News

Czech Human Rights Minister: A pig farm on a site of human suffering disrespects both survivors and victims

Prague, 1.8.2014 15:55, (ROMEA) Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier has indicated that he would like to attempt to remove the pig farm in Lety by Písek from the site of a former WWII-era camp for Romani people there. "Given that there was a concentration camp in Lety where many people suffered, the fact that a pig farm is on that site disrespects both the survivors and the victims," he told news server iDNES.cz.  full story

videoVIDEO: 1.000 young Europeans remember the 70th anniversary of the Roma Genocide

Krakow, 31.7.2014 10:07, (ROMEA) This coming August 2 marks the 70th anniversary of the Roma Genocide. On this date in 1944, 2,897 elderly men and women, as well as children were murdered in the gas chambers of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. TernYpe – International Roma Youth Network and its partners organize an international conference and youth event gathering 1.000 people from 25 countries to both honour the past and to ensure a future where the rights and dignity of Roma communities are respected.  full story

Slovakia: Wall erected to keep Romani residents separate

Košice, 31.7.2014 19:44, (ROMEA) An unusual wall has been connecting two residential buildings in the Západ quarter of the industrial city of Košice in eastern Slovakia for the last year and a half. It took 18 concrete slabs and several hours of work to erect the gray fence, which is several dozen meters long.  full story

Czech Gov't Agency for Social Inclusion presents 2013 report to cabinet

Prague, 31.7.2014 18:40, (ROMEA) The following is a press release from the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion:  full story

Social Watch criticizes Czech Republic over anti-Romani protests, residential hotels

Prague, 30.7.2014 18:28, (ROMEA) The international NGO coalition Social Watch has criticized the Czech Republic in its annual report for last year over the rise in overpriced, substandard residential hotels housing the indigent and the ongoing anti-Romani demonstrations in the country. The report also reiterates that there are too few women in Czech politics.  full story

Czech Republic: Local officials reiterate intention to collect on bad debts

Most, 30.7.2014 17:40, (ROMEA) Distorted information is being spread through the Czech media and social networking sites about the town of Most, claiming that officials there have forgiven the debts owed the municipality by residents of the Chanov housing estate. "That is not true," Deputy Mayor Hana Jeníčková says of this misinterpretation of the facts.  full story

ERRC: No Place in School for Roma Children in France?

Budapest/Paris, 30.7.2014 11:13, (ROMEA) According to research conducted by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) in the beginning of 2014, children of many Roma in France have restricted access to primary education. More than half of those surveyed are out of school. The ERRC calls on French authorities to provide the children of Roma EU citizens with access to education.  full story

New book describes the fates of Czechoslovaks executed by Soviets

Moscow/Prague, 29.7.2014 23:31, (ROMEA) The fates of more than 100 Czechoslovak citizens and members of the Czech minority executed by the Soviet regime in Moscow have been described for the first time in a newly-published book entitled Moskevská pohřebiště (Moscow's Burial Grounds). The author is historian Mečislav Borák  full story

German Constitutional Court won't release intelligence files on Eichmann

Berlin, 29.7.2014 18:14, (ROMEA) The German Constitutional Court has rejected a request from the daily Bild to have the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) publish the complete file it has on Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust. The publisher of Germany's most-read newspaper reported the rejection on 25 July and said it was considering filing suit with the European Court of Human Rights to gain access to the file.  full story

Kosovo: Evidence found that hostages were killed for their organs

Brussels, 29.7.2014 17:16, (ROMEA) Investigators commissioned by the European Union have gathered convincing evidence that hostages were murdered so their organs could be harvested and sold during the 1990s war in Kosovo. American prosecutor Clint Williamson, who has been entrusted with investigating crimes in Kosovo, has arrived at that conclusion.  full story

Slovakia: Members of the Czech Philharmonic to perform in Romani settlements

Prague, 29.7.2014 16:42, (ROMEA) The following is a press release from the Czech Philharmonic:  full story

Czech Republic: Activists, evictees to hold open meeting on housing in Ostrava

Ostrava, 29.7.2014 15:57, (ROMEA) The following is a press release from the former residents of Přednádraží Street:  full story

Number of Romani college graduates rising in Czech Republic

Prague, 28.7.2014 22:18, (ROMEA) A Bachelor's in economics, a doctorate in law or a Master's in pedagogy. In the Czech Republic, thanks to special scholarships, the number of Romani college graduates is slowly increasing.  full story

Czech town stops collections on back rent worth CZK 30 million

Most, 28.7.2014 19:34, (ROMEA) Czech Television reports that the town hall of Most has stopped collections proceedings against 120 families living at the Chanov housing estate for debts worth roughly CZK 30 million. The town is also reportedly no longer seeking repayment of back rent and utility bills.  full story

Czech Republic: Water cut to yet another building because landlord didn't pay

Děčín, 28.7.2014 19:05, (ROMEA) The owner of yet another piece of real estate in the Czech Republic has not paid the water bill, so the water was shut off to the entire building on Vítězství Street in Děčín on 15 July. Six families are living there, all of them without running water.  full story

Czech ombud: Inclusive education the only way out of life in a segregated society

Brno, 25.7.2014 23:05, (ROMEA) Anna Šabatová, the recently-appointed ombud, brings a very important personal experience to the post from her pre-1989 past. As a dissident against the former regime, she has experienced what it is to be a minority in society.  full story

videoEuropean Roma Institute: An answer to what question?

EU, 25.7.2014 22:37, (ROMEA) In a video produced by the Council of Europe and posted to YouTube this week, Ulrich Bunjes, the Special Representative for Roma Issues, discusses the idea of creating a European Roma Institute (ERI). Outgoing Commission President Barroso and George Soros announced plans for such a development at the EU Roma Summit this past spring in Brussels.  full story

Commentary: Behind Europe's trend of aggression, intolerance and stupidity

Prague, 24.7.2014 22:02, (ROMEA) As this year's elections to the European Parliament have confirmed, it is no accident that populism and right-wing extremism are gaining strength throughout Europe. This is part of a trend we have been able observe for the last five to 10 years.  full story

German state of Bavaria bans largest neo-Nazi organization in the country

Munich, 24.7.2014 20:23, (ROMEA) The Interior Minister for the German state of Bavaria has banned the country's largest neo-Nazi organization, Freie Netz Süd (Free Network of the South or FNS). According to the weekly Der Spiegel, authorities have also searched a pub that was allegedly a well-known place for meetings of the ultra-right not only from Germany, but also from the Czech Republic.  full story

Western European leaders condemn recent wave of anti-Semitism there

Berlin/Brussels/Paris/Rome, 24.7.2014 19:28, (ROMEA) Anti-Semitic sentiment is growing throughout the countries of Western Europe due to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel. The sentiment is most visible in states with strong Muslim minorities.  full story