Burned girl a symbol of Roma hate and hope

I know it's been a while since I've posted - and I apoligize for that. Summer classes are extremely difficult and time consuming.

But when I read this article on Roma hate on CNN - I couldn't pass it up. I had to share it with you. It's saddening and disheartening that this level of hatred is still in existance towards any ethnic group.

Vitkov, Czech Republic (CNN) -- Natalka Kudrikova is a bright-eyed, three-year-old girl recovering from the severe burns she suffered when far-right extremists threw a Molotov cocktail into her home.

Her family and authorities say she was targeted because they are Roma, or gypsies. Natalka lost 80 percent of her skin, two fingers (a third was later amputated) and spent months lying in an induced coma following the attack last year in Vitkov, in the Czech Republic. She is still recuperating after 14 major surgeries.

In May, Natalka returned to Ostrava Hospital for rehabilitation sessions so that one day she may be able to get around without support. "I'd rather not take her back to the hospital," said her mother, Anna Sivakova, "but if she must return, my dream is that she learns how to walk without any help."


MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/06/25/roma.prejudice/index.html?hpt=C2

Gypsy child crime wave grips Europe

By Mark Bannerman

Updated Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:13am AEDT

One of Romania's most powerful criminals has warned his country must do something to stop the wave of Gypsy child crime that is sweeping Europe or face a backlash against Romanians.

Simply known as Breliant, he freely boasts a pedigree rich in thieves. But this week on Four Corners he explains that unless gangs run by his countrymen stop using children to rob and steal, the Romanian Gypsies will be driven out of other EU countries. 

READ MORE: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/29/2858403.htm?section=justin 

Far-right gains could put Hungary reforms at risk

(Reuters) - The scenario is classic. Hungary's economy is in crisis, its large Roma minority is an easy scapegoat, and a far-right party blaming "Gypsy crooks" and "welfare spongers" is set to be the big winner.

READ MORE: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62S1CU20100329

Racial Preconceptions, Profiling Higher in EU

By NICK WILSON

WASHINGTON (CN) - As illegal immigration has increased in Europe, so have the "ineffective and counterproductive" racial profiling practices of European police, said experts at a Monday meeting of the Helsinki Commission. "Ethnic profiling is targeting people because of who they are instead of what they have done," Rachel Neild said.

     Neild from the Open Society Institute, which is funded by George Soros, called profiling humiliating, hurtful and ineffective, saying at a Helsinki Commission briefing on Capitol Hill that the practice is accusatory in nature and erodes trust in police.

     Muslims, blacks and gypsies are three to 14 times more likely to be stopped by police than a white person, depending on the region, Neild said. And in Moscow, the chances go up to 21 times as likely.

     These ratios are higher than in the United States or United Kingdom, where there are strong traditions of immigration. In the U.S. and UK, even the worst areas for racial profiling are substantially lower the European numbers, the witnesses said. In areas where racial profiling is most prevalent in the U.S. and UK, police stop minorities eight times more than whites.

     The increases come amid bursts in illegal immigration, which have ignited more serious tensions in countries like Spain and Italy that have historically been sources of emigration. These once homogenous societies are just feeling the effects of attracting immigrants.

     In just the last decade, roughly five million people have immigrated into Spain, which now holds 46 million.

     No one on the three-person panel promoted racial profiling, but proponents say the practice simply acknowledges the visible trends among certain groups of people.

     France, which drew global attention during racial riots in 2005, has set numeric targets for capturing illegal immigrants. Neil said the quotas encourage racial profiling.

Read More:  http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/03/22/25782.htm

Shake-up will lead to faster Gypsy evictions

Thursday, March 25, 2010, 07:40

A SHAKE-UP in planning rules will cut the time it takes to evict Gypsies and travellers from unauthorised developments.
Last autumn three Gypsy families were given six months to quit after Plymouth City Council planning committee turned down two retrospective applications to stay on plots on Ridge Road, Plympton.

The council admitted later that appeals against the decision could take up to 12 months.

John Denham, the Communities Secretary, yesterday welcomed new planning rules which will speed up the enforcement process so that quicker action can be taken against developments without planning permission such as unauthorised Gypsy and Traveller sites.

The new rules will take effect next month, slashing the time that must elapse before local authorities can take action against unauthorised camps, and other developments lacking planning permission.

From April 6, the time allowed to lodge an appeal will be reduced from six months to 28 days.

Read More: http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Shake-lead-faster-Gypsy-evictions/article-1943236-detail/article.html

Boris wants to cut targets for London Gypsy sites by half

24 March 2010

By Mike Brooke

BORIS Johnson wants to cut by half the target for the number of Gypsy and Traveller sites London must provide.

The original target of 538 included in the Mayor’s draft London Plan highlighted doubts that the target could be met, following public consultations which ended in January.

So he is now suggesting 238 sites instead, a “more sustainable and deliverable target” which was published yesterday.

Read More: http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/content/towerhamlets/advertiser/news/story.aspx?brand=ELAOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsela&itemid=WeED24%20Mar%202010%2019%3A45%3A43%3A980

11 Years Later: NATO Powers Prepare Final Solution In Kosovo

Friday, 19 March 2010 12:57

Written by Rick Rozoff

March 17 marked the sixth anniversary of a concerted assault against Serbs and other ethnic minorities in Kosovo that resulted in 800 Serbian homes and thirty five Orthodox churches and monasteries being destroyed, 4,000 Serbs and Roma (Gypsies) forced to flee their homes, 900 hundred people injured and 19 killed.

The attacks followed the accidental drowning of three ethnic Albanian youth which local separatist politicians and media attributed to the actions of Serbs and used to incite an orgy of intolerance, ethnic hostility and violence.

They marked the worst, and deadliest, violence in the Balkans since NATO's 78-day bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 and the war in Macedonia two years later launched by an offshoot of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) operating out of NATO-occupied Kosovo. Clashes occurred between ethnic Albanians and Serbs and between both and NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) troops. The dead and wounded included members of all three groups.

Read More: http://australia.to/2010/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1604:11-years-later-nato-powers-prepare-final-solution-in-kosovo&catid=95:rick-rozoff&Itemid=127