Portugal: First national Roma survey released
01 Jul 2015
The Portuguese Roma Gypsies have little formal education, marry young, mainly work in fairs, though many are unemployed and get basic social security benefits, a study published this week has revealed. This, is the first national study of the Roma community. They interviewed almost 1,600 Gypsies throughout Portugal last year. The study co-ordinator said there were three large groups. One is composed of youths under 34 years with different levels of schooling, many of them have never worked and many live with their families. A second group is 45 years or older ‘living in very deficient conditions with greater vulnerability’. The last group has people of an active age with families or in a stable situation, with ages of between 24 and 35 years, many have had four years of school. This group has a larger number of workers, mainly people who travel from fair to fair as employees. They are more open and have non-Roma friends and their networks are less closed.
Poland: Gay community - a shift in attitudes
01 Jul 2015
The Polish city of Gdansk, on the country's Pomeranian coast, is famous for several reasons. World War II is widely regarded as having started here in 1939,as did the Solidarity workers' movement of the 1980s. Recently the first ‘gay rights’ march in the region took place there, attracting about 1,000 participants. Even two years ago, such a march in this city would have been unthinkable. At that time, Poland’s most famous native icon, Lech Walesa, founder of the Solidarity movement, said on TV that ‘gays had no right to impose their will on the Polish majority. ‘Nor should they play a prominent role in Polish politics’, he added. Attitudes are changing, in part because the Catholic Church's influence is shrinking in Poland and more Poles are declaring themselves to be homosexual. With the opening of borders after joining the European Union things have changed, especially for the youth. LGBT characters being featured in popular TV series makes a difference in social acceptance.
A new special unit has been established in the Norwegian Civil Defence that will assist the firefighters and police emergency services when critical situations arise. Forty-eight men and women in South Trøndelag County will be the civil defence’s first support unit. Six months ago it was decided that the civil defence would establish six mobile support units in Trondheim, Tromsø, Bergen, Oppland, Kristiansand and Bodø between 2015-2017 so that Norway will be better prepared for future crisis and events. The units will be organised in two different departments. One will focus on tents, light, heating, communication devices and electricity, the other will specialise in pumping capacity for fire extinguishing, discharge capabilities in the case of flooding and transportation. It will make a difference and be an additional resource for the firefighters, police and others, as a rapid-response facility across the country.
A Dutch court has ordered the government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by 2020, in a case environmentalists hope will set a precedent for other countries. Campaigners brought the case on behalf of almost 900 Dutch citizens. They argued that the government had a legal obligation to protect its citizens from the dangers of climate change. Government lawyers did not immediately comment on the ruling at the court in The Hague. Jasper Teulings from Greenpeace called it a ‘landmark case’. ‘It shifts the whole debate. Other cases are being brought in Belgium and the Philippines. This is the start of a wave of climate litigation. In terms of practical implementation, the government has already agreed to close coal-fired plants, increase the use of windmills and solar energy and drastically reduce gas extractions in the north of the country. The court case puts pressure on the government to speed up the process in order to meet the targets and become more energy-efficient within the next five years. The judgment is legally binding and based on ‘Tort Law’ - a general and universal concept which essentially refers to a duty to refrain from causing harm.
The sixth meeting of the EU-Montenegro Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) in Brussels, held a lively debate on the transparency and inclusiveness of Montenegro's accession process to the EU. The situation concerning disability policy and recent developments on social dialogue in the country were also discussed. The JCC called on the EU to increase its financial support aimed at strengthening and supporting the professionalism and independence of the media. Urgent action is also needed to ensure the rights of people with disabilities. While acknowledging that some positive steps had been taken towards promoting the integration of people with disabilities, the JCC stressed it was important to translate good intentions into real, efficient and timely action on the ground. JCC members noted with deep concern that access for people with disabilities to a majority of state and local institutions, such as schools, hospitals, social welfare centres, and even the Parliament and courts, was still extremely difficult.
Monaco: Law enforcement system to be envied
01 Jul 2015
Law enforcement in Monaco is provided by an armed national police. It has the largest police force and police presence in the world on both a per-capita and per-area basis. Its police includes a specialist unit which operates patrol and surveillance boats. There is also a militarised bodyguard unit for the Prince and his palace called the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince, well-equipped with modern weapons. There is also a well-trained Corps des Sapeurs-Pompiers, which provides an extensive civil defence service in support of law enforcement, in addition to its fire and rescue services. A member of INTERPOL, Monaco enjoys the world's lowest crime rates.
Last week you were asked to pray against corruption and fraud in Moldova . This week the prime minister of Moldova, Chiril Gaburici, announced his resignation a day after the prosecution questioned him on his fraudulent high-school and university diplomas. Gaburici, a pro-European businessman and candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party, became Prime Minister five months ago in February and came into the governing position claiming to be a manager not a politician and saying that the country had to change its political system. With his resignation move, he wants to ensure that the authorities will carry out an objective and transparent investigation into his credentials. Earlier, he had called on the state prosecutor and the head of the central bank to resign for failure to act effectively over the disappearance of one billion US dollars from three Moldovan banks. Gaburici expressed regret that questions on his studies had become ‘an instrument of a political game’, making no comments on the contents of the allegations.
The Malta Police Association has appealed to the Home Affairs Minister and the Police Commissioner to continue to implement measures and effective controls to safeguard and protect officers’ personal information and data. In a statement issued following the Data Commissioner’s decision on personal information from an inspector’s file being passed on to the media with extracts from the same file being later exhibited in court in a libel case between the inspector and an editor, the association said it was concerned as this was not the first time when information or sensitive data had beenmade public in an abusive and unauthorised manner. This was undermining police work and damaging officers’ reputations. The association condemned the fact that some members of the media reported allegations on members of the force which were only aimed at destroying their integrity.