reckless endangerment.
ryz, Czech Press Agency, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA
I'm posting the whole thing instead of merely excerpts because I think the amount of information and detail is crucial-- unfortunately these attacks don't normally get so much coverage, even though they deserve it. Please take a moment to read the article below.
A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in the city of Ostrava during the early hours of Sunday morning. No one was injured. Speaking at a press conference today, Tomáš Landsfeld, director of the Ostrava Police, said that so far there is no reason to believe extremists were behind the attack. The case is being investigated by a special 15-member team as one of reckless endangerment. An unidentified perpetrator threw the Molotov cocktail through the window of a bedroom in which a 14-year-old girl was sleeping.
"Unacceptable, shocking, insane – such events have no place in a normal society. I firmly believe this case will be successfully investigated,” commented Czech PM Jan Fischer.
"We are afraid. Mainly we fear for our children. We will be patrolling," Jiří Koller, whose house is immediately adjacent to the scene of the attack, told the Czech Press Agency.
The victimized family said a white car with tinted windows drove by just before the attack. "I heard that, but I don’t know anything more. They say it was impossible to see into the car," Koller said. Police have also begun investigating this information.
"An as-yet unidentified perpetrator threw it through the window pane - it did not explode,” said Radovan Vojta, chief detective in Ostrava. Since the bottle did not break on impact, the burning fluid did not spill or flare up. The wick was the only part on fire. "The occupants were lucky. Had the bottle broken, a fire would have started. The house would have caught fire very quickly and the blaze could have reached the neighboring family. As many as eight people were endangered,” Vojta said.
Ludmila Podraná, whose home it was, is also afraid. "Our 14-year-old daughter saved our lives. If she had not put it out in time, we would all have gone up in flames,” she told the Czech Press Agency with tears in her eyes, adding that she had immediately thought of the fate of little Natálka from Vítkov. Ludmila’s husband Dušan said they heard nothing during the attack. "Our daughter woke us up afterward. The bottle flew through the window over her bed. Shards of glass rained down on her. The bottle hit a table and then the floor, where the carpet started to burn. She threw a blanket down on it and put out the fire. Then we called the police,” he said.
Detectives are now waiting for the results of the expert examination; while they already have some initial results, they will have not definitive results until the end of the week. "What we can say is that this was a highly flammable chemical, a first-class combustible. For tactical reasons we do not want give more specifics,” Vojta said, adding that for the time being, according to the available information, there is no evidence that this was a racially motivated attack by right-wing extremists. "Nothing links this case to Vítkov - maybe just the fact that a Molotov cocktail was used. However, those have been used in other cases,” the police officer said.
"I must admit that despite all my experience with racially motivated attacks during the past 10 years, I am once again completely aghast both at the news of another arson attack in Ostrava-Bedřiška and even more aghast at the news that once again, a case of this sort has not been taken up by the homicide division at regional police level, but is being initially investigated by local, district-level detectives,” Markus Pape told news server Romea.cz.
Pape believes this approach unfortunately means the Czech Interior Ministry and Czech Police Presidium have still not yet learned anything from the Vítkov case and are continuing to minimize similar cases, which will only lead to other, similar crimes. "The main thing missing is a simple order by the police president that every arson attack on a residence should be immediately classified as attempted murder. That would make it possible to employ the necessary top-level staff, technicians and methods to successfully hunt down the perpetrators. It is simply unacceptable that someone has to suffer burn injuries before the police adequately respond,” Pape said.
Pape believes that unless such an order is issued, such crimes will have more and more tragic results and certain people will have even more of a feeling that there is no place for them in the state. "This republic is slowly but surely gaining a reputation abroad as Molotov cocktail country,” Pape told Romea.cz.
Other residents of the Bedřiška settlement, which is not solely Roma-occupied, were also frightened by the attack. "We are concerned, mainly for our children. We are going to stand watch here ourselves. We will take turns being on the telephone. If something happens, we will call the police,” resident Koller told the Czech Press Agency. However, police want to dissuade the Roma from forming their own militia. "That is not necessary. We have no information that another attack might occur. We have increased our patrol services in the locality,” police director Landsfeld said. He said police have also contacted social workers and activists from non-profit organizations who should be active on the scene in order to dissuade people from establishing a militia.
Kumar Vishwanathan, chair of the Life Together civic association, who has devoted himself to working with the Roma minority for many years, intends to participate in that effort. "There is no reason to take any desperate steps like starting militias, etc. We want to calm the situation so the police can do their work, because they proved themselves capable of it in the Vítkov case, thanks to which they also have the very strong trust of the people,” Vishwanathan said.
The Bedřiška settlement, the site of several wooden single-family homes, became the topic of intensive discussion five years ago. Then-Mayor Liana Janáčková and Vice-Mayor Jiří Jezerský made controversial statements about the Romani inhabitants of Bedřiška. "Give me a gun license and permission to shoot and I’ll go do it,” Jizerský said. Janáčková identified herself as a racist and spoke of “Gypsies breeding” and the use of dynamite or a high electric fence.
The comments were captured on a recording made during a meeting of the neighborhood housing department at which long-term residents of the settlement complained about the behavior of the Roma. Jezerský was even brought before the Ostrava District Court in connection with his remarks. The court acquitted him, saying he allegedly had not committed a crime. Janáčková was never prosecuted because the Czech Senate refused to strip her of immunity.
According to the Czech Labor Ministry, there are 10 similar ghettos in Ostrava predominantly occupied by Roma. As many as 6 600 people may be living in these areas. Most of the Roma were intentionally relocated to these areas in recent years. The majority of the adults in these areas are out of work; in some places, unemployment is 100 %. These families are dependent on welfare benefits. Usually residents of these areas have achieved only an elementary school education at the most. Loan-sharking thrives in many of the Ostrava localities, as do drug dealing, drug dependency, and shoplifting.
Last April arsonists attacked the home of a Romani family in Vítkov. Investigators found three Molotov cocktails had been thrown into the home. Three people were injured in the subsequent blaze. The most seriously injured was little Natálka, who was not yet two years old. She suffered extensive second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body.
The trial of the four right-wing extremists from the Bruntál and Opava districts accused of the Vítkov arson will begin at the Regional Court in Ostrava on 11 May. The main hearing will involve extraordinary security measures. The men are accused of racially motivated attempted murder against more than one victim, including one child. They face up to 15 years in prison, but exceptional sentencing, including life sentencing, is also a possibility.
Selected cases of arson attacks on Romani family residences
11 July 1994 – In the Zelené údolí neighborhood of Jablonec nad Nisou, a small group of skinheads threw Molotov cocktails into an apartment occupied by a Romani family. A 12-year-old girl and her mother suffered severe burns during the attack. The others present escaped without injury.
4 February 1996 – In Krnov (Bruntál district) four youths, evidently skinheads, threw Molotov cocktails through the windows of two ground-floor apartments. One of the dwellings caught fire; it was not put out until firefighters responded. A second attack took place there on 16 February, when a different group of two new attackers attempted to set another house on fire. Six youths were charged with these racially motivated arsons (police investigated them as individuals). In 2002, the court gave four of the men suspended sentences; a fifth man, the oldest of them, was sentenced to three years in prison.
17 January 1998 – A group of assailants threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a five-member Romani family in Krnov (Bruntál district) in the early morning hours of 17 January. A 48-year-old woman suffered severe second and third-degree burns and a man suffered light injuries. The fire destroyed all of the fixtures in the apartment. One hour after this attack, an unidentified assailant set a personal vehicle owned by a Romani man on fire elsewhere in Krnov. Police charged three local youths with the first attack. In February 2002 the District Court in Krnov sentenced Radek Bedrim, a member of several neo-Nazi groups, to two years in prison without parole. The court acquitted his two accomplices for lack of evidence.
28 February 1998 – Another nighttime attack in Krnov; hooligans threw another Molotov cocktail through the window of a ground-floor apartment occupied by Roma. No one was injured.
19 October 1998 – At 2 AM, an unidentified perpetrator threw a Molotov cocktail into the flat of a four-member Romani family on Foerstrova street in the Mariánské Hory neighborhood of Ostrava. Residents managed to put out the fire and there were no injuries.
12 June 1999 – An unidentified arsonist set fire to a Roma dwelling in Plavy (Jablonec district) by throwing two Molotov cocktails through a closed window. A 22-year-old woman was sleeping in the room with her two-month-old son and two other children aged two and three when the curtains and valance caught fire.
14 July 2000 – A Romani family in Rokycany reported two skinheads attacked their single-family home with a Molotov cocktail in the evening. The bottle filled with gasoline hit the window frame and landed outside the house. No damage was caused to the targeted room in which three children were sleeping.
24 July 2002 – Unidentified arsonists threw two Molotov cocktails into a Roma-occupied home in the Hranice neighborhood of Karviná at around 23:00. One hit the front wall of the house and the parapet of the kitchen window while the second flew through an open window. Residents put out the fire. No one was injured.
30 June 2007 – Unidentified arsonists threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in Vrbno pod Pradědem at around 23:00. Five people were in the house, two adults and three children. No one was injured.
21 September 2008 – Kitchen fixtures were set on fire after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a Romani family in Bruntál. Five people were sleeping there at the time, no one was injured.
19. April 2009 – Arsonists attacked the single-family home of a Romani family in Vítkov (Opava district). Police say three Molotov cocktails were thrown into the house. Three people were injured during the subsequent blaze. The most serious injuries were suffered by a girl who was not quite two years old and sustained second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body. Four right-wing extremists from Bruntál and Opava districts have been charged with racially motivated attempted murder. Their trial is to begin in May.
24 May 2009 - In Zdiby u Prahy, arsonists attacked a Romani family, throwing two Molotov cocktails into their home. Nothing happened to the family members, who succeeded in putting the fire out in time.
24 September 2009 – The Prima television station reported that attackers threw a Molotov cocktail at a Roma-occupied home in Mikulov, South Moravia. No one was injured. The time of the attack was not reported.
15 March 2010 – In the early morning hours of 14 March, someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in Ostrava. Residents succeeded in putting out the fire and no one was injured. A special police team is investigating the case as one of reckless endangerment.
ryz, Czech Press Agency, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA
A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in the city of Ostrava during the early hours of Sunday morning. No one was injured. Speaking at a press conference today, Tomáš Landsfeld, director of the Ostrava Police, said that so far there is no reason to believe extremists were behind the attack. The case is being investigated by a special 15-member team as one of reckless endangerment. An unidentified perpetrator threw the Molotov cocktail through the window of a bedroom in which a 14-year-old girl was sleeping.
"Unacceptable, shocking, insane – such events have no place in a normal society. I firmly believe this case will be successfully investigated,” commented Czech PM Jan Fischer.
"We are afraid. Mainly we fear for our children. We will be patrolling," Jiří Koller, whose house is immediately adjacent to the scene of the attack, told the Czech Press Agency.
The victimized family said a white car with tinted windows drove by just before the attack. "I heard that, but I don’t know anything more. They say it was impossible to see into the car," Koller said. Police have also begun investigating this information.
"An as-yet unidentified perpetrator threw it through the window pane - it did not explode,” said Radovan Vojta, chief detective in Ostrava. Since the bottle did not break on impact, the burning fluid did not spill or flare up. The wick was the only part on fire. "The occupants were lucky. Had the bottle broken, a fire would have started. The house would have caught fire very quickly and the blaze could have reached the neighboring family. As many as eight people were endangered,” Vojta said.
Ludmila Podraná, whose home it was, is also afraid. "Our 14-year-old daughter saved our lives. If she had not put it out in time, we would all have gone up in flames,” she told the Czech Press Agency with tears in her eyes, adding that she had immediately thought of the fate of little Natálka from Vítkov. Ludmila’s husband Dušan said they heard nothing during the attack. "Our daughter woke us up afterward. The bottle flew through the window over her bed. Shards of glass rained down on her. The bottle hit a table and then the floor, where the carpet started to burn. She threw a blanket down on it and put out the fire. Then we called the police,” he said.
Detectives are now waiting for the results of the expert examination; while they already have some initial results, they will have not definitive results until the end of the week. "What we can say is that this was a highly flammable chemical, a first-class combustible. For tactical reasons we do not want give more specifics,” Vojta said, adding that for the time being, according to the available information, there is no evidence that this was a racially motivated attack by right-wing extremists. "Nothing links this case to Vítkov - maybe just the fact that a Molotov cocktail was used. However, those have been used in other cases,” the police officer said.
"I must admit that despite all my experience with racially motivated attacks during the past 10 years, I am once again completely aghast both at the news of another arson attack in Ostrava-Bedřiška and even more aghast at the news that once again, a case of this sort has not been taken up by the homicide division at regional police level, but is being initially investigated by local, district-level detectives,” Markus Pape told news server Romea.cz.
Pape believes this approach unfortunately means the Czech Interior Ministry and Czech Police Presidium have still not yet learned anything from the Vítkov case and are continuing to minimize similar cases, which will only lead to other, similar crimes. "The main thing missing is a simple order by the police president that every arson attack on a residence should be immediately classified as attempted murder. That would make it possible to employ the necessary top-level staff, technicians and methods to successfully hunt down the perpetrators. It is simply unacceptable that someone has to suffer burn injuries before the police adequately respond,” Pape said.
Pape believes that unless such an order is issued, such crimes will have more and more tragic results and certain people will have even more of a feeling that there is no place for them in the state. "This republic is slowly but surely gaining a reputation abroad as Molotov cocktail country,” Pape told Romea.cz.
Other residents of the Bedřiška settlement, which is not solely Roma-occupied, were also frightened by the attack. "We are concerned, mainly for our children. We are going to stand watch here ourselves. We will take turns being on the telephone. If something happens, we will call the police,” resident Koller told the Czech Press Agency. However, police want to dissuade the Roma from forming their own militia. "That is not necessary. We have no information that another attack might occur. We have increased our patrol services in the locality,” police director Landsfeld said. He said police have also contacted social workers and activists from non-profit organizations who should be active on the scene in order to dissuade people from establishing a militia.
Kumar Vishwanathan, chair of the Life Together civic association, who has devoted himself to working with the Roma minority for many years, intends to participate in that effort. "There is no reason to take any desperate steps like starting militias, etc. We want to calm the situation so the police can do their work, because they proved themselves capable of it in the Vítkov case, thanks to which they also have the very strong trust of the people,” Vishwanathan said.
The Bedřiška settlement, the site of several wooden single-family homes, became the topic of intensive discussion five years ago. Then-Mayor Liana Janáčková and Vice-Mayor Jiří Jezerský made controversial statements about the Romani inhabitants of Bedřiška. "Give me a gun license and permission to shoot and I’ll go do it,” Jizerský said. Janáčková identified herself as a racist and spoke of “Gypsies breeding” and the use of dynamite or a high electric fence.
The comments were captured on a recording made during a meeting of the neighborhood housing department at which long-term residents of the settlement complained about the behavior of the Roma. Jezerský was even brought before the Ostrava District Court in connection with his remarks. The court acquitted him, saying he allegedly had not committed a crime. Janáčková was never prosecuted because the Czech Senate refused to strip her of immunity.
According to the Czech Labor Ministry, there are 10 similar ghettos in Ostrava predominantly occupied by Roma. As many as 6 600 people may be living in these areas. Most of the Roma were intentionally relocated to these areas in recent years. The majority of the adults in these areas are out of work; in some places, unemployment is 100 %. These families are dependent on welfare benefits. Usually residents of these areas have achieved only an elementary school education at the most. Loan-sharking thrives in many of the Ostrava localities, as do drug dealing, drug dependency, and shoplifting.
Last April arsonists attacked the home of a Romani family in Vítkov. Investigators found three Molotov cocktails had been thrown into the home. Three people were injured in the subsequent blaze. The most seriously injured was little Natálka, who was not yet two years old. She suffered extensive second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body.
The trial of the four right-wing extremists from the Bruntál and Opava districts accused of the Vítkov arson will begin at the Regional Court in Ostrava on 11 May. The main hearing will involve extraordinary security measures. The men are accused of racially motivated attempted murder against more than one victim, including one child. They face up to 15 years in prison, but exceptional sentencing, including life sentencing, is also a possibility.
Selected cases of arson attacks on Romani family residences
11 July 1994 – In the Zelené údolí neighborhood of Jablonec nad Nisou, a small group of skinheads threw Molotov cocktails into an apartment occupied by a Romani family. A 12-year-old girl and her mother suffered severe burns during the attack. The others present escaped without injury.
4 February 1996 – In Krnov (Bruntál district) four youths, evidently skinheads, threw Molotov cocktails through the windows of two ground-floor apartments. One of the dwellings caught fire; it was not put out until firefighters responded. A second attack took place there on 16 February, when a different group of two new attackers attempted to set another house on fire. Six youths were charged with these racially motivated arsons (police investigated them as individuals). In 2002, the court gave four of the men suspended sentences; a fifth man, the oldest of them, was sentenced to three years in prison.
17 January 1998 – A group of assailants threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a five-member Romani family in Krnov (Bruntál district) in the early morning hours of 17 January. A 48-year-old woman suffered severe second and third-degree burns and a man suffered light injuries. The fire destroyed all of the fixtures in the apartment. One hour after this attack, an unidentified assailant set a personal vehicle owned by a Romani man on fire elsewhere in Krnov. Police charged three local youths with the first attack. In February 2002 the District Court in Krnov sentenced Radek Bedrim, a member of several neo-Nazi groups, to two years in prison without parole. The court acquitted his two accomplices for lack of evidence.
28 February 1998 – Another nighttime attack in Krnov; hooligans threw another Molotov cocktail through the window of a ground-floor apartment occupied by Roma. No one was injured.
19 October 1998 – At 2 AM, an unidentified perpetrator threw a Molotov cocktail into the flat of a four-member Romani family on Foerstrova street in the Mariánské Hory neighborhood of Ostrava. Residents managed to put out the fire and there were no injuries.
12 June 1999 – An unidentified arsonist set fire to a Roma dwelling in Plavy (Jablonec district) by throwing two Molotov cocktails through a closed window. A 22-year-old woman was sleeping in the room with her two-month-old son and two other children aged two and three when the curtains and valance caught fire.
14 July 2000 – A Romani family in Rokycany reported two skinheads attacked their single-family home with a Molotov cocktail in the evening. The bottle filled with gasoline hit the window frame and landed outside the house. No damage was caused to the targeted room in which three children were sleeping.
24 July 2002 – Unidentified arsonists threw two Molotov cocktails into a Roma-occupied home in the Hranice neighborhood of Karviná at around 23:00. One hit the front wall of the house and the parapet of the kitchen window while the second flew through an open window. Residents put out the fire. No one was injured.
30 June 2007 – Unidentified arsonists threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in Vrbno pod Pradědem at around 23:00. Five people were in the house, two adults and three children. No one was injured.
21 September 2008 – Kitchen fixtures were set on fire after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a Romani family in Bruntál. Five people were sleeping there at the time, no one was injured.
19. April 2009 – Arsonists attacked the single-family home of a Romani family in Vítkov (Opava district). Police say three Molotov cocktails were thrown into the house. Three people were injured during the subsequent blaze. The most serious injuries were suffered by a girl who was not quite two years old and sustained second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body. Four right-wing extremists from Bruntál and Opava districts have been charged with racially motivated attempted murder. Their trial is to begin in May.
24 May 2009 - In Zdiby u Prahy, arsonists attacked a Romani family, throwing two Molotov cocktails into their home. Nothing happened to the family members, who succeeded in putting the fire out in time.
24 September 2009 – The Prima television station reported that attackers threw a Molotov cocktail at a Roma-occupied home in Mikulov, South Moravia. No one was injured. The time of the attack was not reported.
15 March 2010 – In the early morning hours of 14 March, someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in Ostrava. Residents succeeded in putting out the fire and no one was injured. A special police team is investigating the case as one of reckless endangerment.
ryz, Czech Press Agency, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA
A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in the city of Ostrava during the early hours of Sunday morning. No one was injured. Speaking at a press conference today, Tomáš Landsfeld, director of the Ostrava Police, said that so far there is no reason to believe extremists were behind the attack. The case is being investigated by a special 15-member team as one of reckless endangerment. An unidentified perpetrator threw the Molotov cocktail through the window of a bedroom in which a 14-year-old girl was sleeping.
"Unacceptable, shocking, insane – such events have no place in a normal society. I firmly believe this case will be successfully investigated,” commented Czech PM Jan Fischer.
"We are afraid. Mainly we fear for our children. We will be patrolling," Jiří Koller, whose house is immediately adjacent to the scene of the attack, told the Czech Press Agency.
The victimized family said a white car with tinted windows drove by just before the attack. "I heard that, but I don’t know anything more. They say it was impossible to see into the car," Koller said. Police have also begun investigating this information.
"An as-yet unidentified perpetrator threw it through the window pane - it did not explode,” said Radovan Vojta, chief detective in Ostrava. Since the bottle did not break on impact, the burning fluid did not spill or flare up. The wick was the only part on fire. "The occupants were lucky. Had the bottle broken, a fire would have started. The house would have caught fire very quickly and the blaze could have reached the neighboring family. As many as eight people were endangered,” Vojta said.
Ludmila Podraná, whose home it was, is also afraid. "Our 14-year-old daughter saved our lives. If she had not put it out in time, we would all have gone up in flames,” she told the Czech Press Agency with tears in her eyes, adding that she had immediately thought of the fate of little Natálka from Vítkov. Ludmila’s husband Dušan said they heard nothing during the attack. "Our daughter woke us up afterward. The bottle flew through the window over her bed. Shards of glass rained down on her. The bottle hit a table and then the floor, where the carpet started to burn. She threw a blanket down on it and put out the fire. Then we called the police,” he said.
Detectives are now waiting for the results of the expert examination; while they already have some initial results, they will have not definitive results until the end of the week. "What we can say is that this was a highly flammable chemical, a first-class combustible. For tactical reasons we do not want give more specifics,” Vojta said, adding that for the time being, according to the available information, there is no evidence that this was a racially motivated attack by right-wing extremists. "Nothing links this case to Vítkov - maybe just the fact that a Molotov cocktail was used. However, those have been used in other cases,” the police officer said.
"I must admit that despite all my experience with racially motivated attacks during the past 10 years, I am once again completely aghast both at the news of another arson attack in Ostrava-Bedřiška and even more aghast at the news that once again, a case of this sort has not been taken up by the homicide division at regional police level, but is being initially investigated by local, district-level detectives,” Markus Pape told news server Romea.cz.
Pape believes this approach unfortunately means the Czech Interior Ministry and Czech Police Presidium have still not yet learned anything from the Vítkov case and are continuing to minimize similar cases, which will only lead to other, similar crimes. "The main thing missing is a simple order by the police president that every arson attack on a residence should be immediately classified as attempted murder. That would make it possible to employ the necessary top-level staff, technicians and methods to successfully hunt down the perpetrators. It is simply unacceptable that someone has to suffer burn injuries before the police adequately respond,” Pape said.
Pape believes that unless such an order is issued, such crimes will have more and more tragic results and certain people will have even more of a feeling that there is no place for them in the state. "This republic is slowly but surely gaining a reputation abroad as Molotov cocktail country,” Pape told Romea.cz.
Other residents of the Bedřiška settlement, which is not solely Roma-occupied, were also frightened by the attack. "We are concerned, mainly for our children. We are going to stand watch here ourselves. We will take turns being on the telephone. If something happens, we will call the police,” resident Koller told the Czech Press Agency. However, police want to dissuade the Roma from forming their own militia. "That is not necessary. We have no information that another attack might occur. We have increased our patrol services in the locality,” police director Landsfeld said. He said police have also contacted social workers and activists from non-profit organizations who should be active on the scene in order to dissuade people from establishing a militia.
Kumar Vishwanathan, chair of the Life Together civic association, who has devoted himself to working with the Roma minority for many years, intends to participate in that effort. "There is no reason to take any desperate steps like starting militias, etc. We want to calm the situation so the police can do their work, because they proved themselves capable of it in the Vítkov case, thanks to which they also have the very strong trust of the people,” Vishwanathan said.
The Bedřiška settlement, the site of several wooden single-family homes, became the topic of intensive discussion five years ago. Then-Mayor Liana Janáčková and Vice-Mayor Jiří Jezerský made controversial statements about the Romani inhabitants of Bedřiška. "Give me a gun license and permission to shoot and I’ll go do it,” Jizerský said. Janáčková identified herself as a racist and spoke of “Gypsies breeding” and the use of dynamite or a high electric fence.
The comments were captured on a recording made during a meeting of the neighborhood housing department at which long-term residents of the settlement complained about the behavior of the Roma. Jezerský was even brought before the Ostrava District Court in connection with his remarks. The court acquitted him, saying he allegedly had not committed a crime. Janáčková was never prosecuted because the Czech Senate refused to strip her of immunity.
According to the Czech Labor Ministry, there are 10 similar ghettos in Ostrava predominantly occupied by Roma. As many as 6 600 people may be living in these areas. Most of the Roma were intentionally relocated to these areas in recent years. The majority of the adults in these areas are out of work; in some places, unemployment is 100 %. These families are dependent on welfare benefits. Usually residents of these areas have achieved only an elementary school education at the most. Loan-sharking thrives in many of the Ostrava localities, as do drug dealing, drug dependency, and shoplifting.
Last April arsonists attacked the home of a Romani family in Vítkov. Investigators found three Molotov cocktails had been thrown into the home. Three people were injured in the subsequent blaze. The most seriously injured was little Natálka, who was not yet two years old. She suffered extensive second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body.
The trial of the four right-wing extremists from the Bruntál and Opava districts accused of the Vítkov arson will begin at the Regional Court in Ostrava on 11 May. The main hearing will involve extraordinary security measures. The men are accused of racially motivated attempted murder against more than one victim, including one child. They face up to 15 years in prison, but exceptional sentencing, including life sentencing, is also a possibility.
Selected cases of arson attacks on Romani family residences
11 July 1994 – In the Zelené údolí neighborhood of Jablonec nad Nisou, a small group of skinheads threw Molotov cocktails into an apartment occupied by a Romani family. A 12-year-old girl and her mother suffered severe burns during the attack. The others present escaped without injury.
4 February 1996 – In Krnov (Bruntál district) four youths, evidently skinheads, threw Molotov cocktails through the windows of two ground-floor apartments. One of the dwellings caught fire; it was not put out until firefighters responded. A second attack took place there on 16 February, when a different group of two new attackers attempted to set another house on fire. Six youths were charged with these racially motivated arsons (police investigated them as individuals). In 2002, the court gave four of the men suspended sentences; a fifth man, the oldest of them, was sentenced to three years in prison.
17 January 1998 – A group of assailants threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a five-member Romani family in Krnov (Bruntál district) in the early morning hours of 17 January. A 48-year-old woman suffered severe second and third-degree burns and a man suffered light injuries. The fire destroyed all of the fixtures in the apartment. One hour after this attack, an unidentified assailant set a personal vehicle owned by a Romani man on fire elsewhere in Krnov. Police charged three local youths with the first attack. In February 2002 the District Court in Krnov sentenced Radek Bedrim, a member of several neo-Nazi groups, to two years in prison without parole. The court acquitted his two accomplices for lack of evidence.
28 February 1998 – Another nighttime attack in Krnov; hooligans threw another Molotov cocktail through the window of a ground-floor apartment occupied by Roma. No one was injured.
19 October 1998 – At 2 AM, an unidentified perpetrator threw a Molotov cocktail into the flat of a four-member Romani family on Foerstrova street in the Mariánské Hory neighborhood of Ostrava. Residents managed to put out the fire and there were no injuries.
12 June 1999 – An unidentified arsonist set fire to a Roma dwelling in Plavy (Jablonec district) by throwing two Molotov cocktails through a closed window. A 22-year-old woman was sleeping in the room with her two-month-old son and two other children aged two and three when the curtains and valance caught fire.
14 July 2000 – A Romani family in Rokycany reported two skinheads attacked their single-family home with a Molotov cocktail in the evening. The bottle filled with gasoline hit the window frame and landed outside the house. No damage was caused to the targeted room in which three children were sleeping.
24 July 2002 – Unidentified arsonists threw two Molotov cocktails into a Roma-occupied home in the Hranice neighborhood of Karviná at around 23:00. One hit the front wall of the house and the parapet of the kitchen window while the second flew through an open window. Residents put out the fire. No one was injured.
30 June 2007 – Unidentified arsonists threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in Vrbno pod Pradědem at around 23:00. Five people were in the house, two adults and three children. No one was injured.
21 September 2008 – Kitchen fixtures were set on fire after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the ground-floor apartment of a Romani family in Bruntál. Five people were sleeping there at the time, no one was injured.
19. April 2009 – Arsonists attacked the single-family home of a Romani family in Vítkov (Opava district). Police say three Molotov cocktails were thrown into the house. Three people were injured during the subsequent blaze. The most serious injuries were suffered by a girl who was not quite two years old and sustained second and third-degree burns over 80 % of her body. Four right-wing extremists from Bruntál and Opava districts have been charged with racially motivated attempted murder. Their trial is to begin in May.
24 May 2009 - In Zdiby u Prahy, arsonists attacked a Romani family, throwing two Molotov cocktails into their home. Nothing happened to the family members, who succeeded in putting the fire out in time.
24 September 2009 – The Prima television station reported that attackers threw a Molotov cocktail at a Roma-occupied home in Mikulov, South Moravia. No one was injured. The time of the attack was not reported.
15 March 2010 – In the early morning hours of 14 March, someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of a Romani family in the Bedřiška settlement in Ostrava. Residents succeeded in putting out the fire and no one was injured. A special police team is investigating the case as one of reckless endangerment.
ryz, Czech Press Agency, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA
USA voices concern about Antiziganism in Romania
USA has expressed “major concern” regarding discrimination against Roma in Romania.
In its annual “Human Rights Report” about Romania issued recently, US Department of State says: “Roma faced persistent poverty and had poor access to government services, few employment opportunities, high rates of school attrition, inadequate health care, and pervasive discrimination.”
The US report talks about police brutality, pervasive societal discrimination, anti-Roma slogans and banners, destruction of houses and cars and setting a house on fire in Roma community in Sanmartin and Roma taking refuge in woods, setting fire to several stables belonging to Roma in Sancraieni, anti-Roma messages on a politician’s blog, denial of access or refusal of service to Roma in many public places including bars/clubs, repeated refusal of a doctor in Vartop village to treat Roma patients, likelihood of ethnic Roma to live below the poverty line five times as compared to majority population, large exclusion from administrative and legal system, 4.9 percent of Roma lacking birth certificate, lack of identity cards excluding many Roma from various programs, inadequate and ineffective government assistance to the Roma, etc.
Report also refers to non-completion of high school by 95 per cent Roma; 23 percent illiteracy among Roma; discrimination by teachers and other students against Romani students; reports of Romani children being placed in the back of classrooms and of teachers ignoring Romani students and of unimpeded bullying of Romani students by other schoolchildren; placing of Romani students in separate classrooms from other students or in separate schools; school segregation cases in Albeni, Corabia, Cugir, and Polovraci; refusal by a kindergarten teacher in Magheru to enrol the twins of a Romani woman for several years; etc.
It also mentions a report which said that approximately 60 percent of Roma lived segregated from the majority population in communities with substandard housing and without basic governmental services, such as schools, adequate health care, running water, electricity, and waste disposal. “Stereotypes and use of discriminatory language against Roma were widespread; journalists and even high ranking officials frequently made discriminatory statements”, it adds.
The Romani population was estimated at between 1.8 and 2.5 million in Romania by this report.
*Article provided by Rajan Zed. The version on this blog is edited, by me, for brevity and clarity.
In its annual “Human Rights Report” about Romania issued recently, US Department of State says: “Roma faced persistent poverty and had poor access to government services, few employment opportunities, high rates of school attrition, inadequate health care, and pervasive discrimination.”
The US report talks about police brutality, pervasive societal discrimination, anti-Roma slogans and banners, destruction of houses and cars and setting a house on fire in Roma community in Sanmartin and Roma taking refuge in woods, setting fire to several stables belonging to Roma in Sancraieni, anti-Roma messages on a politician’s blog, denial of access or refusal of service to Roma in many public places including bars/clubs, repeated refusal of a doctor in Vartop village to treat Roma patients, likelihood of ethnic Roma to live below the poverty line five times as compared to majority population, large exclusion from administrative and legal system, 4.9 percent of Roma lacking birth certificate, lack of identity cards excluding many Roma from various programs, inadequate and ineffective government assistance to the Roma, etc.
Report also refers to non-completion of high school by 95 per cent Roma; 23 percent illiteracy among Roma; discrimination by teachers and other students against Romani students; reports of Romani children being placed in the back of classrooms and of teachers ignoring Romani students and of unimpeded bullying of Romani students by other schoolchildren; placing of Romani students in separate classrooms from other students or in separate schools; school segregation cases in Albeni, Corabia, Cugir, and Polovraci; refusal by a kindergarten teacher in Magheru to enrol the twins of a Romani woman for several years; etc.
It also mentions a report which said that approximately 60 percent of Roma lived segregated from the majority population in communities with substandard housing and without basic governmental services, such as schools, adequate health care, running water, electricity, and waste disposal. “Stereotypes and use of discriminatory language against Roma were widespread; journalists and even high ranking officials frequently made discriminatory statements”, it adds.
The Romani population was estimated at between 1.8 and 2.5 million in Romania by this report.
*Article provided by Rajan Zed. The version on this blog is edited, by me, for brevity and clarity.
Antiziganism
I found the following post on the Amnesty International USA blog. I think it is a really helpful guide for anyone who wants to better understand the Roma plight. It was first posted in 2009, but it is still extremely relevant. Also, I think it is important to name a problem, for practical reasons (like, talking about it!) and for psychological reasons. To name a problem is to identify it, which is the first step to solving it. Antiziganism is a word that means hostility and prejudice directed toward the Romani people. You can find the original post here: http://blog.amnestyusa.org/tag/roma/
Perhaps the most oppressed people in history, Roma – commonly referred to as Gypsies – have been persecuted since they arrived in Europe in 1300 C.E.
The New York Times reports that institutionalized and societal prejudice against Roma is enflaming violence in Europe:
[...]
Prejudice against Roma — widely known as Gypsies and long among Europe’s most oppressed minority groups — has swelled into a wave of violence. Over the past year, at least seven Roma have been killed in Hungary, and Roma leaders have counted some 30 Molotov cocktail attacks against Roma homes, often accompanied by sprays of gunfire.
[...]
In addition to Mr. Koka’s death, there were the slayings of a Roma man and woman, who were shot after their house was set ablaze last November in Nagycsecs, a town about an hour’s drive from Tiszalok in northeastern Hungary. And in February, a Roma man and his 4-year-old son were gunned down as they tried to escape from their home, which was set on fire in Tatarszentgyorgy, a small town south of Budapest.
[...]
Experts on Roma issues describe an ever more aggressive atmosphere toward Roma in Hungary and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, led by extreme right-wing parties, whose leaders are playing on old stereotypes of Roma as petty criminals and drains on social welfare systems at a time of rising economic and political turmoil. As unemployment rises, officials and Roma experts fear the attacks will only intensify.
[...]
Persecution against Roma, as detailed in just one Amnesty International press release from yesterday, is nothing new. Neither is the unwillingness of authorities to stop the oppression. In the Czech republic, for instance:
[...]
Roma… continue to suffer discrimination at the hands of both public officials and private individuals, including in the areas of housing, education, health care and employment.
Not only do they face forced evictions, segregation in education and racially motivated violence, but they have been denied justice when seeking redress for the abuses against them.
[...]
The history of Roma persecution goes back hundreds of years ago. Throughout 16-18th century, Roma were hanged without trial in Europe. In 1921, nonetheless, Czechoslovakia shortly recognized Roma as “nationality.” In 1933, Hitler ordered sterilization of Roma. Later, up to half a million Roma were killed in the Holocaust. In just one act, 4,000 Roma were gassed and cremated in Auschwitz on August 2, 1944. Unlike the Jewish victims, Roma victims of the Holocaust are rarely researched or commemorated.
With some activism in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, Roma still face institutional and social discrimination in Europe. In Italy, the government fingerprints them. In 2008, bodies of two drowned Roma children were left at the beach while Italians and tourists vacationed a few feet away.
As late as 1998, the state of New Jersey in the US had anti-Roma laws. Popular American TV star Judge Judy has used the word “Gypsy” at least once as a synonym for a “thief” on her show after 2005. While Judge Judy’s remark can be explained perhaps by her lack of knowledge of Roma issues, the same cannot be said about influential people in countries with large Roma populations. In one such state, Romania, the president called a journalist “dirty Gypsy” in 2007.
While many Roma have historically assimilated (accepted, for example, Islam in the Middle East and Christianity in Europe), scores of them choose to keep their ancestral, migratory way of life despite hundreds of years of slavery, universal persecution and genocide. Others have established enclaves in different countries where they demand integration and respect. Roma supposedly left India as a result of foreign invasion to avoid persecution. Their common name “Gypsy” is a misconception that Roma originated in Egypt.
Many of the unassimilated Roma demand freedom of travel and not be regulated.
A unique case of stateless people, Roma do not demand independence or even political autonomy. The Roma persecution has brought about little outrage throughout the world. The problem, in this case, is definitely the lack of awareness.
In my home country Armenia, for instance, the word “Bosha” is an insult – while it used to be the ethnic name for the Roma who have either entirely assimilated or prefer to be called Lom. Their language, Lomavren, a unique mixture with medieval Armenian, has long vanished.
It is time that the world stand up against Antiziganism. Perhaps Amnesty International should adopt the cause of fighting Antiziganism as one of its main goals?
Perhaps the most oppressed people in history, Roma – commonly referred to as Gypsies – have been persecuted since they arrived in Europe in 1300 C.E.
The New York Times reports that institutionalized and societal prejudice against Roma is enflaming violence in Europe:
[...]
Prejudice against Roma — widely known as Gypsies and long among Europe’s most oppressed minority groups — has swelled into a wave of violence. Over the past year, at least seven Roma have been killed in Hungary, and Roma leaders have counted some 30 Molotov cocktail attacks against Roma homes, often accompanied by sprays of gunfire.
[...]
In addition to Mr. Koka’s death, there were the slayings of a Roma man and woman, who were shot after their house was set ablaze last November in Nagycsecs, a town about an hour’s drive from Tiszalok in northeastern Hungary. And in February, a Roma man and his 4-year-old son were gunned down as they tried to escape from their home, which was set on fire in Tatarszentgyorgy, a small town south of Budapest.
[...]
Experts on Roma issues describe an ever more aggressive atmosphere toward Roma in Hungary and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, led by extreme right-wing parties, whose leaders are playing on old stereotypes of Roma as petty criminals and drains on social welfare systems at a time of rising economic and political turmoil. As unemployment rises, officials and Roma experts fear the attacks will only intensify.
[...]
Persecution against Roma, as detailed in just one Amnesty International press release from yesterday, is nothing new. Neither is the unwillingness of authorities to stop the oppression. In the Czech republic, for instance:
[...]
Roma… continue to suffer discrimination at the hands of both public officials and private individuals, including in the areas of housing, education, health care and employment.
Not only do they face forced evictions, segregation in education and racially motivated violence, but they have been denied justice when seeking redress for the abuses against them.
[...]
The history of Roma persecution goes back hundreds of years ago. Throughout 16-18th century, Roma were hanged without trial in Europe. In 1921, nonetheless, Czechoslovakia shortly recognized Roma as “nationality.” In 1933, Hitler ordered sterilization of Roma. Later, up to half a million Roma were killed in the Holocaust. In just one act, 4,000 Roma were gassed and cremated in Auschwitz on August 2, 1944. Unlike the Jewish victims, Roma victims of the Holocaust are rarely researched or commemorated.
With some activism in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, Roma still face institutional and social discrimination in Europe. In Italy, the government fingerprints them. In 2008, bodies of two drowned Roma children were left at the beach while Italians and tourists vacationed a few feet away.
As late as 1998, the state of New Jersey in the US had anti-Roma laws. Popular American TV star Judge Judy has used the word “Gypsy” at least once as a synonym for a “thief” on her show after 2005. While Judge Judy’s remark can be explained perhaps by her lack of knowledge of Roma issues, the same cannot be said about influential people in countries with large Roma populations. In one such state, Romania, the president called a journalist “dirty Gypsy” in 2007.
While many Roma have historically assimilated (accepted, for example, Islam in the Middle East and Christianity in Europe), scores of them choose to keep their ancestral, migratory way of life despite hundreds of years of slavery, universal persecution and genocide. Others have established enclaves in different countries where they demand integration and respect. Roma supposedly left India as a result of foreign invasion to avoid persecution. Their common name “Gypsy” is a misconception that Roma originated in Egypt.
Many of the unassimilated Roma demand freedom of travel and not be regulated.
A unique case of stateless people, Roma do not demand independence or even political autonomy. The Roma persecution has brought about little outrage throughout the world. The problem, in this case, is definitely the lack of awareness.
In my home country Armenia, for instance, the word “Bosha” is an insult – while it used to be the ethnic name for the Roma who have either entirely assimilated or prefer to be called Lom. Their language, Lomavren, a unique mixture with medieval Armenian, has long vanished.
It is time that the world stand up against Antiziganism. Perhaps Amnesty International should adopt the cause of fighting Antiziganism as one of its main goals?
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Roma segregated by wall in Slovakia
Article from here: http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/slovakia-minorities.1mm
I was reading a similar article on the Sofia Echo, and I was horrified to see that people were posting racist bile about Roma at the end of an article that clearly shows unfair treatment of Roma and segregation. I am shocked and saddened-- prejudice and ignorance is rampant among people from neighbours to government officials. Please, whenever you see people posting racist nonsense about any group of people, feel free to correct them. It makes a difference! It educates other readers, and hopefully educates the writers.
(OSTROVANY) - Lucia Kucharova never cared much about the view from her window until its main feature became a wall separating her and more than 1,000 other Roma from the rest of their village.
The white concrete wall, built last month in Ostrovany, a village of 1,800 in eastern Slovakia, has locals as well as Roma and human-rights organisations fuming.
"It's discrimination, the mayor should have used the money to build houses for us instead," Kucharova, a 25-year-old Roma, told AFP.
The wall, which is 150 metres (yards) long and more than two metres high, cost 13,000 euros (19,300 dollars) to build and begins where the road ends in Ostrovany.
But Cyril Revak, the village mayor since 1991, is careful to avoid calling it a wall.
"The fence doesn't prevent the Roma from coming to the village," he said. "It just prevents them from entering private gardens and stealing. It wasn't just petty theft, especially in autumn.
"People don't grow vegetables in their gardens any more, there's no use -- everything gets stolen."
To get from the village to Kucharova's house on the other, rubbish-strewn side of the wall -- and the destitute world of some of the 27-member European Union's most impoverished citizens -- one has to splosh through mud along a slippery downhill path.
At the foot of the hill, Alena Kalejova sorts through the ubiquitous litter for butt-ends that she gratefully picks up from the muddy ground on a chilly, rainy day.
"The children have been stealing apples from the gardens but what can we do -- they are just children," admitted the 21-year-old Roma mother of one.
Apologetically, she adds: "Cigarettes are too expensive, we can hardly live on unemployment benefit at 150 euros a month."
Joblessness in this Roma community is almost 100 percent with most living on unemployment benefits and so-called activation work -- community service aimed at improving job skills.
"These days even the 'gadzos' have problems finding a job," concedes Lucia Kucharova, using the Roma word for "white people".
Her own education ended after nine years of school.
The wall dividing Ostrovany -- whose name can translate as "island village" -- has outraged human-rights and Roma associations.
"We have filed a suit with the prosecutor, we think the wall was built illegally and it discriminates against the Roma minority in Ostrovany," Alexander Patkolo, chairman of the Roma Initiative of Slovakia (RIS), told AFP.
Ostrovany is by no means the only island of Roma poverty in the country, which joined the European Union in 2004.
There are more than 600 Roma settlements in Slovakia where people live without electricity, sewage or running water, most located far from the relatively affluent capital Bratislava.
Behind the wall, in a shack of wood and corrugated iron, Lucia Kucharova's partner Martin proudly tells how he himself built their home, tensing his muscles to display a woman tattooed on his shoulder as he speaks.
"We are lucky to have a fridge, a stove and running water here," he said.
The young couple share a narrow bed with two daughters, while their youngest girl sleeps in her stroller.
Just a few kilometres from Ostrovany lies Slovakia's largest Roma settlement near the village of Jarovnice. Floods killed 58 people there in 1998.
A nation of 5.4 million, Slovakia is officially home to around 89,000 Roma, according to the 2001 national census.
But in reality, the Roma population is much higher.
"The actual number might be approximately 350,000 Roma," says Arne Mann, an ethnologist at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The EU's entire Roma population is estimated to be 11-12 million.
Mann blames communism for having pushed Roma further toward the margins of Slovak society.
"Before World War II, there was good cooperation between Roma and farmers. Roma used to help during the harvest or with the laundry," he said.
"But after the post-war collectivisation, their help wasn't needed any more and segregation began."
In a 2008 survey, 82 percent of Slovaks said they did not want to have a Roma neighbour.
"The segregation of the Roma can lead to similar problems as France had to cope with during nationwide riots in suburbs in late 2005," ethnologist Mann warns.
Rioting in France, the country's worst urban violence since the 1968 student revolts, was concentrated in deprived out-of-town housing estates largely populated by people of Arabic or African origin.
"It's a natural defence mechanism of people pushed to the fringes of society," Mann said.
I was reading a similar article on the Sofia Echo, and I was horrified to see that people were posting racist bile about Roma at the end of an article that clearly shows unfair treatment of Roma and segregation. I am shocked and saddened-- prejudice and ignorance is rampant among people from neighbours to government officials. Please, whenever you see people posting racist nonsense about any group of people, feel free to correct them. It makes a difference! It educates other readers, and hopefully educates the writers.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Famous Roma
I thought for a change I would post some more light hearted information about Roma. There are a lot of famous Roma and people with Roma ancestry... writers, singers, researchers, performers, etc , including some wildly famous people that you may not have expected *cough cough Elvis cough cough* Check out this site: http://www.imninalu.net/famousGypsies.htm and learn about some groovy Roma!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Expulsions of Roma carried out unlawfully
Press release - 146(2010)
European migration policies discriminate against Roma people
Strasbourg, 22.02.2010 – “European governments are not giving Roma migrants the same treatment as others who are in similar need of protection. Roma migrants are returned by force to places where they are at risk of human rights violations” said Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in his latest Viewpoint.
The Commissioner stresses that the EU Directives impact differently on Roma than on other EU citizens. “The protective provisions of the ‘Free Movement Directive’ are breached much more easily in respect of Roma than any other identifiable group. Expulsions of Roma have been carried out in contravention of EU law. In other cases destruction of Roma dwellings has been used as a method to persuade Roma to leave ‘voluntarily’”.
Commissioner Hammarberg underlines that pushing Roma families between countries is inhumane and it victimises in particular children – many of whom were born and grown up in the host countries before they were deported. Expulsions between EU countries have also failed in a great number of cases as the Roma have used their right as EU citizens to move within the European Union area.”
“States now spending considerable amounts to return Roma to their countries of origin, would make better use of this money by investing in measures to facilitate these persons’ social inclusion in their own societies” he said.
Article from the Council of Europe: here
Unfortunately this shunting around of Roma families is terribly common world-wide. Many Roma are forced into housing complexes that are actually ghettos with no running water, electricity, or plumbing. The governments are not the only force acting against Roma-- these Roma settlements are often targets for hate-crimes including bombings, shootings, and arson. It's insanity to just turf out an ethnic group who migrated from India in the 12th century. Human rights are not being upheld. We have the information and the news reports. What we don't yet have is change!
Activists implore Pope to uphold “Christian values” on Roma “apartheid” in Europe
Hindu and Jewish activists have portrayed His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI as “un-Christian” for not strongly supporting the cause of the Roma who face “apartheid” conditions in Europe.
Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a statement issued in Nevada today, said that the condition of the Roma had most of the signs of “apartheid” and that it was happening right under the Pope’s nose in Europe. Hindus & Jews had repeatedly appealed him in the past to openly embrace the Roma cause and come up with a White Paper on their plight but without any success.
Zed and Rabbi Freirich quoted from The Bible: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36).” “The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel (Psalm 147:2).” “For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast (Jeremiah 30:17).” “Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth (Zephaniah 3:19).” “…let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer… (Isaiah 16:4).” “Whoever says, ‘I am in the light,’ while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness (First Epistle of John 2: 9).” “…Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another (Gospel According to John 13: 34).”
Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, and Jonathan Freirich, argued that Jesus Christ clearly told the world to help the helpless, defenceless and downtrodden and love them, and He showed the way. The Pope, being the acclaimed representative of the Catholic God on earth, should raise his voice against continuous Roma maltreatment. The Pope should act like a shepherd for a shepherd-less flock of Roma, just as Jesus Himself said that He had sheep from other pastures. The Pope should recognize, acknowledge and affirm the Roma as children of God who deserved to be treated like all other people—as equals. As the Vicar of Christ, the Pope should offer the Roma protection, compassion, and love. In the case of the Roma, the Pope should act as God wanted him to act, as distinctly defined in The Bible.
Hindu statesman Zed and Jewish leader Freirich further quoted “Leviticus 19:33-34”: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you. You shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” As this commandment seemed to come directly from God, it should never be violated, especially not by the Pope, Zed and Freirich pointed out.
The Pope needed to re-study his scriptures, the Word of God, which was supposed to guide and direct him, and rise to the challenge of directing his followers to work to end the Roma “apartheid” in Europe. We were not asking much from the Pope, just suggesting to him that he be a true Christian, Rajan Zed and Rabbi Freirich said and added that it was a sin to silently watch about 15 million Roma suffer day after day for the last about 1200 years, and doing nothing about it.
According to Zed and Rabbi Freirich, the alarming condition of the Roma people was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as they reportedly regularly faced social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, etc.
Zed and Freirich stressed that besides the absence of any serious efforts at their inclusion, the Roma were being used as “punching bags” and blamed for the social ills of Europe. European neglect was trapping the Roma in cycles of persecution and poverty. It was shocking, reprehensible, hazardous and immoral. Being the most powerful religious leader in the world, it was the Pope’s moral obligation to make efforts to stop the frequent human rights violations suffered by Roma. Hindu Zed and Jewish Freirich offered help to Pope, if asked, to support the Roma cause.
*Information provided by Rabbi Jonathan Freirich
It is important for people with political, social, and religious influence to use their power to help people, to create harmony, and to encourage tolerance and equality. It would be a wonderful thing if the Pope, or any other important political or religious leaders, took the plight of the Roma to heart and encouraged governments and people alike to give the Roma their rights. No matter your religion or culture, we all deserve our human rights.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A call for the European Union to officially declare Roma maltreatment as “apartheid”
And then resolve it.
** Information courtesy of Rabbi Joanthan Freirich
It makes sense to name a thing in order to understand it and treat it correctly. The mistreatment of Roma is rampant. If we are ever going to over come racism, we must be totally honest about what racism exists in order to educate people, and then to achieve equality. I agree that the data is in and the polls gave been taken. We know that it's bad. Let's admit it and do something to change it. I'm always saying to write to officials, email your senators. They listen, and they write back! Jeanne Shaheen of NH always writes back to me when I contact her about issues that I'm concerned about, and I know she's listening, and she often tells me what I could do next. Communication is the best. It gets things done!
Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a statement issued in Nevada on 22 February 2010, said that condition of Roma in Europe had most of the signs of an “apartheid” and everybody involved was explicitly aware of it. No more think tanks, research, analysis, surveys, and polls were needed to measure the gravity of Roma societal exclusion, as it was starkly visible to the naked eye.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, and Rabbi Freirich, argued that most of much publicized fancy plans/programs launched by European Union and its various bodies, including “Decade of Roma Inclusion”, had failed to make a major dent to bring Roma at par with rest of the population. It was now time for Europe to come out of those cleverly coined terminology of Roma “projects/plans/programs” and “declaration/pledge/promise/initiative” photo-ops and do something “concrete and real” for Roma upliftment.
Rajan Zed and Jonathan Freirich urged various religious leaders and organizations of Europe to openly embrace and bless the Roma cause as religion told us to raise the voice for the helpless. It was a sin to watch the Roma suffer day after day for the last about 1200 years and not do anything about it.
Zed and Freirich pointed out that it was shocking to see how inhumanely Europe was treating its about 15 million Roma brothers-sisters. It was clearly reprehensible, hazardous and immoral and a blatant failure of Europe to meet its international obligations. When it came to Roma, Europe frequently failed to implement its own laws distinctly mentioned in its own books.
Rajan Zed and Rabbi Jonathan Freirich further said that alarming condition of Roma people was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as they reportedly regularly faced social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, etc.
Besides the absence of any serious efforts at their inclusion, Roma were being used as “punch bag” and blamed for the social ills of Europe and many politicians even exploited segregation to their political advantage. European neglect was trapping Roma in cycles of persecution and poverty. Roma issue should be one of the highest priorities of human rights agenda of Europe and world, thus reversing the history of persecution, Zed and Freirich stressed.
** Information courtesy of Rabbi Joanthan Freirich
It makes sense to name a thing in order to understand it and treat it correctly. The mistreatment of Roma is rampant. If we are ever going to over come racism, we must be totally honest about what racism exists in order to educate people, and then to achieve equality. I agree that the data is in and the polls gave been taken. We know that it's bad. Let's admit it and do something to change it. I'm always saying to write to officials, email your senators. They listen, and they write back! Jeanne Shaheen of NH always writes back to me when I contact her about issues that I'm concerned about, and I know she's listening, and she often tells me what I could do next. Communication is the best. It gets things done!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Roma families forced into metal cabins beside sewage in Romania
In central Romania over 100 Roma were forced to live in metal cabins behind sewage works after forcibly evicted from their homes, as reported by Amnesty International.
According to this report titled “Treated like waste”, which was posted on January 26 on Amnesty website, many of these included families with children. Report quotes Erszebet, who lives next to the sewage treatment plant with her husband and nine children, and who told Amnesty International what life was like in a metal cabin: “It is tight, when the whole family goes to sleep we don’t fit in. We cannot take a bath; we cannot clean ourselves. It is too small. We don’t want the older girls to take a bath in front of their father.”
Rajan Zed, well-known Hindu statesman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a statement issued in Nevada on January 27th, 2010, said that it was shocking to see how inhumanely Romania and Europe were treating their Roma brothers-sisters who were there since about ninth century AD. It was clearly reprehensible, hazardous and immoral, and a blatant failure of Romania and Europe to meet the international obligations.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, and Rabbi Freirich urged the religious leaders of Romania to openly and strongly condemn this maltreatment of Roma as religions told us to raise the voice for the helpless. They stressed immediate end to forced evictions and guaranteed right to housing to Roma.
According to Amnesty, there are about 2.2 million Roma in Romania – making up about 10 per cent of the total population. As a result of widespread discrimination, both by public officials and society at large, 75 per cent of Roma live in poverty, as opposed to 24 per cent of Romanians and 20 per cent of ethnic Hungarians.
Entertainer Madonna was reportedly booed and jeered by thousands of fans in Romania in August last when she sympathized with Roma people and spoke against Roma discrimination during her concert in Bucharest.
Rajan Zed and Jonathan Freirich pointed out that alarming condition of Roma people, numbering around 15-million in Europe, was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as they reportedly regularly faced social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, etc.
It was like an undeclared apartheid and it was almost total societal exclusion of Roma. The maltreatment of Roma was outside even the European Union norms. Roma issue should be one of the highest priorities of human rights agenda of Europe and world, Rajan Zed and Rabbi Jonathan Freirich argued.
--Article Courtesy of Rajan Zed
***
I think the article speaks for itself. Yikes. This horrific treatment of Roma must end now. Here is a video on the matter from the Amnesty website.
And here is the report from Amnesty: click here.
And click here for a great blog called Lolo Diklo: Rroma Against Racism. Definitely check it out. It has great information, photos, and videos. All in all, very informative.
According to this report titled “Treated like waste”, which was posted on January 26 on Amnesty website, many of these included families with children. Report quotes Erszebet, who lives next to the sewage treatment plant with her husband and nine children, and who told Amnesty International what life was like in a metal cabin: “It is tight, when the whole family goes to sleep we don’t fit in. We cannot take a bath; we cannot clean ourselves. It is too small. We don’t want the older girls to take a bath in front of their father.”
Rajan Zed, well-known Hindu statesman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a statement issued in Nevada on January 27th, 2010, said that it was shocking to see how inhumanely Romania and Europe were treating their Roma brothers-sisters who were there since about ninth century AD. It was clearly reprehensible, hazardous and immoral, and a blatant failure of Romania and Europe to meet the international obligations.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, and Rabbi Freirich urged the religious leaders of Romania to openly and strongly condemn this maltreatment of Roma as religions told us to raise the voice for the helpless. They stressed immediate end to forced evictions and guaranteed right to housing to Roma.
According to Amnesty, there are about 2.2 million Roma in Romania – making up about 10 per cent of the total population. As a result of widespread discrimination, both by public officials and society at large, 75 per cent of Roma live in poverty, as opposed to 24 per cent of Romanians and 20 per cent of ethnic Hungarians.
Entertainer Madonna was reportedly booed and jeered by thousands of fans in Romania in August last when she sympathized with Roma people and spoke against Roma discrimination during her concert in Bucharest.
Rajan Zed and Jonathan Freirich pointed out that alarming condition of Roma people, numbering around 15-million in Europe, was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as they reportedly regularly faced social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, etc.
It was like an undeclared apartheid and it was almost total societal exclusion of Roma. The maltreatment of Roma was outside even the European Union norms. Roma issue should be one of the highest priorities of human rights agenda of Europe and world, Rajan Zed and Rabbi Jonathan Freirich argued.
--Article Courtesy of Rajan Zed
***
I think the article speaks for itself. Yikes. This horrific treatment of Roma must end now. Here is a video on the matter from the Amnesty website.
And here is the report from Amnesty: click here.
And click here for a great blog called Lolo Diklo: Rroma Against Racism. Definitely check it out. It has great information, photos, and videos. All in all, very informative.
Monday, February 1, 2010
My flash fiction in Big Toe Review
The last issue of Big Toe Review is out, and my stuff is in it. Check it out here: Big Toe Review
It's too bad that it's the last issue-- it's a great publication, but it seems that the editor has been too busy and felt that it was unfair to his readers and writers that he didn't have enough time to dedicate. It is the end of an era!
It's too bad that it's the last issue-- it's a great publication, but it seems that the editor has been too busy and felt that it was unfair to his readers and writers that he didn't have enough time to dedicate. It is the end of an era!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Minorities in Sweden have a worse health status than the rest of the population
I received this article from Rajan Zed, and it suggests that minorities may be receiving a different quality of health care than the majority. I edited slightly for brevity.
***
“Most of the national minorities have a worse health status than the population as a whole”, according to a new survey by Swedish National Institute of Public Health, a state agency under Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) on January 19th, 2010, said that it was distressing to note minorities’ health status from this survey, which was indicative that minorities in Sweden were treated differently than the rest of the population. It was the moral responsibility of the majority to take care of its minorities, Zed stressed.
This survey points out: “There are clear links between health status among the national minorities and like high unemployment, feelings of alienation, powerlessness and discrimination”. It talks about discrimination against male Jews; high unemployment, feelings of alienation, powerlessness and discrimination in case of Roma; Roma women experiencing lot of stress; high depression among Sami women; worse physical health of Swedish Finns; Tornedalers women felt discriminated against; etc.
Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Sweden to have a strong political will to ensure minority inclusion and integration programs to immediately take off the ground providing them with better health and education avenues, higher economic opportunities, sources of empowerment and participation, etc.
Zed also urged Sweden to urgently improve the plight of its Roma populace, who reportedly lived in apartheid like conditions. Zed asked how Sweden, which prided itself for its human rights record, was tolerating such reportedly widespread prejudice against a segment of its own society. Maltreatment of Roma was a dark stain on the face of Sweden.
According to Swedish Government’s Human Rights Website, “The Roma still occupy a highly vulnerable position in Swedish society and are exposed to discrimination although this is prohibited by law. Generally speaking, many Roma encounter great difficulties in virtually all spheres of society. This applies to education, the labour market, housing and health care and to possibility of participating in the community on the same terms as the majority population.”
Located in Ostersund with Sarah Wamala as Director General, the Swedish National Institute of Public Health works to promote health and prevent ill health and injury, especially for population groups most vulnerable to health risks.
***
Stockholm News also has a report about the issue. The article goes through the minorities in question and explains what in particular the health problems are. It's worth a read! Check it out here. Not all immigrants/minorities were involved in the study, and this quote from SN explains the missing data:
***
“Most of the national minorities have a worse health status than the population as a whole”, according to a new survey by Swedish National Institute of Public Health, a state agency under Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) on January 19th, 2010, said that it was distressing to note minorities’ health status from this survey, which was indicative that minorities in Sweden were treated differently than the rest of the population. It was the moral responsibility of the majority to take care of its minorities, Zed stressed.
This survey points out: “There are clear links between health status among the national minorities and like high unemployment, feelings of alienation, powerlessness and discrimination”. It talks about discrimination against male Jews; high unemployment, feelings of alienation, powerlessness and discrimination in case of Roma; Roma women experiencing lot of stress; high depression among Sami women; worse physical health of Swedish Finns; Tornedalers women felt discriminated against; etc.
Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Sweden to have a strong political will to ensure minority inclusion and integration programs to immediately take off the ground providing them with better health and education avenues, higher economic opportunities, sources of empowerment and participation, etc.
Zed also urged Sweden to urgently improve the plight of its Roma populace, who reportedly lived in apartheid like conditions. Zed asked how Sweden, which prided itself for its human rights record, was tolerating such reportedly widespread prejudice against a segment of its own society. Maltreatment of Roma was a dark stain on the face of Sweden.
According to Swedish Government’s Human Rights Website, “The Roma still occupy a highly vulnerable position in Swedish society and are exposed to discrimination although this is prohibited by law. Generally speaking, many Roma encounter great difficulties in virtually all spheres of society. This applies to education, the labour market, housing and health care and to possibility of participating in the community on the same terms as the majority population.”
Located in Ostersund with Sarah Wamala as Director General, the Swedish National Institute of Public Health works to promote health and prevent ill health and injury, especially for population groups most vulnerable to health risks.
***
Stockholm News also has a report about the issue. The article goes through the minorities in question and explains what in particular the health problems are. It's worth a read! Check it out here. Not all immigrants/minorities were involved in the study, and this quote from SN explains the missing data:
Around 500 000 people in Sweden identify themselves as belonging to a national minority. The absolutely largest group is the Finnish minority or "the Sweden-finns" as they are called. There are about 450 000 Sweden-finns in Sweden.
This means that there are many immigrants in Sweden who are not included in this study. In 2007, 1.23 million were born abroad. Since today it is at least the same number we can conclude that there are 700 - 750 000 immigrants who are not seen as minorities. The reason is that they are not defined as minorities in the strict sense, but immigrants.
An end to segregation in Czech schools in sight
Good news! I have it from a source in the Czech republic that the Roma segregation issue is being resolved due to the flood of emails protesting the unfair treatment of Roma children in schools. The articles just haven't appeared in English yet.
Here is what my source sent me:
It is so nice to see that hard work really does pay off! It makes me warm and happy knowing that things are changing. My grandmother is Roma, and she grew up in a war torn Germany. She had to hide her ethnicity in order to save her life. Her horror stories have never left my mind, and they have shaped my life. She taught me to love all people, to be proud of who I am, and to speak up when there is injustice. People spoke up about this issue, and things really happened. The world is made up of many things, but all problems caused by people can be fixed by people too. It's important to remember that.
Here is what my source sent me:
Amnesty International campaigns for equal access to education has attracted the attention of almost 6 thousand visitors www.zmenimeto.cz. More than 2 thousand of emails requesting for Nahal, Li, Francis and millions of other children equal access to education, went to Ministers and Minister of Education of Afghanistan, China and the Czech Republic.
In the near future we will send ministers and Secretary of the eight thousand letters, which, thanks to high school students have signed the inhabitants of thirteen cities CR. The campaign also promoted several major figures, including former President Vaclav Havel.... See more
Major achievement of the campaign is that it responded to the Minister of Education Miroslava Kopicová. Sent to participants in the call letter acknowledged that the chances of education of Roma and non-Romani children are effectively balanced. Presented the results of research, under which the primary schools in so-called practical (former special schools) 27% of all Roma children, while only 2% of non-Roma.
Improve access to education for Roma children, Amnesty International will seek in 2010. In Afghanistan, we will support in particular activist for the rights of Georgia's women in China have posvítíme on working conditions in factories. Learn more at www.amnesty.cz.
It is so nice to see that hard work really does pay off! It makes me warm and happy knowing that things are changing. My grandmother is Roma, and she grew up in a war torn Germany. She had to hide her ethnicity in order to save her life. Her horror stories have never left my mind, and they have shaped my life. She taught me to love all people, to be proud of who I am, and to speak up when there is injustice. People spoke up about this issue, and things really happened. The world is made up of many things, but all problems caused by people can be fixed by people too. It's important to remember that.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Roma kids segregated in Czech schools
I'm quite behind on my blogging. In my defence, I've been spending all my time either volunteering at Barnardos, or constructing scholarship essays (which takes a lot of time!!). But this is very, very important. The article, is again, courtesy of Rajan Zed, my ever faithful informant and activist. And as always, I've condensed the article slightly.
***
Shock at the reported continual and systematic segregation of Roma children in Czech Republic schools, resulting in their receiving inferior quality education.
According to a recently published Amnesty International report titled “Discrimination in education of Roma persists in the Czech Republic”, “Romani children are regularly segregated in schools and classes for pupils with ‘mild mental disabilities’, where they receive an inferior education based on a limited curriculum”.
Statesman and president of Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) January 14th, 2010, said that it was unbelievable that in Europe in 2010 segregation was still continuing. It was simply immoral and unacceptable and European Union should immediately act to end this discriminatory practice and ensure equality in education.
Zed further remarked that Czech Republic should “wholeheartedly” back inclusion of Roma children and work on improving their educational attainments. At least, Roma children should be accorded equal opportunities and avenues of full participation in Czech life.
Talking about Roma children, the Amnesty report also points about “teachers’ prejudice” and “limited expectations”. In some places, Romani children make up more than 80 percent of the classes intended for pupils with ‘mild mental disabilities’. There are also Roma-only schools which often offer a lower quality education.
Zed argued that Roma people in Czech Republic reportedly faced violent attacks, stereotyping, racism, prejudice, growing gap between Roma and other Czechs, fear, beatings, poor quality housing, systemic employment and overall discrimination, persecution, throwing of Molotov cocktails, social exclusion, marginalization; refused service at restaurants, stores, discos, etc.; municipalities/towns failing to support them; and the state being unwilling or unable to offer protection.
Zed stressed that the country of Franz Kafka, Antonin Dvorak, Jaroslav Hasek, Karlovy Vary, and rich cultural heritage should not continue staying apathetic and silent spectator ignoring Roma apartheid.
References to Roma people in Europe, who are believed to have their roots in the Indian subcontinent, reportedly went as far back as ninth century AD. Amnesty International, headquartered in London and launched in 1961, is a global movement of 2.2 million people in more than 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. Claudio Cordone is interim Secretary General.
***
The full Amnesty report can be found here. At the end of this post there is a link to "Support the Appeal" by sending a pre-worded letter to support the appeal to Minister of Education of the Czech Republic, Her Excellence Miroslava Kopicová, to end the education system's discrimination against Romani children. Please do this! You just have to sign it and send it with love. It's one of those precious things that takes a moment but makes a difference.
I quote a small section of the report:
Amnesty International has called on the Czech authorities to:
* Freeze all placements of children into practical schools and classes for pupils with "mild mental disabilities" for the school year 2010/11, pending a review of the need for such a curriculum and schools;
* Enforce in law the desegregation of education and adopt a comprehensive plan with clear yearly targets to eliminate school segregation of Romani children;
* Ensure that additional support is immediately made available for children who need it in order to effectively participate in and develop to their fullest potential within the integrated mainstream elementary school.
It's shocking that race segregation is still an issue. But this will change if enough people care, and make it known that they care.
***
Shock at the reported continual and systematic segregation of Roma children in Czech Republic schools, resulting in their receiving inferior quality education.
According to a recently published Amnesty International report titled “Discrimination in education of Roma persists in the Czech Republic”, “Romani children are regularly segregated in schools and classes for pupils with ‘mild mental disabilities’, where they receive an inferior education based on a limited curriculum”.
Statesman and president of Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) January 14th, 2010, said that it was unbelievable that in Europe in 2010 segregation was still continuing. It was simply immoral and unacceptable and European Union should immediately act to end this discriminatory practice and ensure equality in education.
Zed further remarked that Czech Republic should “wholeheartedly” back inclusion of Roma children and work on improving their educational attainments. At least, Roma children should be accorded equal opportunities and avenues of full participation in Czech life.
Talking about Roma children, the Amnesty report also points about “teachers’ prejudice” and “limited expectations”. In some places, Romani children make up more than 80 percent of the classes intended for pupils with ‘mild mental disabilities’. There are also Roma-only schools which often offer a lower quality education.
Zed argued that Roma people in Czech Republic reportedly faced violent attacks, stereotyping, racism, prejudice, growing gap between Roma and other Czechs, fear, beatings, poor quality housing, systemic employment and overall discrimination, persecution, throwing of Molotov cocktails, social exclusion, marginalization; refused service at restaurants, stores, discos, etc.; municipalities/towns failing to support them; and the state being unwilling or unable to offer protection.
Zed stressed that the country of Franz Kafka, Antonin Dvorak, Jaroslav Hasek, Karlovy Vary, and rich cultural heritage should not continue staying apathetic and silent spectator ignoring Roma apartheid.
References to Roma people in Europe, who are believed to have their roots in the Indian subcontinent, reportedly went as far back as ninth century AD. Amnesty International, headquartered in London and launched in 1961, is a global movement of 2.2 million people in more than 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. Claudio Cordone is interim Secretary General.
***
The full Amnesty report can be found here. At the end of this post there is a link to "Support the Appeal" by sending a pre-worded letter to support the appeal to Minister of Education of the Czech Republic, Her Excellence Miroslava Kopicová, to end the education system's discrimination against Romani children. Please do this! You just have to sign it and send it with love. It's one of those precious things that takes a moment but makes a difference.
I quote a small section of the report:
The placement in practical schools and classes for pupils with "mild mental disabilities" is based on the results of assessments that fail to factor in cultural and linguistic differences of Romani children and may be compounded by the prejudice of staff conducting them.
Amnesty International has called on the Czech authorities to:
* Freeze all placements of children into practical schools and classes for pupils with "mild mental disabilities" for the school year 2010/11, pending a review of the need for such a curriculum and schools;
* Enforce in law the desegregation of education and adopt a comprehensive plan with clear yearly targets to eliminate school segregation of Romani children;
* Ensure that additional support is immediately made available for children who need it in order to effectively participate in and develop to their fullest potential within the integrated mainstream elementary school.
It's shocking that race segregation is still an issue. But this will change if enough people care, and make it known that they care.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Cash flow, yoga, apple crisp, and an angry badger
It appears I am not so great at blogging. I've been quiet for large-ish spans of time. It is somewhat unnatural to me to be talking about stuff in a way that anyone can see. But... this is the way of the future, or a kind of socially encouraged big brother, or whatever.
I have been busy though. I need to get to Scotland for school in a recession. It is complicated. I'm very busy applying for scholarships, basically, and so far FAFSA has been breaking my heart. I did however get almost all of my course books for my MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of St. Andrews. I love them! It's so nice to be going to school for something that absolutely enthrals me. I can't wait until September!
Also, since I was 14, I've wanted to become a certified yoga teacher at the Kripalu Yoga Center in Lenox, MA. It is a wonderful yoga school and yoga retreat center. I am convinced that dedicating myself to yoga in this way will be life changing, and I have my heart set on this center in this part of the world. But I realise that this summer is probably the last opportunity I will have to go for quite a few years since I plan on completing a PhD after my MLitt. But, the funds simply are not there. So that leaves a lot of puzzling on my part. I am determined to go, but I'm scrambling for a solution. In the meantime though, I've kicked up my yoga practice in preparation, just in case I can go. My body complains a little, but I still find it so invigorating to enjoy an even longer than usual yoga practice once or twice a day, especially first thing in the morning. It takes discipline, but I find that after I conquer the pull of my warm bed, I'm excited to twist myself in all ways imaginable before breakfast.
And speaking of breakfast, I discovered the yummiest breakfast EVER. I found it on this blog, The Gluten Free Mommy. It's Natalie Naramor's Guten-Free Apple Crisp. I have Celiac's Disease which means that I can't east anything with gluten in it because my body just can't deal with it. A lot of people have it and don't know it because the symptoms are different for everyone and sometimes not obviously connected with food. I had it all my life and have been sick all my life, and only just realised what it was about 8 months ago. The blood tests for it can't be relied on either-- often times someone with Celiac's disease will test negative, even multiple times. So if you suspect you have it, the best thing to do is cut out gluten for 6 months and see if you feel better. If you're not so sure, eat one thing containing gluten and see what happens. Something like 75% of the population are suspected to have gluten intolerance. Wild stuff! But anyway, about the apple crisp, I tried it with the cream cheese layer, except I used extra light cream cheese, and it was DIVINE!
I suppose there is a lot to talk about though that has nothing to do with my trundling life. I will be blogging about more serious stuff, hopefully today.
But before I get too serious I should mention a little story that happened to me yesterday. I woke up to bright sunshine and for no reason that I can recall or explain, I said to my husband by way of greeting, "Have you ever seen a badger?"
L replied, "On TV."
"Are there badgers in Ireland?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said. "I guess I've just never seen one."
"Neither have I! I wish I would though. I feel like they might be adorable."
The day continued as usual. I went into Cork city to volunteer at Barnardos, a charity that aides abused children, I picked up some avocados for dinner, I went home on the bus, I made dinner and ate a nice meal with L. Then I noticed that the cat's water dish looked a bit skanky. I brought it outside and flung the skank-water into the garden, at which point I heard an awful screaming. It wasn't the cat, or a dog, or anything else I've ever heard before. I peered into the darkness and saw a very angry badger shaking water out of its eyes and turning tail to hide under the shed.
My first badger.
Photo courtesy of the BBC because the badger I accidentally threw water at was too angry to photograph. Plus it was awful dark.
I have been busy though. I need to get to Scotland for school in a recession. It is complicated. I'm very busy applying for scholarships, basically, and so far FAFSA has been breaking my heart. I did however get almost all of my course books for my MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of St. Andrews. I love them! It's so nice to be going to school for something that absolutely enthrals me. I can't wait until September!
Also, since I was 14, I've wanted to become a certified yoga teacher at the Kripalu Yoga Center in Lenox, MA. It is a wonderful yoga school and yoga retreat center. I am convinced that dedicating myself to yoga in this way will be life changing, and I have my heart set on this center in this part of the world. But I realise that this summer is probably the last opportunity I will have to go for quite a few years since I plan on completing a PhD after my MLitt. But, the funds simply are not there. So that leaves a lot of puzzling on my part. I am determined to go, but I'm scrambling for a solution. In the meantime though, I've kicked up my yoga practice in preparation, just in case I can go. My body complains a little, but I still find it so invigorating to enjoy an even longer than usual yoga practice once or twice a day, especially first thing in the morning. It takes discipline, but I find that after I conquer the pull of my warm bed, I'm excited to twist myself in all ways imaginable before breakfast.
And speaking of breakfast, I discovered the yummiest breakfast EVER. I found it on this blog, The Gluten Free Mommy. It's Natalie Naramor's Guten-Free Apple Crisp. I have Celiac's Disease which means that I can't east anything with gluten in it because my body just can't deal with it. A lot of people have it and don't know it because the symptoms are different for everyone and sometimes not obviously connected with food. I had it all my life and have been sick all my life, and only just realised what it was about 8 months ago. The blood tests for it can't be relied on either-- often times someone with Celiac's disease will test negative, even multiple times. So if you suspect you have it, the best thing to do is cut out gluten for 6 months and see if you feel better. If you're not so sure, eat one thing containing gluten and see what happens. Something like 75% of the population are suspected to have gluten intolerance. Wild stuff! But anyway, about the apple crisp, I tried it with the cream cheese layer, except I used extra light cream cheese, and it was DIVINE!
I suppose there is a lot to talk about though that has nothing to do with my trundling life. I will be blogging about more serious stuff, hopefully today.
But before I get too serious I should mention a little story that happened to me yesterday. I woke up to bright sunshine and for no reason that I can recall or explain, I said to my husband by way of greeting, "Have you ever seen a badger?"
L replied, "On TV."
"Are there badgers in Ireland?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said. "I guess I've just never seen one."
"Neither have I! I wish I would though. I feel like they might be adorable."
The day continued as usual. I went into Cork city to volunteer at Barnardos, a charity that aides abused children, I picked up some avocados for dinner, I went home on the bus, I made dinner and ate a nice meal with L. Then I noticed that the cat's water dish looked a bit skanky. I brought it outside and flung the skank-water into the garden, at which point I heard an awful screaming. It wasn't the cat, or a dog, or anything else I've ever heard before. I peered into the darkness and saw a very angry badger shaking water out of its eyes and turning tail to hide under the shed.
My first badger.
Photo courtesy of the BBC because the badger I accidentally threw water at was too angry to photograph. Plus it was awful dark.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Roma Inclusion Programs in Europe Appear Ineffective
Despite four years into the “Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015” initiative, Roma people of Europe still reportedly live in apartheid-like conditions.
Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman and president of Universal Society of Hinduism; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a joint statement in Nevada yesterday, said that almost everybody involved in Roma upliftment programs would agree that Roma continued to face deeply embedded institutional discrimination and social exclusion. Concrete steps were immediately needed to improve their plight, who mostly migrated from Indian subcontinent to Europe starting ninth century AD.
Zed and Rabbi Freirich say that in spite of this much publicized “Inclusion” initiative involving political commitment by governments of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of Roma, they unfortunately reportedly continue to suffer from human rights violations and brazen structural discrimination.
Zed and Rabbi Freirich further say that on paper, Roma are fully covered by European Union legislation, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin in employment, social protection and education as well as access to goods and services, including housing. But in reality, Roma reportedly regularly face racism, substandard education, hostility, social exclusion, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, etc.
Zed and Rabbi Freirich urged Czech Republic, which will reportedly preside over “Roma Decade” initiative starting July one, to deliver effective implementation, firm commitment and strong political will to improve the Roma plight. In the past, policies on paper to tackle Roma discrimination and exclusion had proved very weak to deal with their day-to-day sufferings. It is simply immoral to let this around 15 million population of Europe continually suffer and face human rights violations.
*Information provided by Rajan Zed
I hope that the Cxech Republic does step up to the plate. In this short article here written by ROMEA, ČTK, and translated by Gwendolyn Albert, Gabriela Hrabaňová, director of the Czech Government Office for Roma Community Affairs, told ČTK that the vision is to focus on Romani women and children. However, when asked for details she said "We do not yet have specific plans." However, she expects that by May the project will become more focused.
If you would like to read more about the Decade of Roma Inclusion, you can check out their website: http://www.romadecade.org/ . It's a great website with a lot of information!
Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman and president of Universal Society of Hinduism; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a joint statement in Nevada yesterday, said that almost everybody involved in Roma upliftment programs would agree that Roma continued to face deeply embedded institutional discrimination and social exclusion. Concrete steps were immediately needed to improve their plight, who mostly migrated from Indian subcontinent to Europe starting ninth century AD.
Zed and Rabbi Freirich say that in spite of this much publicized “Inclusion” initiative involving political commitment by governments of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia to improve the socio-economic status and social inclusion of Roma, they unfortunately reportedly continue to suffer from human rights violations and brazen structural discrimination.
Zed and Rabbi Freirich further say that on paper, Roma are fully covered by European Union legislation, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin in employment, social protection and education as well as access to goods and services, including housing. But in reality, Roma reportedly regularly face racism, substandard education, hostility, social exclusion, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, etc.
Zed and Rabbi Freirich urged Czech Republic, which will reportedly preside over “Roma Decade” initiative starting July one, to deliver effective implementation, firm commitment and strong political will to improve the Roma plight. In the past, policies on paper to tackle Roma discrimination and exclusion had proved very weak to deal with their day-to-day sufferings. It is simply immoral to let this around 15 million population of Europe continually suffer and face human rights violations.
*Information provided by Rajan Zed
I hope that the Cxech Republic does step up to the plate. In this short article here written by ROMEA, ČTK, and translated by Gwendolyn Albert, Gabriela Hrabaňová, director of the Czech Government Office for Roma Community Affairs, told ČTK that the vision is to focus on Romani women and children. However, when asked for details she said "We do not yet have specific plans." However, she expects that by May the project will become more focused.
If you would like to read more about the Decade of Roma Inclusion, you can check out their website: http://www.romadecade.org/ . It's a great website with a lot of information!
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