News

Austrian Chancellor criticizes Czech Republic for rejecting EU quotas on refugee reception

25.8.2015 19:33 Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann criticized the Czech Republic, the Baltic countries and Poland for rejecting redistribution quotas for refugees within the European Union. Speaking on the "Morgenjournal" program on radio station Ö1, Faymann declared that without quotas it will be impossible to stabilize the situation on the EU's external borders which are being crossed by thousands of refugees primarily from Africa and the Middle East, but Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka has a different opinion on the matter.  full story

France: Roma immigrants evicted, travelling community kept from halting

24.8.2015 21:22 British newspaper The Independent reported on 16 August that a shantytown known as Samaritain in La Courneuve suburb north of Paris was slated for demolition "within days". The 80 families living there, most of them Romani, were not scheduled for rehousing by the local council  full story

Two Romani families not allowed to board flight from Prague to Canada, no explanation given

24.8.2015 17:34 During the past two months approximately 20 Romani people from the Czech Republic have not been allowed to board flights to Canada. They were informed that they would not be let on board by airline private security staff at Václav Havel Airport in Prague.
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Ethnic, religious, sexual minorities now suffering more discrimination in occupied Crimea and Donbas

23.8.2015 20:55 The Interfax-Ukraine News Agency reports that human rights activists have issued a report entitled "In the Crosscurrents: Addressing Discrimination and Inequality in Ukraine" that finds discrimination has significantly increased against minorities in occupied Crimea and Donbas. Dimitrina Petrova, Executive Director of the Equal Rights Trust, presented the report at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.  full story

Czech media outlet publishes interview with detained migrant

23.8.2015 20:21 Online news server Aktuálně.cz published an interview on 18 August with a Pakistani citizen who spent half a year en route to Germany only to be intercepted by the Aliens Police in the Czech Republic and detained in the Bělá-Jezová camp there. "I don't understand why the Czech Republic is holding us here. I do not want to remain here. I have never committed a crime. During my six months fleeing Pakistan I traveled through many countries, but only in the Czech Republic was I imprisoned. After I am released I want to go to Germany... I am not seeking asylum in the Czech Republic. Moreover, I am afraid that I will not be treated well in this prison," the migrant says in the interview.  full story

Council of Europe: Rejecting refugees on religious basis is pure discrimination

23.8.2015 0:51 Slovakia has found itself at the center of world media attention and under fire from the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, considered the "watchdog of democracy" on the continent, because of the country's willingness to mainly receive a group of Christians from among the barrage of refugees heading for Europe. Big international media outlets did not notice the Slovak plan until several weeks after Bratislava began speaking of it in June.  full story

Czech Council on Radio and TV rejects critique of public broadcaster's reality show about Romani schoolchildren

22.8.2015 23:30 Nonprofit organizations in the Czech Republic have received an answer from the Council on Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) to the open letter in which they criticized the television series "Class 8A" (Třída 8.A.). The nonprofits believe the series has not fulfilled its intended aim of pointing out the problem of segregation of Romani pupils in the Czech schools.  full story

videoBulgaria: Romani dwellings demolished in Varna

21.8.2015 22:13 Radio FOCUS in Bulgaria reports that houses built illegally by their Romani occupants in the Maksuda quarter of the Mladost municipal department of the city of Varna began undergoing demolition yesterday. Residents reportedly threw rocks at police and attempted to attack them during the demolition.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani situational tester of real estate discrimination appeals ruling for damages

21.8.2015 20:06 News server iDNES.cz reports that Lenka Balogová, the Roman situational tester who sued a real estate office for discrimination, plans to appeal a recent verdict from a court in Litoměřice which did not award her compensation or coverage of her court costs for the discrimination she suffered. "I am only 50 % satisfied [with the judgment] because, as the judge explained, he did not accede to my two requests, and in my opinion that was not reasonable. The costs of the entire court proceeding are supposed to be paid by the losing party," Balogová told the news server.  full story

Macedonia announces state of emergency over refugees

20.8.2015 20:10 Macedonia has declared a state of emergency at its northern and southern borders over an unprecedented influx of refugees heading across its territory in order to reach the European Union and plans to deploy the Army. Reuters reports that the Macedonian Interior Ministry announced the move today.  full story

Czech ministers support academic effort to de-escalate hatred of immigrants

20.8.2015 16:41 Czech Vice Prime Minister for Science Pavel Bělobrádek, Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier and Education Minister Kateřina Valachová expressed support today for a recent effort by academics to de-escalate hatred of immigrants in the country. Dienstbier had previously expressed support for the academics' petition at the beginning of the week.  full story

Hungary: Roma forcibly displaced in Miskolc as Budapest markets Roma neighborhood to tourists

19.8.2015 18:14 The news server www.neweasterneurope.eu reports that members of the Romani community in Hungary are still being evicted in the eastern city of Miskolc despite international pressure and a Supreme Court ruling against the process. The news server likened the local authorities' policy to "ethnic cleansing" and said it sets a dangerous precedent.  full story

Czech Republic: Unidentified assailants break mosque windows

19.8.2015 17:20 Unidentified assailants have broken two windows at a mosque on Vídeňská Street in Brno. They are said to have used iron bars to smash them in.  full story

Germany: Neo-Nazi murderer turned his life around to become a clergyman

18.8.2015 19:46 The preacher Johannes Kneifel knows what the saying "People can change" means. The strapping 33-year-old with reddish-blond hair has a rebirth of his own behind him.  full story

Czech President's spokesperson criticizes academics for expressing solidarity with refugees

18.8.2015 18:42 Jiří Ovčáček, press spokesperson for Czech President Zeman, has criticized hundreds of Czech scholars for expressing tolerance for refugees. Ovčáček said he believes the petition they released yesterday is "broadening the gulf between so-called elites and the rest of Czech society".  full story

Croatia adopts law recognizing rape as a war crime

17.8.2015 19:56 The Global Fund for Women reports that on 29 May the Croatian Parliament passed legislation recognizing rape as a war crime. It will take effect in January and compensate war rape survivors through free counseling, legal and medical aid and a monthly financial stipend.  full story

Czech academics sign petition against xenophobia

17.8.2015 17:46 Scientists and other staffers of the Czech Republic's academic and research institutions have signed a petition against the growth of xenophobic sentiment in Czech society. They are also disturbed by extremist group activity which, in their view, is not being sufficiently counterbalanced.  full story

Karel Holomek: Roma should fundraise for removal of pig farm from concentration camp site

17.8.2015 1:06 Karel Holomek, a former dissident and current chair of the Society of Roma in Moravia (Společenství Romů na Moravě - SRNM), said during the Czech Government's official commemorative ceremony at the Lety by Písek memorial on 3 August that in addition to the Government taking an active approach toward the issue of the pig farm there, Romani people themselves should be active. Holomek believes Roma should take up a collection to raise funds for relocating the farm, part of which now covers the site of the former WWII-era concentration camp for Roma.  full story

Helsinki Agreement marks 40th anniversary

17.8.2015 0:01 Rudolf V. Perina, the U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia, has released an opinion piece that was reprinted by the Slovak daily Hospodarske Noviny on 29 July to mark the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, which concluded the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a process that resulted in the creation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The piece explains how Helsinki became the basis for international criticism of various countries' human rights records.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani Holocaust memorial to be created within two years in Hodonín

15.8.2015 20:17 The building of a memorial to the former labor and concentration camp at Hodonín by Kunštát is now continuing. "In July the construction site was handed over and digging work is currently underway at the site," Petra Holovková, director of the Hodonín Memorial department of the Jan Amos Comenius National Museum and Library, has told news server Romea.cz.  full story