Paul
Goble
Staunton, September 10 – Following a
decision of a Perm court, OMON troops yesterday bulldozed 22 of the 40 homes
occupied by members of the Roma community, an action whose origins, almost
certainly to be found in anti-gypsy attitudes, not only brings Russia in line
with its new right-wing backers in Europe but threatens to spark more such
actions in Russia as well.
“Rossiskaya gazeta” reported the
action today, noting that the court case which led to it was begun in 2009,
that the Roma affected were unable to remove many of their personal effects
before the destruction, and that the Roma themselves say that they have been
the victims of a “corrupt conspiracy” (rg.ru/2014/09/09/reg-pfo/perm-cigane-anons.html and
For the members of the 400-strong
Perm Roma community, this is a tragedy, but it threatens to be a much larger
one. Roma have been attacked elsewhere,
and the disparaging way in which their settlement was described by the Moscow
paper almost certainly will fuel anti-Roma sentiment and possibly similar
actions in the future.
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