News

Ukraine: Roma in Transcarpathia fear hunger, mobilization and the police

21.3.2015 23:59, (ROMEA) News server Romea.cz has interviewed Romani studies scholar Michael Beníšek about the everyday life of Romani people in the Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod and its environs, their concerns, identity and language, their relationship toward the gadje, their love of Bollywood films and the new wave of Romani refugees from Transcarpathia now entering Britain with Hungarian passports. Beníšek studied Indology and Romani Studies at the Philosophy Faculty of Charles University in Prague, where he then remained at the Romani Studies Seminar as an educator  full story

Czech Republic: New book transforms views of Romani literature

21.3.2015 21:05, (ROMEA) The Czech literary monthly Host (Guest) has reviewed a collection of stories called "The Sun Sets in the Morning" (Slunce zapadá už ráno), the Romani authors of which won a 2014 Roma Spirit award. The Host review focuses on the authorial experiences to date of Eva Danišová, Irena Eliášová, Jana Hejkrlíková and Iveta Kokyová, saying that they focus on "women's" themes because their works discuss the issues of family and partner relationships, generational change, the position of Romani women in their community and outside it, or recollections of childhood.  full story

Fedor Gál: Czech President should not go to Moscow

21.3.2015 20:06, (ROMEA) In an interview for the Czech News Agency, Slovak sociologist and former dissident Fedor Gál, who celebrated his 70th birthday yesterday, said that nostalgic recollections of the communist era 25 years after the fall of the regime are incomprehensible to him. The founding member of the "Public against Violence" movement said he also does not understand why people hate the politicians them themselves elect.  full story

EU representative says terrorists might pose as immigrants

21.3.2015 18:24, (ROMEA) European Union Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove has warned of the risk that Islamist terrorists posing as refugees could enter Europe. He has also called on the EU agency for border control, Frontex, to be even more alert when it comes to migrants from Iraq, Libya and Syria in particular.  full story

Slovakia: Roma Plenipotentiary asks Prosecutor-General to review case of police abuse of Romani boys

21.3.2015 1:03, (ROMEA) The Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Romani Communities, Peter Pollák, is asking the Prosecutor-General to supervise the prosecution of a case involving the abuse of Romani boys by police. "I have been following the development of this much-publicized case of the humiliating, unprofessional treatment of young Romani boys by police officers at the Košice–Jih Police Department since it began in 2009. I have seen the video recording of officers forcing these boys to strip naked, slapping them, and cursing their Romani origins. I would like to highlight the fact that the prosecutor has filed an appeal after the court issued its verdict, is ensuring compliance with the law by the state authorities in this case, and is focusing on the legality of the court's assessment of the evidence. Like the prosecutor, I too do not agree with the justification presented by the presiding judge, according to whom 'evidence acquired through multiple transfers from one device to another cannot meet the legal requirements of evidence in order to clarify what actually occurred, because the evidence was not acquired in accordance with the applicable legal regulations'," Pollák has posted to his official website.  full story

Czech Republic: Zlín Region supporting Romani integration

20.3.2015 22:49, (ROMEA) Six projects targeting Romani minority integration will be supported this year by the Zlín Region. Organizers will receive some part of the total amount of CZK 350 000 (EUR 12 750) that regional councilors have approved.  full story

France: Comedian gets suspended sentence for defending terrorism

20.3.2015 22:11, (ROMEA) A French comic has received a suspended sentence for defending terrorism. Agence France-Presse reports that controversial French humorist Dieudonné, who was on trial for glorifying terrorism, was given a two-month suspended sentence in Paris yesterday.  full story

Commentary: What can be expected of European Union meetings on Roma?

20.3.2015 21:39, (ROMEA) Will the position of Romani people in the European Union ever improve? Does the EU have the concepts in place and enough tools available to effectively boost the integration of the Romani minority?  full story

Struggle over Czech social housing law begins

20.3.2015 20:13, (ROMEA) Will the law on social housing currently being drafted strike a harsh blow against ghettos, residential hotels, and "trafficking in poverty"? Will even "inadaptables" have access to social housing?  full story

Does the European Platform for Roma Inclusion impact Roma in the Czech Republic?

20.3.2015 0:55, (ROMEA) At the start of this week the ninth session of the European Platform for Roma Inclusion convened in Brussels. The Platform has reviewed basic problems with the integration of the Romani minority throughout the EU since 2009, focusing on addressing integration policies in the EU Member States.  full story

Analysis: Neo-Nazi murders of homeless in Czech Republic may not even be counted as such

Prague, 19.3.2015 22:30, (ROMEA) The recent case of the murderous attacks committed by a supporter of the neo-Nazi Workers Social Justice Party (DSSS) against defenseless homeless people, which news server Romea.cz reported on here, has once again pointed out an enormous problem in Czech society which the media are either ignoring altogether or greatly neglecting. Homeless people in the Czech Republic are frequently targeted for brutal assault.  full story

videoEuropean Platform for Roma Inclusion meets in Brussels

Brussels, 19.3.2015 19:01, (ROMEA) The ninth session of the European Platform for Roma Inclusion took place in Brussels earlier this week, attended by Věra Jourová, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, as well as by a delegation from the Czech Republic led by Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation Jiří Dientsbier. Through this initiative, the European Commission facilitates a broader dialogue between the Member States, nonprofit organizations and Romani representatives with respect to inclusion and integration policies.  full story

Czech court reduces sentence for assailant of wheelchair user on appeal, acquits relative

18.3.2015 23:13, (ROMEA) Marek Polhoš (age 18) of Ostrava, who last October attacked Lukáš Král, a candidate for the ANO party and a wheelchair user at a tram stop in Ostrava-Zábřeh, robbing him of his mobile telephone, will serve five years in prison for his crime. The verdict was announced on Friday 13 March by the appeals tribunal of the Regional Court in Ostrava.  full story

Czech Police complete investigation of radical Islamic book

18.3.2015 22:30, (ROMEA) Officers from the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu - ÚOOZ) have completed their investigation of a case of the alleged dissemination of a radical Islamic book in the Czech Republic. Pavel Hanták, spokesperson for the unit, updated the Czech News Agency about the case on 16 March.  full story

Czech Republic: Interview with Romani resident of town that has banned sitting outdoors

18.3.2015 20:55, (ROMEA) The town of Duchcov has adopted an ordinance banning people from sitting outdoors in certain localities. The measure is supposed to protect greenery and public order and improve the town's appearance.  full story

Documentary films by Roma about Roma screen in Vienna

Vienna, 18.3.2015 20:01, (ROMEA) How can one make a film about coexistence between non-Romani and Romani people without supporting prejudices or stereotypes and without participating in the classic division of people into good and evil, culprits and victims? Such a task might seem hard even for experienced filmmakers, but Romani filmmakers from several different European countries evidently seem to have risen to the challenge.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says Government is addressing discrimination in the schools

18.3.2015 14:48, (ROMEA) Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier says a planned amendment to the Schools Act and the institution of compulsory preschool education as of 2017 are examples of how the Czech Government is doing its best to handle criticism from the EU regarding discrimination against the Romani minority in the schools. Yesterday in Brussels the most important aspects of Romani inclusion into society were discussed by representatives of EU Member States, EU institutions and NGOs from the EU-28.  full story

Yet another Czech town bans sitting outdoors

17.3.2015 22:31, (ROMEA) The Czech town of Duchcov has adopted a new ordinance that is intended to improve the upholding of public order there. The generally binding ordinance bans people from sitting on concrete barriers or walls and also bans them from grilling food in public areas.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani town councilor critiques antigypsyist petition

17.3.2015 19:09, (ROMEA) After spending a longer period of time out of the news, the Janov housing estate is once again being very actively discussed, and not only by local media. The proof is a petition asking for aid in addressing social problems that has been sent to Prime Minister Sobotka by a group of the "decent majority", led by the chair of the Krušnohor housing cooperative, František Ryba.  full story

Czech ombud says human rights are being violated everywhere she looks

17.3.2015 0:41, (ROMEA) The weekly RESPEKT (12/2015) has published an interview with the Czech ombud, Anna Šabatová, in which she discusses discrimination against Romani people with author Marek Švehla. "Human rights violations occur wherever you look here," she says in the interview.  full story