News

Czech Police apprehend suspects in 2011 arson attempt on Romani family

Prague, 4.11.2014 17:05, (ROMEA) Police officers have apprehended two men suspected of having attacked a railway house occupied by Romani people with a Molotov cocktail three years ago in the Czech town of Krty (Rakovnice district). One person was lightly injured as a result.  full story

Romani camp on alert in Pisa: Community mobilizing against evacuation

Italy, Pisa, 4.11.2014 12:14, (ROMEA) The situation for 120 Romani people living in Bigattiera camp in Pisa, Italy, is starting to become really complicated.  full story

Canadian Muslims condemn Islamist radical violence, now face increased aggression themselves

Ottawa, 4.11.2014 1:29, (ROMEA) After two recent attacks reportedly committed by Islamists in Canada, the number of attempted attacks against members of the Muslim community has risen sharply. The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) announced the increase last Thursday.  full story

Germany: Berlin wants to ban planned demonstration against Islamists

Berlin, 4.11.2014 0:47, (ROMEA) Germany's capital is doing its best to ban a planned demonstration against Islamists that has been organized by neo-Nazis and a group that has been labeled one of football hooligans. A similar demonstration in Cologne on Sunday 26 October resulted in clashes with police during which 49 officers were injured.  full story

Czech researchers find high levels of housing, job discrimination against minorities

Prague, 3.11.2014 21:39, (ROMEA) In the Czech Republic, Romani and Vietnamese people must respond to twice as many advertisements for available apartments as Czech people in order to be invited to view a property. Czech job seekers also have more than a 180 % greater chance than Asian people of being invited for an interview by a prospective employer and 75 % more of a chance than Romani people.  full story

Irish man acquitted of Romani girl's 2008 murder, case unresolved

Ireland, 3.11.2014 18:51, (ROMEA) Irish media have reported that Alan Wilson, a Dublin resident charged with murdering Mariora Rostas, a Romani 18-year-old, in 2008, was found not guilty by a unanimous jury verdict this summer. Wilson's defense attorneys told the jury they were being asked to rely on the evidence of an unreliable witness who had benefited from immunity from prosecution for his own involvement in the matter.  full story

Germany: "Arbeit macht frei" gate stolen from Dachau concentration camp

Dachau, Germany, 3.11.2014 18:20, (ROMEA) Someone has stolen the original gate to the former concentration camp of Dachau with the cynical Nazi slogan "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work sets you free"). Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that the stolen doorway was part of the gate at the main entrance.  full story

Czech Supreme Administrative Court upholds ban on neo-Nazi demonstration last year

Brno, 3.11.2014 17:23, (ROMEA) The Czech Supreme Administrative Court (Nejvyšší správní soud - NSS) has rejected a complaint concerning a ban on an assembly in the town of České Budějovice filed by neo-Nazi Pavel Matějný, who convened the event. The NSS said it was clear that the announced demonstration intended to threaten the Romani minority.  full story

Amnesty International: Court must consider hate motive behind attack on Romani woman

Messolonghy/Greece, 3.11.2014 12:23, (ROMEA) The court in Messolonghy, Western Greece, recognizes racial motivations in the brutal attack that two Romani people, Paraskevi Kokoni and her nephew Kostas, who has a learning disability, have been subjected to in October 2012.  full story

Czech Gov't report finds Roma cannot access ordinary housing

Prague, 2.11.2014 22:53, (ROMEA) The number of impoverished ghettos and Romani families living in overpriced, substandard residential hotels significantly increased last year. Romani tenants' access to rental housing deteriorated during the same time period.  full story

Czech Military Intelligence: Ultra-right lacks leaders, individuals still dangerous

Prague, 2.11.2014 19:39, (ROMEA) Ultra-right extremists in the Czech Republic do not have a leading figure capable of coordinating their activities. That is the assessment of the Military Intelligence service's annual report for 2013.  full story

Czech journalist Michal Komárek and ROMEA win Vodafone Foundation grant

Prague, 31.10.2014 21:24, (ROMEA) This year's round of the Czech Vodafone Foundation's grant program saw 64 applicants. There were 12 projects in the final round whose authors presented their intentions to the expert jury.  full story

Ireland: Mob attacks Romani-occupied building

Waterford, Ireland, 31.10.2014 17:07, (ROMEA) News server Independent.ie has reported that in the Irish town of Waterford in the southeastern part of the island an anti-Romani demonstration took place last Saturday involving roughly 200 participants. Demonstrators attacked a building in which three Romani families live.  full story

Commentary: What Roma Pride is about, and why it's not working

Prague, 29.10.2014 19:03, (ROMEA) At the start of this month, the third annual Roma Pride took place in the Czech Republic and many other European countries. This event is coordinated by the European Grassroots Anti-Racist Movement (EGAM) as an attempt to create a Europe-wide platform for civil rights on the model of the North American civil rights movement once led by figures such as Martin Luther King.  full story

Commentary: Zeman, consciously dividing Czech society, is no President

Prague, 29.10.2014 18:13, (ROMEA) We Czechs always manage to find something that will reliably divide us and invoke our emotions - and with them, our intransigence full of resentment towards others. Let's recall the presidential elections, when one camp attacked and the other counter-attacked.  full story

European research shows most homeless people can maintain housing when rehoused

Prague, 28.10.2014 17:12, (ROMEA) The vast majority of homeless people who are rehoused quickly manage to maintain their housing and rebound. The success rates in various parts of Europe are more than 80 %, with 97 % success rates in some places.  full story

Breaking News No More: Life for Roma in Greece a Year after “Maria”

Greece, 27.10.2014 23:50, (ROMEA) For Lefteris Konstantinidis, a 34-year-old lawyer, a normal day in his new office is busy. The phone rings often; he runs around printing new case files and continues to take on new clients. His schedule is exhausting, but he still enjoys his work.  full story

Czech EdMin removes Klaus from committee after nonprofits protest

Prague, 27.10.2014 17:59, (ROMEA) Former Czech President Václav Klaus will not sit on the preparatory committee for the new National Education Council (NEC). Czech Education Minister Marcel Chládek announced the change to Czech Radio yesterday.  full story

Czech intelligence: Protesting the ultra-right makes you "extremist", pro-Romani activists are "biased"

Prague, 27.10.2014 16:48, (ROMEA) Increased interethnic tensions in several regions last year represented the most significant risk factor to the democratic order of the Czech Republic, according to the Security Information Services (Bezpečnostní informační služby - BIS). Anti-Romani sentiment among certain segments of the public could become an even more significant problem for state security than the more extreme but less numerous right-wing radical groups.  full story

German Police intervene against neo-Nazi demonstration

Cologne, 27.10.2014 14:58, (ROMEA) A demonstration by German right-wing radicals yesterday resulted in clashes with police in the center of Cologne. Law enforcement suppressed the rioting using pepper spray, truncheons and water cannon.  full story