News

Slovakia: Artists protest Governor after he blocks anti-xenophobia project funding

31.10.2015 16:02 In the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia artists are protesting the actions of Governor Marián Kotleba, who is known for his admiration of the WWII-era clerical Fascist Slovak State, his anti-Romani posturing, and his extremist political opinions. The Governor has refused to sign already-approved subsidies for projects aiming to warn young people against the dangers of extremism and xenophobia.  full story

Czech Republic: Hidden camera captures reactions to a refugee family from Syria

31.10.2015 15:17 The organizers of the Czech Government project "HateFree Culture" decided to test the approach taken by people in the Czech Republic toward refugees when they meet them face to face. The project sent a Syrian family with a young child to Kolín and to several neighboring villages in Central Bohemia.
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Romani participant in international pilgrimage: Meeting the Pope is the experience of a lifetime

31.10.2015 14:49 Anna Bystrá was a participant in the recent meeting with Pope Francis as part of the International Pilgrimage of Gypsies in Rome. News server Romea.cz interviewed her about her experience there.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani councilor charged with marijuana sale faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted

30.10.2015 23:05 Czech State Prosecutor Hana Řeháková has filed an indictment with the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem against Marcel Cichý, a Romani member of the Trmice town council who is allegedly involved in a four-member group of drug dealers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The group worked in the Ústí Region and is said to have sold marijuana and methamphetamine there between October and December of last year.  full story

Germany: Unidentified perpetrator spray-paints "Gas them" on Romani Holocaust memorial in Berlin

30.10.2015 22:37 Yesterday in Berlin an unidentified perpetrator has damaged the memorial to Romani people murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War. Police and security services are investigating the case.  full story

Czech Education Minister's new press spokesperson to be Romani journalist Jarmila Balážová

30.10.2015 21:19 TÝDEN.cz reports that Jarmila Balážová, who until recently worked as press spokesperson for Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier, is changing positions and will become press spokesperson for Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sport Kateřina Valachová in November. TÝDEN reports that the Education Minister chose her as spokesperson especially because the two women are already friends.  full story

Austrian Chancellor: Fences will not solve the problem of refugees

30.10.2015 20:46 The building of fences on borders is not the solution to the current refugee crisis. Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann made that statement during a debate televised by the ORF station on Wednesday evening.  full story

Commentary: Czech Interior Minister's praise of President echoes communism

30.10.2015 18:46 The main thing we need is peace and quiet for our work, and we won't let any of these "elements" disrupt it. That used to be a favorite phrase of communist functionaries during the previous regime.  full story

Three-fifths of Czechs against EU membership because of refugee reception quotas

29.10.2015 9:04 Dissatisfaction is growing among the Czech public with the country's membership in the European Union, which according to sociologists is connected to the complicated handling of the current refugee crisis. A survey published by the STEM agency last week documented that three-fifths of Czechs are now dissatisfied with the country's EU membership and would vote against entry if the referendum to join were held today  full story

Czech Republic: Hateful demonstrations against refugee reception in several cities

28.10.2015 23:12 In Brno, Prague, and several other cities in the Czech Republic, hundreds of people gathered today for demonstrations against migration, with police in Brno estimating that about 1 500 people turned out. Most of the events (the ones in Brno, Ostrava, Prague and Ústí nad Labem) were convened by the Bloc against Islam (Blok proti islámu) and Dawn-National Coalition (Úsvit-Národní koalice).  full story

UN migration representative: Lack of agreement on refugees risks the European project

28.10.2015 9:07 Peter Sutherland, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for International Migration, warned last month that failure to agree on a united response to the current asylum-seeker crisis poses a danger to the very concept of European unity. “If there is no agreement to share refugees between the countries of the European Union, it risks undermining the very essence of the European project,” he told The Guardian.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani preschool teacher knows change is possible

28.10.2015 8:34 Božena Horváthová teaches Romani preschoolers on Cejl Street in Brno, the Czech Republic's second-largest city. In a reportage broadcast by Czech Television last month, she described her greatest dream as follows: "You know what I envision? For us to not be 'sidelined', for us to be involved in society. For our children to study and have beautiful professions. I have managed this with my own children and I know it can be done. I know this can be changed."
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UK: Traveller people have to "prove" their ethnicity under new planning rules

28.10.2015 7:44 Dan Allen, a lecturer in Social Work at the University of Salford, reported for The Conversation last month that recent actions by the UK Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) might make the lives of Traveller communities worse. The department has introduced new planning rules that Allen says will adversely directly affect the health of these people.  full story

Czech Republic deporting Afghan family whose case came before the European Court of Human Rights

28.10.2015 7:13 The Czech Republic will be releasing an Afghan family from the Bělá-Jezová detention facility in the Mladá Boleslav district after the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg called on the Czech authorities to transfer them to a different facility. The Czech Interior Ministry, however, says its decision is not in reaction to the Court judgment.  full story

Refugees to have their own team at Rio under the Olympic flag

28.10.2015 6:30 Leading athletes who are also refugees and therefore technically unable to represent any country will be able to compete in the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. Thomas Bach, the chair of the International Olympic Committee, announced the development at Monday's session of the UN General Assembly.  full story

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis: Meeting with participants in the pilgrimage of Gypsies

27.10.2015 17:46 Dear Brothers and Sisters, I welcome and greet you all cordially. I thank Cardinal Antonio Maria Vegliò for his words and for having organized this event in collaboration with: the “Migrantes” Foundation of the Italian Episcopal Conference; the “Migrantes” Office of the Diocese of Rome and the Sant’Egidio Community.
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Czech Education Ministry responds on basic timeline for inclusion preparations

27.10.2015 10:48 News server Romea.cz has asked the Czech Education Ministry why it is has not yet communicated with experts and principals about how the transition to inclusive education will take place next school year. On 16 October the ministry sent the following response:  full story

Pope Francis to Roma: Your nation deserves a new story

27.10.2015 10:11 Yesterday Pope Francis received more than 5 000 Romani people from the Americas, Asia and Europe at the Vatican. The meeting was part of the International Pilgrimage of Gypsies, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples from 23 to 26 October on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of a visit paid to Romani people in Pomezia, Italy, by Pope Paul VI.  full story

Czech adviser to Education Minister: Segregation is unacceptable, unethical - and undefined in Czech law

27.10.2015 8:52 "The reasons given for the creation of ethnically homogeneous classes frequently do not reflect the actual state of affairs," claims Education Ministry adviser Klára Laurenčíková. Following the newly-reported cases of the suspected segregation of Romani primary school pupils in the towns of Duchcov and Krásná Lípa, news server Romea.cz is publishing this interview describing the development of segregational tendencies in the Czech schools, the current state of those tendencies, and planned changes to the system.  full story

Italy: Several thousand Roma walk the stations of the cross in Rome

27.10.2015 7:34 On the night of Saturday 24 October those attending the International Pilgrimage of Gypsies walked the stations of the cross. At each of the 14 stations a different person from a different country was asked to speak.  full story