News

Czech Republic: Were the Romani Council elections in Ostrava a farce, or a sign of hope?

28.2.2015 20:18, (ROMEA) According to various estimates, there are between 25 000 to 40 000 Romani people living in the city of Ostrava, of whom about 6 000 live in "excluded localities" or ghettos. Earlier this month, elections took place in Ostrava for a "Romani Council".  full story

Analysis: Without debt relief, Czech Gov't efforts to integrate Roma may not succeed

Prague, 28.2.2015 18:21, (ROMEA) The impoverished, unfree people in the ghettos of the Czech Republic need to "raise up their heads" - they need to become free again, to find better prospects for their lives. How can this be achieved?
 full story

Karel Holomek: The Roma are a nation! That is the key to their integration.

28.2.2015 1:50, (ROMEA) I have several basic comments to make about the opinions recently expressed about Romani people by Roman Krištof in his interview with Romea.cz. Coincidentally, this has become a big issue now, not because of the polemics around Krištof's opinions, but because the Government has just adopted, as a binding document, its Romani Integration Strategy to 2020 and, shortly before that, the lower house adopted an amendment to the Schools Act concerning the education of Romani children in the Czech schools (which has not been very successful to date).  full story

Czech-language hate group tries to pass off picture of Nobel Prize winner as its Facebook administrator

Prague, 27.2.2015 21:53, (ROMEA)  full story

Survey on Czech school reform: Law alone will not resolve ethnic segregation

27.2.2015 20:09, (ROMEA) Is Czech society heading toward a fairer school system that will no longer discriminate against children who are medically disabled or socially disadvantaged? A system that will not discriminate against children who are Romani?  full story

Commentary: Czech Trade Inspection Authority report downplays discrimination against Romani consumers

27.2.2015 19:18, (ROMEA) Last year inspectors with the Czech Trade Inspection Authority (Česká obchodní inspekce - ČOI) proved that Romani consumers had been discriminated against in eight separate cases. The ČOI has reported the findings in a press releae today summarizing the results of the 1 254 audits it conducted in 2014.  full story

Czech exhibition maps little-known history of those who survived Nazi concentration camps

Prague, 27.2.2015 0:06, (ROMEA) A new exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Prague shows postwar Czechoslovakia as a crossroads for thousands of homeless Jewish people who fled pogroms after the end of the Second World War or headed to Palestine and the West. The exhibition opened today at the Robert Guttman Gallery on U Staré školy Street in Prague and will be there until 23 August 2015.  full story

Jarmila Balážová on the Czech Government Romani Integration Strategy

Prague, 26.2.2015 19:35, (ROMEA) Jarmila Balážová, press spokesperson for Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier, has responded to questions from news server Romea.cz about the newly-approved Romani Integration Stratey to 2020.  full story

Expert says Czech society's discussion of Islam is the worst in Europe

26.2.2015 0:25, (ROMEA) "The discussion [of Islam] in the Czech Republic is not substantive, we are deceiving ourselves," says Miloš Mendel, an Arabist and Islamologist at Masaryk University in an interview for news server Aktuálně.cz. When asked what bothers him so much about the Czech discussion of Islam, he answered as follows:  full story

Amnesty International: Discrimination against Roma persists in the Czech Republic

25.2.2015 23:57, (ROMEA) The annual report of the global human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) says 2014 was a devastating year for all people trapped in suffering war zones and those fighting for human rights."We must hope that, in retrospect, 2014 will seem like a slump to the very bottom, from which we rebound to build a better future," said AI Secretary-General Salil Shetty.   full story

Self-proclaimed Islamic State trying to recruit Roma in the Balkans

25.2.2015 21:21, (ROMEA) The radical self-styled Islamic State movement is doing its best to exploit the unstable economic and social situation of Romani people in the Balkans to recruit them to join their military services. Romani activists are warning local Roma of the danger connected with such extremism and are trying to stop the progress of IS and other radical groups in the Romani community.  full story

Czech trial continues of racially motivated attack on Romani family in their home

25.2.2015 18:57, (ROMEA) In mid-February the trial resumed of a man who has been charged with committing racially motivated grievous bodily harm, violence against an ethnic group and individuals, illegal drug production, trespassing, property destruction and making threats under the influence of addictive substances. News server Romea.cz has previously reported on this case here  full story

Survey on Czech Romani Inclusion Strategy: Most Romani people know almost nothing about it

Prague, 24.2.2015 23:55, (ROMEA) On Monday, 23 February, the Czech Government approved two key documents, the Romani Integration Strategy to 2020 and a report on the fulfillment of the Strategy to Combat Social Exclusion. News server Romea.cz has contacted several figures with a survey of questions about these documents.  full story

Czech education experts: What is needed for inclusion

Prague, 24.2.2015 20:55, (ROMEA) Is Czech society heading toward a fair school system that will not discriminate against medically disabled or socially disadvantaged children? A system that will not discriminate against children because they are Romani?  full story

Survey on Czech Romani Inclusion Strategy: Does affirmative action make sense?

Prague, 24.2.2015 19:42, (ROMEA) On Monday, 23 February, the Czech Government approved two key documents, the Romani Integration Strategy to 2020 and a report on the fulfillment of the Strategy to Combat Social Exclusion. News server Romea.cz has contacted several figures with a survey of questions about these documents  full story

Czech Republic: From anti-Romani demos to lack of social housing law, social inclusion is slow

Prague, 24.2.2015 18:48, (ROMEA) Is the fight against social exclusion succeeding in the Czech Republic? Do the most impoverished ghetto occupants have a chance at a normal life, at moving away from hopelessness and toward decent employment, education, and a life free of fear?  full story

Czech Republic: From anti-Romani demos to lack of social housing law, social inclusion is slow

Prague, 24.2.2015 18:48, (ROMEA) Is the fight against social exclusion succeeding in the Czech Republic? Do the most impoverished ghetto occupants have a chance at a normal life, at moving away from hopelessness and toward decent employment, education, and a life free of fear?  full story

Czech cabinet adopts Romani Integration Strategy to 2020

Prague, 24.2.2015 0:57, (ROMEA) On Monday 23 February the Czech Government approved its Romani Integration Strategy to 2020. The material includes measures in education, employment, housing and security policy that are intended to help reverse the adverse developments and deterioration in the situation of Romani people and compare conditions for them to those enjoyed by other members of the population.  full story

Commentary: Boorishness triumphs at Czech Lion ceremony

Prague, 23.2.2015 20:50, (ROMEA) It might seem that this year's Czech Lion awards are a sign of greater maturity, openness, and self-criticism by this country about its culture, film criticism, and society in general. "The Way Out" (Cesta ven), an authentic, challenging drama about impoverished Romani people from a ghetto that viewers might find hard to watch was not only awarded best film, but won in the most categories overall.  full story

Interview with Czech education reformer on legislative progress

Prague, 23.2.2015 19:29, (ROMEA) "The system has not yet facilitated an education for some children corresponding to their actual educational potential, which has a direct impact on their options for future professions. I believe the situation will finally begin to change now," says Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, who worked on reforming the schools in the direction of inclusive education at the Czech Education Ministry back when Ondřej Liška was minister. Today she is involved in the discussion of this issue as the chair of the Czech Professional Society for Inclusive Education (ČOSIV).  full story