Publications

Weekly Mail n° 206

20 November 2009

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  • ENAR publication on the Lisbon Treaty’s implication for anti-racism

ENAR has launched a new publication entitled ‘The EU Lisbon Treaty: What implications for anti-racism’ which explores the potential implications of the Lisbon Treaty for fundamental rights protection and anti-racism. In addition to providing an insight into the main changes to be brought about by the Lisbon Treaty, it will also be a useful advocacy tool for NGOs seeking to combat racism and discrimination on the ground. Read more

  • ENAR press release for the EU Equality Summit

ENAR issued a press release on the occasion of the third EU Equality Summit on 16 and 17 November, in which it also participated, calling for the Summit to result in real and concrete outcomes and to create momentum to reinforce protection against discrimination on all grounds in Europe. It stressed that the Summit was a key opportunity to make sure that the principles of equality and non-discrimination, which feature prominently in the new Lisbon Treaty’s provisions, start being taken seriously. Read more

  • KISA art competition for Human Rights Day
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day on 10 December, an art competition is being launched by KISA - Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism, member of ENAR Cyprus, and the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation. It aims to promote and highlight the importance of Human Rights Day. Entries can be submitted in two categories: photography and painting/poster. The winning entries as well as a selection of the best artwork submitted will be presented at a ceremony on 10 December 2009. The deadline for applications is 2 December 2009. Read more
 
 
  • ETUC and Social Platform urge for more effective action on equality

At the Equality Summit organised by the Swedish Presidency in Stockholm on 16-17 November, the European trade union movement and social NGOs presented a joint declaration to representatives of Member States and EU institutions to combat discrimination in the EU. In their view, equality and non-discrimination policies are an indispensable ingredient of any sustainable perspective for economies, societies and labour markets in Member States and the European Union.The declaration, titled “Fight discrimination and guarantee equality for all”, was issued by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and Social Platform. Read more

  • European refugee organisations file complaint against Greece

On 10 November the Dutch Council for Refugees, the Finnish Refugee Advice Centre, PRO ASYL and Refugee and Migrant Justice submitted a complaint with the European Commission against Greece for failure to comply with Community Law. The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and 20 other refugee organisations support this complaint. Greece is accused of violating EU asylum law and failing to provide adequate protection for asylum seekers. The complaint points out that access to asylum is problematic. It also indicates that the Greek asylum system violates EU asylum law with regard to reception conditions, procedural safeguards, the treatment of unaccompanied minors, detention and the risk of refoulement. Read more

  • SOLIDAR briefing: “From welfare to empowerment and participation”
Based on its members’ experiences of working with socially and economically disadvantaged people, SOLIDAR puts forward the following recommendations to EU and national decision makers on social services of general interest: develop and defend adequate legal and policy frameworks at European level and within Member States for accessible, affordable and quality social services; encourage employment creation and the growth potential of the social, health and education services sector; implement the Commission Recommendation on Active Inclusion. Read more
 
 

The heated Dutch debate about ethnic minorities and their integration could leave the impression that immigration in the Netherlands has been a complete failure. But a government report released this week says some progress has been made in the past ten years. According to integration minister Eberhard Van der Laan "integration has been largely successful," although he added that "for many it has not". Van der Laan (Labour) sent an annual report with integration statistics and a letter with the government's vision on the subject to parliament. In his letter Van der Laan offered no specific new measures or policy changes. Instead it was meant to show the government's current thinking about integration, Van der Laan said. Read more

  • Five NGOs open a refugee camp in the heart of Brussels

Five NGOs have opened a refugee camp in the heart of Brussels on the morning of 18 November. CIRE, Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Medecins du Monde and Caritas International have stated in a press release that the camp was opened in the absence of concrete solutions for housing asylum seekers whose applications are being processed. Read more (in French)

The local council of the northern Italian town of Coccaglio is dreaming of a White Christmas this year. But Bing Crosby's schmaltzy song has nothing to do with their plans. Instead, local officials from the xenophobic Northern League party are relying on some seasonal ethnic cleansing to purify the town. They are launching an officially-sanctioned drive to identify and expel as many non-Europeans as possible before Christmas. Operation "White Christmas", as it has been dubbed, will see officials calling at the homes of all 400 or so of the town's extracomunitari - as foreigners from outside the EU are known in Italy - between now and 25 December in order to scrutinise their papers. Those whose residence permits are found to have expired six months or more before, and who cannot prove that they have attempted to renew them, will be shown the door. Read more

  • Informant goes on trial for Neo-Nazi radio station in Germany

In an embarrassing situation for Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, one of its paid informants in the neo-Nazi scene went on trial this week for running a radio station that called for the nuclear destruction of Israel. The 31-year-old woman, Sandra F., is among seven neo-Nazis accused of running the internet radio station European Brotherhood Radio, which also carried instructions on how to build bombs that used broken glass as deadly shrapnel. It also played neo-Nazi music and had interviews with far-right leaders. Sandra F. had been an informant for the Office of Constitutional Protection in Lower Saxony, or Verfassungsschutz, from late 2007 until she and the other accused were arrested in March. Read more

  • Far-right alliance fails to get EU parliament cash
The European Alliance of National Movements, the coalition of far-right parties formed last month in Budapest, has failed in its an attempt to get its hands on European Parliament cash, as the jumble of reactionary rightists did not manage to file the application on time. The alliance, which includes the UK's BNP, France's Front National and Hungary's Jobbik, says it wants its share of the around €11 million that the parliament hands out every year to pan-European political parties, informally known as ‘europarties'. This would have amounted to around €400,000 for the group to carry out advertising, research and campaigning atop the money MEPs already receive. While the cluster of far-righters managed to cobble together the group in Budapest on 24 October, the cut-off for 2010 funding was 1 November and so if the chamber does ultimately recognise the formation, it will still not be able to access any money until 2011. Read more
 
 
  • EU Summit: New leadership team for Europe

The top posts created by the Lisbon treaty were decided at the informal meeting of EU heads of state and government on 19 November in Brussels. Herman Van Rompuy will leave his post of Belgian Prime Minister to become the President of the European Council. He will be in charge of preparing and chairing the European Council's meetings and assuring the continuity of its work. He will also represent the EU on the international stage. Catherine Ashton, currently in charge of trade in the European Commission, will take up the post of High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. She will chair the meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council and will hold the post of Vice-President of the European Commission. Read more

At the 3rd Equality Summit on 16 and 17 November, around 300 participants representing governments, the European Commission, civil society, the social partners, the business sector and the media gathered in Stockholm to discuss how to cooperate on equal rights and opportunities. At the same time, negotiations chaired by the Swedish Presidency on a new anti-discrimination directive are ongoing. A range of issues were highlighted at the conference, including diversity in the private and public sectors and how cooperation between different actors can be improved. A seminar was also held on the role of the media with regard to diversity and equality. Read more

  • FRA Diversity Day events 2009
More than 4,500 young people are expected to come together to learn about fundamental rights and exchange views at EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s (FRA) Diversity Days in the next three weeks. This series of awareness raising events is organised by the FRA and city partners in Berlin (18 November), Barcelona (30 November) and Vienna (3 December). Read more
  • ECRI round table in Hungary: fighting racist violence and discrimination
In the framework of its Programme of action on relations with civil society, ECRI held its next table in Budapest. The main themes of this Round table were: the follow-up given to the recommendations contained in ECRI’s fourth report on Hungary; racially motivated violence; racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance in public discourse; and implementation of anti-racial discrimination legislation and policies. The meeting brought together representatives from the Government, the Parliament, the judiciary, local and regional authorities, national human rights institutions, academics, NGOs and trade unions. Read more
 

UNITED NATIONS

  • New UNICEF report on immigrant children in wealthy countries
A new report from the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre presents internationally comparable data on the situation of immigrant children in wealthy countries. The research was conducted in eight countries (Australia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States). The study provides detailed information on the situation of these children over a broad range of dimensions, including family composition, educational background, working status of parents, school and labour market participation. Read more

ROMA ISSUES

The situation of Czech Roma has not much improved 20 years after the Velvet Revolution, according to a study by the Roma organisation D˛eno. While the study says support for Roma culture and language has been a positive development, housing and labour conditions have deteriorated and extremism has risen alarmingly. According to the chair of the European Association of Roma Civic Initiatives in the Czech Republic (AROIE), Ivan Veselż, the state is primarily to blame. The Association plans to develop proposals to address the situation, Veselż said. Read more

  • Calm returns to town shaken by Jobbik-Roma clash

Life in the Hungarian town of Sajobabony returned to normal this week after people from the local Roma community clashed with supporters of radical nationalist party Jobbik and its uniformed arm, the banned Hungarian Guard. The banned organisation’s provoking a minority is unacceptable, government spokesman Domokos Szollar said. The statement also added, however, that people belonging to a minority must not react with violence even if they think they are being threatened. Local mayor Imre Nagy said tension had mounted after a public forum was held last weekend by Jobbik and the Hungarian Guard, attended by people out of town as well as locals. Read more

  • Amnesty condemns raid on gypsy camp in Italy

Amnesty International has condemned the forced eviction of a community of some 400 Roma people from a former factory in Rome’s Tiburtina district. According to media and local NGOs, around 150 police officers evicted the families from the Via Centocelle camp, in the east of the city, last week. All the community’s shelters were destroyed and around 20 Roma men were arrested. It is not known what charges they face. Amnesty International has urged the Rome authorities to ensure that all the families who were forcibly evicted are provided with adequate alternative accommodation as a matter of urgency, and compensation for all possessions they lost when they were forcibly evicted. Read more

  • Roma education to get crucial boost in funding

At an international donor conference hosted by the Open Society Institute, the World Bank and the European Economic and Social Committee on 12 November, donors swung their financial support behind education for the Roma, Europe’s largest minority population. The €25.5 million in funding commitments announced by donors is targeted for the Roma Education Fund (REF) and will provide the essential ingredients needed for children to succeed in school: scholarships, school meals, teacher training and academic support. The added financial support will also help governments develop stronger national policies for Roma inclusion. Read more

  • Eurodiaconia consultation on working with Roma and Sinti
Eurodiaconia recently held its first consultation with members on working with Roma and Sinti people. The aim of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for exchange and discussion on this topic, hear from some Roma experts and try to draw some conclusions for the future work of Eurodiaconia. Participants gave short presentations on current Roma projects and some of the challenges they faced. A report of the consultation is available. Read more
 
 

Hate crimes continue to be a serious problem in many OSCE participating States, concludes a report published by OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 16 November.The report, launched on the occasion of International Tolerance Day, says there were numerous instances of intimidation, threats, vandalism, assault, arson and murder during 2008. It also stresses that the full extent of hate crimes remains obscured by a lack of reliable data. The report, published annually, provides statistics and other information on the extent and types of hate crimes, as well as government responses. It is based on data received from OSCE participating States, inter-governmental agencies and civil society groups. Read more

  • Council of Europe handbook on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights

This handbook is intended to assist judges, lawyers and prosecutors take account of the many requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights - both explicit and implicit - for the criminal process when interpreting and applying Codes of Criminal Procedure and comparable or related legislation. It does so through extracts from key rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and the former European Commission of Human Rights dealing with complaints about violations of Convention rights and freedoms in the course of the investigation, prosecution and trial of alleged offences, as well as in the course of appellate and various other proceedings linked to the criminal process. Read more

  • ENGAGE Issue 4 of the Social Platform
Issue 4 of the Social Platform's quarterly four-page magazinehas recently been published. It features a timeline displaying the activities of the Platform over the past and next quarter, together with relevant EU activity for context; an interview with Linda Freimane, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe and interesting statistics on European society. Read more
 
 

  • 2nd Regional Practice Exchange meeting of the Platform for Intercultural Europe

The 2nd Regional Practice Exchange meeting on intercultural capacity-building of the Platform for Intercultural Europe will take place on 20-21 November 2009 in Vienna, Austria. It is hosted by IG Kultur Österreich, an Austrian network of 320 cultural associations, and member of the Platform for Intercultural Europe. IG Kultur has adapted the general concept to its specific context. The aim of the Regional Practice Exchanges is to advance the exchange of experiences between non-governmental organisations regarding intercultural strategies. The objectives of the conference are to locate domains of self-organisation and self-representation, to exchange experience and to specify certain terms. Read more

  • CLIP high-level meeting on intercultural relations and related policies

The 'Cities for Local Integration Policies for Migrants' (CLIP) Network will be holding a High Level Meeting on 30 November and 1 December 2009 in Brussels entitled “Intercultural approaches to community-building and cohesion in European cities - what can European integration policy learn from cities on how to manage migration and diversity in times of economic slump?”. This meeting will examine new evidence regarding intercultural relations and related policies; with result of studies from CLIP, the Open Society Institute, the Network of European Foundations and the Fundamental Rights Agency. Read more

  • Conference on right-wing extremism in Europe

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Germany is organising an international conference entitled ‘Is Europe on the 'right' Path? Right-wing Extremism in Europe’ on 30 November 2009 in Berlin, Germany. It will host a number of renowned experts on right-wing extremism from all over Europe. What danger does the extreme right therefore pose? How do they show and organize themselves in Europe and her regions? What forms and strategies can we identify and how can we effectively combat it? Is Europe on the “right” path? The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung wants to broaden the debate about right-wing extremism and how to fight against it by opening the discussion to European perspectives. Read more

  • Cities of Migration webinar: youth participation and migrant voice
Cities of Migration is organising a webinar on 1 December 2009 which will focus on “Youth participation and migrant voice”. Young people make up a significant percentage of international migrants and an increasing proportion of today’s urban populations. Yet, a recent report laments that relatively little is known about the young migrant experience. The webinar will examine projects from Oldham, Paris, London and Lisbon that look at the active participation of young people in community development and their views on identity and belonging. Read more
 
 
  • Website of the 2010 European Year Against Poverty online
The campaign website for the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion is now online. It contains information about the Year, activities at European and national level, and the Ambassadors of the Year. Read more
 
 
  • AGE is recruiting a Health and ICT-Accessibility Policy Officer

AGE is recruiting a new Health and ICT-Accessibility Policy Officer (full-time). Main responsibilities will include: keep AGE members informed about EU policy developments in the field of healthy ageing, ICT and ageing and accessibility of the built environment and of the information society; support AGE Expert Groups on Health and ICT/Accessibility; draft position papers in consultation with AGE experts and members and under the supervision of the Director. The deadline for applications is 7 December 2009. Read more

  • ERRC is recruiting a Human Rights Trainer

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) seeks a Human Rights Trainer to coordinate, develop and implement ERRC human rights training programmes to enhance the capacity of Romani activists and other relevant actors for the promotion of human rights respect of Roma. S/he coordinates the ERRC internship programme, oversees the implementation of bi-annual ERRC Roma Rights Workshops and coordinates and contributes to the development and implementation of all other ERRC training activities as required. The deadline for applications is 10 December 2009. Read more

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