News

Czech Republic: Romani association ARA ART wins prize for workshop supporting the LGBT community

18.5.2015 20:40 On Sunday, 17 May, the eve of the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Mecca club in Prague was the venue for an awards ceremony held by the PROUD organization for actions supporting the emancipation and recognition of the LGBT community. The award for Action of the Year was given to the Romani association ARA ART for a workship it held for LGBT Roma.  full story

France building a wall around Romani camping site

18.5.2015 19:54 The French town of Wattrelos, located on the border with Belgium, is erecting a wall around a campsite that is reportedly used by Romani people. The 2.4 meter high barrier will extend to the border.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister informs mayors about the future of the Agency for Social Inclusion

18.5.2015 19:38 Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier met today with 14 mayors of cities and towns collaborating with the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion, accord to a press release from his ministry. The Agency is currently in a crisis: Most of its employees have protested the minister's dismissal of the director of the Agency and disagree with the planned changes to its work.
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Interview with Zeljko Jovanovic, Director of the Roma Initiatives Office at the Open Society Foundations

18.5.2015 13:53 Zeljko Jovanovic is director of the Roma Initiatives Office (RIO), which aims to strengthen the voices and leadership of Roma with respect to improving public policies and services in Europe. Since the fall of the socialist regimes in Europe, Zeljko says he has witnessed "new claims for justice" being made in the context of those emerging democracies. He has published several articles in a variety of media such as The Guardian, La Repubblica, Foreign Policy Blogs, Romea.cz and on the RIO blog and is the co-author of the book From Victimhood to Citizenship: The path of Roma integration (2013, CEU Press).  full story

Commentary: Is the fight over the Agency really about Romani integration?

17.5.2015 8:25 The dispute between employees of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion and Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier began with the dismissal of the Agency's director Martin Šimáček. By now, however, it has completely grown beyond a mere clash over who will be director - although who that is going to be is still an important issue.  full story

European Commission recommends the Czech Republic include Romani children in the education system

15.5.2015 20:52 In order for the Czech Republic to improve its economic situation it should simplify its tax system, fight tax evasion, better manage its health system, and get more Romani children involved in the education system. Those are the recommendations made by the European Commission (EC) to the Czech Republic as part of a larger set of recommendations to the EU-28 and published on 13 May.  full story

Seven applicants for director of Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion

15.5.2015 20:06 The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic has closed the application process for the position of director of the Department of Social Inclusion of the Human Rights Section of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic (the Agency for Social Inclusion). As of midnight Thursday seven people had applied.  full story

Democratic education - where every child can find his or her own way

14.5.2015 9:49 When he was going to nursery school, little Yaacov Hecht was frequently naughty. His teacher punished him more than once by locking him into an adjacent room, which was dark.  full story

Czech Labor Minister says pig farm must be removed from Roma Holocaust site

14.5.2015 8:04 On Wednesday, 13 May, the annual commemoration ceremony for the Romani victims of Nazism took place at the Lety Memorial. The gathering is traditionally organized by the Committee for the Redress of the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic (VPORH), which brings together former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps who are Romani and their relatives.  full story

Hungarian city pays Roma to move away, they are emigrating to Canada en masse

14.5.2015 6:41 Dozens of Romani families from the Hungarian city of Miskolc are moving to Canada. The Romani settlement there, where approximately 1 000 people used to live, will be replaced by a parking lot for the nearby football stadium, which is undergoing reconstruction.  full story

Czech President supports striking social inclusion staff

13.5.2015 21:43 Czech President Miloš Zeman expressed his support today for the striking staffers of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion. Zeman also said he did not see any reason to split the Agency into two departments as has been proposed.  full story

Romani civil society members of Gov't advisory board say social inclusion staffers should leave if they are unhappy

12.5.2015 8:58 Several civil society members of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission for Roma Community Affairs issued a statement yesterday on the situation inside the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion. "There is evidently no other solution to this situation than the departure of the employees who are unsatisfied. We are fully aware that the situation is not an easy one and that the current employees are conveyors of experience and good practice in the area of social inclusion, but we must strongly object to the statements made by Mr Šimáček and other Agency employees to the media and on social networks hinting that the civil society members of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission for Roma Community Affairs are behind the removal of Mr Šimáček and are attempting to destabilize the Agency. Those remarks are intentionally misleading. The aggressive, demagogic media campaign being waged by the Agency harms its good name and that of all the actors involved in social inclusion work," the statement reads.  full story

Czech Gov't social inclusion staffers striking for "autonomy"

12.5.2015 8:04 Most of the staffers of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion have been on strike since yesterday. They are demanding "autonomy and independence" for their institution, which is currently under the purview of Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD).  full story

Eva Clarke, born at Mauthausen when the Third Reich collapsed

11.5.2015 10:58 Eva Clarke and her mother Anka Bergman escaped the gas chamber at the Nazi concentration camp of Mauthausen in the nick of time. Eva was born there on 29 April 1945 when the Third Reich collapsed.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says striking agency's aims can't be met

11.5.2015 10:18 Most of the staff of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion has gone on strike today. Their demand is that their institution, which currently is part of the portfolio of Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier (ČSSD), become autonomous and independent.  full story

Czech film "The Way Out", about life in a Romani ghetto, on general release in France to high praise

10.5.2015 8:01 Director Petr Václav's film "The Way Out" (Cesta ven), which has won seven Czech Lion awards, has been on general release in France since last Wednesday. French critics are praising the drama set in a Romani community, with reviews especially highlighting the performance by Romani actress Klaudia Dudová in the main role.  full story

Czech Republic: Defendants in Wotan Jugend trial say they were just selling stickers

10.5.2015 7:18 Three young men charged with supporting the ultra-right Wotan Jugend movement from Russia told a Czech court on 6 May that they have not been promoting extremism. They claim to have just been selling stickers with symbols of the movement in order to financially support a friend in prison.  full story

Hungary: Life in prison for murdering Romani people

9.5.2015 14:14 Yesterday the Associated Press reported that a Hungarian appeals court has upheld the sentencing of four men responsible for attacks on Romani people during which six individuals, including a five-year-old boy, died in 2008 and 2009. Three perpetrators were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2013 and the appeals court has now agreed with that verdict.  full story

Czech Republic: Three left-wing extremists face life in prison for planning terrorism

9.5.2015 13:17 Three of the six people who were charged last week after the Czech Police conducted a raid against extremists are now facing the possibility of life in prison. Police say they were preparing a terrorist attack on a train.  full story

European Commission will respond to Czech Gov't plans for Romani schoolchildren within the week

9.5.2015 12:07 The European Commission should express its view of the situation of Romani schoolchildren in the Czech Republic within the coming week. Czech Education Minister Marcel Chládek (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) communicated the expected timing of the response to journalists after meeting with EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová.  full story