Commentary

Commentary: Should the state obstruct or support social residential hotels?

Prague, 23.4.2013 18:58, (ROMEA) At a debate in the Czech Republic last week attended by activists, experts, representatives of the public administration and nonprofit organizations, Deputy Regional Development Minister Miroslav Kalous (Civic Democrats - ODS) presented the ministry’s current plans in the area of social housing. Kalous said the ministry's aim is to meet the demand of people who need to live in residential hotels and “to help children and their mothers not end up on the street.”  full story

Commentary: My attempted interview with Czech Senator Okamura

Prague, 21.4.2013 17:27, (ROMEA) Recently I read an article by Senator Okamura on his blog about social policy and welfare. While I did not like some of his opinions, I honor and respect freedom of speech.  full story

Commentary: How to produce disinformation in the Czech media

Prague, 8.4.2013 20:48, (ROMEA) "‘When I grow up, I want to be on welfare,’ wish poor children from the Romani ghettos”. So reads the headline of a particular article published on news server iDNES.cz here in the Czech Republic several days ago.  full story

Commentary: Ghetto children in the Czech Republic are victims of the system

Prague, 8.4.2013 17:59, (ROMEA) When I was young I wanted to become a musician like my father, my grandfather, his father and all of our family. I first wanted to play either clarinet or saxophone, and later I wanted to play bass, drums, guitar and piano like Uncle Jonko, and in the end I wanted to play the electric guitar like Petr Janda – he’s not from my family, but he plays well too.  full story

Commentary: Nine-year sentence for triple murder is a cynical mockery of justice

Prague, 6.4.2013 4:07, (ROMEA) The town of Hurbanovo in Slovakia underwent a Greek tragedy of sorts in June 2012. Milan Juhász, a 51-year-old municipal police officer, shot dead three Romani people and injured another two, all from the same family. Juhász murdered Gabriel L. († 45), his son Mário L. († 19) and his son-in-law Július († 22) and injured another of Gabriel's sons, Kristián (26) and Kristián's wife Žaneta L. (26). Juhász shot Žaneta in the thigh and Kristián in the chest. Both eventually survived the attack, although Kristián was in critical condition after the bullet passed through his lungs  full story

Miroslav Brož: "Social housing" for Romani people will preserve the status quo

Prague, 30.3.2013 19:59, (ROMEA) For quite some time now an agitated discussion has been taking place among experts about so-called "social housing". Such housing should be accessible to people who cannot rent apartments on the open market and who would otherwise end up on the street.  full story

Slovakia: Punishment for shooter of three Romani victims called absurdly low

Hurbanovo, Slovakia, 28.3.2013 23:12, (ROMEA) The sentence of nine years in prison and an order to undergo psychiatric treatment handed down by a court in Slovakia against municipal police officer Milan Juhász, who shot dead three people and injured two others in Hurbanovo last year, has prompted much reaction. The defendant originally faced the possibility of life in prison, but the judges chose a lighter sentence for him at the suggestion of the prosecutor and after experts testified that he had not been completely sane when he committed the shooting. The verdict has taken effect, as neither side has appealed.  full story

Commentary: Czech antigypsyism, or, a report on the state of the country

Prague, 26.3.2013 23:57, (ROMEA) I have been systematically reporting on the lives of people living in ghettos, the activity of the ultra-right, and the state of the media with respect to the topic of Romani people, including analysis and criticism. My experiences in doing this work, or rather the topics I have been involved with during it, are alarming.  full story

Tamar Ezer: A Signature Is Not Enough

New York, 26.3.2013 10:57, (ROMEA) Violence happens in health care settings. It does not just take place during war or conflict, on the street, or even in our homes among partners. Health care facilities that are supposed to be places of treatment, care, and support are all too often sites for violence. This is particularly true for those who are marginalized in society. The Commission on the Status of Women, the UN’s global policy-making body on equality and advancement of women, significantly recognizes this in its just released “agreed conclusions,” providing guidance on the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls.  full story

Valeriu Nicolae: How I crashed into the glass-ceiling

Bucharest, 26.3.2013 9:59, (ROMEA) A few months ago I wrote about the problems with funding civil society, and Roma civil society in particular; how EU funds (in particular structural funds) but also project-focused funding stimulate false reporting, rationalizing failures, useless by expensive meetings and trainings, and corruption. Incentives for grassroots work, learning from failures, critical thinking, participation and sharing responsibilities of the vulnerable groups are missing.  full story

Czech ultra-right holds yet another rally full of untruths

Nejdek, 25.3.2013 22:00, (ROMEA) Promoters of the right-wing extremist Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS) continued their never-ending electoral campaign last Saturday in the Czech town of Nejdek. Police officers were posted to monitor all of the roads and the center of Nejdek was empty. The ultra-right extremists met at the train station, marched from there to the center of town, and held their rally.  full story

Bernard Rorke: What Can the EU Do for Roma in the Face of Rising Populism and Prejudice?

Budapest, 20.3.2013 22:37, (ROMEA) It’s nearly two years since the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS) was launched during the Hungarian EU Presidency. Back then, Commissioner Viviane Reding described it as a “huge step forward for millions of Roma around Europe.” When the Commission reviewed the strategies submitted by Member States in May 2012, the rhetoric was more muted. The best the Commission could say was that the strategies amounted to a “first step.” One year on, in a climate of deepening poverty and rising intolerance, there is a grave danger that the prospects of the Framework making a difference to Roma people’s lives will simply dissolve. The newly published policy brief Beyond First Steps provides a concise overview and analysis of developments to date, as well as a clear set of recommendations for the European Commission to keep the Framework on track.  full story

Valeriu Nicolae: The Almighty Church of Social Inclusion

Bucharest, 19.3.2013 11:02, (ROMEA) Over the last ten years I have taken part in about 50 major European Commission conferences on Roma issues. Many were in the early years. I thought initially that conferencing was a way to achieve change. Last year I went to just one EC conference. After the meeting I wrote a piece about structural racism that was published by the European Voice. The “Extraordinary Meeting on Roma” was extraordinary proof of structural problems and ingrained racism within the Commission. Only two speakers out of 29 were Roma.  full story

"I don't want my children to feel like foreigners in their own country"

Czech Republic, 16.3.2013 0:07, (ROMEA) Not quite one year ago, the monthly Romano Voďi devoted an entire issue to the theme of identities in which ethnologist and social anthropologist Zdeněk Uherek reviewed the issue of the plurality of identities in his column "Beneath the Surface" ("Pod povrchem"). The first issue of Romano Voďi this year has returned to the topic of identity construction and the mechanisms through which identity is realized, this time through the lens of the recent Czech presidential election and its reception among members of the Romani minority.  full story

Czech Green Party chair: How far are we from Orbán's Hungary?

Prague, 14.3.2013 16:18, (ROMEA) The Hungarian Parliament has approved a series of changes to the constitution there that threaten, among other things, the independence of the Constitutional Court and weaken minority protections. This is further proof that the European economic and political crisis is starting to contribute to the growth of an extremism and a nationalism that jeopardize democracy.  full story

Commentary: The Romani crisis? A lack of unity!

Postoloprty, Czech Republic, 13.3.2013 22:30, (ROMEA) The Romani people were once a traveling nation. As they passed through different landscapes they encountered the diverse cultures of various nations. In some places they were welcomed for their skills in acrobatics and other arts, their manual dexterity, their musical sensibility, their temperament, and last but not least for their ability to work magic or their knowledge of how to mix herbal concoctions.  full story

Commentary: Hate is just around the corner in Europe

Uppsala, Sweden, 28.2.2013 22:15, (ROMEA) They say 2013 is the year when the euro crisis will resolve after hitting rock bottom and everything will start to get better. We hope so, but we can only say this about some parts of Europe. In Spain we have six million unemployed and in Greece there is no light at the end of the tunnel.  full story

Commentary: Did Romani activist cause CZK 10 million damage?

Prague, 24.2.2013 20:46, (ROMEA) Ladislav Bílý, the chair of the Romani Civic Association (Romské občanské sdružení) was sentenced this week to six years in prison for subsidy fraud. According to information in the media, he committed the fraud between 2007 and 2010 when he requested subsidies in the name of the association from the municipality of Karlovy Vary, the Karlovy Vary Regional Authority, and the Czech Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and submitted a falsified confirmation of solvency with his application.  full story

Commentary: Martin Luther King, Jr's testament for Romani people

Prague, 22.2.2013 22:11, (ROMEA) This piece was composed as an introductory contribution to a debate about Martin Luther King, Jr in Prague that was convened by the American Center and the Slon publishing house, which has released the first selection of Dr King's works in Czech translation.  full story

Commentary: The difference between Czech and French politicians

Prague, 21.2.2013 19:27, (ROMEA) This is really interesting: One comment by Maurice Taylor, head of the American firm Titan International, about the work morale of the French employees of a Goodyear factory has upset almost all of France. Taylor wrote to the French Government that "French employees receive high wages but work only three hours. They get hour-long breaks for snacks and lunch, talk for three hours and work for three." He went on to add that he is no longer interested in French workers or preserving the factory in France and would therefore be closing it.  full story