News

Norway apologizes to Roma for WWII-era discrimination, promises compensation

Prague, 11.4.2015 23:59, (ROMEA) Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg has apologized for the discrimination perpetrated by Norway against its Romani population prior to and during the Second World War. She also promised the Norwegian authorities would pay Romani people compensation for the measures undertaken against them at that time.  full story

Czech children's theater director criticized for racist remarks about Roma

Brno, 11.4.2015 23:03, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz. reports that Deputy Mayor of Brno Matěj Hollan, who is responsible for the city's cultural programming, has objected to Vlastimil Peška, director of the Divadlo Radost children's theater, continuing in that post. Peška has been accused of making racist remarks about Romani people.  full story

Slovakia: 300 Roma protest police intervention in Vrbnica

Michalovce, Slovakia, 11.4.2015 21:20 Slovak media report that approximately 300 Romani people assembled on a square in Michalovce on 10 April for a protest against a police intervention in the village of Vrbnica earlier this month, calling for the removal of Košice Regional Police Director Juraj Leško and the resignation of Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák. The protest was organized by the Romani Union Party of Slovakia (SRUS).  full story

Czech arson suspect says he knew Roma lived in the building

11.4.2015 3:15, (ROMEA) At the start of April, the trial continued at the Regional Court in Plzeň of a nine-member, allegedly organized group of neo-Nazis from various parts of the country which news server Romea.cz previously reported on here. According to the indictment, the group used the Internet to call for violent attacks on minorities, political party headquarters, representatives of the Government or the police and planned to attack specific individuals.  full story

France: Clear majority has negative perceptions mainly of Muslims and Romani people

10.4.2015 20:37 A clear majority of French people (82 %) continue to view Romani people negatively, while 74 % of French people view Muslims negatively as well. The minority group that is best-received in the country is that of Jewish people, but prejudices against them persist as well, such as the sentiment that they wield too much power and that they have a specific relationship to money.  full story

Czech Republic: Victims of illegal sterilizations could receive CZK 300 000 in compensation

10.4.2015 19:17 Victims of illegal sterilizations could receive compensation from the Czech state in the coming years of CZK 300 000 (EUR 11 000). Persons who underwent such surgery between 1 July 1966 and 31 March 2012 without giving informed consent would be eligible.
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Czech Republic: Romani students honor their role models

9.4.2015 18:55 International Romani Day was celebrated at the MeetFactory club in Prague yesterday. In addition to a rich musical program during which representatives of the younger generation of Romani musicians met with their older colleagues onstage, Romani students also symbolically paid their respects to those they consider their role models, people whose life and work serve to aid Romani people and improve their relationships with the majority society.  full story

Czech sociologist says attending "practical school" reduces employability by half

8.4.2015 23:56 Speaking on Czech Television on 8 April, sociologist Daniel Prokop presented the results of a survey called Roma Survey 2011 organized by the United Nations Development Programme. The Czech Republic section of the research was performed by the Median agency among 750 Romani and 350 majority-society households.  full story

Czech Platform for Social Housing: Fire shows children must be rescued from living in residential hotels

8.4.2015 23:16 On the night of 6 April, six children who had been forced to live in a residential hotel in the town of Ostrov near Karlovy Vary almost burned to death. Tenants were standing with their children in the windows of the building planning to jump in order to escape the flames.  full story

Czech Television humiliates Romani people on their International Day

8.4.2015 22:30 Czech Television's programming on 7 April ahead of International Romani Day featured somewhat embarrassing dramaturgy and a documentary film promoting antigypsyist stereotypes and clichés. The public broadcaster had announced last week that a program of many documentary and feature-length films would be shown in honor of 8 April.  full story

Ambassadors to Czech Republic: Discrimination of Roma still exists

8.4.2015 19:55 On the occasion of International Romani Day 8 April, seven ambassadors to the Czech Republic have signed a declaration in support of the Romani community. In their statement, the ambassadors emphasize that this day is an occasion to celebrate Romani culture and heritage and is also a day for awareness of the fact that this group of people, frequently living on the outskirts of society, faces discrimination across Europe.  full story

Statement by Secretary of State John Kerry on International Roma Day

8.4.2015 10:27 On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I honor all Roma on International Roma Day.  full story

8 April: Romani people worldwide celebrate International Romani Day

8.4.2015 1:00, (ROMEA) International Romani Day is celebrated annually by Romani people worldwide on 8 April. On this day, Romani people commemorate the historic First World Romani Congress, organized by Comité International Rom (CIR) in Orpington, England in 1971.  full story

Czech Platform for Social Housing chair: Roma in residential hotels need a chance at a dignified life

8.4.2015 0:04 "If you get hit by a car, the emergency medical technicians don't ask you if you looked both ways before you crossed the street. Losing housing is a similar catastrophe. It is in everyone's interest for homelessness not to become an intractable fate, but the briefest possible episode in someone's life," says Štěpán Ripka, chair of the Platform for Social Housing in the Czech Republic; news server Romea.cz interviewed him about the progress on a social housing law.  full story

Romani police officer: Roma are both perpetrators and victims of modern-day slavery

7.4.2015 21:55 Petr Torák is a Romani police officer originally from the Czech Republic who has worked for almost 10 years in England investigating human trafficking. At the end of March he attended a conference in Prague on the topic of "modern-day slavery" along with other British and Czech experts.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani residents of Tanvald oppose planned demonstration for new investigation of 2012 shooting

Prague, 7.4.2015 19:39, (ROMEA) On Saturday 11 April a demonstration will be held in the Czech town of Tanvald calling for a new investigation into the case of a Romani man who was shot to death there on New Year's Day 2012. The event is being convened by activist Andrej Lučka in collaboration the father of the murdered youth, Ladislav Tatár.  full story

Czech Platform for Social Housing approves of Government's Concept

7.4.2015 18:38 Prior to the last Czech election, the parties now governing as a coalition promised to launch a new social housing system to aid the genuinely needy - people without housing and those for whom dignified accommodation is too expensive. The parties unanimously promised to draft a social housing law, to enhance the role of municipalities in providing housing, and to invest the necessary financing into the system.  full story

ERTF: We are Roma - this is what we are

7.4.2015 10:25 We mark International Roma day by celebrating the rich Romani culture and the diverse contributions of Roma to our societies. On this day, the Roma can stand up and proudly say “We are Roma: this is what we are.”  full story

Commentary: Who is the real expert here?

7.4.2015 1:57 In an article published 27 March by the Česká škola (Czech School) website, Jiří Pilař endeavors to interpret the recently-adopted amendment to the Schools Act. Actually he does not present any arguments in his piece, but simply practices division and spite, first creating and then shoring up an antagonism between "activists" and "experts", both "groups" of his own making.  full story

Czech man convicted of racially motivated murder wants a retrial

7.4.2015 0:47 Vlastimil Pechanec, who was sentenced in 2003 to 17 years in prison for the racially motivated murder of a Romani man at a discotheque in the Czech town of Svitavy, has filed a motion for a retrial. Olga Mičanová, spokesperson for the court in Hradec Králové, informed the Czech News Agency of the motion last week.  full story