MINELRES: Romania: Ethnic Diversity Briefs, Mo.16

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Original sender: Mediafax <Divers@mediafax.ro>


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No. 16 / July 15, 2002

DIVERS
- reporting ethnic diversity -

Please note that the next issue of DIVERS news bulletin will be
published on Monday, August the 5th.

SUMMARY
1. UDMR CLAIMS PROBLEMS WITHIN COLLABORATION WITH PSD
2. ROMANIAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTERS EXPRESS INTEREST ON EXTENDING
BILATERAL CO-OPERATION
3. MAGYAR LEADER MET OSCE HIGH COMMISSIONER ON NATIONAL MINORITIES
4. FESTIVAL OF GERMAN CULTURE IN SIBIU

FEATURE
5. ROMA ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM ROMANIA HEADING TO SWEDEN
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UDMR CLAIMS PROBLEMS WITHIN COLLABORATION WITH PSD 
CLUJ-NAPOCA - Executive chairman of Democratic Union of Hungarians
from Romania (UDMR), Takacs Csaba, on Tuesday, July 9, made complaints
within a press conference relating to misconduct in various counties
of the protocol signed with the ruling Party of Social Democracy
(PSD). Takacs pointed out that there are some areas where "some of the
PSD local leaders believe the collaboration with UDMR is rather
inconvenient, especially in less-interesting areas or where the ethnic
Magyar are not so many".
In accordance with UDMR leader, reason of the deficiencies in
implementing the UDMR - PSD collaboration lies "in the presence of
certain factors of local political games, chiefly determined by the
alliances set up at the level of local or county boards ".
The UDMR representatives refused give further details about the
counties in question, suggesting that first they should be subject to
an analysis held together with PSD representatives. (DIVERS)

ROMANIAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTERS EXPRESS INTEREST ON EXTENDING
BILATERAL CO-OPERATION
CLUJ - Visiting Romania late last week, newly elected Hungarian Prime
Minister Peter Medgyessy presented a list of proposal to extend
bilateral relation. He added his country wants to see Romania make the
fastest possible integration to NATO. Medgyessy also discussed with
Romanian counterpart Adrian Nastase about the implementation of the
so-called Hungarian status law. The law, adopted by the previous
Hungarian government, grants social, employment and educational
benefits to some 3.5 million ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring
states. Nastase insisted however that all Romanian citizens, not just
the ethnic Hungarian minority, received the right to work in Hungary
three months a year. Medgyessy had criticized that concession, but
pledged to observe it, after becoming prime minister this year. In
Cluj, Nastase handed him a memorandum titled "Romanian-Hungarian
strategic partnership in 21st century Europe", which Nastase hopes
will become a framework for future bilateral co-operation. On the
other hand, Medgyessy met with the leadership of the Democratic Union
of Hungarians from Romania (UDMR). Hungarian PM said he will support
Hungarian-language media and Hungarian investments in the region and
said that ethnic minorities "should feel good in their home countries"
and that all involved parties "should make their own contributions" in
that direction. (DIVERS)

MAGYAR LEADER MET OSCE HIGH COMMISSIONER ON NATIONAL MINORITIES
BUCHAREST - On Thursday, July 11, UDMR leader Marko Bela held talks
with OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Rolf Ekeus, about
the UDMR collaboration pursued with the governing party and also about
the statute Law of the Magyar beyond the Hungary borders. UDMR leader
told the European official that, in the last parliamentary session,
there were passed two laws regarding properties retrocession - the Law
of land fund and the Law on retrocession of church assets. Marko
pointed out that this is "a significant step forward" both for the
Magyar community as well as for the entire Romanian society. UDMR
chairman also said that the Status Law stood for another significant
topic of the debate held with the European official. Ekeus seemed
positive in solving this issue. UDMR leader appreciated that changes
made for this law should only aim at its correlation with the
Memorandum signed between Romania and Hungary. (DIVERS)

FESTIVAL OF GERMAN CULTURE IN SIBIU
SIBIU - On July 11-14 it is to take place in Sibiu (central Romania)
the first edition of German culture festival. Developed by following
"summer dreams " motto, the festival consists of theatre performance,
music (rock or classical) and popular arts, presented by the bands
from Germany and Romania. At the festival there will be organized four
workshops dedicated to some cultural themes of present interest:
German theatre, literature, popular art and architectonical dower of
Transylvania Saxons generations from Sibiu. (DIVERS)

FEATURE

ROMA ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM ROMANIA HEADING TO SWEDEN
STOCKHOLM - Hundreds of Roma from Romania have arrived in Sweden
during the last weeks, demanding asylum. Most of them have been
transferred to refugee camps in the southern Swedish region of
Smeland. Local media have reported a crime wave in small Smeland
towns. There have been cases of stealing, for which the Roma asylum
seekers were immediately blamed. A small town housing estate, where
some of the refugees were temporarily lodged, has experienced
vandalism. Fear and hate is spreading. In some places local people
initiated voluntary groups of people watching the neighborhood.
Gypsies are thieves, that is what the old encyclopedias from the
racist 30�s used to claim. Now these old clich�es are being repeated.
Swedish Roma I have talked to are upset and sad. Of course, they say,
people who commit crimes should be punished. But just because one
Romani person commits a crime, that does not make all of us criminals.
In a Swedish Radio broadcast at the beginning of June, the Swedish
minister responsible for migration issues, Jan Karlsson, pointed out
that asylum is intended to protect persecuted people who need shelter.
"I know for certain", the minister then said, "that these people do
not have any such reasons".
At the moment, the Swedish Migration Office is dealing extra quickly
with the Roma asylum seekers from Romania - some of them may already
have been sent back. Nowhere have I seen any protests against the way
the whole Romani group are being lumped together, accused of being
criminals. Nowhere have I seen anybody even beginning to wonder what
it is the Roma from Romania are actually trying to get away from.
Romania has Europe�s largest Romani population - official figures say
2, 5 million. Romanian Roma mostly do not dare to reveal their origin,
because of fear of harassment. For centuries they were kept as slaves
by landlords and monasteries in Romania. Only in the mid- 1860�s, at
the same time as the United States abolished Negro slavery, was Gypsy
slavery abandoned in Romania.
The Roma of Romania are the poorest of the poor and despised by
everybody. Every day mainstream society humiliates them and commits
crimes against them. They are often denied access to shops and
restaurants, they are discriminated against as regards work and
housing, they are the victims of persecution, lynching and pogroms. If
Romani children ever get access to the school system, they are placed
in classes for less gifted children. The increase in criminality in
Romania after the breakdown of communism is often blamed on the Roma,
who are being systematically persecuted by the police. Crimes against
Roma are seldom or never investigated. Fascist organizations agitate
against them, with the participation of Romanian media. Only during
the month of May this year, five Romanian newspapers with nation-wide
circulation contained 68 articles about "Gypsies". Only two of these
articles could be regarded as "neutral", none was positive and the
rest contained racist commentaries.
The local media are usually the worst. They often refer to three magic
"unknown Gypsies" who have supposedly committed terrible violent
crimes. There is never any confirmation. Two years ago, three �unknown
Gypsies were supposed to have raped three young men and killed two of
them. After a while there was only one perpetrator, described as an
ugly bad-smelling Gypsy. Finally it turned out that the murderer was
an ethnic Romanian - evidently bad smelling. "Roma are threatening the
Romanian state in a perfidious way by exercising organized terrorism."
"They have destroyed Romania�s "image in Europe." "By influencing our
present generation through their disgusting language, violent behavior
and tasteless music, the Roma represent a threat to our cultural
identity. (From the monthly magazine Noua Dreapta, The New Right) On
May 8, 2002, the chief editor of Romania Libera demanded that "true
Romanians" should take action against "the Gypsy problem". The Roma
could go to those countries in the west who care about them, he
proposed. On May 17, the "Evenimentul Zilei" wrote: "The district of
Timis has had enough of Roma", The newspaper Curentul on May 30 quotes
the mayor of Bolintin, who claims that the Roma do nothing "but steal,
fight and carry around trash from one place to another�. In the
article a clear distinction is being made between citizens (that is
ethnic Romanians) and Roma.
Last year the human rights organization ERRC in Budapest published a
report of 150 pages on Romania�s serious human rights violations
concerning Romani people (�State of Impunity, Human Rights Abuse of
Roma in Romania").
In a report from December last year Human Rights Watch considers the
efforts of the Romanian government to reinforce human rights
insufficient. Ethnic discrimination forces the Roma to flee their
homeland and seek protection abroad, the Human Rights Watch report
claims.
In September last year, the EU Commissioner for the enlargement of the
union, Guenter Verheugen, warned Romania as a candidate state,
demanding much more efficient integration of the Roma. UNHCR has
expressed concern about an increasing tendency in the countries now
receiving refugees to link asylum seekers with criminality and
terrorism. In a press release earlier this year, The Council of Europe
demanded increased efforts from Romania to guarantee human rights for
its Roma minority. The Council especially pointed out the lack of
education facilities and the many instances of alleged police
brutality against them.
>From this country, vehemently criticized by so many observers, some
hundreds persecuted Roma have now escaped to Sweden and are asking for
protection. They claim to have a well-based fear of persecution in
their home country because of their ethnicity - which is the criteria
valid for asylum, according to the 1951 Geneva Convention. But perhaps
the Geneva convention does not apply to the Roma?

(Irka Cederberg - published in Kvallsposten 20/6/02)



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