During World War II, the Nazis perpetrated a genocide of Europe’s Roma and Sinti, who they saw as racially inferior and as social outsiders. It is thought that 70-80% of the European community was murdered [...]

Long after he started a new life in Montreal, Paul Herczeg was still bearing witness to the final moments of thousands of Roma sent to their deaths at Auschwitz in a single night in 1944. For decades, well into his 80s, he volunteered with the Montreal Holocaust Museum, meeting with school groups, giving media interviews, contributing to virtual exhibitions and oral history projects [...]

Montreal-based groups welcomed last week’s unanimous consent motion by Canada recognizing the genocide of the Romani population by the Nazis during World War II, 76 years ago [...]

On August 12, 2020, the Genocide of Roma and Sinti, which that took place during WWII was officially recognized by the Government of Canada following a unanimous consent motion in the House of Commons brought forward by Member of Parliament Sameer Zuberi. This official acknowledgement made possible by a successful “Act of Parliament” was the outcome of over a decade of determined work by the Canadian Roma community [...]

Three Toronto lawyers who were found guilty of professional misconduct in handling Roma refugees’ asylum claims have settled a class-action lawsuit by their former clients […]

The Canadian Romani Alliance, a Canada wide coalition which includes the Toronto-based Roma Community Centre, are delighted to share that, after nearly three years, the Class Action Lawsuit, on behalf of nearly 900 Hungarian Roma Refugee Claimants, has been resolved [...]

Flaherty McCarthy LLP commenced a class proceeding on behalf of the Roma families whose refugee claims failed while the families were represented by any of Viktor Serhey Hohots, Erzsebet Jaszi or Joseph Stephen Farkas. That class proceeding has settled, subject to court approval.

The notice forms and the settlement agreement are available online. The link to the documents is as follows […]

Honourable Minister:

The Refugee Lawyers Association of Ontario supports the recommendations submitted by the Redress for Roma Refugees Coalition, set out in the briefing it provided you dated February 14, 2017.

The RLA is a voluntary association of approximately 300 lawyers representing refugees. We have long advocated for appropriate and enforced professional standards in the representation of refugees, both with respect to the Law Society of Upper Canada's Rules of Professional Conduct and the standards of our provincial Legal Aid Plan (Legal Aid Ontario) [...]

Dear Mr. Salam,

Re: Support for the Redress for Roma Refugee Coalition

OCASI is writing to express our support for redress for the Roma refugee claimants who were represented by Viktor Hohots, Joseph Farkas and Elizabeth Jaszi. These three lawyers were found to have engaged in professional misconduct by the Law Society of Upper Canada and all three have been sanctioned.

OCASI-Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants is the umbrella organization for Ontario's immigrant and refugee-serving sector, and has over 220 member agencies across the province [...]

Dear Minister Hussen,

Re: Support for the Redress for Roma Refugee Coalition

The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) would like to express its support for you to take action for Roma refugee claimants who were represented by Viktor Hohots, Joseph Farkas and Elizabeth Jaszi.

The Law Society of Upper Canada found that these three lawyers engaged in professional misconduct. Their misconduct is not limited to the clients who came before the LSUC. Rather, it represents a widespread pattern [...]