Tuesday, May 12, 2020


Conspiracies are 'always theories of power'
Whether it's Area 51, the moon landing or the 9/11 attacks, it feels like a disproportionate amount of conspiracy theories have something to do with the US. Expert Michael Butter says that's not quite true.




DW: So many conspiracy theories seem to have their origin in the United States. Why?
Michael Butter: To a certain degree, this is a misperception. There are tons of conspiracy theories in eastern Europe, and also in central Europe, that also have their origins [in those locations], even though the US tends to play a big role in them. And this is, I think, because conspiracy theories are always also theories of power. If you look at the period after the Second World War, the US has clearly been the most powerful country in the world. And, therefore, those who are investigating who is really responsible, who is benefiting from that, inevitably end up pointing their finger at the US. No matter if they’re located inside or outside that country.

What’s your favorite German conspiracy theory?

When it comes to Germany, I must admit I don’t really have a favorite conspiracy theory. Because the popular, influential German conspiracy theories all had horrible consequences. Think of the conspiracy theory of a Jewish plot to dominate the world that basically led to the Holocaust. Or think of the Great Replacement theory that is currently so popular. I actually prefer the moon landing conspiracy theory because it’s so extremely convincing at first sight, and second, because nobody, to the best of my knowledge, has ever done any harm to anybody because of it.


Michael Butter is helping coordinate EU conspiracy theory research

And the Great Replacement theory would be the replacement of the current dominant ethnic groups through immigration?

Exactly. In Europe it’s usually about the replacement of the Christian population of Europe through a Muslim population by way of orchestrated migration. But for example, the El Paso shooter a couple of weeks ago also referred to the Great Replacement theory in his manifesto, and for him, it was clearly the replacement of US citizens through Mexicans. So there, you see there are always certain national variations.

What are some conspiracy theories that are unique, or special, to Europe?
It’s very difficult to say if they’re unique or special to Europe. We do of course have certain conspiracy theories in Poland, for example, about the plane crash of the former president in Smolensk. That blames Russia for orchestrating that plane crash. That would be a very specifically national conspiracy theory. What we usually have are conspiracy theories that circulate on a global scale, but nevertheless have certain national variations. So for example, the Great Replacement theory looks different in Hungary than in Poland, Germany, or the United States.


Conspiracy theorists in Berlin warn others of airplane "chemtrails," which they claim contain behavior-changing chemicals

You're one of about 150 people involved in something that’s happening at the EU level called the Comparative Analysis of Conspiracy Theories. Nearly 40 countries are involved, and a dozen disciplines are represented. What are you doing there?
One goal was to actually synchronize the research on that topic, so that people don’t have to reinvent the wheel the whole time. Because, of course, nobody can research in Albanian, Polish, Czech, English, French, German, Italian, et cetera. So you bring these people together so that they talk to teach other in English. We’re currently editing a big handbook of conspiracy theories that will be state of the art. The other aim is to develop new research questions - to come up with comparative and transnational projects that, for example, trace exactly those transformations. So the Great Replacement theory that we talked about. And third, and finally, the goal is also to produce recommendations for stakeholders - for policymakers, for educators, for people concerned with the public communication of science that are more and more faced with conspiracy allegations in their daily work.

Michael Butter is the vice chair of the EU’s Comparative Analysis of Conspiracy Theories action group. He’s also the author of a number of books on conspiracy theories and is a professor of American Literary and Cultural History at the University of Tübingen in Germany.

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Germany: Catholic chiefs reject cardinals' coronavirus 'conspiracy theories'

Germany's top Catholic body has repudiated a warning by several high-ranking church figures that the coronavirus crisis is a pretext for creating a world government. Such conspiracy theories are rife on social media.


Catholic bishops in Germany have dissociated themselves from a letter in which several prominent Catholic clergy question the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and the measures taken by governments across the world to stem it.

"The German Bishops' Conference's assessment of the coronavirus pandemic is fundamentally different than the appeal published yesterday," Bishop Georg Bätzing, who heads the influential body, told the Catholic KNA news agency.

Other German Catholic clergy chose harder words in their criticism of the appeal. The vicar general of the city of Essen, Klaus Pfeffer, said on Facebook that he was "simply speechless at what was being published there in the name of the Church and Christianity: crude conspiracy theories without facts or evidence, combined with aggressive right-wing populist rhetoric that sounds alarming."

'Odious technological tyranny'

The letter, signed by such Catholic notables as the German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano from Italy and Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the former bishop of Hong Kong, claims that the pandemic is being exploited to restrict basic rights "disproportionately and unjustifiably." It also maintains that the contagiousness of the novel coronavirus has been overstated by authorities, referring to unnamed "authoritative voices in the world of science and medicine" to back its claim.

It strongly criticizes governments around the world for the lockdowns imposed in a bid to stem the spread of the virus, saying that "the imposition of these illiberal measures is a disturbing prelude to the realization of a world government beyond all control."

In one strongly worded sentence, it claims that "centuries of Christian civilization" could be "erased under the pretext of a virus" and an "odious technological tyranny" established in its place. 


The arguments presented in the document strongly resemble those currently making the rounds on social media, particularly in far-right and far-left milieus. They also underpin the recent "Hygiene Demonstrations" taking place across Germany.

The German Bishops' Conference had earlier stated that the restrictions in Germany, which also led to the temporary cancelation of church services, were "sensible and responsible," while urging a "responsible and proportionate" relaxation of the measures when appropriate.


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AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC
Analyzing the spread of disinformation

Date 10.05.2020
Author Timothy Jones

Related Subjects Catholicism, Germany, Coronavirus
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'Pandemic populism': Germany sees rise in conspiracy theories

With the COVID-19 crisis sparking uncertainty, conspiracy theories are booming in Germany. Right-wing activists in particular are trying to stir up hatred against politicians and the democratic system, a new study warns.


The rumor starts with a true news story: Angela Merkel is gone.

On March 22, the German chancellor disappeared from public view. Her spokesman officially announced the move, saying: Angela Merkel must quarantine for 14 days as a precaution after her doctor became infected with COVID-19.

It was the top news story of the day in German media, but while established newspapers and television programs asked how the government would function with a chancellor working from home, right-wing conspiracy theorists began to whisper and speculate.

Andreas Albrecht Harlass, spokesman for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) parliamentary party in the eastern state of Saxony, speculated that Merkel is not only gone — she will also never come back. The quarantine, he says, is just a pretext. Some of his followers claimed to know more details: the German chancellor is probably hiding in a bunker at her country estate in Paraguay, a property they claim she bought years ago.

The chancellor has since gone out of quarantine and very obviously wasn't in Paraguay. This fact hasn't impressed conspiracy theorists, with speculation continuing on a large scale.

Read more: Coronavirus and the plague: The disease of viral conspiracy theories



Despite claims from conspiracy theorists, Chancellor Angela Merkel obviously did not flee to Paraguay

The rise of 'pandemic populism'

Researchers at the University of Münster have been taking a closer look at how right-wing conspiracy theories work during the COVID-19 pandemic. From January to March this year, they examined around 120,000 Facebook posts from various German media outlets.

The result? Alongside the extensive coronavirus reporting by established newspapers and broadcasters, there was also a rise in the number of posts by so-called "alternative media" outlets, i.e. right-wing publications that want to deliberately dissociate themselves from established media and the political elite.

The interesting thing researchers found was that "alternative media" are also basically reporting on the same, verifiable facts — but they lace these reports with speculation, such as positing that the virus was produced in a laboratory or that it is less dangerous than reports would suggest.

"The alternative media spread their messages subtly in a seemingly harmless communication strategy. Obvious false reports do not fit in with this approach," says Thorsten Quandt, who headed the University of Münster's study. Populist tendencies were still found in the posts.



Scientists have dubbed this strategy "Pandemic populism." Conspiracy theorists mix the pandemic in with already-established topics — climate change, refugee issues, and doomsday fantasies lumped together with the coronavirus.

Anglea Merkel, climate activist Greta Thunberg, refugees and COVID-19 — in the end, everything is somehow connected to everything else.

Even if this "pandemic populism" only accounts for a fraction of all the coronavirus coverage, the "alternative media" have succeeded in building up their own frame of reference.

"We found several cases where their statements were picked up by others, for example on the YouTube channels of conspiracy theorists, which serve as a secondary distribution system. They label alternative news media messages as credible," Quandt says.

This enables them to make their own unsupported theories appear larger and more established than they factually are. Individual posts can also certainly keep up with the reach and interaction rates of large media platforms.

Read more: Facebook steps up fight against coronavirus misinformation


The right-wing outlet "Compact" makes targeted attacks on democracy

Deliberately destructive posts

Conspiracy theorists don't believe in coincidences. They claim there is a small group of elites pulling the strings behind the scenes, and that these elites are conspiring against the public, against everyday people. The fact that there are regular reports about abuse of power and misconduct by politicians and other powerful people plays into their hands.

Media outlets that spread such theories are anything but naive about what they're doing. Platforms like Russia Today Germany or the right-wing magazine Compact carry out targeted propaganda.

Simone Rafael from the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which works to strengthen democratic civic society, notes that these outlets have a clear goal with their reporting.

"According to their own statements, 'alternative media' believe they are in an 'info-war' against democratic political parties and against parliamentary democracy. They spread uncertainty in order to overthrow the system," says Rafael.

There is no shortage of uncertainty right now. The pandemic scares people, particularly as they notice that even those in positions of political responsibility are struggling to find their way through the crisis.

For Susann Rüthrich, a member of parliament with the center-left Social Democrats, it is crucial to take this uncertainty seriously.

"We must discuss these decisions publicly and make them transparent. You have to play with open cards. That worked well in the first phase of the crisis. Now in the second phase, we must not stifle these debates," Rüthrich says.

The politician says she's noticed how the pressure mounts the longer people have to give up their well-established everyday lives. Even supporters of contact bans and stay-at-home orders are becoming more receptive to populist or conspiratorial content due to the prolonged uncertainty.

Read more: Conspiracies are 'always theories of power'



Pop stars spreading theories

Conspiracy theorists are particularly grateful for the boost they receive from celebrities who take part in speculating about theories.

In Germany, famous musician Xavier Naidoo recently made headlines for a video he posted, wherein he tearfully posits that the outbreak is the start of a worldwide liberation campaign.

In his video, Naidoo claims that US President Donald Trump imposed coronavirus curfews and sent a large Navy hospital ship to New York in order to secretly free masses of abducted and abused children being held in underground tunnel systems.

For Naidoo, there was a simple and plausible reason why more isn't known about the operation: it is secret. Thanks to the celebrity status of a musician like Naidoo, such stories manage to exit conspiracy circles and manage to spill into mainstream audiences.

Read more: Coronavirus in Iran: A case of misinformation, conspiracy theories and propaganda

Bundestag Vice-President Petra Pau warns that local politicians could be targeted

Threat of violence

How dangerous are conspiracy theories for society? In the University of Münster study, researchers concluded that the spread of conspiracy theories poses a real threat.

"Alternative media can contribute to public confusion by constructing a contradictory, threatening and suspicious world view that questions every 'official' statement," communication scientist Thorsten Quandt writes in the study.

Experts have observed, with concern, that conspiracy theories are an important building block in the world view of violent right-wing criminals.

"Especially among conspiracy theory supporters, we encounter a closed-off world view with a great desire to act. They see themselves as the only people who can stop the downfall," warns Rafael of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation.

The longer the coronavirus pandemic holds society in its grip, the more conspiracy theorists could become radicalized. Petra Pau, the vice president of the German parliament and a Left party lawmaker, shares this concern.

For her, the problem is not a virtual one, but rather a very real one. "Local politicians have been exposed in recent years to right-wing threats in particular. I see the potential for danger if local authorities are put under pressure from the coronavirus and cut certain services, that people will then look for culprits. The agitators could use that," Pau says.

The murder of center-right Christian Democrat regional politician Walter Lübcke last year shows how the danger needs to be taken seriously. A right-wing extremist shot him in 2019. The motive? Hatred for his pro-refugee policies.



CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND THEIR ORIGINS: FROM THE FREEMASONS TO THE TWIN TOWERS
9/11: Inside job?
Who was really behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York? Was it the US government, meaning the Twin Towers were subject to a controlled explosion? Was it a Jewish conspiracy, with some claiming that Jews did not go to work in the World Trade Center that day? An exhibition titled "Conspiracy theories — then and now" at the Dalheim Monastery shows how such beliefs emerge and are maintained.

MORE FOTOS 12345


Date 26.04.2020
Author Hans Pfeifer
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Germany: Politicians worry about radicalization at anti-lockdown protests

After a weekend of demonstrations across Germany, lawmakers worry that they are being used to spread far-right and anti-vaccine ideologies. Attacks on journalists and police have also been on the rise.


German lawmakers from across the political spectrum on Monday warned that the growing wave of anti-lockdown protests could provide fertile ground for radicalization, including from the far-right. Over the weekend, thousands of people gathered in cities across Germany to demand an end to restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Looking away and silence do not help," said Saskia Eskens, leader of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the junior coalition partners to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).

Read more: Germany: Catholic chiefs reject cardinals' coronavirus 'conspiracy theories'

'Resist conspiracy theorists'

Speaking with the Funke Mediengruppe newspaper consortium, Eskens said now was the time to actively resist conspiracy theorists and extremist groups trying to capitalize on lockdown cabin fever. "We have to show ourselves to be pugnacious democrats," she said.

The CDU also spoke out about the possibility radical ideologies were being promoted through the demonstrations.

"We will not let extremists misuse the coronavirus crisis as a platform for their anti-democratic propaganda," CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak told the Augsburger Allgeimeine daily. He added that while the government takes peoples' concerns seriously, "we must act consistently against those who are fueling citizens' worries with conspiracy theories and bringing fake news into circulation."

Speaking with Die Welt newspaper, the Green party's parliamentary leader Konstantin von Notz said it was important that people maintained their right to demonstrate. However, he said, it was imperative to stop the narrative that "all politicians are the puppets of Bill Gates and George Soros."

Read more: Does US-China coronavirus blame game threaten scientific investigation?

FDP in damage-control mode

As for the business-friendly FDP, the party was doing damage control on Monday after the leader of their party in the eastern state of Thuringia, Thomas Kemmerich, appeared at a protest over the weekend, also without wearing the protective mask that is mandatory in public.

Kemmerich, who was at the center of a major political controversy last year when he was briefly elected state premier with the votes of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), faced renewed calls from within his own party to step down on Monday.

The SPD further warned that the demonstrations and conspiracy theories were fomenting violence against journalists and police. Over the weekend, a group of right-wing extremists attacked a group of journalists in the city of Dortmund, following two similar attacks on reporters in Berlin earlier this month.

There have also been sporadic reports of assaults and resistance to police officers. In the western town of Troisdorf on Monday, two people who attempted to enter a supermarket without wearing the required facemasks were arrested after attacking the police officers who were called to check on the disturbance.

On Saturday, some 3,000 people rallied in Munich to demand that all pandemic-related restrictions be lifted, many of them not wearing masks and in defiance of an order that protests not exceed more than 50 people. Multiple smaller protests were held in Berlin, as well as Stuttgart and Dortmund.

Vaccine falsehoods spread

Authorities have noted that not only are far-right groups a regular feature at the demonstrations, but anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists as well. Instead of reducing the prevalence of anti-vaccine sentiment, the pandemic appears to be spreading false claims that vaccines actually spread diseases or are used as a tool of government control.

Other major far-right and false claims made by the protestors include the idea that lockdown measures are being used to slowly install a dictatorship, that 5G digital networks are causing the spread of the virus, or that billionaires like Bill Gates are using the pandemic as a form of control over the public.

The international scientific consensus continues to be that physical distancing measures and the wearing of facemasks in public spaces remain two of the best ways to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus and it's resulting disease, COVID-19, that has killed over 280,000 people worldwide.


Date 11.05.2020
Author Elizabeth Schumacher
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BOLSONARO A TRUMP MINI ME
Pandemic politics costing lives in Brazil

Issued on: 12/05/2020
 
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's (pictured May 6, 2020) criticism of stay-at-home measures to fight the virus has put him at odds with state and local authorities across Brazil, not to mention his own former health minister EVARISTO SA AFP/File

Rio de Janeiro (AFP)

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro keeps saying coronavirus fears are overblown. Other officials at the federal, state and local levels insist the danger is all too real.

Brazil is torn by a deep political divide over how to respond to the pandemic, and it is taking a heavy human toll.

On Saturday, even as the death toll in Brazil crossed the threshold of 10,000, Bolsonaro continued pressing to get the country back to work.


"The army of unemployed keeps growing," he tweeted.

"Is chaos coming?" added the far-right leader, who has compared the virus to a "little flu" and condemned the "hysteria" surrounding it.

Some argue the "chaos" is already here -- at least as far as the Brazilian government's response goes.

Bolsonaro's criticism of stay-at-home measures to fight the virus has put him at odds with state and local authorities across Brazil, not to mention his own former health minister.

The president sacked the latter, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, last month after a long series of public spats.

Meanwhile, Brazil has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic in Latin America, with 11,519 deaths so far.

Experts say under-testing means the real figure is likely far higher, and that things stand to get a lot worse.
"We know from history that anytime there's such a cacophony in a situation like this, such huge disagreement on public policy among leaders, tragedy ensues," said Brazilian historian Sidney Chalhoub, a professor at Harvard University.

As an example, he cited the last major cholera outbreak in Europe, in the late 19th century, that killed more than 10,000 people in Hamburg, Germany.

"It was largely caused by divisions between the local political elite and dominant economic interests, which trumped public health concerns. And the result was an even bigger economic catastrophe," he said.

- Polarizing disease -

Bolsonaro supporters have held a series of anti-confinement protests in recent weeks.

Sometimes the president himself has joined in, hitting the street, shaking hands and giving fiery speeches, all while refusing to wear a face mask.

The protests have included virulent attacks on Congress and the Supreme Court, which have moved to counter Bolsonaro's anti-confinement measures.

At times, they have erupted into violence, including against journalists and even nurses.

But a recent poll by the Datafolha institute found that 67 percent of Brazilians believe stay-at-home measures are needed to contain the virus, even if they hurt the economy.

Even in his own camp, Bolsonaro's support is far from universal.

Another poll found that while 56 percent of those who call themselves right-wing or center-right supported the president's handling of the pandemic, 40 percent did not.

"The more closely related people are to someone who has been infected or died, the more they distance themselves from Bolsonaro," said political scientist Carlos Pereira of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, who conducted the latter poll.


- 'Anti-knowledge' -

Like his US counterpart Donald Trump, whom he admires, Bolsonaro has touted the medication chloroquine as a wonder drug against COVID-19.

Scientists at Brazil's leading public health research institute, Fiocruz, have stated that preliminary studies do not indicate chloroquine is an effective treatment for the disease.

Perceived to be attacking the president, they have received threats on social media in response.

"We're talking about a far-right, anti-democratic government," some of whose supporters have "fascist" tendencies, said sociologist Debora Messenberg, of the University of Brasilia.

"We can't even talk about society being 'polarized' in the usual sense. It's not a democratic polarization. Right now, the debate is between democracy and authoritarianism," she said.

Brazil, like the United States, is facing the pandemic "with a government that is anti-knowledge," said Chalhoub.

The Bolsonaro administration "is depicting this as a public health catastrophe versus an economic catastrophe. But that's a harmful view that will drive us toward both," he said.

© 2020 AFP

 Bolsonaro allows Brazilians to go to gyms, hair salons, as Covid-19 cases spike

Issued on: 12/05/202

An agent checks the temperature of a driver at the entrance of Niteroi city, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 11, 2020, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues. © Ricardo Moraes, Reuters

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday declared gyms and hair salons as essential services that can stay open through the new coronavirus outbreak, easing measures to control the disease despite new cases and deaths surging in the country.

Brazil has now registered a total of 168,331 confirmed cases of the virus and is closing in on the number of cases recorded in Germany and France, where the outbreak has been slowing. To date, Brazil has confirmed 11,519 deaths due to the disease.

The president has argued that state and municipal governments have gone overboard in social isolation measures to restrict the disease's spread and that it is overly damaging to the economy.

"The question of life has to be taken in parallel with jobs," Bolsonaro told reporters outside his official residence. "Without the economy there is no life, there are no doctors, there are no hospital supplies."

Bolsonaro's latest decree allowing more establishments to stay open comes as Brazil registered 5,632 new coronavirus cases on Monday and 396 deaths from the disease, according to the Health Ministry.

After initially decreeing that establishments such as pharmacies and grocery stores were essential, Bolsonaro later expanded that list to include lotteries and churches.

This third decree expands the list of essential business further, also extending it to industrial production and civil construction, with Bolsonaro promising even more easing to come.

Health Minister Nelson Teich told a briefing on Monday that the ministry had not been consulted about Bolsonaro's decision to allow gyms and beauty salons to reopen.


The ministry also said in a statement that it had issued guidelines to state and municipal authorities on the range of social distancing standards, from strict to loose, saying the ultimate decisions rests with local governments.

"It is local health authorities' responsibility to adopt or loosen non-pharmalogical measures," it said.

Global automaker Fiat Chrysler on Monday said it was gradually restarting production at three factories in Brazil, with more than half of its roughly 10,000 employees in the country already returning to work.

The plants had been halted for 48 days, Fiat Chrysler said in a statement. The first task was to train employees on new health precautions, it said.

(REUTERS)
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Laos to press ahead with 'destructive' new dam on Mekong

Villagers along the Mekong River in Laos and Thailand say their fish catch has dwindled as dams have come online Aidan JONES AFP

Bangkok (AFP) 5/12/2020

Environmentalists have criticised Laos for pressing ahead with plans for another "destructive dam" on the Mekong River, a waterway already strangled by hydropower schemes.

The flow of the Mekong, Southeast Asia's longest river, is interrupted by a cascade of dams in China -- where it is called the Lancang.

Two downstream dams -- the Xayaburi and Don Sahong -- have been built in Laos, which wants to construct seven more as it strives to live up to its billing as the "Battery of Asia".


Water levels have dropped to record lows over the last year, exposing rocks and killing fish, a phenomenon blamed by villagers in Thailand and Laos on the operations of dams.

On Monday, Laos' communist government submitted proposals for the Sanakham dam -- close to the northeastern border with Thailand -- to the Mekong River Commission (MRC).

The MRC is a dam consultation body for Mekong nations, but has been accused of being toothless in stopping river projects sponsored by governments and big business.

The consultation process is in fact a "rubber stamp" to get work started on the Sanakham this year in time for a 2028 completion, according to International Rivers, a key campaign group against damming.

"What the Mekong needs immediately is the moratorium on large-scale hydropower dams... not more destructive dams that will benefit a few at the expense of communities in the Mekong basin," Paiporn Deetes of International Rivers told AFP.

The MRC says the Sanakham dam consultation includes an environmental impact assessment on the waterway and its communities.

Landlocked, corrupt and poor, Laos has turned to billion-dollar hydropower schemes for investment, hoping to sell the electricity for a profit to its neighbours as well as provide energy to its remote populations.

But critics say dams have been railroaded through despite mounting evidence of ecological damage to one of the world's most biodiverse waterways.

Villagers along the Mekong in Laos and Thailand say their fish catch has dwindled as the dams have come online.

Studies show sediment flow has thinned, leaving the river increasingly anaemic as it winds towards the Vietnamese delta.

The Mekong feeds around 60 million people.

burs-apj/axn
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Coronavirus: Europe's forgotten Roma at risk
The COVID-19 pandemic is a looming disaster for the millions of Roma living in Central and Southeastern Europe. Instead of providing aid, many authorities have resorted to restrictive measures implemented by force.

People with preexisting medical conditions are most at risk of contracting COVID-19, as well as those working in the health care sector. But in Europe, another group is in particular danger — and yet, they've been mostly overlooked.

Millions of poor Roma in Central and Southeastern Europe, most of whom live in cramped conditions without access to health care and basic sanitation, are facing a humanitarian disaster. Those who already earn a meager living by collecting junk and plastic or selling food, household products and flowers are currently unable to carry out even this informal work.

Read more: Coronavirus: Are less-developed EU countries more susceptible?

Roma rights groups are alarmed

The community, which suffers racism and discrimination at the best of times, is now being treated with even more stigmatization. On top of general measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, authorities in Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria have introduced additional restrictions to put Roma communities under quarantine, sometimes resorting to the use of police and military force.

Roma rights groups across Europe are alarmed. The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma recently expressed concern that "right-wing extremist and nationalist politicians in Central and Southeast Europe would use the current corona crisis to legitimize and implement their racist government action."

"Instead of seeking additional ways to protect these particularly vulnerable members of our societies as coronavirus spreads, some politicians have actively fueled anti-Gypsyism," said Czech MP Frantisek Kopriva, the rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on discrimination against Roma and Travellers in the area of housing, in late March.

'Catastrophic' neglect

An estimated 10 to 12 million Roma live in Europe, making up the continent's largest minority group. About half live in seven countries: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia. This is also where some of the most infamous Roma settlements are located, for example Lunik IX on the outskirts of Kosice in eastern Slovakia, Stolipinovo in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Ferentari in the Romanian capital, Bucharest and Shuto Orizari near the North Macedonian capital, Skopje.

Read more: Poland's Roma community battles discrimination

In all these settlements, families live in extremely cramped conditions, with three or four generations often sharing only one or two rooms. Infrastructure is poor, there is little access to clean, running water and sewage systems are broken or rudimentary at best.

These are ideal conditions for the spread of the contagious coronavirus. But instead of trying to prevent the pandemic from spreading by remedying the substandard conditions, the authorities are using repressive measures to clamp down further on Roma communities.

Zeljko Jovanovic, director of the Open Society Roma Initiatives Office in Berlin, said it would be catastrophic if the Roma population continued to be neglected. "The majority society has not yet understood that unemployment among Roma is bad for the whole economy, and right-wing extremist attacks against Roma are bad for democracy," he told DW. "Now, it has to become clear that poor health conditions for Roma have direct and immediate consequences for non-Roma."

Social programs urgently needed

Slovakia's new center-right populist coalition government has acknowledged the problem, but has resorted to dubious methods to address it. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Igor Matovic announced mass COVID-19 testing in 33 Roma settlements, especially for those people who had just returned from abroad. The tests were scheduled to begin on Friday, and would be carried out by military doctors accompanied by soldiers. Depending on results, people would either be quarantined in state-run institutions, or whole settlements would be placed under quarantine.

Read more: Coronavirus: Rule of law under attack in southeast Europe

Matovic insisted the use of the military to impose these measures was not a "state demonstration of strength," but was to ensure the safety of the Roma themselves. Abel Ravasz, the government's former emissary for the Roma communities, told the Slovak news portal Parameter that the use of the army would only further stigmatize the Roma instead of giving them the impression that the state was their partner.

In Romania and Bulgaria, police have cordoned off several of the larger Roma settlements. Many inhabitants had come back from abroad in recent days and violated the quarantine regulations. In the Roma community of Tandarei, in southeastern Romania, dozens of masked police are now patrolling the streets. The situation is the same in the Roma districts of Nova, Sagora, Kazanlak and Sliven in Bulgaria.

Read more: How the 'Germans' are changing the largest Roma enclave in Europe

Throughout the region the state has provided little help to the Roma, though there have been some exceptions. In some parts of Slovakia local authorities have provided access to clean water with mobile units, while in Cluj, Romania the city distributed packages containing food and sanitary products to 300 families living on the outskirts near the landfill.

In Hungary, Roma rights activist Aladar Horvath has called for a special social program for the inhabitants of segregated settlements. In a letter to the government and President Janos Ader, he proposed a nine-point crisis management program. "In the ghettoized areas, people have no savings, no provisions and no medical care. People are worried that they will soon not be able to feed their children," he wrote.

He has yet to receive an answer.



REMEMBERING NAZI GENOCIDE OF SINTI AND ROMA

Serving the fatherland

Many German Sinti fought for Germany not only in the First World War but also in the Wehrmacht from 1939 on. In 1941 the German high command ordered all "Gypsies and Gypsy half-breeds" to be dismissed from active military service for "racial-political reasons." Alfons Lampert and his wife Elsa were then deported to Auschwitz, where they were killed.
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Germany: Group confesses to arson attack on Roma family

The group left a dead swan and a sign reading "not welcome" in the field where a Roma family was staying in southern Germany. They later tossed a torch at the camper, narrowly missing the woman and baby sleeping inside.

MEET THE NEW RIGHT SAME AS THE OLD RIGHT 



Five young men confessed to carrying out an arson attack on a Roma family in southern Germany last year, with the suspects apologizing for the act on the first day of the trial on Monday.

The suspects, who were between 17 and 20-years-old at the time of the attack, have been charged with attempted murder.

The attack took place in May 2019 in the district of Erbach where a Roma family from France had been staying in a camper in a field.

Read more: Coronavirus: Europe's forgotten Roma at risk

The suspects first put up a sign reading "not welcome" and then placed a dead swan in the field where the family was staying, reported news agency DPA.

They later flung a lit torch at the family's camper, narrowly missing the vehicle where a woman and her nine-month-old child had been sleeping. Another family member removed the torch, with the woman and baby escaping without injuries, local public broadcaster SWR reported.

Defendants 'deeply ashamed'

The five young men, who are all German nationals, apologized for their actions before the court in the southern city of Ulm.

"I am deeply ashamed of my actions," one of the defendants told the court.

"We were stupid and didn't think about the consequences," another defendant said. The group said they did not intend to harm anyone.

Read more: Opinion: Germany is failing in its anti-racism efforts

The public prosecutor's office in Stuttgart took over the case due to the potential right-wing extremist background, and came to the conclusion that the defendants were motivated by xenophobic and anti-Roma sentiments.

Some pushed back against the charges of racism, with on defendant telling the court: "I'm not a Nazi," according to DPA.

Prior to the start of the trial, protesters gathered outside to protest against racism.

"The increasing "anti-Gypsyism" in Germany and in Europe is very concerning," said Daniel Strauss of the National Association of German Sinti and Roma.

The trial is being held in an event venue in Ulm rather than the district courthouse in an effort to comply with social distancing measures to stem the spread of COVID-19. A decision in the case is expected in September.

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Date 11.05.2020
Author Rebecca Staudenmaier
Related Subjects Roma in Europe, Germany
Keywords Germany, Roma, arson, Erbach, racism
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Coronavirus: 'Modern slavery' at the heart of German slaughterhouse outbreakJust as lockdown measures are lifting, more than 200 employees at a slaughterhouse in western Germany have contracted COVID-19. DW spoke to workers living in dilapidated, crowded conditions.

I'm standing outside a run-down, two-story brick building in the village of Rosendahl, in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. One of the residents, a man of around 50, tells me the home has been placed under quarantine "because of coronavirus."

His grasp of English and German is limited, and he wants to remain anonymous, but he tells me he's from the Romanian city of Sibiu.

The man doesn't seem to understand that having his house under quarantine requires him to stay inside. He's wearing a paper mask, but it dangles loosely around his neck. The man works at the Westfleisch slaughterhouse in nearby Coesfeld, along with a number of other Romanians, Bulgarians and Polish people.

Authorities have temporarily closed the slaughterhouse after news broke that an unknown number of workers at the site had become infected with the coronavirus. As of Monday afternoon, at least 249 people had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease — many of them foreign workers.

Nobody feels responsible

The Romanian man cannot say how many of his compatriots live in his building. He estimates 12, possibly more. The mailbox outside is covered with Romanian surnames, but nothing has been posted to indicate that the house has been placed under quarantine. No official notice, no handwritten sign, nothing. As we continue our conversation, another Romanian worker returns from the nearby supermarket, carrying a carton of eggs under his arm.

Anne-Monika Spallek, a spokeswoman for the Coesfeld Green party, says nobody has taken responsibility for the workers' health and safety conditions. The problem has been "pushed back and forth between the local municipality, the region and the state," with no one willing to act. One reason, she suspects, has to do with the fact that Westfleisch workers from Eastern and Southeast Europe are officially employed by a subcontractor, with German public health officials only getting involved once someone has been infected.


Anne-Monika Spallek is the spokesperson for the local Green party

Spallek doubts the subcontractor has taken the legally required steps to prevent coronavirus from spreading inside the workers' dorm. Every worker should have a room to himself, she says, and those infected with the virus should swiftly be isolated from the rest of the workers. Those forced to live under quarantine, among them the man and his fellow workers in Rosendahl, should be receiving deliveries of groceries and other essentials — not going out in public to fend for themselves.

A few minutes later, a minibus stops outside the house. Local authorities, immigration officers and public health workers — all clad in protective gear — head inside, it seems to start systematically testing workers for SARS-CoV-2. It will later emerge that authorities in Coesfeld carried out swab tests on 930 Westfleisch workers.

Locals sympathize with workers

A woman who lives across the street from the workers' home tells me that authorities were slow to act and says she feels sorry for the foreigners. "They are poor people, put up in squalid conditions and exploited," she says. An older man passing by on his bike says many locals now avoid the nearby supermarket, fearing they could contract the virus from one of the Romanian workers.

A 15-minute drive away, Peter Kossen and a friend are protesting outside the main entrance to the Westfleisch slaughterhouse. Kossen, a 51-year-old Catholic theologian, is holding up a sign that reads "End modern slavery." They are appalled at how the workers have been treated.

"This catastrophe was on the horizon for weeks," says Kossen, adding that many foreign workers live "crammed into moldy dorms and decrepit homes," making it impossible for them to keep a safe distance from each other. And, he says, the same applies for the "overcrowded buses that are used to shuttle workers to the slaughterhouse."

Patrick Peter Kossen holds up a sign reading 'end modern slavery'

Just behind Kossen, trucks and workers can be seen leaving the site at regular intervals, even though officially the slaughterhouse has been temporarily shut down. The Westfleisch website, meanwhile, states that all workers infected with SARS-CoV-2, and those who came in contact with them, have been told to self-isolate at home. The company says it's keeping in close contact with its employees.

This scandal has far-reaching consequences for the local municipality. While the state of North Rhine-Westphalia will ease some of its lockdown restrictions on Monday, Coesfeld municipality will keep them in place at least until May 18.

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Date 11.05.2020
Author Miodrag Soric
Homepage DW News -
Related Subjects Coronavirus
Keywords Coronavirus, slaughterhouse, meat processing, migrant workers, poor working conditions, COVID-19
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COVID-19 outbreak in German slaughterhouse sparks fears 11.05.2020

About 200 workers from a meat processing plant in western Germany have been tested positive for COVID-19. Officials say the virus spread through shared housing for the factory's mostly Eastern European staff. Local residents are deeply concerned.

Opinion: Coronavirus highlights scandalous conditions in Germany's meat industry 12.05.2020

Foreign workers are forced to endure inhumane living conditions so that we can eat cheap meat. Politicians can no longer ignore what's happening at German slaughterhouses, says DW's Miodrag Soric.

Date 11.05.2020
Author Miodrag Soric
Homepage DW News -
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Related Subjects Coronavirus
Keywords Coronavirus, slaughterhouse, meat processing, migrant workers, poor working conditions, COVID-19
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Opinion: Coronavirus highlights scandalous conditions in Germany's meat industry NORTH AMERICA TOO

Foreign workers are forced to endure inhumane living conditions so that we can eat cheap meat. Politicians can no longer ignore what's happening at German slaughterhouses, says DW's Miodrag Soric.


We're all familiar with the saying "there is no such thing as a free lunch." In life, everything comes at a cost, and this also holds true for the cheap meat that consumers in rich, industrialized nations love to eat.

After hundreds of Eastern European laborers employed at the Westfleisch slaughterhouse in North Rhine-Westphalia tested positive for the coronavirus, it clear is that the workers are the ones paying the price — sometimes with their lives — for this cheap meat. Sure, Westfleisch, Germany's third largest meat processing company, has stated it carries responsibility for its workers. But look closer, and you'll see the company only has a small number of actual employees. Most workers in the industry are hired by subcontractors, who mainly employ Romanians, Bulgarian and Poles.

Read more: 'Modern slavery' at the heart of German slaughterhouse outbreak

Passing the buck

The meat industry relies on this loophole to cut costs. And on paper, companies like Westfleisch carry no responsibility for the inhumane living conditions that the hundreds of foreigner workers staffing their slaughterhouses in Germany have to endure.

DW's Miodrag Soric

The subcontractors, in turn, argue its the government that should be setting and enforcing basic labor and health standards. But in Germany, this is the prerogative of the respective municipalities or federal states. All of this has led to passing the buck, with nobody willing to step in. And while the North Rhine-Westphalia state labor minister has bemoaned a tendency to turn a blind eye in the meat industry, he has not taken action, either. No lawmaker has, for that matter.

It's an open secret that for years, laborers from Eastern and Southern Europe have been breaking their backs doing piecework in German slaughterhouses, and languishing in squalid living conditions. Westfleisch management knows this full well, as do the subcontractors, local officials and police, Coesfeld district administrators, North Rhine-Westphalia state authorities and even federal lawmakers. Coesfeld residents are aware of the situation, and so too are residents in neighboring towns. They cross paths with workers at the local supermarket and bakery, after all. Until recently, barely anyone seemed to be bothered by the status quo, with many arguing these workers come to Germany voluntarily, earning more money than in their respective home countries.

A virus that threatens everyone

The coronavirus pandemic has changed everything, however. If three or four workers are crammed into a single room, the risk of an outbreak is significant. And this risk of course poses an immediate danger to nearby communities. Without the coronavirus pandemic, one might argue, somewhat cynically, that most Germans would have continued to ignore these workers' dismal living conditions.

This scandal, incidentally, has global ramifications. Germany's meat industry is so competitive that it even exports all the way to China. German companies can offer cheaper products than their global competitors. But, to keep prices low, companies pressure farmers to cut costs, too. Consequently, pork farmers keep animals in tiny pens and given them antibiotics so they don't get sick. They are fed with cheap soy or corn, which is imported from South America, where vast swathes of rain forest are cut down to grow these crops. This, in turn, harms the climate and drives up the cost of land.

Read more: Cheap meat hard for German farmers to swallow

We are all paying the price

In the end, we are all paying a high price for cheap meat. Animals reared on antibiotics mean humans are growing resistant to certain drugs, and the meat industry pollutes our ground water as too much animal waste ends up in our fields.

Industry leaders and politicians have long known about these ramifications. Everyone understands that the only way to change things is to switch to smaller, decentralized businesses that produce high-quality meat in smaller quantities. This would presumably reduce their revenue, because it would no longer pay to export pork to China. This would also surely drive up the price of meat here in Germany. Surveys, however, show that a large majority of Germans would favor transitioning to a more sustainable form of agriculture. What we need, then, is the determination, courage and leadership to get us there.


CORONAVIRUS: EUROPE SLOWLY BEGINS TO WAKE UP
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Shops across Europe were forced to close their doors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including this fashion store on Makarios Avenue in downtown Nicosia, Cyprus. A stay-at-home order had been in place on the island since late March. On May 4 President Nicos Anastasiades allowed construction sites and small retail stores to open again. People should be able to move freely again on May 21.

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Date 12.05.2020
Author Miodrag Soric

Related Subjects Coronavirus
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