Publications

Weekly Mail n° 297

• News from ENAR
• News from other networks
• Progressive stories on diversity
• News from Europe
• European institutions
• United Nations 
• Roma issues
• Reports
• Conferences
• Calls for Papers
• Vacancies
• Competitions

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• ENAR publishes piece ahead of Human Rights Day in Parliament Magazine

ENAR contributed to the latest issue of Parliament Magazine (of 5 December) denouncing the fact that ethnic and religious minorities’ human rights are doubly violated in the current climate. Their human rights to non-discrimination, healthcare and education are constantly denied across Europe, but they are also denied the human right to life and security of their person. And instead of protecting ethnic and religious minorities against far-right terrorist violence, police authorities have engaged in ethnic profiling of these very minorities. In this context, ENAR calls for a new human rights perspective. Read more

• ENAR press release: People of African descent’s experiences of racism need to be recognized

On the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on 2 December, ENAR called for recognition of the specific forms of racism and discrimination suffered by people of African descent. The slave trade inflicted huge moral and material damage on African peoples and set in motion a unique form of systematic discrimination against people of African descent, which continues to this day. The dehumanization of black people and racist theories devising a hierarchy of races based on skin color were the ideological foundations of slavery in Europe and still shape the prejudices of the majority population towards black people today. Read More

• ENAR co-signs joint letter with FEANTSA and European NGOs calling for an EU Homelessness Strategy

The European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless, in conjunction with a number of European NGOs including ENAR, has written a letter to Koos Richelle, the current Director General for the European Commission’s EuropeAid Cooperation Office, and László Andor, the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, reminding them that a large majority of MEPs recently adopted a Resolution calling for an EU homelessness strategy. The European Parliament thus sent out a strong political message that homelessness is an urgent issue, on which the EU must step up its co-ordination and support of Member States’ policies. The onus is now on the European Commission to take this on board and transform this message into concrete action. Read More

• ENAR Greece calls for support for trial of perpetrators of racial attack

On 12 December, the three members of the illegal organization who racially attacked a group of Afghan refugees at Agios Panteleimonas, will go on trial. Similar incidents occur frequently in the city centre and the suburbs. ENAR Greece stands by the victims of the attack and demands an exemplary sentence of the guilty. They also call on as many organizations as possible to support their call. For more information, contact Mohammadi Yonous (Greek Forum of Refugees): 0030 6976384299 or Nikodemos Maina Kiniwa (ASANTE): 0030 6934634757.

• ENAR Belgium round table on social inclusion

• EAPN: EU in jeopardy: Prioritize Solidarity and an Inclusive Europe 2020

In advance of the EU Council meeting on 8 and 9 December, EAPN has sent a letter to EU Prime Ministers outlining their proposals for a way out of the crisis which prioritizes solidarity and an inclusive Europe 2020 Strategy. EAPN highlighted in its letter the result of the recent Eurobarometer Survey (28 November) which gives a damning picture of what EU citizens think about EU actions including the substantial fall in the number of people who think the EU has a positive impact (78-62% in 2009, now 67-48%). Read More

• Amnesty International: Danish EU presidency must make a difference on human rights

Announcing its eleven-point human rights recommendations to Denmark before the start of its six-month European Union presidency, Amnesty International has challenged the Danish Government to galvanize the EU into making a major difference on human rights.Without a system which allows the key players to engage purposefully with each other on human rights violations committed in EU countries, Amnesty International believes the Union's credibility will only deteriorate further, which would also affect its external relations. The organization considers that this thinking should be reflected in the new EU human rights strategy. Amnesty International has tasked the Danish presidency to keep pressing for a strategy which commits the institutions and all EU countries to a joint, feasible project that is both ambitious and realistic. Read More

• 85 NGOs join ECRE and Amnesty Europe to call on States to end detention of children for immigration purposes

With the meeting of UN Member States to commemorate the anniversaries of the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness taking place next week, European NGOs have made a resounding call on their governments to pledge to end the detention of children for immigration purposes. The supporting organisations, 85 NGOs in 15 countries, firmly believe that children do not belong in detention and that States should cease this practice. This campaign is part of the global campaign initiated by the International Detention Coalition. Read More

PROGRESSIVE STORIES ON DIVERSITY

Racism is a learned behaviour and often, it is learned when children are very young. Children are quick to notice and mimic adult responses to people that are different from themselves in the world around them – whether these differences are physical, social or cultural. Early childhood educators in Berlin have developed an innovative approach to cultural education for teachers and child care workers working with children as young as two years old. The Kinderwelten program uses story-telling and role-playing to help even the youngest children adapt positively to the ethnic and racial diversity that is increasingly part of their classroom and community. Read More

• London: Making Museums A Hub For Integration

• Working to counter biased political discourses in the US

Dublin City Council unanimously passed a motion on Monday 6th December to support the introduction for an Earned Regularisation scheme for undocumented migrants in Ireland. The motion introduced by Councillor Rebecca Moynihan drew cross part support and deemed to practical and reasonable solution.Councilors acknowledged the plight of undocumented migrants, in particular children and the need to uphold human rights in Ireland and to remember the undocumented Irish in other parts of the world. Read More

• Right wing extremist violence on the rise in Bulgaria

Since the 1990s, nationalism has become a major part of politics and society in Bulgaria. Racist violence, too, is becoming more and more a part of everyday life. The state, however, is doing little to counteract this. Soccer hooligans beat up Roma youth after a game. An Afghan refugee is assaulted just because he has dark skin. Following a protest march of the openly xenophobic party Ataka against a mosque in Sofia, violence breaks out between members of the party and practicing Muslims. Members of another right-wing party together with hooligans attack a Jehovah's Witnesses prayer house and beat up the people inside. These are just individual incidents of extremist violence that have occurred in the past year in Bulgaria, an alarming escalation of violence against ethnic and religious minorities that was pointed out by the Bulgarian section of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in their latest report. Read More

• EU lack of support for racism year criticized

The international year to spotlight racism against people of African descent is ending, and the head of the organizing committee lashed out Tuesday at many countries, especially the 27 European Union members, for their lack of support. Macedonian human rights expert Mirjana Najchevska, who chairs the committee, said the year's activities were held mainly in Latin American countries. The goal in 2011 was "to fight the invisibility of people of African descent" and acknowledge discrimination against them dating back to slavery, she told the closing high-level General Assembly meeting. "I do not think that the commemoration activities matched either the importance of the goal or even the proposed extensive list of possible activities," Najchevska said. "Especially concerning is the very poor support from the EU countries and the absence of more significant contribution of some regional organizations" like the Council of Europe. Read More  

• High-Level Meeting on Disability: Presidents of Commission, Parliament and European Council join forces with the European Disability Forum

Leaders of the European Union institutions on 6 December came together for the first time with the European Disability Forum to discuss issues facing the estimated 80 million Europeans with disabilities. Presidents José Manuel Barroso (European Commission), Jerzy Buzek (European Parliament), Herman Van Rompuy (European Council) as well as European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU's Justice Commissioner, met with pan-European representatives of the disabled community. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, stated: “The European Union must be attentive to the situation of people with disabilities. The European Disability Strategy sets an ambitious agenda for the next 10 years. The EU remains committed to empowering people with disabilities so that they can enjoy their full rights, and benefit fully from participating in society and the economy." Read More

• Commission publishes communication on intra-EU solidarity in the field of asylum

The European Commission presented on 2 December a communication on “enhanced intra-EU solidarity in the field of asylum” proposing to improve asylum systems through legislation, practical cooperation, and a better use of EU funding mechanisms. According to the European Commission, the improvement of solidarity mechanisms should be reached by making the supportive role of the newly established European Asylum Support Office more effective and by increasing the amount of funds available to Member States. The Commission also proposes to encourage the relocation of beneficiaries of international protection amongst EU Member States, through financial assistance. Read More 

• Landmark UNHCR conference opens with appeal for the world's forcibly displaced, stateless

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres on 7 December opened the largest conference of its kind in UNHCR's 60-year history with an appeal for urgent reinforcing of the international system that deals with the world's millions of stateless people and forcibly displaced. In his opening address to the ministerial meeting in Geneva's Palais des Nations, Guterres warned that a succession of political crises and the global economic downturn were contributing to a significantly more challenging environment for protecting people who are forced to flee their homes. And he took a swipe at those playing on public uncertainty and anxiety to promote xenophobia. Read More

• Bulgaria needs full-scale approach for integrating Roma - Minister

Bulgaria needs to establish a full-scale approach for the integration of its Roma minority, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov has stated. It is crucial for Bulgaria to make good use of EU programs for Roma integration, Tsvetanov pointed out during a debate dedicated to the role of local authorities in the country's national Roma integration strategy. Tsvetanov, who is the chairman of Bulgaria's National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Demographic Issues within the Council of Ministers, pointed out that the integration of Roma is a key topic on EU's agenda that needs to be tackled with concrete policies. Read More

• Romedia Foundation: New Film UPROOTED - Children's Perspectives on Europe's repatriation Policies

In October 2010, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany have "utterly failed". From the perspective of children like Anita, Sedat and Nasmija, born and raised in Germany by parents who had fled Kosovo in the 1990s, the statement makes no sense. For them, there is no question: they are German. Going back and forth between Germany and Kosovo, Uprooted brings the voice of Romani youths into the debate on immigration in Europe. Read More

• Thousands sign call against Roma inclusion strategy

A protest statement against the Czech government's strategy of Romany inclusion, initiated by the Association of Special Teachers, has been signed by about 23,500 people, the association's head Jiri Pilar told CTK on 2 December. The strategy for 2011-2015 favours only a single group of citizens, Pilar said. According to the strategy, Romany children from socially excluded locations should attend kindergarten compulsorily and for free and receive subsidies for transport fee, food, aids or school trips. "Paradoxically, the strategy further escalates the tense atmosphere between individual groups of citizens in effort to improve social problems," the statement says. The strategy prefers Romanies at the expense of other kids that need similar support. Read More  

Migrants' voices must be heard in today's all too often biased, polarized and negative debate on migration, says IOM's World Migration Report 2011: Communicating Effectively about Migration. The report states that although we live in an era of the greatest human mobility in recorded history, with greater acknowledgement that migration is one of the defining features of our contemporary world, it remains one of the most misunderstood issues of our time. It, therefore, calls for a fundamental shift in the way we communicate about migration, especially during economic downturns when political discourse, media reports and public opinion on the nature, purpose and socio-economic impact of migration tend to be negative. Read more

• From Segregation to Inclusion report

This new report by Equality, a leading UK charity working with Roma who migrated to the UK, analyses the impact of mainstream education in the UK on Roma pupils who had previously studied at de facto or special schools in the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Between March and September 2011, Equality carried out research among Roma of Czech and Slovak nationality who had migrated with their families to Leicester, Chatham, Rotherham, Wolverhampton, Southend-on-Sea, Peterborough, London and Derby in the United Kingdom. It was found that 85% of the pupils interviewed had been previously placed in a special school,de factosegregated school or predominantly Roma kindergarten in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Read More 

• Migreurop to present its annual report on the externalisation of migratory control

Migreurop is holding a conference on 21 December in Brussels, together with Belgian organisations CIRE, CNCD and the Ligue des droits de l’homme to present its new annual report “At the margins of Europe: externalisation of migratory controls” as well as its main activities on these issues during 2012. Read More (in French only)

• Conference: ‘Transforming Gender Orders: Intersections of Care, Family and Migration’

• European Diversity & Inclusion Congress: Special Christmas Participation fee

• Call For Papers: Special Edition of the European Journal of Homelessness

In recent years, there has been growing evidence of diverse types of housing exclusion and homelessness among migrant populations across Europe. This special edition of the European Journal of Homelessness seeks to foster the dissemination of research on migrant homelessness in Europe, in a context of broader demographic changes. Therefore, the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless welcomes in particular interdisciplinary and comparative papers that explore the scale, trends and nature of migrant homelessness across different EU countries and/or regions, with a specific emphasis on Southern Europe. To be considered for inclusion in this special edition of the Journal, papers must be submitted to Dr. Eoin O’Sullivan before the 16th December. Read More

Equinet, the European Network of Equalities Bodiesis seeking to recruit a new Communications officer within the Secretariat team. The Communications Officer will be responsible for providing effective communications and information services to Equinet’s members on issues relevant to the European equal treatment and non-discrimination agenda, and supporting and contributing to the work of the Brussels-based Equinet Secretariat. Applications for the position are due by 21 December. Read More

• Vacancy: Research assistant - International Migration Institute

International Migration Institute (IMI) at the University of Oxford are searching for suitablepart-time, short-term research assistantsto form a small, skilled, and closely collaborating THEMIS survey team for their Ukrainian migrant survey group. Candidates must speak both English and Ukrainian, ideally have a background in the social sciences, and have experience in conducting face-to-face interviews. The ad hoc survey research assistance would be requiredpart–timefor approximately 2-3 months. Those interested should send their CV, along with a covering letter(no longer than one side of A4) to the International Migration Institute by3 January. Read More