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Roma/Gypsy News
GypsyTown.com gathers published news from around the world. We do not publish slanderous information or common gossip. All of the news items we gather are from reputable newspaper, television and Internet sources. We are not the originators of many of these items and have supplied links to the original source whenever they are available to us. Please click on the supplied links and visit the originating sites for more information.
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Traveller facilities in spotlight in Wiltshire Plans to improve services and facilities for Gypsies and travellers in Wiltshire are to be discussed a
1/1/1998
Wiltshire Council said it had identified a need to engage with the travelling community to find what its needs and expectations were. It says better communications, support, involvement and information are needed in order to provide a better service. The council also aims to identify possible sites across the county. A Wiltshire Council spokesman said considerable awareness-raising and education is required within the settled community to break down prejudices over Gypsy and travellers. "The overall [strategy] aim is that by 2015, service provision and engagement with the travelling communities will be strengthened, co-ordinated and in line with the council's aims to create strong and resilient communities.". Councillors are to discuss the plans at the cabinet meeting on Monday.
Attack in Bedřiška was even more malicious than Vítkov, the bottle held ether
1/1/1998
The results of a police investigation have confirmed that the Molotov cocktail used during the attack on a Romani family’s home in the Bedřiška settlement of Ostrava contained diethylether, a highly flammable solvent used in laboratories. Soňa Štětínská, spokesperson for the Moravian-Silesian Police, informed the Czech Press Agency of the findings today. A still-unidentified assailant threw the Molotov cocktail into the Romani family’s home on 14 March. The bottle did not break and its contents did not catch fire. Police say the burning wick was put out by the girl who was sleeping in the room where the bottle landed. "We had already ruled out gasoline or a gasoline mixture in the bottle. Specialists who analyzed the contents of the bottle have confirmed it contained diethylether," Štětínská said.
Kocáb leaves government, new statute approved for “Roma” council
5/7/2010
Czech Human Rights and Minorities Minister Michael Kocáb has heeded the Green Party’s call and resigned. Kocáb tendered his resignation to Czech PM Jan Fischer at a press conference after the cabinet meeting today. Czech President Václav Klaus has accepted Kocáb’s resignation. Fischer expressed appreciation for Kocáb’s work and will meet with the ODS and ČSSD parties this week to discuss the way forward. One option is that Fischer will take up Kocáb’s agenda himself. After meeting with Fischer over the weekend, Klaus indicated he is inclined to favor such a solution. "[The President] is prepared to entrust PM Fischer, who was nominated to the caretaker cabinet by the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), with the function of human rights minister until the elections, which are less than two months away. This will mean that the number of ministers nominated by ODS and ČSSD in the cabinet will be equal," Radim Ochvat, spokesperson for the Czech President, told the Czech Press Agency.
Hungarian Guard prevents Roma from attending Jobbik party meetings
3/24/2010
The TASR Agency reports that uniformed members of the banned Hungarian Guard have prevented about 10 local Roma from attending a meeting of the neo-fascist Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) in the northern town of Hajdúhadháze. The MTI Agency reports that Zsolt Bátor Lakatos, head of a local Roma organization, said the Roma wanted to inform themselves as to Jobbik’s ideas for addressing municipalities where a high proportion of the residents are Roma. Hungarian MEP Csanád Szegedi (Jobbik) was scheduled to speak.
Czech Education Ministry wants Romanes language to be taught in schools
3/18/2010
Today’s Lidové noviny (LN) reports that the Czech Education Ministry wants Romanes to be taught at elementary and middle schools as an elective language. Teachers should also include instruction on Roma culture, history and language in the general curriculum. "We support the education of ethnic minorities. We want there to be awareness of Roma culture and language at schools. Romanes is an integral part of these children’s lives. It is proper for it to be offered in the schools they attend,” Klára Laurenčíková, head manager of the special education section at the ministry, told LN.
ERTF says: Segregation is wrong yet remains widespread
3/17/2010
The European Roma and Travellers Forum welcomes the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 16th March 2010 which finds that Croatia violated the European Convention on Human Rights by placing Roma children in segregated classes in primary school. The applicants are 15 Croatian nationals of Roma origin who were born between 1988 and 1994 and live in Orehovica, Podturen and Trnovec in northern Croatia. The case concerned the applicants’ complaint that they had been segregated at primary school because they were Roma. The applicants attended primary school in the villages of Macinec and Podutren at different times between the years 1996 and 2000. They participated in both Roma-only and mixed classes before leaving school at the age of 15. The applicants complained that they had been denied their right to education and discriminated against in this respect
Report: Czechs Still Segregating Gypsy Kids
1/14/2010
PRAGUE (AP) -- The Czech Republic is defying a European court ruling by continuing to place thousands of healthy Gypsy children in schools for the mentally disabled, Amnesty International said Wednesday.
Gypsies, or Roma, make up 80 percent of the students in schools for those with mild mental disabilities, the rights group said in a report Wednesday.
Searching for the 4th Nail Screening Tonight!
1/1/1998
Experience an independent feature film by George Eli & Jasmine Dellal. All ages welcome for free and to support local filmmakers. The film is an emotional journey that examines the traditions of the gypsies. Ifyou can make it out otnight to support do so!
Visa clampdown near for Hungarian visitors, mainly from its Roma community.
1/10/2010
OTTAWA–Ot tawa is seriously considering imposing visa requirements on visitors from Hungary to cut off a growing flood of refugee applicants, mainly from its Roma community, The Canadian Press has learned. It would be the third such move in less than a year, after Canada imposed visas on visitors from Mexico and the Czech Republic last summer. Such a decision could provoke retaliation not just from Hungary, but also the much larger and more powerful European Union, which already has protested the clampdown on Czech travellers.
Roma repairing neglected building
12/12/2009
Roma from Kobylé nad Vidnavkou are repairing a run-down residential building with the assistance of the Society of Roma in Moravia (Společenství Romů na Moravě) and the town council. For the past 35 years, the building has had no running water. Women living there have had to bring water from the local stream, or more recently from a reopened well which residents had previously used as garbage dump. Residents also previously sold off the plumbing for scrap, the daily Šumperský a jesenický deník reports. Men from the families living in the building are now spending their free time laying bricks, mortar, and plumbing. “This will be a big change for us. It’s mainly for the children. There will be running water and a toilet,” the paper quotes resident Anna Oračková as saying. Women living there have been carrying several buckets of water to their apartments every day and have continually risked various disease epidemics as a result. The reconstruction is the result of a great deal of work by the town council and field social workers from the Society of Roma in Moravia. A year ago, the Goga family, which owns the building, was struck by tragedy when they lost a family member in a traffic accident. When Mayor of Kobylé nad Vidnavkou Milena Kamená (independent) became involved in handling their compensation settlement, she suggested they bring their living situation from a medieval one to a modern one. “I told them this was their first and last chance to improve the property, and I asked if they would be willing to spend some of the money on repairing the building. It is sad that the death of the father of the family is the source of this windfall for them, but they have been given an opportunity to repair it,” the mayor told the paper.
