Slovene villagers turn back Roma seeking to go home
International Herald Tribune - France
By Nicholas Wood / The New York Times.
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia: About 1,000 villagers have thwarted the return of a group of Roma to their homes in central Slovenia, a month after they first forced them to flee the area.
Fighting took place between riot police officers and local residents late Saturday afternoon when the Strojans, an extended family of 31 people, tried to return to Ambrus, a village 50 kilometers, or about 30 miles, southeast of Ljubljana, after four weeks in a refugee center.
The standoff prolonged a crisis that has dominated politics here for a month and has prompted criticism of Slovenia from the Council of Europe, the Continent's human rights watchdog, and from independent rights groups.
The Roma family, who are Slovene citizens, agreed to leave Ambrus on Oct. 28 when a mob surrounded their homes. Local residents demanded their removal after a fight between a man from Ambrus and a Slovene who was living with the Strojans, after which the villager fell unconscious.
The government said it was justified in moving the family to the refugee center, saying it acted to protect the Strojans. But human rights groups contend that ministers sanctioned the mobs' ouster of a minority from their homes.
The government had promised to resettle the group, but other communities have protested and stopped the government from sending the Strojans there.
The fighting Saturday began when the Roma group left an army barracks that had been their home since their expulsion from the village. Residents from Ambrus and surrounding areas set up a series of barricades across the approaching roads. The riot police were deployed and three people were injured in the scuffling that followed, witnesses said.
(MORE)
By Nicholas Wood / The New York Times.
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia: About 1,000 villagers have thwarted the return of a group of Roma to their homes in central Slovenia, a month after they first forced them to flee the area.
Fighting took place between riot police officers and local residents late Saturday afternoon when the Strojans, an extended family of 31 people, tried to return to Ambrus, a village 50 kilometers, or about 30 miles, southeast of Ljubljana, after four weeks in a refugee center.
The standoff prolonged a crisis that has dominated politics here for a month and has prompted criticism of Slovenia from the Council of Europe, the Continent's human rights watchdog, and from independent rights groups.
The Roma family, who are Slovene citizens, agreed to leave Ambrus on Oct. 28 when a mob surrounded their homes. Local residents demanded their removal after a fight between a man from Ambrus and a Slovene who was living with the Strojans, after which the villager fell unconscious.
The government said it was justified in moving the family to the refugee center, saying it acted to protect the Strojans. But human rights groups contend that ministers sanctioned the mobs' ouster of a minority from their homes.
The government had promised to resettle the group, but other communities have protested and stopped the government from sending the Strojans there.
The fighting Saturday began when the Roma group left an army barracks that had been their home since their expulsion from the village. Residents from Ambrus and surrounding areas set up a series of barricades across the approaching roads. The riot police were deployed and three people were injured in the scuffling that followed, witnesses said.
(MORE)
Labels: Ambrus, Gypsy, Ljubljana, Roma, Slovenia Europe
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