Hungarian Socialist MEP Magda Kósáné Kovács pictured in the Low tower in Strasbourg, 9 March

A persecution taking place among the indifference and silence of the media.

by EveryOne Group

Milan, October 18th, 2009.  In Milan and many other Italian cities the ethnic cleansing and persecutory policies against the Roma and Sintis continues. In Lombardy’s chief town, a department of the police force devotes its time to the identification and clearance of “squatter” settlements inhabited by Roma citizens and refugees. These measures are carried out without the offer of assistance and alternative lodgings.

Roxy Freeman never went to school. But at the age of 22, she decided to get a formal education, forcing her to face up to the prejudices that blight her Gypsy community – and to shackle her wandering spirit

Two weeks ago Ottawa imposed visa restrictions on Czechs after more than 1,700 Czech Roma, or gypsies, sought refugee status in Canada in the first six months of this year. That was a huge increase on the 650 or so in the whole of 2008, which was already a high figure. So, what led so many Czech Romanies to apply for asylum in Canada?

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28 May 2009

Elections affecting 500 million people in 27 EU member states will be held from 4-7 June to fill 736 seats in the European Parliament. That is two more countries than at the last election in 2004, because of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.

Member states employ a variety of voting systems so making predictions of the outcome is difficult, particularly as the electorate has become more volatile in some countries as a result of internal political factors.

Detectives investigating the April arson attack on a single-family home occupied by a Roma family in Vítkov na Opavsku have found the dark car that witnesses say drove down the street just before the fire broke out. Police officers also know the names of the people sitting in the car at the time, but there are no indications that they had anything to do with the arson attack. Police are still searching for the perpetrators, North Moravian police spokesperson Soňa Štětínská told ČTK today.

The Sunday meeting of the Workers' Party (Dělnická strana) on Palacké náměstí unexpectedly ended right after the party chair finished his speech. Václav Bíňovec, who monitors public gatherings for the Prague town hall, dispersed the gathering.

A primary school in Valasske Mezirici will open only one first class for all children and not a separate class for Romanies only, school head teacher Oto Medek announced on Tuesday after a meeting with ministerial officials.

Medek has discussed the issue with the deputies to the education and human rights ministers, Klara Laurencikova and Czeslaw Walek, respectively.

France 24 met with the gypsies of Chudovo, a town situated around 100 kilometres south of Saint-Petersburg. The 2,000-strong community settled there in 1986, soon after the Chernobyl disaster, but without title deeds.

For 20 years, the local authorities did not mind their presence but with the downfall of the Soviet Union everything changed. Land now has to be registered and paid for. In the spring of 2007, policemen and soldiers moved in to demolish the gypsies’ homes. Today, they seem to be threatened again.

Dale Farm residents' hopes of an eleventh hour reprieve from eviction have been crushed by the House of Lords' refusal to hear their appeal - a matter of hours after a spirited meeting in parliament saw the UN pledge its support.

Residents from Dale Farm in Essex, often described as the largest 'illegal' Traveller site in Europe, were lobbying the House of Lords, hoping for an eleventh hour intervention. This followed the Court of Appeal ruling on 22 January 2009, which had found in favour of a decision taken by Basildon Council to forcibly remove the families from the land which they partly own, but have not been given planning permission to build on.[1]