News

Czech town segregating Roma in housing and at school - mayor says integration will only happen over his "dead body"

29.9.2015 18:18 Milan Volf, Mayor of the Czech town of Kladno, says it is impossible to move those living in the town's excluded localities into regular apartment buildings and that he believes the per-child allowances offered by the state are like a business opportunity that is motivating families in ghettos to grow exponentially larger. He made those remarks in an interview on 23 September for news server E15.cz  full story

Iulius Rostas: Social change for Roma is not about money, but political will

28.9.2015 19:33 Iulius Rostas is a Visiting Lecturer at Corvinus University of Budapest currently teaching a course on "Roma - State and European Policies". News server Romea.cz interviewed him about the course and his work.  full story

Czech Deputy PM to meet with Defense Minister about scandalous internal Army survey leak

28.9.2015 18:22 Czech Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister Andrej Babiš, the chair of the governing ANO movement, wants to meet with his fellow party member Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnický to discuss the findings of an internal Army survey. Babiš announced the plan yesterday on TV Prima's "Partie" program.  full story

Czech Education Minister: Amended law won't close schools but will change curriculum

25.9.2015 20:22 School closures are not planned in the Czech Republic in connection with legislation on inclusion that will come into force on 1 September 2016. Czech Education Minister Kateřina Valachová (for the Czech Social Democrats) made that announcement at a press briefing on 23 September.  full story

Amnesty International: EU refugee summit lacked courage, chaos will continue

25.9.2015 19:12 European politicians have been criticized by human rights NGOs over the results of their extraordinary summit on migration. Amnesty International (AI) believes the summit's emphasis on protecting the EU's external borders ignores both the reality of the global migration crisis and those countries' obligations to offer protection to those who cannot find it elsewhere.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says EU allocating CZK 10 billion to inclusion

24.9.2015 23:31 Approximately CZK 10 billion (EUR 370 million) should come to the Czech Republic from the EU to promote social inclusion over the next few years. The funds could be distributed between 70 different cities and municipalities.  full story

EU approves refugee redistribution quotas, extraordinary summit says chaos must end

24.9.2015 20:55 On 22 September the interior ministers of the EU-28 cast a majority vote to approve quotas for redistribution of refugees among EU countries. Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec tweeted that those opposed were the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, while Finland abstained.  full story

Czech Republic is the last European country to institutionalize children under three

24.9.2015 20:02 "The Czech Republic has been criticized for this for more than 20 years. Other countries consider our system unbelievable. We are the last country in Europe that makes it possible to place children under the age of three in institutions. All of Europe is ahead of us on this," said Věduna Bubleová, chair of the Child and Family Association during yesterday's session of the Czech Parliament's Social Affairs Committee.  full story

European Association for the Defence of Human Rights: Europe, quo vadis?

24.9.2015 19:19 Is there a migrant and/or refugee crisis? Or is there a European crisis? The European Association for the Defence of Human Rights (AEDH) considers that this issue has implications for the future of the European Union, given the powerful consequences of member states’ decisions for the rights of migrants, whether they are fleeing war, repression, poverty or death. While thousands of human beings – men, women and children – have put their faith in Europe in order to survive and rebuild their lives, the governments of EU countries have responded with, at best, a limited form of generosity and, at worst, national preference, violence, xenophobia and racism. The Council of Ministers’ failure to understand that global instability cannot be solved with barriers or walls has led to meetings that reveal serious flaws in European integration. Despite claiming to uphold the rule of law, it has shown itself to be fearful, poisoned by suspicion and even hatred of outsiders. Some governments have spread the illusion of an illegal and organised invasion to justify the use of violence, with potentially fatal consequences.  full story

Czech Army's own survey shows officers are racist, Defense Minister suspects a set-up

24.9.2015 18:19 According to internal materials produced by the General Staff of the Czech Army, aggression, racism, sharp disagreement of generals and soldiers with the Czech Republic's foreign policy and military position, and xenophobia are the main security risks now extant among the Army's officers and soldiers. Army psychologists based those findings on a survey of 816 employees of the General Staff.  full story

Qristina Zavačková Cummings: Hunter to Hunted

23.9.2015 23:37 Yesterday, I discovered (via Facebook) that someone was attempting to sell a shirt via the popular website "Zazzle" (an online retailer that allows users to upload images and create their own merchandise, or buy merchandise created by other users, as well as use images from participating companies), that was extremely offensive.  full story

Spanish Romani Union offers to aid Gov't with Romani refugees from Syria and elsewhere

23.9.2015 23:07 The Spanish Romani Union (SRU) sent a letter on 7 September to Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría offering the services of its Legal Department for working with Romani and other refugees about to be redistributed to Spain by the European Union. In the letter, the SRU praises the Government for publicly confirming that Spain will not turn away any asylum-seekers and for creating an inter-ministerial commission on the issue of refugee redistribution.  full story

Czech Bar Association calls on its members to service refugees pro bono

23.9.2015 21:46 The board of the Czech Bar Association reviewed motions at its meeting on 14 and 15 September concerning the problems of ensuring the rights of immigrants from Africa and Arab countries who find themselves on Czech territory. The Czech Bar Association has no ambition to address political matters, but is concerned about indications that these people's rights might be violated.  full story

European Parliament supports Commission's proposal for refugee redistribution

23.9.2015 19:03 On 17 September the European Parliament supported by a large majority the European Commission's proposal to redistribute 120 000 asylum-seekers currently in Greece, Hungary and Italy throughout the EU-28. The vote preceded the recent meeting of EU Member State interior ministers at which the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia were outvoted on the issue of quotas for redistribution.  full story

Czech politician's anti-Gypsyism is no impediment to her career

23.9.2015 18:37 Alena Rašková (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD),the Deputy Mayor of Prostějov who is infamous for her remarks about Romani people, is now seeking the mayoralty there. Her candidacy was supported today by the local governing coalition of the ČSSD, the PéVéčko movement and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM).  full story

Zazzle responds about anti-Gypsyist T-shirt

23.9.2015 16:50 News server Romea.cz reported yesterday that the German-language pages of the Zazzle online retailer were offering a T-shirt reading "GYPSY HUNTER BADGE - WE KILL THE GYPSIES". The item was no longer for sale approximately two hours later.  full story

European Commission wants concrete statistics on the integration of disadvantaged children into Czech schools

23.9.2015 5:21 The European Commission will be following the Czech Republic's next steps aiming at better integrating children from socially disadvantaged families into the Czech school system. EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová announced the news today after meeting with Czech Education Minister Kateřina Valachová in Brussels.  full story

Influential Czech Social Democrat wants Human Rights Minister dismissed, exploits refugee crisis to attack Roma

23.9.2015 4:35 Martin Klika, a Social Democrat and Regional Councilor in Ústí nad Labem Region, has called on his website for Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka to dismiss Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier. In an interview for the Českolipský deník daily on 19 September he expressed understanding for citizens' concerns about migrants by saying he believed people are concerned migrants will behave like Romani people.  full story

Juan de Dios Ramírez-Heredia: Hunger and fear are stronger than barbed-wire fences

23.9.2015 1:32 The following opinion piece by Juan de Dios Ramírez-Heredia, former Member of the European Parliament and current President of the Spanish Romani Union, was first distributed through the Roma Virtual Network on 17 September 2015 and is reprinted here with permission.
 full story

T-shirt reading "WE KILL THE GYPSIES" for sale online by Zazzle

22.9.2015 17:26 At 15:12 CET today the Czech edition of news server Romea.cz reported that the German-language pages of the Zazzle online retailer were offering a T-shirt reading "GYPSY HUNTER BADGE - WE KILL THE GYPSIES". Zazzle is one of the biggest, must progressive firms in its field, offering customers the opportunity to create their own logos for placement on T-shirts or other items and then to sell their creations through the firm's online store.  full story