Romanian Rockers Gig House Of Music

26 November 2008
By Marina Darmaros / Special to The Moscow Times

Until 1996, the 12 members of Romanian Gypsy band Fanfare Ciocarlia were peasant farmers and factory workers who performed at weddings and baptisms just to earn a living. None of them even had passports.

Their new life of world tours and music awards has not, however, brought about any seismic shifts in their lifestyles.

"There have been no big changes," said Costica "Cimai" Trifan, trumpet player for Fanfare, which will showcase its 2007 album "Queens and Kings" at the International House of Music Sunday night. "Of course, we live better economics-wise, but the traditional life is still the same."

This is surely no accident -- the Balkan-brass beats that grew out of this traditional lifestyle are what gained them their stardom in the first place.

On a fateful day 12 years ago, a German sound engineer, Henry Ernst, discovered the north Romanian village of Zece Prajini, hometown of the future members of Fanfare. The area had long been known as the country's best place to find good musicians, and almost every man there plays an instrument. Ernst, now the band's manager and co-founder of their record label Asphalt Tango, quickly convinced them to form a touring band.

"We definitely have more fun playing at concerts, as there, we are the stars, and our music is really appreciated," Cimai said. "At weddings, we play what the people want us to play. Sometimes it's a lot of fun, especially when performing at Gypsy weddings, and sometimes it's terrible."

Fanfare's performance vibe is deeply marked by the experience playing Romanian and Gypsy weddings, which can last anywhere from all day and night to an entire week.

Besides high velocity and marathon energy, Gypsy music is most marked by extreme diversity of influence. Its deepest roots lie in Turkish military bands from a century ago, but since then the genre has crossed virtually every national border in southern Europe, picking up additional shades of international flavor.

"[Gypsy music] is music made by Romani people from across Europe -- so the Gypsy jazz of Django [Reinhardt] in France, flamenco of Spain, Balkan brass of the Balkans, et cetera," noted Garth Cartwright, author of "Princes Amongst Men," a book on Gypsy music and the post-communist Balkan states. "The only connection these disparate musicians have is a willingness to break the rules of music and entertain. And [they all] play brilliantly."

Fanfare has expanded even outside the boundaries of the European continent, borrowing from Brazilian batucada, Cuban rumba, some Arab music and even the James Bond theme, a long-distance range they condense down in defining Gypsies as "the original internationalists."

The band has put out five albums, the last of which sold about 130,000 copies. Their many notable moments include winning the Europe category at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in 2006, being featured in the acclaimed German-Turkish film "Gegen Die Wand" ("Head On") and creating an astonishing version of "Born to be Wild" for Sascha Baron Cohen's satirical movie "Borat."

Their real reputation, though, comes from their performances on stage.

"Fanfare are awesome live," Cartwright said. "They play with such power and groove -- organic East European dance music."

Fanfare Ciocarlia will headline the "Gypsy Kings and Queens" performance Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the International House of Music, 58 Kosmodamianskaya Naberezhnaya. M. Paveletskaya. 730-1011. www.mmdm.ru.

Pilots fly doomed dogs to better life

By Sharon L. Peters, Special for USA TODAY

Puppy love is reaching new heights.

Pilots are donating their time, planes and fuel to transport dozens of dogs a month from overcrowded shelters where they face almost certain death to rescue groups and shelters several states away that are committed to finding them homes.

The mission-of-mercy relocations are flown by general aviation pilots who have signed on with the recently formed Pilots N Paws, a Web-based message board where pilots can access information about animals in need.

Once the electronic connection is made, dogs plucked by rescuers from death row — mostly in the South where sterilization rates are low and pet overpopulation is rampant — are loaded onto small planes and flown one, two or six at a time to rescue groups and shelters that have available space.

"These are wonderful dogs that simply had the bad luck of winding up in a place where there are too many pets in shelters," says Pilots N Paws co-founder Jon Wehrenberg of Knoxville, Tenn. The retired manufacturing executive and weekend pilot has flown scores of dogs from high-kill shelters this year. Earlier this month, his mission involved six small mixed-breed dogs from Knoxville's Young-Williams Animal Center.

The happy half-dozen enjoyed a smooth-sailing, 90-minute flight to Greensboro, N.C., where they were met by radio station executive Jennifer Hart, head of Animal Rescue & Foster Program, who had arranged foster care. One dog has been adopted; the others are receiving additional attention, socialization and training and should be ready for new homes soon after Thanksgiving.

Beginning of the journey

"Pilots N Paws has given about 20 of our animals a second chance," says Tim Adams, executive director of the Young-Williams shelter, which euthanizes 70% of the animals that land there. "We take in 17,000 animals a year, and Knoxville simply isn't big enough… to get new homes for them here. Twenty animals saved may not sound like much, but every one of them matters."

Pilots N Paws started operating in February soon after Wehrenberg offered to fly a Doberman in Florida to his pal Debi Boies of Landrum, S.C., who is a retired nurse, horse breeder and long-time rescuer. He began asking questions about the rescue world and learned about the passionate underground railroad of animal lovers who orchestrate days-long road journeys to save some of the 4 million to 6 million animals destined for euthanasia in U.S. shelters annually.

(MORE)

Britain set for 'hundreds' of new gypsy sites

by JO STEELE - Friday, November 21, 2008

Hundreds of new gipsy camps could be built throughout Britain, it was claimed last night.

Work on some of the proposed 7,500 extra pitches - some which can hold up to three families - could go ahead within weeks, it was reported.

The government is set to announce £97million in grants for councils to provide new campsites and upgraded existing ones for travellers.

In return, the residents would have to pay rent and council tax.

Homeowners fear a 'land grab' if they refuse to sell. However, the department of communities and local government said many of the bids from local authorities would 'improve existing sites rather than create new ones'.

A spokesman added: 'It's important we have enough authorised sites for travellers to stop the vicious cycle of evictions. Councils have a range of powers to deal with any unauthorised developments and any antisocial behaviour resulting from the occupants, and we have provided clear guidance on their use.'

But shadow communities secretary Eric Pickles blamed 'political correctness' for the proposed explosion of new camps.

'Communities across the country are going to face the bombshell of having a traveller camp dumped on their backyard,' he said.

'Councils are powerless to resist these regional targets, and are being bullied into building.'

Roma children dying of lead poisoning

By Paul Polansky
Monday, 17 November 2008

This month, Germany's second largest NGO, the "Society for Threatened Peoples" will be sending its Head of Mission for Kosovo, Paul Polansky, to the House of Commons, London and to the EU Headquarters in Brussels in an attempt to save 130 Roma families placed by the United Nations in camps with life-threatening conditions.

Below is a shortened version of the speech delivered by Mr. Polansky in the Brussels hearing.

Two hours from here by plane, in Eastern Europe, are two death camps, mainly for children under the age of six years.

If these children don’t die by the age of six, they will have irreversible brain damage for the rest of their short lives.

These camps have been running for nine years. They were built on the tailing stands of the biggest lead mine in Europe, and next to a toxic slagheap of 100 million tons.

These camps (there used to be four) were built by the UN administration in Kosovo and their implementing partner Action by Churches Working Together. The hurriedly assembled barracks were also built with old lead painted boards.

To date 77 people have died in these camps, mainly due to complications from lead poisoning. More than 50 women have also aborted because of the lead poisoning. One woman and her baby died at childbirth. During her pregnancy she was being treated for lead poisoning. After her death it was discovered by a well-known laboratory in Chicago that two of her surviving nine children has the highest lead levels in medical history.

According to medical experts from Germany and the United States who have visited the camps, every child conceived in these camps will be born with irreversible brain damage.

In November 1999, UNHCR took charge of homeless Gypsies and moved them to four hurriedly built camps on toxic wasteland, the only places the UN said were available. I protested, calling attention to UN officials and especially to the head of UNHCR in Pristina, that these toxic wastelands could be detrimental to the health of these IDPs (internally displaced people). UNHCR assured me that they had signed contracts with the local municipalities that these IDPs would be in these camps for only 45 days. At the end of 45 days, they would either have their homes rebuilt and moved back or would be taken as refugees to another country. Unfortunately, after almost nine years and many deaths, due to lead poisoning, these IDPs are still living on toxic wasteland.

During the summer of 2000, the UN health officer for Mitrovica was asked by the UN administrator Dr. Bernard Kouchner to do a medical survey of Mitrovica because so many UN police and French soldiers were found to have high levels of lead in their blood. In November 2000, the UN health officer Dr. Andrej Andrejew’s report was presented to UNMIK stating that most people living in the city of Mitrovica were suffering from lead poisoning. The report stated that the worst effected were the Gypsies living in the UN camps and recommended that the camps be evacuated and the areas fenced off so that the public could not accidentally wander in.

Instead of closing the Gypsy camps, the UN built a 1.5-kilometer jogging track between two of the camps and the toxic slag heaps. The UN put up signs in four languages calling this jogging track the Alley of Health. The UN also built on land next to 100 million tons of toxic waste a soccer field and a basketball court for the Gypsy children. They were not told that exercise, opening the lungs, would make them more vulnerable to lead poisoning.

Despite repeated appeals to help the Gypsies, especially those living in the three camps in the area of north Mitrovica, the UN did just the opposite. All food aid was suspended in 2002 saying it was time for the Gypsies to find their own supplies. In the Zitkovac camp the running water was cut off for up to six months at a time because the camp administer, Churches Working Together, felt the Gypsies were using too much water. In the end, the Zitkovac Gypsies had to walk four kilometers twice a day to get their drinking water. In all three camps, most of the Gypsies had to go through the local garbage cans to find their food.

In the summer of 2004, WHO made a special investigation of lead poisoning in the three camps after Jenita Mehmeti, a four-year-old girl, died of lead poisoning. She was not the first. Up to that point 28 people (mainly children and young adults) had died in the three camps, but Jenita was the first one to be treated for lead poisoning before she died. New blood samples taken by WHO showed that many children, the most vulnerable to lead poisoning, had lead levels higher than the WHO analyzer could register.

The standard procedure for medical treatment of lead poisoning requires immediate evacuation from the source of poisoning and hospitalization if lead levels are above 40 μg/dL. Irreversible brain damage usually begins at 10 μg/dL especially in children under the age of six whose immune systems have yet to develop. Many of the lead levels of the Gypsy children in these three camps were over 65 μg/dL, the highest level the WHO machine could read. WHO staff suspected that some children (because of their symptoms) had lead levels in the 80s and 90s. As it turned out, two children had a lead level of 120 μg/dL, the highest in medical history.

In November 2004, WHO presented their health report on the Gypsy camps to UNMIK, recommending immediate evacuation. Although there were precedents for the UN evacuating thousands of Albanians and Serbians in Kosovo when they faced life-threatening events, these Gypsies were not evacuated. The only measure that the UN took was to being bi-monthly meetings with UN agencies and other NGOs to study the problem. Although many NGOs including the International Committee for the Red Cross petitioned the UN to immediately evacuate these “death camps” within 24 hours, no action was taken by the UN until 2006.

In January 2006 the UN in Kosovo closed one of the Gypsy camps and moved 35 families to a new location, about 50 meters from their old camp. The new camp was called Osterode. It was formerly a French army NATO base in north Mitrovica but had been abandoned after many soldiers were found to have lead poisoning. In fact, all French soldiers serving there were told by French military doctors not to father a child for nine months after leaving the camp because of the high lead levels in their blood.

Nevertheless, the UN in their wisdom spent more than 500,000 euros (donated by the German government) to refurbish this camp. Feeling that most of the lead poisoning came from the ground, the UN cemented over much of the area and then obtained a certificate from CDC, the Center for Disease Control, a US funded agency, that the camp was “lead safe.” Although all these camps were built on the tailing stands of the Trepca lead mines, most of the lead pollution comes through the air from the 100 million tons of toxic slag heaps in front of the camps.

In September 2006, at his first press conference as head of the UN in Kosovo, Herr Joachim Ruecker proudly announced that the UN was doing something to help these Gypsies dying of lead poisoning. In addition to moving them from their camps to Osterode, which he declared was not lead safe but “lead safer” the UN would begin to treat lead poisoning with a better diet. For the first time in four years food aid would now be given to the Gypsies so that they would no longer have to go through the local garbage cans. The US Office in Pristina donated $1,000,000 for this “better diet.”

It is well known to medical doctors that a proper diet can lower lead leads by about 20%, but only if the affected person is first removed from the source of poisoning. In the case of these infected Gypsies, reducing their lead levels by 20% would still leave them with life-threatening levels. For the first time in four years, the UN also provided a daily medical staff to look after the health of these Gypsies. Unfortunately, lead poisoning can only be treated once the patient is removed from the source of lead poisoning. In any event, the medical staff later resigned because they had not been paid for months.

By spring 2006 two of the Gypsy camps (Zitkovac and Kablare) had been closed with more than 100 families now living in Osterode. After three months, blood samples were taken and according to UNMIK the health of the Gypsies was improving, thanks to their new diet, and lead levels were falling. However, WHO and UNMIK refused to share copies of these blood results with the public or even with the Gypsy families themselves. Later I was given copies of the tests by a disgruntled WHO staffer who was tired of the cover up. The test results showed that the lead levels had not only risen, but that Osterode, the lead free camp now had higher lead levels than the nine-year-old Cesmin Lug camp.

In 2006 the UN announced that the only solution for the Gypsies living on or near the toxic wastelands was to rebuild their homes in their old neighborhood and move them back. Thus the UN enlisted several international donors to rebuild some of the Gypsy homes and several apartment blocks with the promise to move the lead-infected Gypsies back to their old neighborhood. Unfortunately, as soon as these homes and apartments were finished in the summer and fall of 2006, the UN did not give all the apartments to the Gypsies living on toxic wasteland, but mainly to Kosovo Gypsy refugees the UN wanted to bring back from Serbia and Montenegro to show that their return policy of refugees was working.

In April 2007 all food and medical aid at Osterode was stopped because the UN said it was running out of money. Once again the Gypsies were forced to find their only food by going through the local garbage cans. But worst of all was yet to come.

Because many children at Osterode and in the adjoining camp of Cesmin Lug were showing common signs of lead poisoning (lead on their teeth, daily vomiting, and memory loss), the camp leaders insisted on new blood test in April 2008. Random blood tests of 105 children showed staggering results. For many of the children living in the UN “lead safer” camp of Osterode, their lead levels had doubled since moving into the former French base.

Because the UN and UNHCHR refuse to help these citizens of Kosovo, I have appealed directly to the Minister of Health for the newly declared country of Kosovo. Dr. Alush Gashi is not only a medical doctor but also a personal friend of mine for several years. He once lived and worked in San Francisco. I not only appealed to him by email, but also visited him in his office, begging him to help his minority citizens. He understands the problem. He understands the situation. As a medical doctor he knows that these Gypsies need to be evacuated immediately. In a recently filmed interview with Dr. Gashi, he acknowledged that these Gypsies should be evacuated immediately, that they would be better off in prison than in the death camps. He said that USAID was funding a project with Mercy Corps to save these people.

It didn’t take me long to get a copy of the USAID/Mercy Corp project. It called for the resettlement of 50 of the 120 families living in the camps over the next 2.5 years. There was no immediate medical solution for anyone living in the camps. Evacuation was not mentioned. Later I found out that the author of the project has never even visited the camps. Yet USAID is handing over $2.4 million, for this cosmetic solution.

Since 2005 we have tried to force the UN to help these Gypsies. An American lawyer, Dianne Post, has tried to sue the UN on behalf of several hundred Gypsies living in these camps. Her lawsuit against the UN at the court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was turned down because the court declared that only a country, not an organization, could be sued. Although the UN was the sole administrator of Kosovo, the court decided that UN could not be sued.

The UN does have a policy of compensation for such problems. But UN lawyers for three years have refused to cooperate in seeking compensation for these Gypsies or resolving their health problems. The UN does not deny responsibility but refuses to comply with its own rules and standards.

In 2005 the Society for Threatened Peoples, the largest NGO in Germany after the Red Cross, brought to Kosovo the leading German expert on toxic poisoning, Dr. Klaus Runow. Although the UN tried to bar him from the camps, he was able to take about 60 hair samples from the Gypsy children. He sent the hair samples to a well-known laboratory in Chicago. The results showed that not only did many of the children have the highest lead levels in medical history, but that all had toxic poisoning from 36 other heavy metals as well. In trying to defend themselves, UN personnel have often claimed that the Gypsies got their lead poisoning from smelting car batteries. However, Dr. Runow pointed out that none of these other toxic metals are found in car batteries.

Dr. Rohko Kim, a Harvard trained medical doctor employed by WHO in Bonn, Germany, has been advising the UN on the lead poisoning in their camps in Kosovo. Although he is under orders not to give interviews or information about the Gypsy camps, I got him to speak to me. I asked him if the lead poisoning was due to the Gypsies smelting car batteries. He said no. He said most of the lead poisoning came from the toxic dust of the slagheap and from the fact that the camps were built on the tailing stands of the mines. He said that every child conceived in the camps would have irreversible brain damage. He said that we had already lost an entire generation of Gypsy children to lead poisoning. In a speech delivered in 2005 to WHO, UNMIK and the Kosovo Ministry of Health, Dr. Kim said: "The present situation in the Roma community who are now living in the camps is extremely serious. I have personally researched lead poisoning since 1991, but I have never seen in the literature a population with such a high level of lead in their blood. I believe that the lead poisoning in north Mitrovica is unique, which has never been known before in history. This is one of the biggest catastrophes connected with lead in the world and in history."

To date 77 Gypsies have died in the UN camps. Even more miscarriages have occurred. The UN has never investigated one death in the camps or ever made an autopsy. However, from the symptoms described by relatives and neighbors, doctors consulted believe that lead poisoning contributed to most of the deaths and miscarriages.

A few months ago another Gypsy baby died in Osterode. It was one month old and had been born with a large head, swollen belly and miniature legs. It woke at six in the morning, vomiting, and died twenty minutes later in hospital.

Lead poisoning is a hideous and painful death for children. Four-year-old Jenita Mehmeti was attending the camp kindergarten when her teacher noticed she was losing her memory and finding it hard to walk. Jenita was sent back to her barracks where for the next three months she vomited several times a day, before becoming paralyzed and dying.

There are precedents in Kosovo for saving lives, but not 500 Gypsy lives. Thus this appeal to you as MEPs. In Europe today we have a death camp for children. Please do something about it.

Award for work with travellers

Nov 15 2008 by Carl Butler, Daily Post

A WOMAN who champions the rights of gypsies and travellers in Gwynedd has won a top award.

Bethan Wyn Jones, Gwynedd Council’s Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Officer, is passionate about her job and her dedication has been recognised with an award for her Commitment to Diversity by the North Wales Criminal Justice Board.

Gwynedd has had a permanent gypsy site for nearly 30 years and gypsies and travellers have been part of the county’s social fabric for centuries.

The officer’s post was created two years ago.

Gypsy group set for anniversary bash

Gary Morgan
14 November 2008

MEMBERS of a Romani Gypsy cultural group in Redditch are getting ready to toast its first birthday in style next week.

Debbie German, who set up Romani Roots with husband Aldo and friend Sharon Williams, is putting the finishing touches to plans for a big anniversary bash in the town next Friday (November 21).

The celebration is being held at Redditch Youth House in Ipsley Street.

It is being split in two with a 'Traveller Talents' event kicking things off between 3pm and 6pm before a music festival takes over from 6.30pm until 10pm.

'Traveller Talents' is a chance for visitors of all backgrounds to view and buy some of the many arts and crafts synonymous with traveller groups across the area.

It is the latest event to be staged by the group which was set up to break down negative stereotypes and misnomers associated with the Romani Gypsy community.

Debbie said the event was the perfect way to celebrate a "fantastic" first year.

"The success of our first year as Romani Roots has been enormous," she told The Standard.
"We have gone from humble beginnings last November to a 200 strong membership, including some from other parts of the world."

Debbie also announced Redditch Borough Council had, for the first time ever, agreed to allow Romani and other travelling visitors to next week's event to stay on a specially allocated patch of land.

Stitch Meadow, on the Arrow Valley Countryside Park, will be opened up between Friday (November 21) and Sunday where their 'vardos' (wagons) will line the field.

Continuing their success, Romani Roots has also just moved in to new headquarters at The Business Centre in Edward Street thanks to a £5,000 Community First grant.

Debbie said the move gave them the added credibility and recognition they craved.

'Traveller Talents' is free but the music concert costs £1 for a single ticket, or £4.50 for family or group tickets (five people or more). Under 16s get in free.

Tickets can also be purchased on the door.

To buy tickets, or for more information about next Friday's event, call 01527 65308 or 07590 011479.

Gypsy kids herded into Czech schools for disabled

By KAREL JANICEK – 22 hours ago

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) — Roma children face severe discrimination in the Czech Republic and are still being segregated into schools for those with mental disabilities, a rights group said Thursday.

The charge comes a year after the European Court of Human Rights demanded that the country stop the practice.

Roma children "continue to be dramatically over-represented in practical primary schools that follow a special curriculum for mentally disabled pupils," the European Roma Rights Center said in a report.

Czech Education Minister Ondrej Liska said it could take three to five years to solve the problem but admitted that the children of Roma, or Gypsies, "are not less talented and do not have fewer abilities than the others."

Rights advocates said, however, that officials at all levels are reluctant to address the issue.

"What is needed here is a real action to bring Roma children into mainstream schools," said Robert Kushen of the Budapest-based Roma Rights Center. "I hope we can see that commitment, but I'm skeptical."

Roma are one of Europe's largest, poorest and fastest-growing minorities. An estimated 7 million to 9 million live in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and other countries.

They remain at risk of social exclusion, despite government programs to integrate them. The European Union has set aside millions in education, housing and job aid to help.

In November 2007, the European Court of Human Rights demanded the Czech Republic take steps to end the discrimination against Roma youths in schools after Roma students sued. The ruling acknowledged that "other European states had had similar difficulties."

Failure to comply with the ruling could lead to a new court case and possible fines or sanctions.

Somerset County Council praised for community work

The Gypsy and Traveller Team of Somerset County Council have been recognised at a national awards ceremony for the work that they do to bring communities together.

The team received the award for ‘Creating Integrated Communities’ at the UK Housing Awards ceremony in London on 6 November. Somerset County Council was the only local authority to be shortlisted in this category.

An example of how the Gypsy and Traveller Team has brought communities together is at the Middlezoy transit site, near Bridgwater. The seven acre site boasts a children’s play area which is available for use by the local residents as well as site occupants. An advisory group has also been created which represents the views of the local community and influences the management of the site.

The award was collected by Councillor Hazel Prior-Sankey, Somerset County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, Transport and Waste, and Iain Cairns, Gypsy and Traveller Service Team Leader.

Councillor Hazel Prior-Sankey said: “Somerset County Council is proactive in providing a range of quality services for all Somerset residents. The UK Housing award recognises the great work that the Gypsy and Traveller team continue to do in meeting the needs of the County’s settled and travelling communities.”

Barry James, Somerset County Council’s Environmental Management Group Manager, added: “The Middlezoy transit site is a great accomplishment, and shows how Somerset County Council works with local communities to provide services for a modern society.

“Through a mixture of provision and enforcement, the Gypsy and Traveller Team has demonstrated how to manage a traveller service for the benefit of the whole community. The success of this project is of great credit to all those involved.”

MEPs attack Facebook over anti-gypsy hate groups

LEIGH PHILLIPS

Today @ 09:13 CET

Socialist deputies in the European Parliament have condemned Facebook, the popular social networking service, for hosting anti-gypsy groups on its site.

Facebook groups attacking Roma people and bearing such names as "Let's burn them all", "Turn gypsies into fuel" and "Useful work for gypsies: testers of gas chambers" have been roundly condemned by the Party of European Socialists.

German MEP and Socialist group leader Martin Schulz said: "The existence of these groups is repulsive. I call upon Facebook to remove them immediately."

Mr Schultz highlighted seven such Facebook groups - all Italy-based - saying that "known fascist" organisations were behind them.

Nazi salutes appear as illustrations on some of the group webpages.

With Facebook, any user can set up a group that others can sign up to. Normally, groups bring together people with common interests or professions, or from the same town or who went to the same elementary school.

Political groups also make use of the Facebook feature. Both candidates for the US presidential race, Barack Obama and John McCain, had their own Facebook groups.

However, the company has repeatedly run into trouble for hosting groups that are considerably more unsavoury.

Last August, a cross-party assembly of members of parliament in the UK condemned the site for hosting four Facebook groups backing the fascist British National Party. The groups' webpages included images of Ku Klux Klan members posing with a sword under the caption "Local BNP meeting, blacks welcome" and called on people to "hang gollywogs" and to join to "help them fight evil and win the war of cleansing Britain."

Facebook has been loth to remove such groups, citing freedom of speech. Despite the UK campaign, and the subsequent decision by six corporations, including Vodafone and Virgin Media, to yank their advertising from the site when the groups were discovered, the social networking site to this day is still hosting them.

Speaking on Tuesday, the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the euro-deputy said: "It is shameful that on the day Europe marks the deaths of those who fell in war, Facebook is helping those who want to take us back to those dark days."

Backed by the leader of the Italian Socialists in the European Parliament, Gianni Pittell, Mr Schulz called on Facebook users to contact the company and demand they close down the groups.

Mr Pitelli, for his part, said it was "a day of shame for Facebook."

Gypsy children of Romanian origin earn over 23 million euro annually

de Alina Comanciu HotNews.ro
Luni, 10 noiembrie 2008, 11:15

At least 200 Gypsy children from Romania, victims of the human trafficking dealers "earn" in Great Britain over 19 million pounds (some 23 million euro) from pickpocketing and fraud each year, The Sunday Times reads in its electronic edition, quoted by Romanian news television Realitatea TV.

The children, aged 8 on average were illegally brought to Britain with the consent of their parents. The parents receive an employment fee from the dealers. The activities of this network were revealed to the British Parliamentarians by Europol director Max Peter Ratzel.

All these children were brought to UK to fraud the kingdom's social security system, Ratzel wrote in a letter sent last month to the House of Commons Interior Committee. He added that the police suspects that the money are sent back in Romania.

House of Commons member James Clappison declared that this reality proved the threats coming from the East European countries. Moreover, he added that Brits should carefully consider the consequences of their presence.

After a series of investigations, the police searched some 17 houses in Slough, Berkshire and arrested 25 people. 10 children, aged 10 or less were found and handed over to the social security services.

Slovakia readies its Roma for the euro currency

By KAREL JANICEK
Associated Press
2008-11-09 09:00 AM

Dancers and singers in colorful Gypsy costumes stormed the stage, drawing loud ovations and raucous laughter.

"Cheers to the euro!" the players called to the crowd assembled in this central Slovakia town.

The "Eurofestival" is a traveling show designed to help Slovakia's largely uneducated Roma, or Gypsies, make sense of the common European currency. On Jan. 1, 2009, Slovakia becomes the 16th European Union member state to adopt the euro, and the Slovak Central Bank has commissioned the Romathan theater company to take the mystery out of the new coins and bank notes.

Spokeswoman Jana Kovacova says the bank realized it needed a simple, entertaining approach to explain the switch from the Slovak koruna, or crown, to its most socially excluded minority group.

The show in the Romani language is part of a 7 million koruna (230,500 euros; $314,250) information campaign that also includes a CD with songs about the new currency and television and radio shows. The campaign is predominantly designed for the 150,000 poorest Roma who occupy about 600 shabby, segregated settlements that lack even basics such as running water or sewage systems, said Ivan Hriczko, who works for a government office dealing with Roma affairs.

"We know our clients, and that they don't have a positive attitude to printed information," Hriczko said. "Romathan explains to those people in a simple way what will happen on 'D-Day' and helps them cope with the novelty."

The play starts with an onstage announcement of the agreed-upon exchange rate _ 30.1260 koruna to the euro _ and a character who proclaims: "It won't be bad."

Gabriela Strkacova, a 59-year-old Gypsy, isn't so sure.

"We'll have just a few bank notes. How shall I pay with them?" she asked. "I'd like to keep our Slovak money! I'll have to always ask my husband what to do."

Euro notes and coins first came into circulation in 12 countries in 2002. Slovenia adopted them in 2007, and the euro zone widened to 15 nations this past January when Cyprus and Malta joined.

Slovakia went through a difficult transition after shaking off decades of communist rule in 1989. It endured several years of isolation under autocratic Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar in the 1990s, then made rapid economic progress with free-market reforms under former Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda.

Now, although buffeted by the global financial crisis, it still boasts one of Europe's fastest-growing economies _ one that could expand by 7.7 percent this year and is forecast to grow by 6.5 percent in 2009. Premier Robert Fico has called the euro's arrival "the continuation of a success story that began with the entry into the European Union" in 2004.

But success eludes most Roma. Unemployment in Gypsy settlements runs 90 percent or even higher.

"We are poorly educated and can't get a job," said Gustav Baca, the Roma mayor of the northern town of Strane pod Tatrami. "That's the biggest problem for us."

Of his town's 1,222 Roma, 99 percent are unemployed. In Hnusta, hundreds came to watch the Eurofestival _ even though it was staged at 11 a.m. on a work day.

Jozef Mezei, chairman of the Academy for (Roma) Education in the capital Bratislava, said the campaign was a good step. But he said it needed more funding and greater involvement from Roma activists, and simply didn't work in southern Slovakia where Roma speak only Hungarian.

Others say it merely pays lip service to Gypsies' real problems.

The campaign "doesn't address the fundamental questions of being Roma at the margins of society in Slovakia," said Larry Olomoofe, senior human rights trainer at the European Roma Rights Center in Budapest, Hungary. "Housing, education, employment and health care: These are the four fundamental areas that the government needs to concentrate (on) ... There's a lack of will to address these fundamental problems."

As the switchover nears, there are concerns _ just as there were in Western European nations _ that grocers and others will take advantage of the confusion and engage in price-gouging.

Jano Gabriel, who lives in the Romani neighborhood of Saca in the eastern city of Kosice, said he's having trouble making ends meet as it is. Gabriel's only income is 3,500 koruna (115 euros; $157) a month in state social benefits.

"I have to pay the rent, gas, electricity and there's almost nothing left for food," he said. With the euro, he frets: "It's going to be worse. We'll just be beggars."

Although European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet warned recently against inflationary pressures in Slovakia, government officials have played down the impact of the switch to the euro, saying they expect prices to rise by just 0.3 percent.

For young Roma like Dana Cisarova, 15, the new currency, like the Eurofestival itself, is just a load of song and dance.

"We don't want the euro," she said. "My mom can't count. They'll all cheat on her."

Court overturns ruling in Gypsy sterilization case

PRAGUE, Czech Republic: A hospital does not have to compensate a young Gypsy woman it sterilized without her consent, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

In overturning the Czech Republic's first monetary award for forced sterilization, the court said the statute of limitations had expired.

Human rights groups believe hundreds of women from the Czech Republic's Gypsy minority of about 250,000 people were sterilized against their will.

Under communism, which ended in the Czech Republic in 1989, sterilization was a semiofficial tool to limit the population of Gypsies, or Roma as they prefer to be called, whose large families were seen as a burden on the state. The practice ended only recently, according to a 2005 investigative report by the national ombudsman.

Iveta Cervenakova, now 32, was illegally sterilized without her consent in 1997 after she gave birth to her second daughter by Caesarean section.

She filed a lawsuit in 2005. A lower court ruled two years later that the hospital in the northeastern city of Ostrava had to pay compensation and apologize for violating her rights.

Court spokesman Petr Angyalossy said the 500,000 koruna ($26,330; 20,460 euros) judgment was overturned because the award came after the 3-year statute of limitations in the case had expired.

He said the hospital needs only apologize.

The Czech League for Human Rights sharply criticized the ruling and said it would appeal it to the Supreme Court. Lawyer David Zahumensky of the League for Human Rights, who consulted with Cervenakova's lawyer, said she will argue that there should be no statute of limitation applied in sterilization cases.

Several other Czech Gypsy women are seeking damages from hospitals for illegal sterilizations.

Two Roma die in Hungary shooting

Police in Hungary are investigating the deaths of two people in a shooting that a Roma (Gypsy) member of the European Parliament is calling a racist attack.

The victims were a Roma man and a woman in their 40s, who were shot through the window of a house in the village of Nagycsecs, in north-eastern Hungary.

Petrol bombs were thrown inside before the shots were fired, police said.

The Hungarian MEP, Viktoria Mohacsi, said she had evidence pointing to a "racist motivation" for the attack.

A second house was also attacked early on Monday, police said.

Other Roma properties had been firebombed in north-eastern Hungary before Monday's incident.

A spokesman for Hungary's National Gypsy Authority, Janos Bogdan, was quoted as saying two pubs run by Roma in nearby Sajoszoged and Sajooros had been attacked with petrol bombs overnight on Sunday, shortly before the Nagycsecs attack.

Nagycsecs has some 1,000 residents, many of whom are Roma, the Budapest Times newspaper reports.

Peace march ends in anti-Gypsy protest

By: thinkSPAIN , Monday, November 3, 2008

A demonstration for peaceful coexistence organised by Castellar council last Saturday night was immediately followed by a counter-protest that ended with more than three hundred people chanting "Gypsies out" as near to the homes of the town's Casas Nuevas Gypsy quarter as they were allowed to get by a contingent of around thirty Guardia Civil officers.

It is estimated that more than a quarter of the town's population of 3,800 braved the persistent rain to support the earlier silent march through the streets of the town 'For Peace and Coexistence in Castellar', and which ended with the headmaster of the local junior school reading out a manifesto insisting that, "Castellar is not a racist or xenophobic town."

Last Sunday, around 1,500 townspeople staged a violent protest against the three Gypsy families that live in the Casas Nuevas district, during which rocks and missiles were thrown that shattered several windows, after a fight involving rival gangs of Gypsy and Spanish youths the previous night.

While the protest was aimed mainly at the members of the notorious 'Del Tuerto' clan, two other Gypsy families living in the town also felt obliged to move out of their homes temporarily last week.

Italy wraps up its round up of the Roma

October 29, 2008, 13:09

Widespread negative public opinion of Roma gypsies recently prompted Italy’s conservative government to launch a controversial profiling campaign as part of a pledge to crack down on street crime and curb crime levels.

The internationally condemned measure, which included the fingerprinting and photographing of Roma minors and adults living in nomadic camps across the country, received enormous support from Italians, who have increasingly expressed fears over a rise in violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants, and gypsies, in particular.

Roma gypsies are routinely accused of, stealing, prostitution and child abduction, as well as a range of petty crimes, and their camps are widely seen as a breeding ground for crime and violence, where Roma children are ‘trained’ to become habitual criminals.

A survey conducted in May 2008 by Italian daily, La Repubblica, revealed that 75 per cent of Italians thought “nomads” were “a problem”. Most believed that the best way to deal with the gypsy problem was to “clear out gypsy camps and expel those found there”. Increasing intolerance among Italians has triggered a number of violent acts against gypsies. From April to July 2008, an estimated eight gypsy camps were razed to the ground in arson attacks.

Such ethnic intolerance soon permeated policymaking. At the height of the Roma profiling scheme in August 2008, police and soldiers routinely entered camps unannounced. They took fingerprints and photos of inhabitants, including minors, and expelled those without valid identification or permits. On several occasions, they forcibly evicted the members of illegal settlements, destroying their homes and personal possessions without offering assistance or providing alternative housing.

"They would come in the middle of the night, make us get out of bed and ask to see our identification. It was horrible. Why can’t they come once to see if we need help or to bring us clean water? Italians think we are all criminals and treat us badly, but it’s not true”, says a female inhabitant of one of Rome’s oldest and biggest settlements, the Casilina 900.

Most Italians who live near gypsy camps are against them, claiming they pose health risks. A woman who lives near a gypsy camp on the outskirts of Rome maintains, “They constantly burn their trash and other waste. It is toxic for the rest of us who live in the area. The camp is dirty and ugly. They should be given an area to live in that has sanitary facilities and basic services”.

Almost from the start, Italy’s census and fingerprinting scheme was admonished worldwide for being ethnically-based and discriminatory. From Roma activists to the United Nations and the Catholic Church, opponents of the campaign launched stinging accusations of xenophobia.

For months, the European Commission put pressure on Italy to carry out its profiling scheme in accordance with human rights laws, forcing policymakers to put an end to their fingerprinting and expulsion campaigns. In a complete policy turnaround, majority leaders now claim their main aim is to put gypsy children in schools and provide sustainable housing for gypsies living in unauthorised settlements.

Fact Box:

• Approximately 160,000 Roma live in Italy, 70,000 of whom are Italian citizens.

• Approximately one third of Italy’s Roma live in illegal settlements that lack running water, electricity and adequate sanitary facilities. Many of these Roma, often referred to as ‘gypsies’ or ‘nomads’, do not have residency permits.

• Running from July 15 to October 15, the Roma census was carried out in 167 camps in Rome, Naples and Milan (124 unauthorised camps; 43 authorised camps) by members of the Italian Red Cross.

• Census data shows that 5,436 camp inhabitants are children, only 20 per cent of whom have had basic schooling.

• Italian officials estimate that some 13,000 gypsies have fled the country, in an effort to ‘avoid identification’.

Brenda Dionisi for RT