The Romani Tea Room

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Today we will be talking about racism, in an area where we should expect it the least, in the justice system.

A summary report from the ERRC and Fair Trials on Roma and the criminal justice system in Czech Republic, Slovakia, North Macedonia, and Serbia has recently been published. It casts light on antigypsyism in the police, courts, and prison system.

In this episode our guests are: Krassimir Kanev from the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, Ioana Barbulescu, representing criminal justice watchdog Fair Trials, and Aleksandra Dubova chair of the Forum for Human Rights. In the second half of the episode we will be looking closer at the racism in the criminal justice system and the power of litigation, with our fourth guest, Dimitrina Petrova,  co-founder of the Equal Rights Trust and former chair of the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC).

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How can we start combating racism in ourselves, our schools, neighbourhoods, countries and our continent?

Let's listening to a conversation between the Director of the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency Michael O’Flaherty and Bernard Rorke Advocacy and Policy manager at the European Roma Rights Centre. They sat for a talk specially for the Romani Tea Room.

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You are being watched - Campaigners and activists warn us about this. They say that the systems of mass surveillance and facial recognition in European countries violate human rights and hit vulnerable minorities even more.   

In the EU mass surveillance is illegal. For private companies it is controlled by GDPR. There is also a law enforcement directive for the police, which giving a legal basis on how to deploy facial recognition, and other forms of biometric mass surveillance and when to do this. They are always justified for reasons of national security, but the question is, how proportional are such decisions to particular aims, and whether or not they can be substituted by something else?

In this episode of the Romani Tea Room we will try to figure out who might be watching all of us and decide whether it is simply a breach of the GDPR or a human rights issue that should concern us all. To find out, I am joined by Ella Jakubowska, who is a Policy Advisor at the international advocacy group European Digital Rights; and Benjamin Ignac, who is Croatian Roma and a Policy Research Fellow at Open Society Foundations.

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In February we marked 165 years since the abolition of Romani slavery on the territory of modern day Romania. Since the 14th century, Roma had been exploited and sold as property by the crown, nobilities and orthodox church. This racial domination of Roma lasted until 1856, but the scars of this not so distant history still remain.

Two months ago, the ERRC’s Advocacy and Communications Manager Jonathan Lee interviewed Dr. Margareta Matache, a Harvard University scholar from Romania. The short version of the interview was published on the ERRC’s social media channels, but today we will listen to more of their conversation, but in this episode Jonathan and Magda who talk about the painful heritage of slavery in modern Romania.

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The 8th of March is International Women's Day. This year, the theme for this date is: “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world,” It celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but also highlights the gaps that remain. 

Today we will look at those women and girls who are far behind in terms of equality, who struggle to put food on the table, and how their road to leadership or even proper, inclusive education is longer than for others. This is the life of many Romani women in the Roma communities across Europe.

Our guests today are both Romani women, both leaders and both Roma rights defenders.

Ana Orsos is the ERRC’s women’s rights officer, she comes from Hungary, and she will be our first guest. She will be highlighting particular issues Romani women have faced since the start of the COVID crisis. In the other half of this episode Ethel Brooks the ERRCs first female Romani board chair will explain how these problems are actually connected to the lack of political will and deeply rooted antigypsyism. 

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In the last decade for many Eastern European Roma, the UK has become a safe place. Fleeing from discrimination, segregation, extreme poverty and racism, many Romani families have saught a better life there, around two hundred and thousand people to be precise.

After Brexit, they have become at risk of losing their right of residence. Some members of the community lack the documentation and digital skills necessary to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme known as the EUSS. The application can ONLY be done online. Sounds easy right? Not at all. For many Romani migrants this is simply impossible without extra help. Meanwhile the pandemic rages in the UK and the clock is ticking with only a few months left until the deadline JUNE 30, 2021.

In this episode of the Romani Tea Room representatives of Luton Roma Trust, local NGO in the UK will tell us why thousands of Romani migrants loose asylums in post-Brexit UK.

In the second part, we will discuss if Britain is a safe place for Roma or not.

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The most vulnerable Romani communities in Europe were significantly affected by increased institutional racism and discrimination during the COVID 19 pandemic. At a time when the attention of the world was diverted, Roma were being harassed and brutalised by racist police officers, forcefully evicted from their homes, scapegoated by the far-right, denied equal access to healthcare, and left out of emergency policy-making. These are the key findings of the ERRC’s new report “Roma Rights in the time of COVID”.

In this episode of the Romani Tea Room, podcast host Sophie Datishvili will tell you about the experiences of Romani families from different countries, and speak with experts about the human rights situation for Roma during the emergency lockdowns across Europe. These stories, drawn from the ERRC's report, reflect the scale of injustice that Romani people have been facing in 2020.

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Pork Chops, with turkey or beef and chicken and different spices; Meat with meat and even more meat; Tastefully mixed vegetables and dinners that are cooked with extra portions. This is the Romani kitchen and in this episode we are going to talk all about it.

Our guests have a lot to tell you about Romani food. You will hear from two Romani food lovers, Jonathan Lee from the ERRC and Aaron Himenez Cortez who is joining our podcast from Catalonia; Anna Orsos from Hungary whose home cooking tastes like childhood memories and Nicoleta Calin, Romanian Roma, who turned recipes passed down for generations into a food blog.

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