News

Czech Republic: Amaro Records recording studio opens in Brno

8.4.2016 15:31 Yesterday the IQ Roma servis (IQRS) nonprofit organization opened the Amaro Records recording studio in the site of a former gambling parlor located between the "Romani ghetto" and the "normal" city center of Brno. "We were inspired by Barcelona, where a similar recording studio serves foreign nationals and migrants, but our studio is for anyone and everyone," Katarína Klamková, director of IQ Roma servis, explained to the Czech daily Mladá front DNES  full story

John Kerry on International Romani Day: Today we celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Roma and their contributions to society

8.4.2016 14:28 The Secretary of State of the United States of America, John Kerry, has issued a statement on International Romani Day thanking the Romani nation for their rich cultural heritage and wishing Romani people worldwide a future free of discrimination. News server Romea.cz publishes the press release in full here:  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister on International Romani Day: Quality education, more awareness of Romani culture, history, language all important

8.4.2016 11:56 According to Czech Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dienstbier, a quality education is an essential prerequisite for improving the position of Romani people in society. It is also important to increase awareness of Romani culture, history and language.  full story

European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture: Building the Future by Honoring the Past

8.4.2016 9:43 The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) is a joint initiative of the Alliance for the European Roma Institute*, the Council of Europe and the Open Society Foundations. Following the approval of the establishment of ERIAC by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in September 2015, preparations are in progress for the creation of the Institute. Based on the proposal of the Alliance for the European Roma Institute, the German Government endorsed the idea of inviting the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture to set up in Berlin.
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Slovak MP "symbolically" declares himself Romani in official online profile

7.4.2016 14:04 Ondrej Dostál, a legislator seated on the National Council of the Slovak Republic who chairs the Civic Conservative Party, has "symbolically" chosen "Romani" as his nationality when filling out his official online profile for the legislature. The Markíza television station reports that Dostál also listed his nationality as "Romani" during the census for the same reason  full story

Jan Husák: Educating everyone together challenges each of us to adapt

7.4.2016 12:02 When it comes to the 2007 judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in the matter of D.H. and Others versus the Czech Republic, contradictory positions are currently being taken on this issue in Czech society, with some publicly condemning this judgment while others defend it. Even though both sides of this dispute predominantly connect it with the obligation to abolish the "special schools" and lay the groundwork for educating everyone together, after familiarizing myself with this unique judgment I see its essential message as being something else, namely, its interpretation of indirect discrimination.  full story

Iraqi Christians who refused asylum offer from Czech Republic will remain in Germany to seek asylum there

4.4.2016 23:38 The group of 25 Christian refugees from Iraq who left the Czech Republic this weekend for Germany will now be remaining there. Kateřina Rendlová, spokesperson for the Czech Police's immigration division, reported on the website of the Czech Police that those refugees have now sought asylum from Germany.  full story

Commentary: Romipen is democratic, enriching not just Romani people but Czech society, Europe and the world

4.4.2016 21:27 Friday 8 April will be International Romani Day. In the Czech Republic the largest number of events on this day will be held in Brno.  full story

Germany sends Christian refugees back to Czech Republic for deportation to Iraq

4.4.2016 0:51 A group of 25 Iraqi refugees who have been living temporarily at the Okrouhlík center near Jihlava in the Czech Republic refused that country's offer of asylum and asked for their passports to be returned to them on Friday. They spent the night at a residential hotel elsewhere in Jihlava before chartering a bus on Saturday and traveling to the German town of Essen.  full story

videoCzech Republic: NGO campaign draws attention to anti-Romani prejudice

2.4.2016 20:43 A new campaign against prejudice toward Romani people has been launched in the Czech Republic to mark International Romani Day this year by the ARA ART organization. The campaign is called #PrayForPrej and one of its main ideas is that Romani people do not live according to prejudiced expectations, but fully participate in Czech society, and people should not believe the lies disseminated about them.  full story

Local councilor convicted of drugs charge, Czech Constitutional Court says he should not have held been in custody

1.4.2016 20:43 Marcel Cichý, a local councilor and educator in the Czech town of Trmice charged with contributing to international drug sales, was convicted and sentenced on Friday to two years in prison, conditionally suspended for four years. His cousin Ladislav Cichý, who was also charged in the case, will be going to prison for eight and a half years, while another cousin, Pavel Kišš, got a three-year prison sentence suspended for five years.  full story

Karel Holomek: Migration crisis not new, Roma migrated from Slovakia post-WWII and to Canada post-1989

31.3.2016 17:14 Last weekend the international "Dialogue in the Center of Europe" (Dialog uprostřed Evropy) conference was held in Brno, one that has traditionally been held there for many years. This year's topic was "Historical and European perspectives on the approach to refugees".  full story

Sweden: History of the persecution of Roma in the Czech lands is published

30.3.2016 16:05 In April 2016 a book about the persecution of Romani people in Bohemia and Moravia will be published in Stockholm for Swedish readers, entitled "Inadaptable Citizens: A History of the Persecution of Roma in the Czech Lands". Swedish publishing house Atlas has informed news server Romea.cz of the release.  full story

Czech Supreme Audit Office: People who are not disadvantaged at all are being awarded "social housing"

29.3.2016 23:27 State-subsidized apartments are being leased by people in the Czech Republic who are not living with any kind of medical or social disadvantage. What's more, the Czech Regional Development Ministry is not keeping track of who is actually taking advantage of such subsidized properties.  full story

Czech Republic: Interest in tutoring for Romani children in Brno exceeds supply of volunteers

29.3.2016 21:24 News server iDNES.cz reports that the Romani residents of Brno are expressing increasing interest every year in the long-term tutoring of their children. This year a minimum of 250 Romani children are augmenting their regular education in this way.  full story

Czech Republic: International Romani Day celebration to honor the invisible in Prague

29.3.2016 19:08 The Romani association ARA ART will be holding its second annual celebrations of International Romani Day on 8 April. This year's theme is "Honoring the Invisible".  full story

Belgium: Neo-Nazis assault memorial ceremony in center of Brussels for victims of terrorist attacks

28.3.2016 17:55 Yesterday hundreds of people assembled on the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, which has become a location for honoring the victims of last Tuesday's terrorist attacks, despite police and politicians warning on Saturday that the gathering would stretch police resources. The peaceful commemorative ceremony was disrupted by roughly 450 football hooligans and neo-Nazis, according to the Belgian newspaper La Libre.  full story

videoCzech town offers Romani family accommodation in uninhabitable residential hotel

28.3.2016 9:51 The Gorol family of the Czech town of Slaný recently requested an apartment from local officials after their previous rental arrangement came to an end. The local council approved a place in its residential hotel for them, which is comprised of three adjacent buildings.  full story

videoUltra-right extremists riot in center of Prague, Czech Police intervene and arrest racist activist

27.3.2016 3:15 Police in Prague arrested the chair of the right-wing extremist National Democracy (ND) party, Adam B. Bartoš, on Saturday, 26 May at a demonstration against "Islamicization". Four other demonstrators were arrested later in the day.  full story

Admirer of Hitler and MPs who insult refugees now on Slovak legislature's Human Rights and Minorities Committee

26.3.2016 17:45 The first session of the newly-elected National Council of the Republic of Slovakia has been used to decide the composition of its various committees. The nominations to the Human Rights and National Minorities Committee have sparked exceptional agitation in the Slovak media.  full story