Author: Christine Sudbrock

On May 27th, an open discussion was organized by the International Charitable Organization Roma Women Fund Chiricli to discuss the racial attacks that have happened in the past, the event was called “A year after Roma pogroms: where are we now?”. The purpose of the event was to discuss past hate crimes, talk about how these attacks can manifest and to examine how to help the victims of these attacks in the hopes they can continue on with their lives as best they can. Thereby honouring the victims.

Among the guest speakers were Matthew Schaaf, (Director of the Freedom House in Ukraine) Vyacheslav Likhachev, (Head of the Monitoring Group on the Rights of National Minorities) Konstantin Tarasenko, (Head of the Human Rights Department of the National Police of Ukraine) Julian Kondur, (project coordinator of the Roma Women’s Fund Chiricli.)

It’s important to note before the event started, two members of the far-right movement were seen close to the venue, the Ukrainian crisis media centre on Khreshyatik street. Upon seeing these people near a Roma event the organizers requested assistance from Patrol Police as it was already known these same people had been involved in disrupting and dismantling public events related to Roma previously with the use of violence.

The discussion went off to a good start, the event had gathered attention because of the important topic so there was a sizeable audience. Despite this just as the second speaker finished his statement it was then followed by interruptions from the audience, by two men who identified themselves as patriots.

Their interventions were aggressive and discussion came to a halt as it was clear they could not continue further. In addition, one of the men clothed in camouflage revealed from his bag in front of the audience and speakers, an axe, two screwdrivers and two bottles of whiskey. This action was accompanied by the narrative that these items were taken from Roma who had allegedly used these items to attack people. The man in camouflage introduced himself as Sergey Yarosh.

This awful public display of racism was ended shortly after the police officers arrived at the venue. The perpetrators were gradually pacified and made to leave the building. However the discussion, unfortunately, could not be continued despite several efforts of the moderator to do so, as speakers were repeatedly interrupted and everyone was left shocked by the events that unfolded.

In conclusion, the event was disrupted by members of a far-right organization in Ukraine. Their exact affiliation or involvement in a specific organization was not clear, but they have been continually spotted near Roma related events. The perpetrators of this racial attack utilized public space and use of media to publicly display their hatred for Roma to an audience, they criminalized them without any real evidence or just cause.

These so-called patriots specifically attended this event in the hopes to destroy it and stop it from happening. It’s hard to fathom how they could justify attending an event that was set up to open discussion to address the violent attacks happening in our community, by brandishing weapons and speaking aggressively directed to Roma communities, their voices filled with hate. Racism against Roma is often described as the last acceptable form of racism, this act reinforces that premise.

OPINION

Unprecedented police action against Roma Travellers community in Belgium

A huge police action took place in Belgium in the morning of 7 May resulting in a massive arrest of Belgian Roma Travellers accused of trafficking of illegally obtained vehicles. The last action of this kind took place during the Second World War when 351 Roma Travellers from Belgium were transported to Auschwitz Birkenau. Today we see again a targeted action of the federal police towards the entire Roma Travellers community in Belgium.

We highly appreciate the work done by the police to tackle criminals in our society. This step was needed as we all are citizens of Belgium and we are responsible and stand as equals before the justice system as Belgian citizens. At the same time, we have concerns with the way these massive arrests have been conducted and we will allow ourselves to be critical towards the way justice is delivered.

Early in the morning 1200 police officers entered simultaneously in 19 locations in Belgium where Travellers parked their caravans. More than 200 persecutions took place. According to the media 76 people were arrested, while community members speak of a higher number. All belongings of the families were seized, including pocket money, jewellery, cars, caravans and other personal belongings. They could not even take food from the fridge before having to leave their homes. Bank accounts of innocent people were blocked without giving a reason. Some of the community members were released from custody without having been questioned, but their belongings are still confiscated. The spokesperson of the Prosecutor announced that 90 caravans and 91 cars are confiscated and one million Euros was seized on the spot. Today the families concerned are still without housing. Many of them stay with neighbours of other family members. 18 members of one family currently share one settled caravan that could not be moved by the police. There is still no clarity about whether and when they will be able to get back their belongings.

Arresting innocent people without any investigation or proof of crime is unacceptable today. This resembles a terrible historical moment for the Roma communities 80 years ago, when in the very same manner Roma people were arrested as entire communities during the Nazi persecutions. We are surprised to see that very similar actions are taking place today, in a time before elections. Arresting a community and not responsible individuals is an alert. We are seriously concerned that the Roma Travellers Community (similarly to refugees) is being used as a scapegoat to legitimize the racist attempts of some state representatives to be elected or re-elected, following examples of right-wing political movements across Europe.

We, as citizens are concerned about the violation of one of the very basic and universal human rights: the right to housing. According to Belgian legislation, caravans are recognised as housing. Confiscating caravans resulted in a great number of families: men, women and children deprived of their homes. Children, disabled people and pregnant women had to spend days and nights on the street without being offered appropriate alternative shelter. We were very critical towards similar attacks against Roma in Eastern Europe and signalled this to the EU institutions. Today an attack against Roma happened in the very heart of Europe: Brussels.

Today we are wondering what will happen to the families left on the street. For years, many Roma Travellers had to resettle every two weeks because of the lack of caravan sites in Brussels. We were continuously persecuted by the police, which led us to change our standing place constantly. Our children could not take advantage of the right to education, leading to a high illiteracy rate in our community. In addition to that on May 7, our housing rights were also violated. Today, in the 21 century we, the Roma community still have to fight for our fundamental rights, which are supposed to be granted to everyone.

We are calling the Belgian Ministry of Interior to take the necessary actions and to give the Roma and Travellers back their caravans, their only homes. We are demanding a stop to arrests of entire communities for the crimes of certain individuals. We are calling human rights organizations to support us in finding a way to solve this harsh situation for our families who currently suffer injustice and to call for a constructive dialogue with Belgian and international authorities.