Category Archives: Posts in English

Fundstücke, Posts in English, Tschechien

Šluknov demonstration a fiasco – Romani residents boo the organizer

Convicted con artist Lukáš Kohout did his best to spark anti-Romani sentiment in Šluknov today after similar efforts in the towns of Rumburk and Varnsdorf. He did not succeed. Approximately 100 people turned out on the town square this afternoon, 60 of them Romani residents.

„This is a complete debacle for Kohout. People whistled him down here,“ a correspondent for news server Romea.cz reported directly from the scene. When Kohout tried to make a speech, Romani bystanders began loudly whistling, drowning out his usual rhetoric. „Get out of here, you´re a criminal yourself! How can you demonstrate against crime?“ one Romani man called out to him.

The march that was originally planned did not take place due to pure lack of interest and the entire event was over almost as soon as it began. Police were on hand for security reasons during Kohout´s provocation, but there were no brawls or riots.

There was no anti-Roma demonstration in Varnsdorf this weekend. The streets of the town, including Edvard Beneš Square, were reserved by the organizers of a musical and theatrical Festival for Joy (Festival pro radost). Our correspondent says both ethnic Czechs and Romani people mingled on the square there.

Quelle: Romea.cz
Stand: 16.10.2011

Antiziganismus von Rechts, Bulgarien, Fundstücke, Posts in English

Bulgarian in court on charges of inciting racial hatred on Facebook

A 23-year-old Bulgarian alleged to have set up a Facebook page called „Slaughter of the Gypsies“ after the Katounitsa incident was due in court in the Black Sea city of Varna on October 13 2011 on charges of inciting racial hatred.

The Katounitsa incident in September happened after a 20-year-old was run over and killed by a motorist reportedly linked to controversial Roma businessman Kiril „Tsar Kiro“ Rashkov. The incident was followed by an arson attack on Rashkov’s property and a series of anti-Roma marches in several Bulgarian cities.

Prosecutors allege that Slav Zhechev set up a Facebook page, illustrated with photographs of knives and mistreatment of Roma people, which within a few hours gathered 76 people for a planned September 28 involving the gathering of weapons.

Zhechev was due to appear in Varna District Court to answer the charges.

A criminal trial involving the alleged use of social networks to incite racial and ethnic hatred is a first for Bulgaria.

The aftermath of the Katounitsa incident caused widespread concern among international human rights groups about ethnic tension in Bulgaria. The Government underlined that it saw the initial incident as a criminal case and pledged to come down hard on those who sought to exploit to sow ethnic divisions.

The incident has been taken up as an issue by far-right political forces competing in Bulgaria’s October presidential and municipal elections.

According to Bulgaria’s 2011 census, there are more than 325 000 Roma people in the country, just less than five per cent of the total population of 7.3 million.

Quelle: The Sofia Echo
Stand: 13.10.2011

Antiziganistische Klischees, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Schweden

Petrol station slammed for Roma discrimination

The owner of a Swedish petrol station has been order to compensate a Roma woman after an employee told her to pay for petrol in advance, saying they had had „problems with the Roma in the past“.

”I am very happy over the verdict. Above all I am grateful that someone was on my side for the first time. As far as I am concerned it has never been about getting compensation but getting satisfaction,” the woman said in a statement.

The incident occurred in October 2009 when the woman arrived at the station in Örebro in eastern Sweden to fill up her car.

When she got out of her vehicle an employee of the station came running out telling her that she had to pay in advance as the station had previously ”had problems with the Roma”.

The case was initially brought up in Örebro district court, which ruled in favour of the petrol station.

However, the verdict was overturned by an appeals court, which ruled on Wednesday that by deviating from the normal procedure of payment after filling up the car with petrol, the station was guilty of discriminating the woman.

According to the Örebro Centre for Equal Rights (Örebro Rättighetscenter), discrimination is still widespread in places where goods and services are being traded, and the centre has received several reports of similar discrimination over the past few years.

”Hopefully this verdict might influence how petrol stations across the country are treating their customers. Any businessman who lets their prejudices govern their actions won’t benefit in the long run. Instead they are risking losing both money and reputation,” said the woman’s lawyer Vida Paridad in a statement.

The court ruled that the petrol station pay the woman damages of 5,000 kronor ($730).

It is estimated that there are between 40,000 and 120,000 members of the Roma minority in Sweden today.

Quelle: The Local
Stand: 06.10.2011

Analyse und Kritik des Antiziganismus, Antiziganismus im Fußball, Antiziganismus von Rechts, Antiziganistische Übergriffe, Bulgarien, Fundstücke, Posts in English

Bulgarian Volunteers Clean Facebook from Xenophobic Groups

The so-called volunteer Facebook watchdogs have become very active recently in monitoring the social network in Bulgaria for groups spreading ethnic hatred, xenophobia and racism.

Nearly 100 new groups appeared after the September 23 murder of Bulgarian youngster, Angel Petrov, 19, who was deliberately run over by a minivan, which, according to witnesses, was driven by an associate of notorious Roma boss Kiril Rashkov AKA Tsar Kiro, led to massive protests of the ethnic Bulgarians in the village of Katunitsa, where Rashkov’s mansions are located. They culminated Saturday night into the burning of Rashkov’s properties by football club fans from Plovdiv, which is near to Katunitsa, and by football club fans from the capital Sofia and the southern city of Stara Zagora.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night, protests followed in many major Bulgarian cities, including the capital Sofia. Nearly 350 people in total have been arrested by the police after the three nights of rallies that involved what has been perceived as ethnic hatred. Continue reading Bulgarian Volunteers Clean Facebook from Xenophobic Groups →

Antiziganismus von Rechts, Antiziganistische Übergriffe, Bulgarien, Fundstücke, Posts in English

Anti-Roma Demonstrations Spread Across Bulgaria

SOFIA — Anti-Gypsy demonstrations that began during the weekend continued to spread across Bulgaria on Tuesday evening in response to the killing of a man by a minibus whose driver is linked to a man accused of being a Roma crime boss.

Prime Minister Boyko M. Borisov and his main political rival, President Georgi S. Parvanov, made a show of bipartisan unity Monday in visiting Katunitsa, the village where the killing happened on Friday. Protesters had burned houses and cars belonging to the family of the supposed crime boss, Kiril Rashkov, while demanding that the authorities “deport” the family from the village, which has a population of 2,300.

“Ethnic peace is the only way to guarantee Bulgaria’s prosperity,” Mr. Borisov told a meeting of government ministers on Tuesday. “Every other action guarantees the failure of the country and falling into deep isolation.”

The news media referred to the protests as “pogroms.” The protesters shouted racist slogans like “Gypsies into soap” and “Turks under the knife.” Continue reading Anti-Roma Demonstrations Spread Across Bulgaria →

Antiziganismus von Rechts, Antiziganistische Übergriffe, Bulgarien, Fundstücke, Posts in English

Hundreds Rise Against ‚Roma Crime‘ in Bulgaria

Several hundred people have joined the parade against what they believe is widespread Roma crime in Bulgaria on Saturday.

The gathering of the protesters took place in front of the National Palace of Culture in downtown Sofia and continued through the Vitosha boulevard, Darik radio has informed.

It was the far-right Bulgarian National Union that organized the rally. According to the Bulgarian National radio, some 1500 people attended it.

The „contra-parade'“s organizers had called for a peaceful protest, one that would exclude drunk citizens and racist slogans. No accidents have been reported during the rally.

Tensions in Bulgaria were sparked by the September 23 murder of Bulgarian youngster, Angel Petrov, 19, who was deliberately run over by a minivan, driven, according to witnesses, by one of the relatives of notorious Roam boss from Katunitsa, Kiril Rashkov AKA Tsar Kiro. The murder led to massive protests of the ethnic Bulgarians in the village, where Tsar Kiro’s mansions are located. They culminated Saturday night into the burning of Rashkov’s properties by football hooligans from Plovdiv, which is near to Katunitsa, and by football club fans from the capital Sofia and the southern city of Stara Zagora.

From Monday to Thursday night, protests followed in many major Bulgarian cities, including the capital Sofia. Nearly 350 people in total were arrested by the police after the two nights of rallies that involved what has been perceived as ethnic hatred.

Bulgarian authorities have frozen Rashkov’s assets and property while he is investigated on tax evasion charges, the revenue agency has confirmed. Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Kalin Georgiev told the morning broadcast of Nova TV channel Wednesday that Rashkov, AKA Tsar Kiro, has been arrested. On Friday the Regional Court in the town of Asenovgrad decided to keep Rashkov behind bars.

Quelle: Novonite
Stand: 01.10.2011

Analyse und Kritik des Antiziganismus, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Sonst in Europa

Roma Pride: Marches take place in European cities

Roma Pride marches took place yesterday in several European countries. Several hundred persons convened in the afternoon in Paris for a celebratory assembly to demonstrate the dignity of the Romani people as well as the migratory nations of Europe. A similar event in the center of the Romanian capital of Bucharest was attended by about 300 people.

Agence-France Presse reports that the historic Roma Pride demonstrations also took place in Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Turkey. In Sofia, Romani boys and girls distributed flowers to passers-by in order to reduce the current tensions between ethnic Bulgarians and Romani people there.

Roma Pride events in Paris and other European metropolises demonstrated pride in the Romani nation primarily through Romani music performances. The events also condemned „the racism and discrimination suffered by individuals considered Romani“. The co-organizers of the pro-Roma demonstration in Paris, such as the SOS Racisme organization and the French Union of Romani Associations (Ufat), took advantage of the opportunity to express their demands that freedom of movement be respected for all Europeans and that caravans be legally recognized as housing units. Continue reading Roma Pride: Marches take place in European cities →

Antiziganistische Übergriffe, Fundstücke, Posts in English, Tschechien

Ethnic Czechs attack Roma housing in Rumburk

Police have reportedly calmed the situation in the streets of Rumburk today, where a mob of roughly 500 people marched through the town all evening doing their best to provoke Romani residents. The mob formed after an authorized demonstration came to an end there. Before police managed to disperse the most active part of the mob, ethnic Czechs had broken down a fence in front of a building occupied by Roma and thrown tree branches and stones at it.

Police officers have arrested one demonstrator and detained others over various misdemeanors; their intervention officially ended just after 20:30 CET. The Czech Press Agency reports that roughly 1 500 people attended the preceding demonstration, ostensibly held against crime, which quickly deteriorated into a racist demonstration against Romani people. In nearby Varnsdorf about 200 people also assembled, but that demonstration took place in relative calm.

The rally in Rumburk started at 17:00 CET and was attended by a total of about 1 500 people. „There might have been that many people, but for the time being we can only confirm that hundreds of people were there,“ police spokesperson Vojtěch Haňka told the Czech Press Agency. The rally lasted only 17 minutes, during which politicians from the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), which had organized it, tried to speak but were whistled down by the crowd. Then a representative of the „Civic Resistance“ (Občanský odpor) association took the podium. The muscular, shaven-headed man, who gave his name as „Josef Mašín“, called on the full square to teach the „inadaptables“ a lesson, receiving significant applause for his emotional speech. Continue reading Ethnic Czechs attack Roma housing in Rumburk →

Abschiebung und Asyl, Beiträge auf Deutsch, Deutschland, Fundstücke, Kosovo, Posts in English, Staatlicher Antiziganismus

Aktuelle Nachrichten zu Abschiebungen in den Kosovo

26. August 2011

Neue UNICEF-Studie dokumentiert die verzweifelte Lage abgeschobener Roma-Kinder im Kosovo
Roma-Kindern, die aus Deutschland und anderen europäischen Ländern in den Kosovo abgeschoben wurden, bleiben dort weiterhin elementare Rechte vorenthalten. Dies ist Ergebnis einer neuen UNICEF-Studie, bei der Forscher rund 200 im vergangenen Jahr zurückgeführte Familien der Roma, Ashkali und Kosovo-Ägypter sowie Mitarbeiter kosovarischer Behörden ausführlich befragt haben. Danach gehen drei von vier der betroffenen schulpflichtigen Kinder nicht zur Schule. Die meisten von ihnen sind in Deutschland geboren und aufgewachsen. Sie leben jetzt mit ihren Familien in extremer Armut am Rande der Gesellschaft.

http://www.roma-kosovoinfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=276&Itemid=1

5. August 2011

Baden-Württemberg: Roma-Abschiebungen nach Kosovo gestoppt
Baden-Württemberg hat die Abschiebung von Roma in das Kosovo und nach Serbien vorerst gestoppt. „Die Lage dort ist besonders für Roma unsicher“, sagte der Sprecher von Innenminister Lothar Gall (SPD). Eine Delegation des Petitionsausschusses will sich nun bei einer Reise im Herbst über die Lage der Minderheiten informieren. Erst danach solle über den Verbleib der Roma-Flüchtlinge entschieden werden.

Continue reading Aktuelle Nachrichten zu Abschiebungen in den Kosovo →

Fundstücke, Posts in English, Staatlicher Antiziganismus, Tschechien

Czech state restricts foreign adoptions, „exports“ Romani infants

While in the „western“ world the adoption of orphans from developing countries – including unwanted children from the Czech Republic – is a completely ordinary matter, Czech authorities persist in dissuading Czech families from adopting children from abroad. Czech tactics in the area of international adoption are peculiar: Unwanted children, primarily those of Romani origin, may be placed with families abroad, but the adoption into the Czech Republic of abandoned foreign children is not supported. News server Aktuálně.cz reported on the policy in an article released Monday (available in full at http://aktualne.centrum.cz/domaci/spolecnost/clanek.phtml?id=710618).

Czech couples‘ interest in children from what are sometimes very exotic countries is growing, and those interested are finding their own ways to adopt. Last year, mainly thanks to such „wild“ adoptions, 27 children were brought into the country, at least eight of whom were from Congo. During the first half of 2011, the rate of such adoptions is estimated to have grown by one-third, with 18 so far this year.

„It cannot be ruled out that there really is a rising trend in the number of ’non-Hague‘ adoptions from abroad,“ says Zdeněk Kapitán, director of the Office for the International Legal Protection of Children (Úřad pro mezinárodněprávní ochranu dětí – ÚMPOD), which handles cross-border adoptions. „Nevertheless, we can’t automatically presume the number of adoptions will be the same in the second half of the year.“ Kapitán has promised to provide data on where these children are coming from and how they are making it into Central Europe. Continue reading Czech state restricts foreign adoptions, „exports“ Romani infants →