 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT hosted.ap.org |
How the world sees Greece
Friday, October 25, 2013
Roma family that says Greece's mystery girl could be theirs lives in abject poverty
Maria's case has drawn global attention ... who were arrested in Athens on Wednesday and were expected to be charged with child abduction, allegedly paid a Roma woman 4,000 euros ($5,500) for the baby, a Greek police statement said. Authorities are ...
Christos Groutsos, Best Backgammon Player in Greece
Christos Groutsos, a doctor from Trikala, a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, is the best backgammon (better known in Greece as tavli) player in the country. Groutsos has also gained international titles for his playing, as he became world champion in 2009 in international backgammon games. The doctor from Trikala is highly regarded among the […]
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Greece mystery girl’s mother identified by DNA test
SOFIA, BULGARIA—Bulgarian authorities say DNA tests have confirmed that a 35-year-old Roma woman is the mother of a mysterious girl in Greece known as Maria. Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry announced the results of the test Friday after ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thestar.com |
Maria case exposes extent of child trafficking in crisis-hit Greece
Announcing the results, Bulgaria's interior ministry said genetic profiling proved that Sasha Ruseva, a Roma woman, was the mother of the mystery girl known only as Maria. The 38-year-old had said she gave birth to the blond, blue-eyed child ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
Why Greek Americans Should Be NY Jets Fans
The question is often directed to me: "Since you were not born and raised in NYC why do you love the NFL and why do you support the NY Jets?" Well, the answer to the first question is easy: Football is quite possibly the world's greatest game ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com |
Europe's Freak-Out About Gypsy Families With Blonde Kids Looks Even Darker After New Revelation
DNA tests have confirmed that a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl named "Maria" found living with a Roma family in Greece is the child of Bulgarian couple Sasha Ruseva and Atanas Rusev, the BBC reports.
Crucially, the Bulgarian couple are Roma themselves.
This is grim twist in an already dark tale. The discovery of Maria earlier this month prompted a Europe-wide freak-out about the possibility that Roma — gypsy communities who descended from Indian nomads and are some of the continent's most persecuted minorities — were involved in the kidnapping and trafficking of children. How could a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes end up in a community that usually features dark complexions?
People assumed the worst. A spokesperson for the family of missing child Madeleine McCann told the Daily Mirror that it gave the family "great hope that Madeleine could be found alive," and the Daily Mail accompanied a story on "Maria" with a section about "How Roma gangs 'traffic children across Europe to steal.'" In Ireland, another blonde child was removed from a Roma family, even though the child had a birth certificate and a passport (that girl was later returned when DNA testing found that she was in fact their child).
Exactly how Maria came to be in Greece remains murky. Her Bulgarian mother has said that she was left in the country as a baby as they could not afford to bring her when they returned to Bulgaria. However, the Daily Mail reported that a woman with her same name was arrested twice for allegedly selling babies in Greece. Whatever the reason, the rush to assume that the only way a Roma family could have a blonde child is abduction and trafficking is scary.
Scarier still is that this is just one example of a wider trend. Anti-Roma persecution has existed for centuries, and economic troubles in the past few years seem to have led to a resurgence. In Greece, the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn have targeted Roma immigrants, and political parties such as Hungary’s Jobbik, the Czech Republic’s Workers’ Party of Social Justice and Bulgaria’s Ataka support anti-Roma policies.
Join the conversation about this story »
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com |
‘Maria’ case brings hope, heartache to mom of boy believed kidnapped by Gypsies in ‘91
Recent news of a blonde girl named Maria turning up in a Greek gypsy camp has consumed Kerry Needham with both hope and heartache.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.foxnews.com |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)