NEWSLETTER Anno 5, n. 14 - 16 ottobre 2007

["Circolo Africa - Ancona" <segreteria at circoloafrica.org>]

NEWSLETTER DEL CENTRO DI DOCUMENTAZIONE E RICERCA PER LA CITTADINANZA ATTIVA

Anno 5, n. 14 - 16 ottobre 2007

A cura di Gabriele Sospiro
Con la collaborazione di: 
Gabriele Sospiro (GS)
Paolo Sospiro (PS)
Jiske van Loon (JvL)
Bengu Bayram (BB)
Tobias Gehring (TG)
Dora Ioannou (DI)

*************************************************************
INDICE 
1.   CORSO ONLINE
2.   ATTIVITÀ DEL CENTRO
3.   PRESENTAZIONI AL CIRCOLO AFRICA
4.   THE WALL ON THE WATER
5.   FIERA DI ANCONA
6.   JOURNEY OF PEACE IN MOLLINA
7.   MIGRANT INTEGRATION POLICY INDEX
8.   LOESJE: ABOUT LOYALTY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
9.   TIME OF THE GYPSIES, TIME FOR GYPSIES!
10.  RADIOAFRICA.EU


**********************
1. CORSO ONLINE
**********************
Con l’inizio dell’autunno il Circolo Africa in collaborazione con
l’Università di Macerata organizzerà due corsi online su immigrazione e
cooperazione internazionale. Struttura del corso, modalità di valutazione e
certificati post corso sono ancora in fase di organizzazione. 
Per eventuali
informazione inviare una mail a 
segreteria at circoloafrica.org con oggetto: CORSO ONLINE IMMIGRAZIONE oppure
COOPERAZIONE INTERNAZIONALE

************************
2. ATTIVITÀ DEL CENTRO
************************
Il Centro di Documentazione e Ricerca per la Cittadinanza Attiva è aperto il
Martedì e Giovedì dalle 10 alle 13.00 e dalle 15.00 alle 18.00. Se avete
libri da proporre così che noi possiamo acquistarli fatecelo sapere! Se
state facendo una tesi di laurea o ricerche sull'immigrazione, sull'economia
politica, o su temi riguardanti il terzo settore, etc. presso il nostro
Centro potete ottenere informazioni ad hoc previa prenotazione telefonica.
Per contatti ed eventuali prenotazioni 071/2072585

**************************************************
3. PRESENTAZIONI AL CIRCOLO
**************************************************
Nelle prossime settimane, presso il circolo culturale africa si terranno
delle presentazioni organizzate e presentate dai volontari europei. 

PROGRAMMA:

MARTEDI, il 23.10.2007 alle ore 17:00
Presentazione dei risultati della ricerca sull’integrazione della seconda
generazione dei migranti nelle Marche.
Gabriele Sospiro

MARTEDI, il 30.10.2007
Il ruolo dei migranti nello sviluppo dei paesi di origine: il caso dei
tunisini.
La ricerca si propone di individuare le variabili che incidono nella
decisione, da parte dei migranti, ad investire o trasferire denaro verso il
paese di origine ed in particolare ai parenti in Patria.
Paolo Sospiro

Vi aspettiamo!!!

**************************************************
4. THE WALL ON THE WATER
**************************************************

To hinder refugees and illegal immigrants from coming to Europe, the EU
violates valid law as well as minimal standards of humanitarian comportment.


In theory, the situation is more than clear: „The principle of
non-refoulement – the prohibition of a compelled return to a country in
which a person is menaced by persecution – is a part of the common law of
nations and thus binding for every state” , the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees comments on the Geneva Refugee Convention (GRC).
The Convention destines in article 33.1: “No Contracting State shall expel
or return ('refouler') a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers
of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of
his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or
political opinion.”
In praxis, things look quite different. A 2007 expert opinion by the
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, initiated by amnesty
international, Stiftung Pro Asyl and Forum Menschenrechte , reports on cases
in which European and other states try to bypass the GRC’s provisions in
order to prevent refugees from arriving at their destination: “According to
the French laws, France could exert constitutional law as sovereign in
[areas within harbours and airports which the French government declared to
international zones] without being bound to the obligations of the law of
nations”    – a model very similar to this one is being practiced in
Australia. And the German Ministry of Domestic Affairs is quoted with the
following statement: “The refoulment prohibition of the Geneva Refugee
Commission does not […] find application on the high seas [outside the
12-miles-zone].”  Amnesty international, summing up the study, asserts:
“Europe compartmentalizes also with illegal means against immigrants and
refugees. The refugee defence designed by the EU agency FRONTEX disobeys to
the EU states’ obligations in human and refugee rights.” 
Additional information: The Geneva Refugee Convention
The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was
intended as a convention to protect European refugees after World War II. It
defines who is a refugee and guarantees certain rights to those people.
First signed in 1951, it went into effect in 1954 and is nowadays signed by
146 states, including all European. In 1967, the Protocol Relating to the
Status of Refugees removed the geographical and historical limitations.

Additional information: FRONTEX
FRONTEX, officially European Agency for the Management of Operational
Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European
Union, was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. It aims
at improving the efficiency of border controls at the EU’s external borders
by co-ordinating and assisting to the individual states’ border control
programs.
Crossing the Mediterranean Sea in boats which are brimful or dinghies which
are hardly seaworthy, refugees face most awkward treatment when getting in
contact with the European border patrols. This emerges from individual
examples collected by Pro Asyl. Refugees trying to reach Greece in a dinghy
report “that the Greek coast guards picked them up on the sea, headed
towards the open sea with the refugees on board and then exposed them in
their dinghy again which had been made sea-unworthy with knife pricks
before.”  Especially the demolition of the refugees’ boat points out that
the coast guard deliberately hazards the possible deaths of the refugees and
doesn’t care a slightest bit for their destinies. Those who do and act with
the sympathy and compassion the EU is at an enormous lack of cannot hope for
a positive reaction by the state: “On August 8, 2007, 7 Tunisian fishers
saved 44 refugees with their boats from [the refugees’] damaged dinghy [and
brought them to Lampedusa.] Now, they are the court of Agrigento (Sicily)
because of aid to illegal entry.” 
In FRONTEX’s reports, all this doesn’t appear, the only thing mattering
there are the anonymous numbers of how many refugees and illegal immigrants
could be refouled in violation of the GRC. The first phase of the project
Nautilus 2007, being operated in this year’s late July in the Maltese
waters, is summed up in the following way: “During the operational period
the total of 401 migrants were detected in the operational area in 13
incidents. A further 63 migrants were detected by the means deployed outside
the operational area. Out of this total number 166 migrants were rescued.
During the operational phase 316 migrants arrived to Malta.”  It’s almost a
waste effort to indicate that there is no word about what happened to the
absolute majority of 298 out of 464 migrants who were not “rescued” by the
FRONTEX team.
All this expresses a basic attitude in which refugees are considered less
victims deserving assistance and protection than potentially dangerous
intruders against which the EU itself deserves being protected. It is just
consistent that one of the ten main points of the Hague Program, which sets
up ten guidelines for EU policy for the time from 2005 to 2010, is named
“Developing integrated management of the Union’s external borders”, with the
word “management” being used with the meaning of protection – actually, the
official German translation by the EU writes protection instead of
management. Certainly, the EU wants to serve its citizens by this. Yet, as
good as this intention is in general, it must not be put in practice in a
way which includes making other people suffer, abandoning compassion and
violating fundamental principles such as art. 14.1 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which says: “Everyone has the right to seek and
to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”
 
(TG)

DIE MAUER AUF DEM WASSER

Um Flüchtlinge und illegale Einwanderer daran zu hindern, nach Europa zu
kommen, verletzt die EU geltendes Recht und minimale Standards humanitären
Verhaltens.

Theoretisch ist die Situation mehr als klar: “Das Prinzip des Non-Refoulment
– des Verbots einer erzwungenen Rückkehr in ein Land, in welchem eine Person
von Verfolgung bedroht ist – ist Teil des Völkergewohnheitsrecht und daher
für jeden Staat bindend“, kommentiert der Hohe Flüchtlingskommissar der
Vereinten Nationen die Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention (GFK). Diese schreibt in
Artikel 33.1 fest: „Keiner der vertragsschließenden Staaten wird einen
Flüchtling auf irgendeine Weise über die Grenzen von Gebieten ausweisen oder
zurückweisen, in denen sein Leben oder seine Freiheit wegen seiner Rasse,
Religion, Staatsangehörigkeit, seiner Zugehörigkeit zu einer bestimmten
sozialen Gruppe oder wegen seiner politischen Überzeugung bedroht sein
würde.”
Praktisch sehen die Dinge ziemlich anders aus. Ein Gutachten des European
Center for Constitutional and Human Rights aus dem Jahr 2007, das von
amnesty international, der Stiftung Pro Asyl und dem Forum Menschenrechte in
Auftrag gegeben wurde, berichtet von Fällen, in denen europäische und andere
Staaten versuchen, die GFK-Vorschriften zu umgehen, um Flüchtlinge daran zu
hindern, ihr Ziel zu erreichen. “Gemäß den französischen Gesetzen konnte
Frankreich in diesen Zonen [Gebiete innerhalb von (Flug-) Häfen, welche die
französische Regierung zu internationalen Zonen erklärt hatte] als Souverän
Staatsgewalt ausüben, ohne an völkerrechtliche Verpflichtungen gebunden zu
sein“ – ein dem diesen sehr ähnliches Modell wird gegenwärtig in Australien
angewandt. Und das deutsche Innenministerium wird mit folgender Aussage
zitiert: „Das Refoulment-Verbot der Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention findet […]
keine Anwendung auf hoher See [außerhalb der 12-Meilen-Zone].“ In einer
Zusammenfassung der Studie behauptet amnesty international: “ Europa
schottet sich auch mit illegalen Mitteln gegen Immigranten und Flüchtlinge
ab. Die von der EU-Agentur FRONTEX konzipierte Flüchtlingsabwehr verstößt
gegen die menschen- und flüchtlingsrechtlichen Verpflichtungen der
EU-Staaten.“
Zusatzinformation: Die Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention
Das Abkommen über die Rechtsstellung der Flüchtlinge war als Konvention
gedacht, die europäische Flüchtlinge nach dem 2. Weltkrieg schützen sollte.
Es definiert, wer ein Flüchtling ist, und garantiert diesen Menschen gewisse
Rechte. Nach der Erstunterzeichnung 1951 trat es 1954 in Kraft und ist bis
heute von 146 Staaten unterzeichnet worden, darunter alle europäischen. 1967
entfernte das Protokoll über die Rechtsstellung der Flüchtlinge die
geografischen und historischen Beschränkungen.

Zusatzinformation: FRONTEX
FRONTEX, offiziell Europäische Agentur für die operative Zusammenarbeit an
den Außengrenzen, wurde 2005 gegründet und hat sein Hauptquartier in
Warschau, Polen. Es beabsichtigt, die Effizienz der Grenzkontrollen an den
Aussengrenzen der EU zu verbessern, indem die Grenzkontrollprogramme der
einzelnen Staaten unterstützt und koordiniert werden. 
Wenn Flüchtlinge, die das Mittelmeer in überfüllten Booten oder
Schlauchbooten, die kaum seetüchtig sind, überqueren, auf europäische
Grenzpatrouillen treffen, sehen sie sich höchst ungenehmer Behandlung
ausgesetzt. Dies geht aus Fallbeispielen hervor, die Pro Asyl gesammelt hat.
Flüchtlinge, die versuchten, in einem Schlauchboot nach Griechenland zu
gelangen, berichten, „dass die griechische Küstenwache sie auf dem Meer
aufgenommen hat, dann mit den Flüchtlingen an Bord die offene See ansteuerte
und sie dort wieder auf dem zuvor mit Messerstichen seeuntüchtig gemachten
Schlauchboot aussetzte.“
Insbesondere die Beschädigung des Flüchtlingsbootes hebt hervor, dass die
Küstenwache bewusst den möglichen Tod der Flüchtlinge in Kauf nimmt und sich
nicht im Geringsten um ihr Schicksal kümmert. Wer dies tut und mit dem
Mitleid und Mitgefühl handelt, an denen es der EU deutlich mangelt, kann auf
keine positive Reaktion seitens des Staats hoffen: „Am 8. August 2007
retteten 7 tunesische Fischer mit ihren Booten 44 Flüchtlinge aus ihrem
havarierten Schlauchboot [und brachten sie nach Lampedusa.] Jetzt stehen sie
in Agrigento (Sizilien) wegen Beihilfe zur illegalen Einreise vor Gericht.“ 
In den FRONTEX-Berichten taucht all dies nicht auf, das einzige, was dort
von Belang ist, sind die anonymen Nummern, wie viele Flüchtlinge im
Widerspruch zur GFK abgefangen werden konnten. Die erste Phase des Projekts
Nautilus 2007, die im späten Juli diesen Jahres in den maltesischen
Gewässern durchgeführt wurde, wird wie folgt zusammengefasst: „Während der
Operationsperiode wurden bei 13 Zwischenfällen insgesamt 401 Migranten im
Operationsgebiet aufgespürt. Weitere 63 Migranten wurden mit den Mitteln
aufgespürt, die außerhalb des Operationsgebiets angewendet wurden. Von
dieser Gesamtzahl wurden 166 Migranten gerettet. Während der Operationsphase
kamen 316 Migranten auf Malta an.“ Es ist beinahe überflüssig, darauf
hinzuweisen, dass kein Wort darüber verloren wird, was der absoluten
Mehrheit von 298 der 464 Migranten passierte, die nicht vom FRONTEX-Team
„gerettet“ wurden.
All dies drückt eine grundlegende Haltung aus, in der Flüchtlinge weniger
als Opfer angesehen werden, die Beistand und Schutz verdienen, denn als
potenziell gefährliche Eindringlinge, vor denen die EU selbst Schutz
verdient. Es ist nur folgerichtig, dass einer der zehn Hauptpunkte des
Haager Programms, das zehn Richtlinien für die EU-Politik in der Zeit von
2005 bis 2010 festlegt, „Integrierter Schutz an den Außengrenzen der Union“
heißt. Sicherlich will die EU dadurch ihren Bürgern dienen. So gut diese
Absicht im Allgemeinen jedoch ist, darf sie jedoch nicht in einer Weise
verwirklicht werden, die einschließt, anderen Leuten Leid zuzufügen,
Mitgefühl aufzugeben und fundamentale Prinzipien wie Art. 14.1 der
Allgemeinen Erklärung der Menschenrechte zu verletzen, in welchem es heißt:
„Jeder hat das Recht, in anderen Ländern vor Verfolgung Asyl zu suchen und
zu genießen.“

 
(TG)

**************************************************
5. FIERA DI ANCONA
**************************************************

This weekend we were working on the eco and equo mess in the fiera di
Ancona. There the new volunteers were responsible for the whole organization
of the stand and they had the chance to get an impression what it means to
work in public. Even if the consultation of our stand wasn’t as high as
expected we could get to know new people and inform the ones that came to
us. During the free time we walked around to discover the different and very
interesting offers of stands such as the one right next to us of an
Brazilian association that performed Capoeira shows and concerts all day
long. 
For the people that like sweets and that didn’t had the time to go to the
chocolate festival in Perugia there were lots of possibilities to taste
cacao products mainly from South America.
All in all we were happy to participate and to have an experience out of
office for some days…
We hope to be even better prepared for the next time in order to improve our
presentation.

Dieses Wochenende haben wir auf der Eco und Equo Messe in der Fiera di
Ancona gearbeitet. Die neuen Freiwilligen waren für die gesamte Organisation
des Standes verantwortlich und hatten die Gelegenheit einen Eindruck von
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit zu bekommen. Auch wenn die Konsultation unseres
Standes nicht den Erwartungen entsprach, konnten wir neue Leute kennenlernen
und Diejenigen informieren, die sich zu uns verirrten. Während der freien
Zeit liefen wir über das Messegelände um die vielen verschiedenen und
interessanten Stände zu entdecken, so wie den gleich neben unserem von einer
brasilianischen Organisation, welche uns mit Konzerten und
Capoeiravorstellungen den ganzen Tag unterhielten.
Für Süßigkeitenliebhaber, die nicht die Zeit hatten nach Perugia zum
Schokoladenfestival zu fahren, gab es an jeder Ecke die Möglichkeit
Kakaoprodukte aus Südamerika zu probieren.
Im Großen und ganzen waren wir froh an dem Event teilzunehmen und eine
Erfahrung außerhalb des Büros zu haben. Wir hoffen das nächste mal noch
optimaler vorbereitet zu sein und unsere Präsentation zu verbessern.

*****************************************************
6. JOURNEY OF PEACE IN MOLLINA
******************************************************
From 30 September until 7 October I joined the University on Youth and
Development in Mollina (Spain). The University on Youth and Development is
an activity organised by the Spanish Government (INJUVE), the North-South
Centre of the Council of Europe, the European Youth Forum (YFJ), the Spanish
Youth Council (CJE), the Latin-American Youth Forum (FLAJ) and other
international youth organisations. Young people working in youth
organisations and youth movement form all over the world come to the CEULAJ
(Euro-Latin-American Youth Centre) to discuss, train and be trained as well
as to take political action around the main issues in the global agenda. In
2000 was the first edition, so last week I participated together with about
300 other youngsters in the 8th edition. The main theme of this week was the
youth perspective on the Alliance of Civilizations process. How can youth
take part in the dialogue of civilizations and cultures? What role can they
play in global development and what can be their contribution in the
intercultural dialogue? During the week their were several training courses
and seminars going on, each attended by around 20 people. I was participant
in the seminar “Journey of Peace”, organised by the organisation Youth
Action for Peace (YAP). We had a very diverse group of people from
Palestine, Kosovo, France, Italy, Belgium, Israel, Georgia, Hungary,
Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Holland and from Spain itself. The topic
of the seminar was how to integrate young refugees through local
volunteering. 

After we had introduced ourselves and our organisations at the first day, we
could start to talk about the main subject of the seminar: refugees. At
first we talked about the difference between asylum seekers, refugees,
internally displaced people and migrants to make clear what we were talking
about. We got a lot of information about the European policies and
regulations for refugees and we concluded that Europe needs a common
European asylum system with uniform norms, rights, procedure and status. We
talked about the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and we saw that not
all countries obey to the Refugee Convention (1951, Geneva). We had
discussions based on statistics, but we also talked about feelings and the
actual, practical situation. There are around 21 million refugees in the
world. Why do they flee? How are they treated in the refugee camps and
detention centres? Which countries have to deal with the largest amount of
asylum seekers? How is the situation in Italy? How is life for an asylum
seeker in Belgium? We heard shocking things like that 60% of the children in
refugee camps outside Europe die because of malnutrition and that about 75%
of the countries that signed the Refugee Convention, do not respect the
principle of non-deportation, which says that refugees are not allowed to be
send back to their country as long as the situation there is not save
enough. UNHCR has some norms and standards for the living conditions in
detention centres and refugee camps, but these standards are very low and
are often disobeyed. So there are a lot of problems concerning the treatment
of refugees and it was interesting to talk and discuss about this. 

The second topic of the seminar was the social inclusion of refugees in the
society. Once asylum seekers are recognized as refugees, they can stay in
the country, but still they are not citizens of their city. They only have a
contemporary status of protection until their country is save again to go
back. According to this, the situation and future of the refugees is
insecure. However, it is important that the refugees are socially included
in the society. Often there is a gap between the local community and the
‘foreigners’ and it is difficult to overcome this. The local community can
be afraid and not open-minded and  towards the refugees, while the refugees
live in a culture which is new for them, far away from their family, often
in not very good conditions. It is difficult for them to find a job when
they don’t speak the language. During the seminar we talked about cultural
identity and integration and we discussed ideas about how we as volunteers
can contribute to the integration of refugees in the local community. What
can you do yourself? Of course the problem of migration is very complex. We
can’t change the fact that people have to flee from their country, but at
local level you as individual or organisation can act and try to make the
life of the refugees better. We must fight against stereotypes and
prejudices and try to make people aware of the situation of refugees. People
from different cultural backgrounds should meet and learn about and from
each other. Only then they can understand and respect each other. During the
seminar we brainstormed about ideas how to reach this. As young volunteers
we can for example organize a theatre play, volunteering service, music
event, sport competition, exhibition and so on. We had a lot of ideas and I
liked it to share my ideas with people who have the same vision and goal to
bring people from different cultures together and try to include refugees
more in the local community. 

After this seminar I really have a better idea of the reality where refugees
are living in. Before I went to Mollina I had no good idea of the laws and
regulations for asylum seekers and refugees and the actual situation in
different countries. It really touched me and I would be glad if I could
contribute to a cultural dialogue and better understanding between people. I
have always had this wish to promote diversity and tolerance, but as
individual it is difficult where to start. Now I am doing my EVS within
Circolo Culturale Africa I have the opportunity to work in this field and in
Mollina I was really convinced about the possibilities that we as young
people have to change things and make the world a little bit better. Even if
it is only on a very small scale, you can do something. We learned how to
develop and implement projects, so hopefully in the future I will use all
this information to make people look further then only their own life and
interests and to support refugees with their inclusion in the society.


(JvL)

************************************
7. MIGRANT INTEGRATION POLICY INDEX
************************************

Some European organisations led by the British council and the Migration
Policy Group in Brussels have done a study on how Europe integrates
immigrants. Researchers looked at laws and policies in 25 EU member states
and drew up a list of what they saw as an ideal climate for integrating
migrants into a society. The research is foremost about the social
integration of economical migrants, not refugees. The key factors were
rights in the labour force, opportunities to settle and naturalise,
political freedoms, humanitarian issues such as permits for families to
follow and laws to combat racism and prejudice. The researchers did not
interview migrants. Instead they scored each nation on 140 indicators to
rank them in the Migration Integration Policy Index (Mipex). Today, the 16th
of October, the Mipex will be formally launched at an European Event
organised in Portugal. 

The researchers concluded that overall, the EU nations are doing only half
as much as they could. Sweden scored the best, so this country is classed as
a nation entirely favourable to promoting integration. Its foreign workers
are able to move freely from job to job after just one year - and those who
lose work get help learning Swedish and vocational training. It is easy to
bring your family in after you - and once settled everyone can vote. Sweden
adopted the policy of multiculturalism and it rejected the assimilation
model of neighbour Denmark, which has one of Europe’s toughest policies on
immigration. Portugal has the second place in the list and then Belgium, the
Netherlands and Finland. 

Latvia has the most low score. It came close to zero points with severe
restrictions on work, settlement rights, political participation, topped off
with what researchers concluded were weak anti-discrimination laws. Most of
its "migrants" are Russian-born people who were denied citizenship after the
break-up of the USSR. They have restricted rights compared to migrants
elsewhere in the study. After Latvia the nations with the most worse legal
framework for immigrants are Cyprus, Austria, Greece and Slovakia. 

The five states with the largest immigrant populations are the UK, Spain,
Germany, Italy and France. These countries give home to at least half of all
the migrants in Europe. In the index they are ranked as medium. From these
countries Italy comes out best.  

Of course the reality is much more complex then this index. The researchers
didn’t speak with the immigrants themselves, they only compared the policies
and rights that the immigrants have according to regulations and rules. At a
lot of points there will a controversy between the laws and the reality. For
example France has some of the most developed anti-discrimination laws in
Europe, but many migrant groups will readily tell you, in the wake of
President Nicolas Sarkozy's tightening of immigration law, that the destiny
of a dark-skinned French citizen is not that good. For Sweden it is the
same. Sweden scores highly on what its laws say, but the experience on the
streets can be different. A study from 2006 shows that a young immigrant has
to apply three times more before getting a job then others in society. 

However, I wrote this article because the rapport gives an idea about how
European countries deal in a different way with immigrants and I think,
unless the contradiction between the laws and reality, it had some
interesting results. It shows for example that East-European countries on
legal level have worse developed policies for immigrants then countries in
West-Europe. For explaining the different policies it would be interesting
to look for example at the history of the countries. There is a lot more to
say about this research. It provokes a lot of questions and you can discuss
about whether this kind of research is useful and whether it gives a good
picture of the climate in European countries towards immigrants. I end this
article here, but if you are interested in the Migrant Integration Policy
Index I recommend you to have a look at the following website:
http://www.integrationindex.eu/

(JvL)

************************************************
8. LOESJE: ABOUT LOYALTY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
************************************************

Do you remember Loesje? Two newsletters ago I introduced ‘her’ to you. This
time I like to talk some more about one of the statements I found on the
website of Loesje:  

“EVERYTHING IS MUCH EASIER WHEN YOU LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR INSTEAD OF YOUR
COUNTRY” 

Love your country, this is what got my attention, because in the Netherlands
there is a debate going on about “the Dutch identity”. Topics related to
this which are discussed are loyalty to the country, double nationalities
and different identities and all this in relation to migrants, integration
and naturalization. The 23rd of September a rapport of the WRR (scientific
council for governmental policy) called Identification with the Netherlands
was presented. Princess Máxima of the Netherlands was as advisor concerned
in drawing up this rapport and that is why she did a speech at the
presentation. After this speech there has been a lot of discussion about
double nationalities, identity and loyalty. Many people criticized the
speech of Maxima, in which she as Dutch princess with a Dutch and Argentine
nationality, living for only eight years in the Netherlands, said that
“’the’ Dutch identity does not exist”.      

Our Dutch princess, Máxima Zorreguieta, comes for Argentinia. The 17th of
May 2001 she gained the Dutch nationality to be able to get married with
Willem-Alexander, the ‘Prince of Orange’, heir to the Dutch throne because
he is the eldest son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Normally it takes
several years to get the Dutch citizenship, but the Princess was an
exception. Princess Maxima was not able to give up her Argentine
nationality, so now she has a double citizenship: the Dutch and the
Argentine. In her speech Máxima said that the Dutch identity is too diverse
to get in one cliché. Some sentences from her speech: 

"’The’ Dutchman does not exist. But as consolation I can tell you, that
‘the’ Argentine also does not exist." 

"The Netherlands are: big windows without curtains, so everybody can look
inside very well. But also: attach to privacy and comfort. The Netherlands
are: one biscuit with the thee. But also: an enormous hospitality and
warmth. The Netherlands are: common sense and control. But as well: go
through intense emotions together."

"You can’t put a fence around the identities and loyalties of a human being.
I think a lot of people will feel it like this." 

A lot of Dutch people were astonished that the princess, who lives in the
Netherlands for only eight years, can talk like this about being Dutch.
Geert Wilders (from the conservative political Party for Freedom) called
here statements ‘prietpraat’, which means that what she said is nonsense.
However, I think that Maxima has some good points and that the debate which
the rapport reopened (there have a lot of discussions about identity, double
nationalities and having two passports before) is very interesting. When I
joined different European projects with youth from all over Europe, I
sometimes had a feeling that other countries have a stronger national
identity then the Netherlands. People from other countries sing traditional
songs, know traditional dances, have traditional clothes and are often very
proud of there country. Except for cheese and ‘stroopwafels’ I have always
some difficulties in what to show about the Netherlands. And there are more
people who think that the Netherlands have a weak national identity. That’s
one of the reasons why some people are frightened by the arrival of many
immigrants, especially Muslims. People are afraid they will influence our
culture and society and that’s why they are asked to integrate. We expect
them to become and feel Dutch, but do we actually know ourselves what we
mean with this? What is the Dutch identity? Do we really have to be afraid
that this national identity is slowly fading away? 
The WRR has serious worries about a lack of cohesion in the Netherlands.
They say that the need for community and cohesion is big in the Netherlands,
but in the meanwhile this cohesion is threatened by Europeanization,
globalisation, individualisation and migration. People from different
backgrounds more and more avoid each other. According to WRR many people
–born in the Netherlands or migrated to the Netherlands – don’t feel at home
any more in the Netherlands. Segregation at schools, discrimination at work,
the public debate about religion and the freedom of speech: it are examples
that WRR gives of worrying developments in the Netherlands. These
developments are the reason that they wrote a rapport about identification
with the Netherlands. According to them the above mentioned problems are not
just problems of a multicultural society that disappear when immigrants
integrate in the society. Stressing integration is not the solution: “The
problems of integration and national cohesion you can’t solve by putting a
Dutch flag over it.” 

National identity becomes a more and more complex idea in a multicultural
society. WRR says that we have to change the way we talk about national
identity nowadays. The Netherlands change continually and so does also the
way people feel allied to the country. We should not talk about a static
Dutch identity, but look at what makes people feel ‘at home’ in the
Netherlands. There is not something like a static Dutch nationality, but it
changes and you should look at processes of identification instead of
talking about ‘ the’ Dutch identity. The rapport makes a division between
different ways of identification: functional, normative and emotional.
Functional identification is directed towards common interests or tasks, for
example working together, studying together or go out together. In this case
segregation is also a problem of identification, as are safe neighbourhoods.
Normative identification is about adapting to the Dutch juridical and social
norms. Laws are unchangeable, but norms are not that static. In the past
Catholics, labourers, women and homosexuals have brought the norms under
discussion, so also at this moment there is no reason to think that norms
are static. Nowadays the norms can for example be put under discussion by
foreigners. Then WRR mentions emotional identification: to feel at home.
This means that people feel allied with the Netherlands and the Dutch
people. 

Emotional identification is an important dimension of the community which
you can call the Netherlands. WRR thinks that to reach a stronger cohesion
in the Netherlands and a better integration of the foreigners, the
government should support most the functional and normative identification,
which will lead to a stronger emotional identity. WRR thinks that this is a
better way instead of asking directly loyalty to the Netherlands. In the
Netherlands all newcomers have to follow a course for naturalisation. This
forces immigrants to choose for the Netherlands and the Dutch identity, but
according to the WRR it is more useful to ask for ‘identification’ instead
of stressing ‘identity’. The rapport states that feeling ‘at home’ in the
Netherlands is more important than knowing historical facts like when
Bonifatius was murdered. We must not expect people to have a clear, static,
traced identity. Identity can change and people can have different
identities. The ethnic and religious identities of migrants are in the
rapport seen as primary, strong and difficult to change. Identification from
migrants with the Netherlands is called secondary identification. So when
searching for a national identity, it must not be forgotten that
identification with the Netherlands is the second step for immigrants and
they will always keep a strong identification with the country of origin.
According to the WRR this is even the same for second generation migrants.
Unless they are born in the Netherlands, they will in the first place
identify themselves with the country their parents come from. According to
WRR the policy about integration and identity should be adapted to this. 
This is a short impression of the public debate in the Netherlands about
loyalty and national identity. Probably in all countries these topics will
be discussed, because always when you face something strange, something new
and different, it makes you look at yourself again. In the globalized world
we live in, with huge number of migrants, we are confronted more and more
with other cultures and other cultural identities.  This makes us aware of
our own culture and identity again and it maybe makes us even in need to
define this identity again. It can make people insecure and afraid when
there isn’t a strong cohesion and identity is changing, but on the other
hand it is a normal process and it is necessary, because like the WRR says,
identity is not something which is static. To go back to Loesje, because
like I said in my last article, she can always catch a big topic in only one
sentence. I wrote more then two pages about identity, cohesion and loyalty,
debates are going on forever, but Loesje simply says that you should love
your neighbour instead of your country and maybe she is right. We can talk
about ‘the’ Dutch identity, we are afraid that people with two nationalities
don’t have enough loyalty to the Netherlands, that immigrants should
integrate, feel Dutch, but what is feeling Dutch? Isn’t it better that
people love their neighbours instead of trying to feel Dutch? Maybe Loesje
is right when she says that cohesion and integration starts on local level
instead of with an abstract static concept like a national identity. You
can't love a country, when you don't know and love the people. It doesn’t
matter where they come from, everybody living in the Netherlands makes the
Dutch culture and identity together. So I want to say: Loesje bravo! Love
your country, but love your neighbour first!

(JvL)

********************************************
9. TIME OF THE GYPSIES, TIME FOR GYPSIES!
********************************************

We listen to their music, we dance to them, we watch them in the movies and
we enjoy the time wherever they are. But do we respect them? 
They are always forgotten communities in the world, lack of identities, lack
of education in their language, lack of rights to travel. We ignore their
way of living, we ignore their demands while we have delightful time thanks
to them.

History and Romani people by geographic area

 In actuality, the Roma have their origins in India. They began their
migration to Europe and North Africa via the Iranian plateau around 1050.
The Roma are still thought of as wandering nomads in the popular
imagination, despite the fact that today the vast majority live in permanent
housing. This widely dispersed ethnic group lives across the world not only
near their historic heartland in Southern and Eastern Europe, but also in
the American continent and the Middle East. Worldwide there is an estimated
population of at least 15 million Roma.

A significant proportion of the world's Roma live in Central and Eastern
Europe, often in squatter communities with very high unemployment, while
only some are fully integrated in the society. However, in some
cases—notably the  Kalderash clan in Romania, who work as traditional
coppersmiths. 

Roma in Spain are generally known as Gitanos and tend to speak Caló which is
basically Andalusian Spanish with a large number of Romani loan words.
Estimates of the Spanish Gitano population range between 600,000 and 800,000
with the Spanish government estimating between 650,000 and 700,000

Roma in England are generally known as Romnichals or Romany Gypsies, while
their Welsh  equivalent are known as Kale. They have been known in the UK
since at least the early 16th century and may number up to 120,000. There is
also a sizable population of East European Roma who immigrated into the UK
in the late 1990s/early 2000s, and also after EU expansion in 2004

The first Romani group arriving in the North America was the Romnichels, at
the beginning of the 19th century. In the second half of the century, the
immigration of Romani groups from Eastern Europe began, especially from
Romania, the ancestors of the majority of the contemporary local Romani
population. Among them were Romani-speaking groups like the Kalderash,
Machvaya, Lovari, Churari, and Romanian-speaking groups, like the Boyash
(Ludari). They arrived after their liberation from slavery in 1840-1850,
directly from Romania, or after living some years in neighbouring states
(the Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Serbia). The Bashalde arrived from
what is now Slovakia around this same time.[58] This immigration decreased
drastically during the Communist regime in Eastern Europe, in the second
half of the 20th century, but resumed in the 1990s, after the fall of
Communism. Presently there are about one million Roma in the USA and 80,000
in Canada.
Romani Nationalism, Flag And Anthem

In 1971 the International Gypsy Committee organized the first World Romani
Congress. This took place in a location near London... funded in part by the
World Council of Churches and the Indian Government; representatives from
India and some 20 other countries were in attendance. The World Romani
Congress have adopted a Romani flag which is respected by all the Roma the
world over. It comprises of blue and green traditional colors with the red
wheel in the center. Blue is the blue sky and the heavens. Green is the
land, organic and growing. The blue symbolizes eternal spiritual values; the
green earthly values. The wheel in the center symbolizes movement and
progress. Djelem Djelem was adopted as the official Romani anthem at the
First World Romani Congress in  London, England, April, 8, 1971.


ROMA IN TURKEY are known as Chingene (mostly), Chingen or Chingan (Mostly),
Chingit (West Black Sea region), Dom (East Anatolia), Posha (East Anatolia),
Abdal (Kahramanmaras), Roman (Izmir). Estimates of the population vary from
300.000 to 5 million in Turkey.They have integrated fully to the ethnic make
up of the country, and in later years have started to recognize, and cherish
their Romani background as well.
Unfortunately there hasn't been much study on the gypsies in Turkey.
Prejudice and marginalisation of gypsies and their social and economic
conditions are the main titles they should consider. Along with the
difficult living conditions of cities, poverty, lack of education, having no
social security and being criminalised are the main problems they face. As
there is no political action to bring social harmony these problems persist.
Gypsies are the only ethnic group to be directly discriminated against by
the law an example of which is article 4 of the Settlement Law issue no.2510
passed in 1934 which states : 'People from non - Turkish origin, anarchists,
itinerant gypsies, spies and people who have been deported from Turkey will
not be accepted as immigrants to Turkey. Gypsies are not only discriminated
against but are also put into the same categories as anarchists and spies.
Another law that discriminates against gypsies is the law on Foreigners
Residence and Travel. The 21st article of this law states: 'The Ministry of
Internal Affairs has the power to deport gypsies of different nationalities,
gypsies who don't have citizenship and the migrants who don't have a
connection to Turkish culture.' As we can see from this law, gypsies could
be deported because of their ethnic identities. Even when the Settlement Law
had alterations in 1986 there were no changes made to the discriminatory
sections.

Some news from Turkey : 
* Sulukule where the earliest records of Roma settling in date back to 1054
has been earmarked for a regeneration project. The mayor believes his
project will be appreciated once it is finished, offering locals the kind of
lifestyle they never dreamt possible. 
But the residents' protests have already stalled progress. And so long as
the Roma do not truly feel part of the vision they seem determined to derail
it altogether. 
* Prime Ministry, for the first time will invite the gypsy origin citizens
to its own meeting. Prime Ministry Human Rights Chairmanship decided to
invite one person to represent gypsies which will be on 18-19 October. 
News from world
* We are proud of being Gypsies! These words belong to young gypsy Scottish
people. They went to European Parliament with the group that they formed,
they told the parliamentarians about their problems at their schools. They
made a workshop, called “Who are we?” with the support of the Scottish
government. There are 2.000 Gypsies in Scotland.  www.sundayherald.com
* On August 10th, 2007, four Roma children, Eva, Menjii, Danchiu and Lenuca
Carolea, perished among the flames that had enveloped the miserable hut they
were living in Livorno, Italy. “Gruppo Everyone”, NGO  which supported the
gypsy now prepares a new project. The aim of the project is to work for the
roma that they would have the main rights as the other italian citizens.
www.everyonegroup.com
* The persecution against the Indian gypies  never comes to an end. Everyday
a Dalit woman has been raped or just because they are gypsies, are killed.
In some provinces of India there have been some legislation, but they are
not enough to counteract these events. Lastly, a 30 year old woman was raped
and was beaten to death.  www.thehindu.com
Some websites deal with gypsy culture:
www.romadecade.org
www.cingeneyiz.org
http://www.eu-romani.org/
http://www.unionromani.org/
http://www.imninalu.net/famousGypsies.htm

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10.  RADIOAFRICA.EU
*************************************************************************
Il Circolo Culturale Africa ha acquistato il sito internet Radioafrica.eu ed
ha iniziato ad organizzare la futura radio online dal nome
www.radioafrica.eu, la quale trasmetterà musica, notizie, interviste ed
esperienze sui temi caratteristici della nostra organizzazione. Dalla
prossima settimana iniziano i primi test, nella speranza di andare in onda
in forma ufficiale dall'inizio di dicembre. Qualora foste interessati,
inviateci una mail con oggetto: RADIOAFRICA.EU.

The CCA bought the www.radioafrica.eu's website and starting to organize our
future online radio called www.radioafrica.eu. The radio will broadcast
music, interviews, news and best practices concerning our organization's
main topics. Since next week will start the test and we hope to start
officially at the beginning of December. If you are interested please send
us a mail with ob: RADIOAFRICA.EU.  
*************************************************************************

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October 30th 2007

For suggestions please contact: 

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Tel. +39/071/2072585
Email: segreteria at circoloafrica.org 

Web site: www.circoloafrica.eu

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