cafebabel.com

Kirtimai: Lithuania's Roma on education and 'missing England'

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:36:54 -0000

Less than 3, 000 Roma live in Lithuania. Representing 0.1% of the population, there are still enough Baltic 'gypsies' to serve as a scapegoat in a country feeling squeezed by the crisis. However, in one Lithuanian village, Romualda, Svetlana, Konstantin and Konsela are helping the community to lift its head

Nightlife in Vilnius: ethnic minority benders

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:12:17 -0000

6.7% Polish, 6.3% Russian, 1.2% Belarusian, 0.7% Ukrainian, 0.1% Yiddish, 0.09% Tartar…approximately 115 communities of ethnic minorities were listed in this vein in a 2001 census in Lithuania. How integrated are these groups in local society? One way of finding out is by hitting the tiles

My beautiful camp: Italy's Roma success stories

('Tom Gale',) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:00:50 -0000

Between a Roma camp claiming to be an example of social integration and a laundrette which is a supposed symbol of multiculturalism, profound problems linger at the heart of Rome’s gypsy communities

'Our School' documentary: segregated Roma schools despite EU funds

('Linda Krajcso',) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:40:25 -0000

When directors and producers Mona Nicoară and Miruna Coca-Cozma followed three Roma children in a small Romanian village for four years, their film initially about a success story of integration became one about the realities of ethnic segregation. Interview

City planning in Budapest: making poverty invisible

('Monica Mircescu',) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:53:36 -0000

Since the new conservative majority came to power in Budapest in 2010, the local council's anti-poverty strategies include putting a ban on begging in public spaces and reversing an old tradition: the 'social' management of bulk refuse collection known as 'lomtalanitás'

Baking a state for Palestine at the United Nations kitchen

('hkeet',) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:22:08 -0000

64 years ago, the UN granted the Palestinians a state on 43% of the former mandate Palestinian territory. This state never came into being. The bid for this and UN membership will likely take place on 24 September. A divided EU once again shows its reluctance to form a common foreign policy with the member states’ 'for', 'against' and 'wait-and-see' positions

Roma and Hungary’s extreme right: the hunt in Gyöngyöspata

('Annie Rutherford',) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:08:30 -0000

In Hungary, a village of 2, 500 inhabitants outside Budapest embodies tensions between the Roma (gypsy) community and the extreme right. Since March, paramilitary militia have been arriving in Gyöngyöspata to march the town's streets. On top of that, Oszkár Juhász, a member of the extreme right-wing party Jobbik, has been elected as mayor

Turkey: army and Kurdish 'toxins' flushed

('Angela Kubik',) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:15:52 -0000

For more than a month now a new broom has been sweeping clean the streets of Istanbul – as well as the country's football and armed forces. But who’s wielding the broom? What ‘rubbish’ are they trying to get rid of? ‘Turkey eats dirt’ is cafebabel.com's response to the summer ‘dust up’ by the Turkish authorities. Read the second of three articles in a series on the shake-up of the nation, about an army which resigns

French perspectives on London riots: 'so 2005'

('hkeet',) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:20:55 -0000

Rioters were brought before the courts, police failings were discussed. What were the causes of the unprecedented violence that the UK witnessed in August? The authorities, driven by traditional populism and reactionary politics, refused to analyse them in-depth in the moment. Perspective from across the channel

Double discrimination: roma women in central and eastern Europe

('ZoeBBee',) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:30:00 -0000

Romania has recently announced plans to evict roma from the northern town of Baia Mare, in a move which could leave hundreds homeless. The move emphasises the continued urgency of the theme ‘roma women in central and eastern Europe’, discussed during the European women's lobby’s conference in Budapest on 7 April this year. The lobby aims to bring the double discrimination that roma women endure to the attention of European decision-makers. Interview with Brigitte Triems, the lobby's president

Sila Sahin, Turkish-German actress and first 'muslim playboy model'

('Lyndsey Smith',) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:14:25 -0000

In May 2011 the 25-year-old posed on the cover of German Playboy, becoming the 'first muslim’ to pose nude for a glossy magazine. Her 'act of liberation’, as the tabloids called it, sparked religious outrage and divided the Turkish community from Berlin to Istanbul. Yet was it just a marketing coup, or even a daring act of integration? Interview

Eurovision 2011: French losers and queer angles

('Helen Crumpton',) — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:30:00 -0000

Do you have to be gay to be a eurovision fan? A French researcher has looked into the culture of the fan clubs of the famous European song contest. Whilst references to the competition are ever camp, good old eurovision has turned out to be an excellent recognition tool for sexual minorities - whether the European cultural elite like it or not

Is gay OK in catholic Croatia?

('bistra andreeva',) — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:15:55 -0000

The Balkan cliché of a traditional patriarchal society of machos is stable. We have all heard what happens every time the Serbs decide to have a Gay pride parade. But we are in Croatia now – a country that does not even count itself Balkan anymore, and which adopted a same sex partnerships bill in 2003

Hungary youth: 'I stay out of politics but am Facebook friends with Viktor Orbán'

('Linda Krajcso',) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:21:22 -0000

The new controversial constitution, the first to be created on an iPad, was voted into law by the national assembly on 18 April and signed by the president on 25 April. Hungary’s youth remain apolitical, even to a new rule which would violate human rights. cafebabel.com Budapest interviewed fifty young Hungarians

Six years after riots, French discuss French 'banlieue'

('hkeet',) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:00:00 -0000

In France you will get a different response to this question about its high-rise estates in the suburbs depending on whether you listen to the 'cliché factory' that is the media or the personal experiences of its inhabitants. Above all, it is the magnifying glass of France’s collective identity problem, and all of Europe is involved

40% for Norway’s ‘golden skirt’ board members: do companies need quotas for women?

('IMD Insight',) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:46:34 -0000

‘Quotas are a bad answer to the wrong problem,’ says research fellow Jean-Louis Barsoux, but his colleague and professor Ginka Toegel emphasises ‘so far, nothing else has worked’. A ‘women in leadership’ event organised by Swiss business school IMD and the global women’s international network (WIN) marks international women’s day on 8 March

Konik: life in biggest Balkan Roma refugee camp, Montenegro

('Bella3726',) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:00:00 -0000

This important refugee camp in Podgorica of Roma hailing from Kosovo had their homes referred to by The Guardian as a 'stinking rubbish tip'. Yet the ambitious young people living there are future masters of hip-hop and their destiny

Gay culture in Istanbul: ‘We have the balls to say it out loud’

('Katharina Kloss',) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:37:51 -0000

Together with his partner, Sakir Yilmaz claims to be the owner of the first ‘openly’ gay bar-restaurant, Frappe Istanbul, in the famous party neighborhood of Beyoğlu. Interview

Older migrants of Europe: forgotten until when?

('Monica Mircescu',) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:30:00 -0000

They came to work and in the end they stayed. Today the migrants of the 1960s are growing old in the cities of western Europe often in isolation and insecurity. Their discretion has turned them into an invisible generation. Portrait of retired immigrants whom everybody wants already buried

Three muslims in Brussels: (almost) ordinary citizens

('Nettah',) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:15:00 -0000

Being Belgian and muslim poses no particular problem for Omar, Younes and Mourad. They don't wear the burqa, which is banned in Belgium, yet are often turned away from bars. In the EU capital, tolerance and rejection go hand-in-hand

Islam and Europe: a five step waltz

('G. Ring',) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:30:00 -0000

The more widespread an idea, the more erroneous it is. Since the Middle Ages, each period imagines that the question of islam in Europe is a new phenomenon, too often forgetting history, which has not always been about the mode of conquest. A brief overview of a stormier past than one could have imagined

Why the Swiss call Italian workers ‘baliaratt’

('Helen Dray',) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:00:00 -0000

What’s the problem when three rats devour a Swiss cheese? Nothing, except when the rats represent the 45,000 Italian workers ‘stealing jobs’ in an Italian canton of Switzerland. That's according to 60 billboards splattered over the mainly Italian-speaking canton of Tessin or Ticino. Term of the week

Voices: ‘Beurgeois’ behind French halal meat phenomenon

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 10:00:00 -0000

The French phenomenon comes courtesy of a class of young Frenchmen, northern African in origin and an example of a successful immigration model - in business

Citizenship exams: spotlight western Europe

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:21:13 -0000

There's no European-wide citizenship test - it's obligatory by law in national governments only. The Brits and French started in 2005, followed by the Netherlands in 2006 and Germany in 2008, though Italy and Spain don't command it by law. Overview

Roma in France: tempers rise in EU parliament

('Andrew Burgess',) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:57:39 -0000

If the hardening of the policy by the French government since last summer of dismantling camps and driving the Roma population to the borders caused controversy in France, the reactions on a European level were initially rather more discreet

'Shooting galleries' in Europe: political jab or social cure-all?

('ruth gray',) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:45:00 -0000

Supervising the use of hard drugs or not is an issue that's cropping up across Europe, with some countries tackling it with a different intensity than others; the UK has three injecting clinics. While eight progressive governments have already established the centres, others wish to silence such crazy calls for change. All in the name of morality. Obviously...

German standards: men in speedos vs topless women

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:00:00 -0000

Summer might be over, the time when too many items of clothing are bothersome. Boys can jog around without a top, so why can’t women in their bikini tops? One woman rants

France's 'war on criminality' aside, focus on Parisian Roma in 'social insertion villages'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:19:08 -0000

Four years after their creation in Europe, 'social integration villages' are being presented as a 'Roma paradise'. European associations for minority protection expose some of the difficulties facing the most discriminated community in the EU. Meanwhile, the French government has since planned to dissolve 300 Roma settlements, whilst the UK is seeing its biggest Romany gypsy site, Dale Farm in Essex, bulldozed

Racism and discrimination for Brussels migrant workers

('Monica Mircescu',) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:00:00 -0000

In the region of Brussels-Capital, discrimination in recruitment practices is a daily reality. At a time of economic stagnation, ethnic diversity is no longer a priority for businesses, which in turn makes integration in Belgium harder still

British star MIA's 'Born Free' video: hair-raising food for thought

('Monica Mircescu',) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:30:00 -0000

Imagine a world where redheads or strawberry blonds are not only mocked but tracked down and exterminated. This is the premise of French director Romain Gavras’s latest short which provides the music video for the Sri Lankan British star

University: German students cross the Austrian border

('Joana Cansado Carvalho',) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:54:23 -0000

It fills up pages in both Austrian and German newspapers. The EU’s court of justice has taken a stand on the subject. In some classrooms some say that there is no cause for concern, while others warn that tension is in the air. What is really going on?

Lech Garlicki on judging Europe’s religious fabric

('James Friscia',) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:15:37 -0000

The Polish jurist, who has been a judge at the European court of human rights since 2002, on religious symbols in schools, the burka, security and the status of women

Casa Pound Italia: Neo-fascists on the rise

('sarhanh',) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:27:35 -0000

Casa Pound Italia is at the heart of the Italian Neo-fascist movement. 'We will build the world that we want!' cry the militants across the website of the group, inspired by a poet, and dedicated to action. Meanwhile there is no shortage of complaint, between accusations of violence, and questions being raised in parliament. A look at a movement inspired by fascism, but that refuses the label of 'extreme right'

Understanding nationalist ideology in Hungary: 'enormous potential for violence'

('Andrew Christie',) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Victory in April’s elections is assured for the populist opposition party (Fidesz) and right-wing extremists (Jobbik). Magdalena Marsovszky, a Germano-Hungarian cultural scientist researching anti-semitism and right-wing extremism in Hungary, explains

Paris suburbs: cliche piled upon cliche

('James Friscia',) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:17:48 -0000

It's a common European stereotype to define the French suburbs by their one-time violent rioting. But those events took place five years ago. On a visit to the 'banlieue' of Paris today we meet three residents who tell their story - a father-of-three, a social worker and a budding regional election hopeful

Emmanuelle Cosse: 'in France we are not sufficiently open to change'

('mh',) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:00:00 -0000

She's stood up for causes varying from HIV, gay and lesbian-friendly journalism to leftist radical journalism. Now the 35-year-old has launched herself into the political fray as a candidate on the 'Ecology Europe' party list in Paris. International women's day is not enough, but it’s vital, she says. Interview

Transsexualism in Spain: fighting discrimination

('Elaine Jordan',) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0000

While gays, lesbians and bisexuals have managed to overcome years of rejection by finding their own niche in society, transsexuals are less fortunate as they continue to feel like outsiders. So, what’s it like being a transsexual in Spain?

Staff Benda Bilili, voice of the voiceless in Congo

('Sofia Verzbolovskis',) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:34:29 -0000

‘We're all handicapped people, ain't we?’ runs their myspace byline. After more than a month of touring through Europe, this group of paraplegic street musicians from Kinshasa left crowds elated and bewildered almost a year after releasing their debut album Très Très Fort, courtesy of Belgian producer Vincent Kenis of Congotronics fame. A French documentary on the group has been underway for seven years

Homophobia in Rome, the 'capital of gay murders'

('Helen Swain',) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:20:04 -0000

Letter bombs on homosexual communities versus documentaries to fight ignorance and rights which don't exist. On 10 October, gay rights groups in Rome are planning a march to protest an ongoing spate of homophobic violence

French citizens ‘Balkan-level’ skill at the English language

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:07:08 -0000

The nineteenth-century attitudes to language learning here are not just wasting people’s time, but wasting an extraordinary amount of their money, opines a young Irishman who teaches English in Paris, capital of a country which an 'archaic' education system

Migrants keep coming to Seville, Spain and the rest of Europe

('Thomas Gam Nielsen',) — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:00:04 -0000

But their rights as workers and humans are at stake, while the status of illegal or legal are being sorted out

Western states boycott UN anti-racism conference in Geneva

('euro topics',) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:51:59 -0000

Durban II began on 20 April with a boycott. For fear of an anti-Israel mood and anti-semitic incidents the US, Israel and other states including Italy, Germany and the Netherlands have cancelled their attendance at the so-called Durban II conference. Press reactions from Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Belgium

Roma in the Ponticelli district, Naples, speak after the fire

('Mary Maistrello',) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:41:18 -0000

The intolerance of the population towards the nomads, who had been living for years on the periphery of the city, has become ever violent, supported by the popular and racist propaganda of the Lega Nord (northern league) political party. We try to understand what is left after the lynchings, the fires, the vigilantes and forced evictions

Queer as transsexual Europe

('Ed Saunders',) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:00:00 -0000

On 30 March a transsexual man in Barcelona, 25, was announced to be reportedly the first in Spain to be pregnant with twins. In a Europe with a full spectrum of languages, traditions and ethnic identities, sexual identities remain black and white. In an age in which 'flexibility' and 'individuality' have become buzzwords, it is astounding that 'man' and 'woman' are immobile categories to which we attribute certain characteristics

'Immigrants take bread from our mouths': racism adapts to the 20th century

('Kate Stansfield',) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:00:00 -0000

Discrimination has modernised to become more subtle and respond to the politically correct parameters that have spread throughout society

No European asylum support office until 2010

('Alexandra Baxter',) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:15:00 -0000

As MEPs, the UN high commissioner for refugees and a number of NGOs voice concerns over the failings of the Dublin II regulation, the European commission has decided to establish an office to improve the processing of asylum applications. The Roure report on asylum seeking in the EU highlights particular points of concern

Bilingualism in Spain: a political arm

('Paulina Dominik',) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:30:00 -0000

In a Europe of 23 official languages, there are complaints about the discrimination suffered by some due to the European policies. A recent Spanish case helps to understand the risk of politicizing the multilingualism

Italy's doctors 'report' illegal immigrants

('Fiona Herdman Smith',) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:59:28 -0000

A law passed on 5 February is part of the Maroni decree 'allowing' doctors to report illegal immigrants receiving medical treatment. Interview with Giorgio Contessi from the Doctors without Borders NGO

Housing in Hungary: no Chinese or blacks

('Nora Farkas',) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:48:32 -0000

Two estate agencies have highlighted discrimination in Hungary after advertising against 'coloured skin' tenants

Cinema: Persepolis hits the UK

('Jens Wiesner',) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Released on 25 April in an English-dubbed version, a review of Franco-Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi's Oscar-nominated animation of a girl displaced in Vienna