ENAR Weekly Mail 4

22 July 2005

ENAR ACTIVITIES

· ENAR press release

In the wake of the bomb attacks in London on 7 July, ENAR issued a statement to urge the British and other governments to recognize that the acts of a few individuals should not result in a backlash for millions of others.

Read the statement in English // in French

· Situation of Roma internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kosovo

ENAR sent a letter to Mr Søren Jessen-Petersen, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the UN Mission in Kosovo, to raise its concerns about the precarious situation for Roma IDPs as they remain in unsuitable living conditions in camps throughout Kosovo and Macedonia, six years after their displacement. In particular, it mentioned the issue of some 600 IDPs, the majority of them Roma, who since 1999 have been living on in three camps in the Mitrovica region in Kosovo, on land which is contaminated by high levels of lead. Refugees International had recently issued two reports on the issue.

NEWS IN EUROPE

· After the London attacks…

o Emergency JHA Council

Following the attacks in London on 7 July, a special European Commission Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council met on 13 July to discuss anti-terrorism measures. The EU ministers hammered out a faster timetable for anti-terrorist measures including data storage of phone calls, emails and text messages and secured political agreement to push ahead with the move, designed to help law enforcement agencies, following a heated debate on costs and civil liberties. Member states will vote on the plan in October. Read more

o About 500 race and faith hate incidents reported to police

About 500 faith-hate and race-hate crimes ranging from arson attacks on mosques to Muslim women being spat at in the street have been reported in Britain since the London bombings. According to police sources, about 200 of these incidents are deemed significant enough to have potential repercussions within communities. Read the article on the TMG website (The Monitoring Group). More on the anti-Muslim backlash in Britain can also be found on the IRR website (Institute of Race Relations).

o France to reintroduce border controls

Following the London bomb attacks, France is to suspend the Schengen agreement and re-impose passport checks and controls at its borders with the rest of Europe, according to reports. Read more in English // in French

· UK Presidency’s priorities in the field of justice, freedom and security

On 13 July, UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke presented the UK Presidency’s priorities in the field of justice, freedom and security to the European Parliament (EP). Much of the presentation and the ensuing discussion focused on the fight against terrorism and the balance between rights and civil liberties with security in the fight against terrorism. Clarke urged the EP to scrutinize existing measures for compliance with fundamental rights. In the area of asylum and migration, the UK outlines three broad themes for the next six months: stronger EU engagement with the rest of the world in migration issues, strengthening border security, including dealing with organized immigration crime, and practical cooperation to manage migration. Read the UK Presidency programme on asylum and immigration. (only in English).

· Poll: Muslim support for terrorism wanes

Concerns over Islamic extremism remain strong worldwide, even in predominantly Muslim countries, but most Muslim communities are generally expressing less support for terrorism than in the past, a new report released on 14 July by the Pew Global Attitudes Project reveals. Read more in English // in French

Read the Pew report (English only)

NEWS FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION (EC)

· Spidla to take lead in debate on future of European social model

In a recent interview Employment Commissioner Spidla defended the re-launched Lisbon strategy and said he is ready to take the lead in a debate on the social models of Europe. Read a summary (English) and the full interview (French only)

· European Commission online staff directory

This directory has been renewed and it allows you to search by organisation chart, to see a full list of who works in each Unit, and identify their responsibilities as well as fax and telephone numbers. E-mail addresses are not provided.

You can consult the directory in English// in French

ROMA ISSUES

· ERRC urges the European Commission to redouble efforts to secure race equality

On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the official publication of the EU Race Directive, the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) submitted detailed comments on measures in five European countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and EU candidate country Romania) to implement the principle of equal treatment, irrespective of racial or ethnic origin. The comments are timed to coincide with deadlines for EU Member States to provide the EU with comprehensive information on efforts undertaken to date to secure equal treatment for persons facing the very serious harm of racial discrimination.

Read the ERRC press release and the full text of the submission to the European Commission. (English only)

· Number of Roma street children on the rise in Spain

The number of Roma children begging for money in the streets of Spain is growing. Alicante Acoge, an NGO involved with problems of migrants and minority peoples in the South of Spain, denounced this problem recently to newspaper El Pais, revealing that these children are both recent Romanian immigrants and native Spanish gitanos.

CONFERENCES

· Transgressing Gender Conference: Two is not enough for gender (e)quality

Date and venue: 7–9 October 2005, Zagreb (Croatia)

Organizers: Women's Room and CESI (Croatia), DEVE (Serbia and Montenegro) and Organization Q (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

This conference is being held in order to initiate communication on the interconnected issues of feminism, gender, and transgenderism in order to generate a better understanding of overlapping dimensions of gender oppression, violence, transphobia, and genderphobia , as well as to redefine and clarify existing definitions of gender.

PUBLICATIONS

· EUMC Annual Report

This report provides an account of the activities and achievements of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) during 2004. Part 2, to be published in December 2005, will provide an overview of the situation regarding racism and xenophobia in the Community and its Member States, also highlighting examples of good practice. Data collection and analysis in 2004 encompassed all 25 EU Member States and focused on discrimination, racism and xenophobia in employment, education and housing, as well as on legislative developments and on racist violence and crime.

Read the 52-page report in English // in French

· Amnesty International EU Association - Annual Report 2004

The accession of ten new Member States on 1 May 2004 was no doubt the most important EU event of the past period. Read the 11-page annual report. (English only)

· Annual Reports on the situation of fundamental Rights in the European Union in 2004

The EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights publishes 25 country reports each year and one report on the EU institutions. These are compiled in one synthesis report, which examines the legislation and policies of the EU, including asylum, on the basis of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The network publishes one thematic comment each year; this year it is on the rights of minorities.

You can find the reports in English // in French

· ECRE: The Return of Asylum Seekers whose Applications have been Rejected in Europe

This publication (also mentioned in Weekly Mail 3) is now available on ECRE’s website in English.

· ILGA: Rights, not crimes: the EU's role in ending criminalisation of same-sex acts in third countries

ILGA Europe, The European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, launched this new 36-page report in June. It looks into the role of the EU institutions regarding countries that still criminalise consensual same-sex acts. The report argues that the laws criminalising same-sex acts breach international human rights standards and equate to degrading, inhumane treatment and torture. Read more (English only)

· ILGA: Going beyond the law: promoting equality in employment

Another ILGA report issued in June looks into the implementation of the 2000 EU Directive prohibiting discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation. Read the 67-page report (English only)

· La Lettre de la Citoyenneté – July-August issue

"La Lettre de la Citoyenneté" (Letter on Citizenship) is published every other month (in French) and aims to publish everything that is said or done on issues of nationality, citizenship and political rights of foreign residents in EU countries. You can read the July-August issue on the Lettre’s website