News

Germany: Arsonists set another refugee facility on fire, shooting also reported

16.7.2015 18:09 Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that unidentified arsonists in Germany have set yet another building on fire that had been prepared to accommodate refugees. Last night arsonists attacked the still-empty complex in the Bavarian town of Reichertshofen.
 full story

Slovakia: Romani pharmacy student attacked, her father claims it was racism

16.7.2015 16:00 An unidentified assailant used a wooden stick to attack Tereza Berkyová, a young Romani woman who is a gifted violinist and pharmacy student, after she performed with a folklore ensemble at a festival last weekend in the town of Detva. Her father told the Slovak TV station Markíza that he believes the attack was racially motivated.  full story

Czech Republic: HateFree Culture project refutes online hoaxes about refugees

15.7.2015 16:33 HateFree Culture, a project that is part of the Czech Government's campaign against hate violence and racism, has issued the following press release:  full story

Slovak ombud says police raid on Roma settlement was unnecessary

15.7.2015 0:29 The SITA agency reports that the Slovak Public Defender of Rights (the ombud), Jana Dubovcová, says the police raid on the village of Vrbnica in Slovakia this past April was not necessary and should never have happened. She has completed her investigation of the intervention.  full story

Czech Republic's Wenceslas Square to see three protests on the immigration issue this Saturday

14.7.2015 23:08 Those opposed to receiving refugees in the Czech Republic are heading for the center of Prague this Saturday, as are those who want to express solidarity with immigrants. There will be three separate events at various places along Wenceslas Square during the afternoon of the 18th.  full story

Czech trial of priest accused of sexually molesting Romani children to resume next month

14.7.2015 22:09 On 15 June the trial began at the Přerov District Court of Catholic priest Vladimír Krejsa on charges of sexually molesting children in Přerov. The 64-year-old clergyman from the Přerov area, who is retired and no longer working as a priest, used to visit a Romani community in a troubled locality near the train station.  full story

MEP and OSCE/ODIHR call for evictions of Roma to end in Bulgaria

14.7.2015 19:01 Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), called on Bulgarian authorities yesterday to immediately address inter-ethnic tension and halt evictions in Roma communities. On 29 June, Romani families were forcefully evicted from their homes in the municipality of Garmen.  full story

Czech Museum of Romani Culture presents silent film from 1923 featuring Roma character

14.7.2015 5:17 On Thursday, 16 July, the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno will present an extraordinary cultural experience. The museum will screen a unique silent film by Václav Kubásek from 1923, "Bewitching Eyes" (Čarovné oči), accompanied by live music performed by the band The Harmonic Play.  full story

Czech Labor Offices awarding housing benefits to more than half of all applicants

13.7.2015 23:07 Apparently thousands of new homeless people will not be created by municipalities in the Czech Republic after all. At least not for now.  full story

Czech Interior Ministry anticipates up to 7 000 to enter illegally next year

13.7.2015 22:17 The Czech Interior Ministry anticipates that next year anywhere between 5 000 and 7 000 immigrants will enter the country illegally. This year approximately 3 500 such entries are expected total.  full story

Infamous Czech right-wing extremist plays a Nazi in a new film

13.7.2015 7:06 In a film by director Filip Renč that is currently in production, one of the Nazis is played by an infamous face on the Czech neo-Nazi scene, Jaromír Pytel. The Club of Military History of the "White Power European Patriots" (WPEP) has published photographs on its Facebook profile of Pytel with the director and added a text stating that Pytel's club has signed a contract with the production.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani journalist starts media "incubator"

12.7.2015 23:22 "Young Roma have a lot to say about what is going on around them. However, they come up against the fact that they are unable to express their opinions in such a way as to be able to participate in a public debate, and frequently they never have the room to present their opinions about matters other than inter-ethnic coexistence," says Věra Lacková, the author of the "Media Voice" program in the Czech Republic.  full story

Bulgaria: European Court of Human Rights says Gov't must stop house demolition in Garmen

12.7.2015 21:45 The Equal Opportunities Inititative Association (EOIA) in Bulgaria reports that on 10 July the European Court of Human Rights issued "urgent interim measures" over the house demolitions planned for tomorrow in the town of Garmen. Under Rule 39 of the Rules of the Court, the measures urge the Bulgarian government to “stop the demolitions, until alternative housing is secured for the vulnerable claimants”.  full story

Greece needs urgent aid with refugees at risk of going hungry in camps

11.7.2015 19:12 Greece needs urgent aid with the influx of thousands of immigrants and refugees who are sailing into the country every day, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The agency has called on the European Union to aid the country before the humanitarian situation deteriorates further there.  full story

Czech Labor Ministry says homelessness will not rise because of housing benefit ambiguity

11.7.2015 18:27 The Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry issued a press release at the end of June on the current situation regarding the disbursal of housing benefits. News server Romea.cz publishes it in full below, followed by a response from the Union of Cities and Municipalities.  full story

Portugal releases its first national Roma survey

11.7.2015 0:39 News server theportugalnews.com reports that the first-ever national study of the Roma in Portugal was published at the end of June. Its findings include the information that Portuguese Roma have little formal education, marry young, and mainly work in fairs.  full story

Czech Republic: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival features dramas about Roma

10.7.2015 23:50 Peter Baláž, a former Olympic athlete and boxing champion many times over, has played himself in a melancholy boxing film by Ivan Ostrochovský called "Koza" (Goat). Baláž was present on 6 July for the screening of the film in the Grand Thermal Hall at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.  full story

Poland: Roma Caravan commemorates Holocaust

10.7.2015 22:05 The unmarked graves of hundreds of Romani people murdered during WWII are scattered throughout Poland, according to Adam Bartosz, curator of the Regional Museum in Tarnów. One mass grave of Romani victims in Szczurowa village (Małopolska province) is probably the largest, containing 93 people, as almost the entire Romani settlement was killed and buried there.  full story

Czech Justice Ministry offers unused building with 580 beds for refugees

10.7.2015 20:06 The Czech Justice Ministry can provide a building in Vyšní Lhoty (Frýdek-Místek district) for the reception of refugees. The ministry had originally considered turning the facility into a prison but would like to use it as a refugee center instead.  full story

Pope Francis asks forgiveness for crimes against indigenous people and criticizes "new colonialism"

10.7.2015 18:30 "I humbly ask forgiveness, not just for the sins of the Church itself, but also for crimes committed committed against the indigenous inhabitants during the so-called settling of America," Pope Francis told an applauding crowd during a world meeting of movements representing impoverished people in the Bolivian town of Santa Cruz. The Pope acknowledged that "in the name of God", serious sins had been perpetrated against indigenous people.  full story