Gwendolyn Albert

USA: Four racists arrested over last year's violence in Charlottesville

3.10.2018 11:11 Reuters reports that yesterday the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States arrested four radical adherents of white supremacy who participated in last year's violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Those arrested are members of an antisemitic, racist movement and were among the most violent participants in last year's clash with those opposed to racism that directly resulted in the death of one person and dozens of injuries.  full story

European Roma Rights Centre: Czech President's remarks were antigypsyist hate speech

2.10.2018 8:31 Yesterday the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) sent an open letter addressed to Czech President Zeman and objecting to recent comments he made about Romani people when he was speaking last week in the Olomouc Region - Zeman alleged that exactly the Romani residents of the particular community he was visiting constitute their population of unemployed people, which the ERRC believes was a racist characterization. Zeman went on to allege that during the communist regime, Romani people "had to work" and were imprisoned if they refused to do so.  full story

German Police find right-wing extremists' list of 25 000 "enemies"

8.8.2018 6:01 Deutsche-Presse Agentur (DPA) reported last week that the German Police found a list with the names of 25 000 persons considered political enemies by right-wing extremists during an anti-terrorist raid in the northeast of the country last year. The news was revealed in a response given by the German Justice Ministry to a query posed by an MP in the Federal Assembly.  full story

OSCE Mission to Serbia responds to Romani NGOs about alleged radicalization, references British Council report

21.7.2018 10:48 On 20 July 2018 the OSCE Mission to Serbia responded to the letter sent by the international Roma Nation Movement regarding allegations of radicalization among Romani community members in Serbia. The letter expressed concern that a recent consultancy post had been advertised in such a way as to stigmatize the Roma.

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Italy: Romani infant hospitalized after being shot with pellet gun

21.7.2018 8:55 On 19 July Italian media reported that a pellet fired by an air gun struck a Romani baby as she was being held in her mothers arms. The child is now in intensive care in a hospital in Rome.  full story

Romani NGOs around Europe ask why the OSCE is researching alleged radicalization of their communities in Serbia

18.7.2018 15:16 Representatives of Romani organizations from around Europe have contacted the head of the OSCE's mission to Serbia to express their alarm over the 10 July 2018 announcement of a search for a “Researcher on Radicalization among the Roma Community in Serbia”. The Romani representatives say they are deeply concerned about the growing insecurity of Roma in Europe as a result of extremist antigypsyism in a number of OSCE participating States.


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Belgium: Roma Travellers evicted from caravan site in Anderlecht neighborhood of Brussels

5.7.2018 15:38 The Brussels Times reported on 29 June that Romani families, including families with minor children, were eventually forced by Anderlecht municipality to move away from a privately-owned caravan site. News server Romea.cz reported on the impending eviction on 26 June.
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Belgium: Roma Travellers to be evicted in EU capital, fire reported at their halting site

26.6.2018 13:47 The European Roma Grassroots Organizations network reports that Roma Travellers living in the Anderlecht neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium are scheduled to be evicted on 28 June and that part of their camp has been set on fire. All are reportedly Belgian Roma whose ancestors have lived in the country for centuries.  full story

Albania: Romani people left without citizenship anywhere

20.6.2018 8:18 A new report by the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI), and the Tirana Legal Aid Society (TLAS) finds that discrimination is subjecting Romani people to the danger of statelessness in Albania. The report was launched on 8 June in the Albanian capital at an event attended by Government ministers, Romani people who are stateless, and UN officials.  full story

Jonathan Lee: Antigypsyism is a cancer at the heart of Europe

15.6.2018 14:57 Jonathan Lee, who is of Traveller origin, works for the European Roma Rights Centre as their Communications Coordinator. In this interview, Nigel Smith interviews him for the "Deep Dive" program on YouTube's network67society channel.
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Jarmila Balážová now a member of the Barvalipe Academy of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture

15.6.2018 12:26 On 8 June, to mark the first anniversary of the establishment of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), the Berlin-based organization has announced the first seven Barvalipe Academy members nominated by ERIAC's “Pakiv” Board. These outstanding Romani personalities of the contemporary arts and culture scene are expected to guide ERIAC in defining its strategy and future activities.  full story

Disgraced former Trump adviser to debate 2016 election with Democratic Party supporter in the Czech capital

15.5.2018 10:38 Steve Bannon, the former strategic adviser to US President Donald Trump, will visit the Czech Republic next week. He will participate in a debate about the 2016 US presidential elections that will be held by the Prague Centre for Transatlantic Relations of the CEVRO Institute.  full story

Emiliya Dancheva: Can we trust the European Parliament if its members are deaf and blind to anti-Gypsyism in Bulgaria?

9.5.2018 6:55 One year ago, the leader of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, Mr Boyko Borissov, became Prime Minister of Bulgaria for the third time since 2009, forming an unprecedented ruling coalition with nationalistic and xenophobic parties (VMRO, ATAKA and NFSB).  full story

U.S. diplomats discuss situation of Romani people in Europe during Czech visit

8.5.2018 9:19 Representatives of nine U.S. embassies from the Central and East European region, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Helsinki Commission met in Prague and Brno in April to discuss the current situation of Roma in the region. The representatives shared best practices, policies and projects that help to successfully integrate Roma people into majority societies and to empower them.  full story

OPEN CALL for 5th CoE Dialogue with Roma and Traveller Civil Society next month - DEADLINE 27 MAY to apply

6.5.2018 9:30 The Roma and Travellers Team at the Council of Europe (CoE)has announced there is an open call for participation in the Council of Europe's 5th Dialogue with civil society from Roma and Traveller communities around Europe, which will be held this year from 20-21 June in Strasbourg, France. This meeting will focus on the issue of political participation by Roma and Travellers.   full story

videoMEP Soraya Post for ROMEA TV: Antigypsyism exists everywhere in Europe

29.4.2018 8:51 According to Romani MEP Soraya Post, antigypsyism and discrimination against Romani people are a problem in every European country. In Sweden, where she comes from, the general living conditions for Romani people are, in her opinion, much better than in Bulgaria, Hungary or Romania.

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Jana Balážová: Not acceptable for teachers to see Romani children as a burden

28.4.2018 7:58 Members of the human rights community shined a spotlight on the situations faced by Romani children and their parents in Central Europe at a screening of the documentary “Europe: Which Children Matter?” The film was shown at Cinema Galeries in Brussels to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.  full story

Norway confirms it will give EUR 1 million to create memorial to Romani genocide at Lety

17.4.2018 10:58 Norwegian Ambasador Siri Ellen Sletner confirmed yesterday at Lety u Písku that Norway wants to contribute one million euro to building a memorial to the Holocaust and its Romani victims at the site of a former concentration camp which until recently was being used for a pig farm. The Museum of Romani Culture, which is managing the remembrance site, has now opened an information center at the Lety municipality about the genocide of Romani people in Bohemia.

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Margareta Matache and Cornel West on the common struggle of African Americans and Roma against white normativity

26.2.2018 7:57 Margareta Matache, a Roma rights activist and scholar who directs the Roma Program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, and Cornel West, an American author and civil rights activist who is currently Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard, have co-authored an analysis for The Guardian newspaper in the UK on the commonalities between the struggles of African Americans and Romani people for equality. The piece notes that the history of African Americans and Romani people bear similarities with respect to the way "white policymakers" have employed similar tactics against members of both groups in order to maintain "white normativity, social power, and privilege".  full story

Czech Social Democratic head recommends removal of lower house vice-chair because of his deceptive remarks about Romani genocide site

12.2.2018 7:43 The acting head of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), former Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec, has said he will support removing the chair of the "Freedom and Direct Democracy" movement (SPD), Czech MP Tomio Okamura, from his position as vice-chair of the Chamber of Deputies when the legislature reconvenes. The Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) are proposing the move because of Okamura's recent controversial remarks about the Protectorate-era concentration camp at Lety u Písku.  full story