From pillar to post: pan-European racism and the Roma


From pillar to post: pan-European racism and the Roma

Press Release

Written by: Institute of Race Relations


This week, we publish a briefing paper which documents a growing tide of hostility against Europe’s Romani communities.

Europe’s Roma face a double victimisation both as Roma and as migrants and are fast becoming the number one scapegoat for the economic crisis, argues IRR’s Director Liz Fekete in this hard-hitting review of anti-Roma hate campaigns across Europe. The report, From pillar to post: pan-European racism and the Roma,  documents the failure of police and politicians to protect Romani communities from violent and sometimes deadly campaigns by the far Right. It highlights other worrying pan-European trends, such as the violent dismantling by the police of the European shanty towns and their stigmatisation in the media as ‘Roma enclaves’, which risk making anti-Roma violence the respectable face of European racism.

This 5,000-word report documents:

  • the dismantling of shanty towns and Romani settlements in Greece, Italy, Slovakia and France;
  • far-Right and neo-nazi campaigns of violence against Romani communities in Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Czech Republic;
  • the threat posed to stateless Roma from restrictive approaches to citizenship, particularly in southern European countries such as Greece and Italy.

Related links

Download a copy of the report here (pdf file, 3.3mb)

European Research Programme

European Research Programme Briefing Papers



The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the authors.

3 thoughts on “From pillar to post: pan-European racism and the Roma

  1. THERE IS NO PLACE FOR RACISM IN THIS WORLD
    AND IT IS THE DUTY OF ALL THE GOOD PEOPOLE OF THE WHOLE WORLD TO FIGHT UNITEDLY AGAINST THE RACISM AND STOP IT IMMEDIATELY.

    THIS PLANET MOTHER EARTH DOES NOT BELONG TO THE PEOPLE OF ONE PARTICULAR ….

    RACE,REGION,RELIGION,COLOUR,CULTURE,LANGUAGE OR NATION, BUT IT BELONGS TO WE ALL , EVEN TO THE FLORA AND FAUNA AND WE ALL HAVE THE EQUAL-ROGHT OVER OUR MOTHER EARTH !!!

    THEREFORE LET US MUTUALLY UNDERSTAND,RESPECT,LOVE EACH-OTHER AND CREATE A PEACEFUL ATMOSPHERE, WHERE WE ALL CAN LIVE WITH PEACE !!!

  2. This is another timely and important briefing by IRR. On a related matter, with implications for marches by similar groups, see the link below to an article on a recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights where it held that the dissolving of the Magyar Gárda organisation by the then Hungarian authorities, following their anti-Roma rallies, was consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Daniel Holder, Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) Belfast.

    http://rightsni.org/2013/08/sectarianracist-expression-and-restricting-parades-to-protect-the-rights-of-others-implications-of-vona-v-hungary/

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