PM urges further push to integrate Roma

Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai stressed the importance of integrating Roma into society yesterday as he addressed an economic conference in Budapest.

Speaking at the event organised by economic institute Pénzügykutató and CIB Bank, Bajnai called the integration of Roma one of the biggest problems in Hungary. It is a national cause that will determine the coming decades, he declared. "Anyone who speaks about an ethnic issue regarding Roma is helping the far right", he added...

The successful management of the financial crisis is not sufficient to solve the problems of Roma, he warned. Responsibility rests to different extents with political decision-makers, the churches, and to a certain extent with Roma, Bajnai said, adding that the basic rules of social co-existence need to be honoured.

Bajnai outlined new Roma-related government plans, such as the abolition of ghettoes, employing Roma degree-holders in public administration, and subsidising schools.

Social Affairs Minister Péter Kiss said the 500,000-700,000 Roma in Hungary are more likely to be affected by low schooling and employment, poor health and a shorter life span than average.
Surveys indicate that 80% of Hungarians blame Roma for the existing problems, while 63% of Roma blame the majority society. continues here

Emergency accomodation for evicted Romanians

Around 20 Romanians were being housed in emergency accommodation on Tuesday night after being evicted from a house in south Belfast.

It is understood the Roma people, some of whom had recently returned to the city after fleeing earlier in the summer in the wake of a spate of racist attacks, were asked to leave the property in the university area after a dispute with a landlord.

Social services and the police were involved in efforts to find them temporary lodgings for the night

More than 100 Romanians left Northern Ireland in June after racists targeted their south Belfast homes. After a period back in eastern Europe, a number of them returned to the city.

A police spokesman said officers had been at the property since early afternoon after being called to assist in a civil matter. He said police were trying to establish if any criminal offence had been committed. continues here

Hindus urge Pope to undertake cause of Roma of Czech Republic

Hindus and Jews have asked Pope Benedict to take-up the cause of Roma people of Czech Republic during his upcoming apostolic journey on September 26-28, who they said, were facing apartheid like conditions.

Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a joint statement in Nevada today, Mostly originating from India, Roma people migrated to Europe starting around 11 century.said that Roma people in Czech Republic reportedly faced violent attacks, stereotyping, racism, prejudice, growing gap between Roma and other Czechs, fear, beatings, poor quality housing, systemic employment and overall discrimination, persecution, throwing of Molotov cocktails, social exclusion, segregated schools, forced sterilization, marginalization; refused service at restaurants, stores, discos, etc.; municipalities-towns failing to support them; and the state being unwilling or unable to offer protection.

During this trip, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will go to Prague and meet Czech President, civil and political authorities, diplomatic corps, members of the academic community, visit “Infant Jesus of Prague”, hold an ecumenical meeting, etc. He will also visit Brno and Stará Boleslav.

Zed and Freirich further said that it was almost sinful and morally unjustifiable for religious people to just ignore Roma face daily apartheid and not raise concern. Pope, being the world’s largest and most influential religious leader, would be very effective in raising the issue of maltreatment of Roma of Czech Republic during this visit.

Leviticus 19: 33-34 says, "When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you. You shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."

Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, and Rabbi Freirich were hopeful that Pope would not stay apathetic and silent spectator when fellow Roma brothers-sisters were reportedly facing blatant human rights violations in Czech Republic. continues here

Romanian fraudsters use trafficked babies and children for multi-million pound UK benefit scam

Babies and young children are being trafficked into Britain by foreign criminals and used to make fraudulent benefits claims, an investigation has found.

Forged immigration documents and employment records are used in the multi-million pound scam.

In many cases the children are taken from families with the knowledge of their parents, the probe found.

Trafficked: Gypsy children in the Romanian town of Tandarei, which has been linked to fraudulent benefit claims in the UK

They are trained in street crime and placed with unrelated adults to enable fake benefit claims to be paid into accounts controlled by the trafficker, according to the Sunday Times

A special team set up to investigate the problem in London has identified 119 potential child trafficking victims in the capital with more than 1,500 convictions between them.

Operation Golf is a Metropolitan Police investigation into a Romanian crime network believed to control a human trafficking ring.

Some of the suspects can be traced to a town in Tandarei which has a large Roma gypsy population.

Over the past five years, the town has prospered with an emerging class of 'nouveau riche' gypsies.

A Daily Mail investigation last year found Tanderei transformed from a village where horses and carts were the only form of transportation to a place of expensive cars and glitzy mansions.

Earlier this month four suspected child victims of trafficking from Romania were taken into foster care as part of a Met swoop.

More than 20 addresses in Westminster, Enfield, Haringey and Redbridge were visited and evidence of benefit crime in excess of £100,000 was found, the force said.

Fraudulent claims for housing benefit, tax credits and child benefit supplement revenue from other criminal activities such as ATM fraud, pickpocketing and shoplifting.

Anthony Steen MP, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on trafficking of women and children, told the Sunday Times: 'This is an appalling scandal of desperately poor people being trafficked here to siphon off money from the benefits system. The current checks are totally inadequate and there needs to be an EU-wide response.

'HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions need to get a grip.'

A spokesman for the HMRC said any type of fraud was taken 'extremely seriously' and there were a range of checks in place throughout the period of the claim including checking authenticity of documents.

'All tax credit claims are subject to the same risk assessment regardless of the nationality of the claimant or claimants and if fraud is suspected payment is stopped,' he said.

'In the most serious cases prosecutions for the criminal offence of tax credit fraud will be considered. continues here

POLICE 'MUST RECRUIT GYPSIES'

POLICE forces across the country are being told to recruit gypsies in a plan that could put the public in danger, MPs warned last night.

Senior officers are so concerned about hitting the new quotas they have been inviting young travellers to their training colleges. But while gypsy and traveller groups gave a “wholehearted welcome” to the plan, political campaigners last night condemned the scheme as “utter nonsense”.

An idea of the Association of Police Authorities, called Local Employment Targets For Under-Represented Groups, the scheme says police forces have a duty to reflect the communities they serve.

But furious Conservative MP Philip Davies said: “I absolutely despair, this is utter nonsense.

“It should be irrelevant whether police officers are black, white, gay, straight, muslim or Christian, gypsy or not. The only consideration should be whether they are people who can uphold the law without fear or favour.

“Furthermore, this is potentially dangerous because police forces could end up recruiting people who might not be the best people, just to meet their quota.”

Mr Davies, who represents Shipley in West Yorkshire, added: “The police were branded institutionally racist a few years ago, now they are becoming institutionally politically correct.”

John Midgley, of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, is also astounded by the gypsies plan, dubbed “lucky heather and handcuffs” by critics.

“It is absolutely astounding that police authorities should get involved in political correctness to this degree,” he said.

“What we want is the best possible policemen, not policemen appointed by a tick-box culture.

“How ridiculous it is for them to suggest that the police force needs to be representative of the society in which we live.

“On that basis, ultimately they would want to employ criminals as police officers as a proportion of society is made up of criminals.”

Mark Wallace, campaign director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “People want their police to be picked because they are the best for the job, not because of their ethnicity or background.

“Victims of crime just want the criminal caught, they don’t care what ethnic group the officer comes from.”

The Police Federation, which represents 124,000 rank-and-file officers across England and Wales up to the rank of Chief Inspector, says it is concerned that recruitment standards are not lowered to make sure each force gets enough gypsies pounding the beat.

Vice-chairman Simon Reed said:

“If targets are set this must be for the right reason, not just lip-service and there must certainly be no lowering of standards by forces in order to meet them.”

However, Emma Nuttall, a spokeswoman for Friends, Families And Travellers continues here

It all seems just a tad late to me, a little late given the horse has already bolted, and as for lowering standards in order to meet targets well…
Our police force or what now passes for it has become merely a quasi-militia, an instrument of tyranny, to complain now of “institutional political correctness” for that state was reached some time ago and you all said nothing, merely allowed leftists the field and dam the wishes of the people. Blacks achieved a considerable amount by rioting if I remember, whereas non-rioting whites were pilloried, it would seem to me that whites suffer in all ways due to their lack of a voice ,be that voice political or indeed rather more militant. Mr and Mrs Average quite simply wish to live in peace, amongst their own with their own culture, whereas there are those that enforce and enforce again an unworkable agenda, why even amongst non-whites tensions exist yet we have a drive to inflict such stupidity upon the police force, I’m afraid that at one time the people respected the police however times they are a changing.

Outrage as council makes pupils stand on chairs and pledge to be nice to gypsy children

Villagers opposing plans for a travellers site have accused a council of attempting to 'brainwash' their children. 

Pupils aged between six and 11 were requested to stand up and promise to 'welcome newcomers' and not bully them. 

The incident happened at a workshop for youngsters that was part of Local Democracy Week, where talks were organised by Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council. 

A large proportion of the scores of children present were from Spooners Row Primary School, near Wymondham, Norfolk. 

Residents there are battling plans by South Norfolk District Council to build a permanent travellers' site with eight pitches. 

One parent, who asked not to be named, said: 'It appears as if the council was targeting children with propaganda to try to get them on side. My first thought was that it was disgusting to target children in such an underhand way when so many people oppose the new site.' 

Another parent said: 'It's out of order that the council has done this.' 

They added: 'If I had been there I would have stood up and said, "Stop this". It's in breach of the children's rights, surely?' 

Another parent complained the workshop was planting thoughts about bullying into the minds of children who had probably not thought of it. 

The primary school's headmaster, Simon Wakeman, has made an official complaint to the council. 

He said yesterday that a council official connected with the plans for the travellers' camp had been at the workshop-The two people taking the workshop asked the children if they wanted to stand up and make a pledge,' he said. 

'None of the children stood up because I suspect they felt awkward, but the pledge was read out anyway. 

'They were asked to make a series of promises to be kind to gipsy and traveller children, welcome them into the community and not bully them. The children were encouraged to put their fingers in the air or their hands on their hearts to signify their acceptance.' 

He added that he supported talks to 'build bridges in society', but opposed having children make pledges, particularly in light of their parents' anxiety over the travellers' site. 

Mr Wakeman said the workshop had left the school in an 'invidious position' as it had gone to lengths to remain objective about the proposals but parents were now questioning its neutral stance. 

The talk, on October 17, was one of several on offer to schoolchildren at the council's offices in Long Stratton. Headmasters chose which ones their pupils attended. 

No one from the Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council was available to comment yesterday.  continues here

Poll: Half of Czechs would resent having Romani neighbour

 Almost half of Czechs would resent it to have a Romany for a neighbour, which is along with Italy the largest number of respondents among all European Union member states, according to a Eurobarometer survey released Tuesday.


In all, 47 percent of respondents in the Czech Republic gave an affirmative answer when asked whether it would be unpleasant for them to have a Romany for a neighbour, and ten percent gave negative answers, which is the least in all 27 EU countries.

In Italy, there was also 47 percent of affirmative answers while 14 percent said they would not mind having a Romany for a neighbour. continues here