News

Czech mayor disagrees with study finding an excluded locality in his town

10.7.2015 17:20 On 3 July the Mayor of Milovice, ing. Milan Pour, posted his official standpoint on the town's website about the results of the recent Analysis of Socially Excluded Localities in the Czech Republic, a research project commissioned by the Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry and produced by the GAC, s.r.o. company. The mayor's statement says that the factual extent of the area which might be considered excluded does not provide a basis for including Milovice among towns with socially excluded localities, as "this concerns a part of town where approximately 160 -180 persons showing signs of social exclusion live".  full story

EU-28 ministers have not yet reached full agreement on refugee redistribution

10.7.2015 16:19 Interior Ministers of the Member States of the European Union were unable to fully reach agreement yesterday on how they will redistribute 40 000 asylum seekers currently in Greece and Italy throughout the EU over the next two years. Jean Asselborn, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg, which currently presides over the EU, is convinced that agreement will be reached at the next meeting on 20 July.  full story

Czech prosecutor finds no evidence that radical Islamic book disseminates racism

9.7.2015 22:46 Czech Television reports that prosecutors have returned the case of an allegedly radical Islamic book said to have been disseminating racism back to police for further investigation. Jan Lelek, head of the Prague 1 District State Prosecutor, confirmed the information to the Czech News Agency.  full story

Roma in Denmark, Norway and Sweden not being "run" by organized crime

9.7.2015 22:06 News server west-info.eu, which reports on European welfare policies, say a new report from Fafo, a Scandinavian social research foundation, has found no evidence that Romani people in Denmark, Norway and Sweden are being managed by organized crime. The report contradicts claims that Romani people are being trafficked into those countries.  full story

Czech Labor Minister plans Internet subsidy for the socially vulnerable

9.7.2015 21:27 Czech Minister for Labor and Social Affairs Michaela Marksová-Tominová (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) is planning to subsidize reduced Internet rates for the socially vulnerable. "The aim is for people at risk of social exclusion to be able to use digital technology to improve their position in society," Jiří Vaňásek, director of the ministry's Labor Market Department, told news server iHNED.cz.  full story

Hungary adopts law allowing construction of fence against immigrants

9.7.2015 19:53 Reuters reports that the Hungarian Parliament adopted a law on 6 July tightening conditions for granting asylum and allowing the construction of a fence on the border with Serbia to halt the influx of immigrants entering the country illegally. The new law shortens the time for evaluating asylum requests and facilitates the rejection of applications from immigrants who have passed through a so-called "safe country" where they were not in serious danger while fleeing, for example, Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria.  full story

Czech Police: Shooter was a juvenile, no indications yet of extremism playing a role

9.7.2015 18:55 The person suspected of having shot at a bus full of people on Tuesday evening in the Czech town of Plzeň is a 15-year-old youth, according to police. The suspect was apprehended by detectives less than 24 hours after the crime was committed and is now in a police cell.  full story

ERRC publishes Roma Rights issue honoring the late Nicolae Gheorghe

9.7.2015 16:39 The current issue of Roma Rights, the journal of the European Roma Rights Centre, is dedicated to the life and work of the late Nicolae Gheorghe. Guest editor Nicoleta Bitu compiled the issue.  full story

Czech Police arrest suspected shooter, investigate whether foreigners were his target

9.7.2015 16:06 he Czech Police have arrested a man suspected of have fired at a public bus on Tuesday in the Bory quarter of Plzeň. They also confiscated the weapon that was probably used in the shooting.  full story

Czech Gov't Roma Commission: Municipal consent to housing benefits must be abolished

9.7.2015 5:43 The Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs, which is chaired by Czech Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dienstbier, convened last week and joined those institutions and politicians demanding a new amendment to the law on aid to those in material distress. As of May, local municipalities, not Labor Offices, have been empowered to decide whether housing benefits applications should be awarded.  full story

Croatia: 500 stateless persons are mostly Roma

9.7.2015 4:12 News server dalje.com reports that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are approximately 500 stateless persons in Croatia and twice as many at risk of statelessness. They have no citizenship or personal identification and are therefore unable to exercise their rights, find jobs, get married or apply for health insurance.  full story

Czech Republic: Art show about Hodonín concentration camp for Roma opens in Prague

9.7.2015 3:40 On Tuesday, 30 June an exhibition of art by Michaela Pospíšilová-Králová entitled "As If It Never Existed" ("Jako by nikdy neexistoval") about the concentration camp for Roma at Hodonín by Kunštát opened at Café v Lese in Prague (Krymská 12, Vršovice). The opening featured a lecture by Markus Pape, a German journalist living in Prague who has long studied the topic of the Roma Holocaust.  full story

Canada accused of racially profiling Roma travellers from Hungary at European airport

9.7.2015 0:28 In an echo of the approach taken by the UK toward Romani air passengers from the Czech Republic in 2001, Romani citizens of Hungary say Canadian border officials are stopping them in Europe from boarding flights to Canada, according to thestar.com. Romani author Eva Kalla (age 60), a citizen of Hungary, was stopped at the airport in Vienna and referred to a Canadian border official who refused to let her fly to Toronto - even though EU citizens need no visas to do so.  full story

Czech Police now agree that "a gallows has no place in a democracy"

8.7.2015 22:30 Speakers at last week's anti-immigration demonstration in the center of Prague may have committed a felony. That is the conclusion of the police officers who have studied the documentation materials and speeches given at previous assemblies of a similar nature.  full story

Bulgarian NGO to sue over ongoing forced demolition of Romani homes in Garmen

8.7.2015 20:49 News server novinite.com reports that the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) has issued a press release stating its objections to the ongoing forced demolition of buildings in the "Kremikovtsi" Romani quarter of the village of Garmen. The 29 June demolition rendered four families with a total of 15 children homeless and more demolitions are scheduled for 13 July, according to the Amalipe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance, which also reports that 124 of the quarter's 134 houses are slated for demolition.  full story

What grade to give a xenophobic student? Racism at a Czech college

8.7.2015 5:10 This story is about how easy it is to talk about racism in the academic community when one is standing up at the blackboard and how hard it is to handle it inside the community itself. The author does not want to identify the school where this scandal took place, and the names of the author and the student have been changed to protect their identities.  full story

Council of Europe issues report on Roma in preschool in the Czech Republic

7.7.2015 23:21 The Council of Europe's Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM) has just issued a report on its November 2014 visit to the Czech Republic. The visit included experts from Hungary, Latvia, Poland and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, who have authored the report.  full story

Czech Interior Minister: Today it's a gallows, tomorrow people could be shooting each other

7.7.2015 21:54 According to the Czech Interior Ministry, the law was broken during last week's demonstration against immigration and Islam in Prague. Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec says it will be necessary to change police procedure as a result.  full story

European Roma and Travellers Forum: Anti-Gypsyism afoot in Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and elsewhere

7.7.2015 20:52 The European Roma and Travellers Forum has issued the following press release:  full story

New head of Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion will involve more socially excluded people

7.7.2015 19:44 Radek Jiránek became the new director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion one month ago. He replaced Martin Šimáček, whose sudden dismissal caused a crisis - employees backed Šimáček, went on strike for one day, and ultimately approximately one-third of them quit.  full story