News

Czech figures active in 1989 transition call on Gov't to reassess its position on refugee redistribution

19.9.2015 2:29 Public figures connected with the democratic transition of Czechoslovakia in November 1989 believe the current uncompromising position of the Czech Government on the question of redistributing refugees among the Member States of the European Union could lead to a disruption of the Schengen area and the breakup of the European Union. A letter they have sent to the Government which the Czech News Agency has seen calls on the executive branch to honor its European commitments and reassess its current "negativist" position on the issue.  full story

Central European artists and politicians call for solidarity with migrants

18.9.2015 20:51 Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Associated Press (AP) report that Czech film director Jiří Menzel and former Czech Prime Minister Petr Pithart are among hundreds of artists and politicians from Central Europe who have called on the citizens and representatives of their countries to demonstrate solidarity with asylum-seekers. The AFP reports that Central European citizens frequently are antagonistic and sometimes hostile towards migrants coming to Europe.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion director says all-Romani classes are unfortunate, media misquote him

18.9.2015 19:48 Radek Jiránek, Director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion, was quoted recently by news server iDNES.cz in a way that suggested he was praising the separate classes for non-Romani and Romani pupils that have been set up at a primary school in the Czech town of Krásná Lípa. He considers the quotation imprecise and has told news server Romea.cz that it could have a negative impact on how the public and the schools might interpret how to include children with special education needs into "normal school".  full story

Bulgarian NGOs get injunction suspending demolition of Roma homes in Peshtera

17.9.2015 20:48 A Bulgarian coalition of Romani NGOs called the National Roma Coalition "Intellect" has issued a press release in response to the advice given to the Bulgarian Government by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on 15 September. The ECtHR has advised that “without a definite commitment on its part to ensure the accommodation of the vulnerable members of the applicants’ families before the demolition of their homes, the Court will, in application of Rule 39 of its Rules, indicate to that Government not to proceed with this measure”.
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Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry publishes updated online maps of socially excluded localities

17.9.2015 19:54 The Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry has published the updated version of its online maps of socially excluded localities. The map is one of the main outputs of a research project commissioned by the ministry and performed by the GAC company.  full story

Hungarian Police beat up international journalists during use of force against refugees

17.9.2015 18:43 Hungarian police officers involved with yesterday's intervention against refugees on the border with Serbia beat up and detained journalists from abroad. One was a reporter for the Slovak newspaper Denník N, which reported the incident today.  full story

Council of Europe approves European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture

16.9.2015 23:56 Yesterday the 47 member states of the Council of Europe approved a proposal for the creation of a new European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture. Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said that “The Council of Europe wants to help celebrate the contribution of Roma art, history, and tradition to our shared cultural heritage. The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture will spread greater understanding of Roma culture and challenge unhelpful stereotypes. I hope that over time it will become a source of pride and self-esteem for our European Roma citizens. The project will be Roma-led, with the Council of Europe and the Open Society Foundations providing funding, resources and political support.”  full story

Renata Berkyová: Slovak party wants to take Romani children from their families to counter public fears

16.9.2015 22:50 One might think that the state removing children from the care of their own parents in order to re-educate them is an historical phenomenon only. In Slovakia, though, Ms Nicholsonová of the "Freedom and Solidarity" Party has said she believes such a concept could spare Romani children from "inhuman treatment" in the settlements.  full story

Czech Republic: Gay Romani man's week includes a racist assault with a gun, rejection from a bar and strange police treatment

16.9.2015 20:55 At the beginning of August, I experienced several amazing days with the organization ARA ART. I participated in the first international Roma LGBT conference. As part of the conference, together with six other gay Roma, I took part in the Theater of the Oppressed by putting on a play about being Roma and gay. At the conference, I met 20 other Romani LGBT. In our free time, we were able to enjoy ourselves freely in clubs and other entertainment facilities without being discriminated against. All this changed upon my return to the mundane reality of the city of Ostrava.  full story

Czech volunteer firefighters tell Romani children club is full - then accept a different applicant

16.9.2015 20:14 The Plzeňský deník daily reported on 11 September that the Voluntary Firefighter Unit in the Bolevec neighborhood of the Czech town of Plzeň recently refused to accept applications from four Romani children to join their club. Allegedly there was no more room for new members.  full story

Czech NGO found barefoot, hungry children in detention center for asylum-seekers who are being charged money by authorities

16.9.2015 18:03 Czech NGOs report that the conditions in Czech facilities for asylum-seekers are substandard. The situation in detention facilities is especially bad, where asylum-seekers complain that their mobile telephones and money are being confiscated.
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Czech NGOs question whether mandatory preschool is an effective way to help socially disadvantaged children

16.9.2015 4:39 A proposed amendment to the Schools Act that would make the final year of preschool mandatory in the Czech Republic as of 2017 is not being unequivocally accepted by all experts on education. Those opposed include, for example, the Association of Forest Nursery Schools (Asociace lesních mateřských škol).  full story

Czech pizzeria has the answer: It won't serve immigrants and wants to "Stop Islam"

16.9.2015 2:50 The Grand Italia Ristorante Pizzeria in the Czech town of Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou posted the slogans "We don't serve immigrants" and "Stop Islam" to its Facebook profile at the start of September. After members of the public responded to his messaging, restaurant manager Tomáš Ševčík then posted the following: "Yesterday I was called a Nazi because I expressed my opinion about the problem with refugees - we got 200 negative reviews, insults and threats. When I looked at the profiles of those posting I couldn't believe it. They either work for a 'nonprofit' or are foreigners and don't understand at all what is going on - this is just a gimmick so we'll be afraid of them. I don't mind foreigners, what I mind is this invasion OF ILLEGAL REFUGEES WHO BELIEVE THEY ARE ENTITLED TO ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING."  full story

RVN Editor Valery Novoselsky: Everything online becomes visible, even in the mahallas

15.9.2015 18:59 Anyone who has become interested in Romani issues during the past 15 years has probably come across the Roma Virtual Network (RVN) online, a set of 33 listservs in 20 languages, Romani included, that aggregates online information about Romani issues and shares it with more than 10 000 subscribers. News server Romea.cz interviewed RVN’s editor, Valery Novoselsky, about this work and RVN's future plans.  full story

Forum 2000 opens with debate about segregation of Roma in the Czech schools

14.9.2015 23:24 The 19th annual Forum 2000 conference began yesterday in Prague, entitled "Democracy and Education". The event, first launched by former Czech President Václav Havel in 1997, will feature many discussions and lectures, including events outside of Prague, and ends Wednesday.  full story

Pro-refugee demos throughout Europe, Czech Police detain Romani activist again over flag

14.9.2015 0:41 Czech Police detained Romani activist Ivana Mariposa Čonková in Prague yesterday immediately prior to the beginning of a demonstration there for an "Open Europe", one of several such events held throughout the continent. Although the officers did not initially inform her why she was being detained, it later turned out that it was because she was holding a Czech flag altered to feature elements of the international Romani flag.  full story

Hungarian camerawoman who kicked refugees including children being investigated by police

13.9.2015 8:23 Hungary has been shaken by a brief video taken at its border with Serbia that shows a camerawoman for Hungary's N1TV station kicking young refugee boys and girls and tripping a refugee carrying a child as they make their way through a Hungarian Police cordon. Other journalists captured the camerawoman's behavior on film.  full story

Czech platform for institutionalized children calls on Gov't to simplify its child welfare system

13.9.2015 1:05 Vteřina poté ("One Second Later"), an independent platform in the Czech Republic advocating for the rights of institutionalized children, has sent an open letter to Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Czech Labor and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksová, Czech Education Minister Kateřina Valachová, Czech Health Minister Svatopluk Němeček and Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier calling on them to fulfill the Government's pledge to simplify its care system for at-risk children. The Government made that pledge in its National Strategy for the Protection of the Rights of the Child in 2012.  full story

Bulgaria and France reprimanded by UN Human Rights Commissioner over Roma displacement

12.9.2015 20:38 Yesterday the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, called on Bulgaria and France to stop forcibly clearing Romani encampments. The High Commissioner said that French authorities evidently have been engaging in a "systematic policy" of this practice since 2012.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion reports on transitional housing programs now underway

12.9.2015 19:10 The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion has released research analyzing so-called transitional housing systems currently being implemented throughout the country in detail. Such systems are being used by more than 10 cities and social service providers for working with people who are unable to access standard housing for various reasons.  full story