News

Czech town revives housing estate through employment policy

Most, 26.6.2014 23:21, (ROMEA) The infamous housing estate of Chanov on the outskirts of the Czech town of Most has improved its reputation in recent years. The housing estate now features newly-plastered buildings, cleaning crews that shuttle through the grounds, and relative calm.  full story

Czech Republic: Death of Milada Horáková commemorated

Prague, 26.6.2014 22:59, (ROMEA) People are gathering at several locations in Prague today to commemorate the judicial murder of Czechoslovak politician Milada Horáková. She was executed 64 years ago on 27 June.  full story

Czech Republic: Online hate mainly attacks Roma

Prague, 26.6.2014 22:33, (ROMEA) In five European states, leading personalities have joined an online campaign for an internet without hatred, labeling hateful posts they find during online discussion with the symbol #MASTURHATE. In connection with the transition of media outlets to an online format, the number of hateful contributions being posted there today is unequivocally rising.  full story

Czech town bans outdoor screening of film in which Roma resident performs

Duchcov, 26.6.2014 20:27, (ROMEA) The Aerofilms distribution company is cooperating with the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion to screen the film "Cesta ven" (The Way Out) in 10 towns that have problems with excluded localities. In Duchcov the film was meant to be screened outdoors in a public space in the southern part of town which is mostly inhabited by Romani people.  full story

Czech senator pays fine for racism, appeals to Constitutional Court

Prague, 26.6.2014 18:21, (ROMEA) Czech Senator Vladimír Dryml has paid his fine of CZK 20 000 for verbally assaulting a Yemeni doctor. The sanction was handed down by the Senate's Committee on Immunity, which found that Dryml's remarks had a racial subtext.  full story

Czech court wants EP threshold lowered, extremists would have it easier if so

Prague, 26.6.2014 17:27, (ROMEA) The Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic (Nejvyšší správní soud - NSS) is proposing that the Constitutional Court abolish the 5 % threshold for becoming a Member of the European Parliament. The elections appeal panel has sided with a motion filed by the Czech Green Party and the Czech Pirate Party.  full story

Commentary: Death in Czech town shows state of Romani empowerment

Prague, 25.6.2014 23:58, (ROMEA) The current story of Romani people in the Czech Republic is not just about court cases, hate marches, or problems related to discrimination. Beneath the surface, a process of empowerment is underway.  full story

Karel Holomek: "Positive discrimination" - nonsense or a total misunderstanding?

Brno, 25.6.2014 20:27, (ROMEA) The news that Czech Human Rights Minister Dienstbier intends to submit the 2020 Romani Integration Strategy to the Government has sparked horror in political circles across the political spectrum here, or at best has sparked a reaction of total rejection. This has happened on the basis of a suggestive question asked by the tabloid daily Parlamentní listy, namely, whether these politicians support the "positive discrimination" of Romani people?  full story

Czech bank ad shows swarthy man as criminal

Prague, 25.6.2014 18:57, (ROMEA) ČSOB bank has evidently decided to traffic in the anti-Romani sentiment in Czech society in its latest ad campaign. The visual image concerned is part of a campaign advertising the bank's insurance products, featuring the slogan "Insure your family silver before you leave to get bronzed", and shows a thief robbing a house.  full story

Early 20th century Nobel laureate was of Romani origin

Copenhagen, Denmark, 25.6.2014 0:05, (ROMEA) Schack August Steenberg Krogh, whose mother was Romani, became a Danish Professor at the University in Copenhagen and won the Nobel Prize for physiology. He contributed to the development of many fundamental discoveries in the several areas of physiology and is famous for developing the Krogh Principle.  full story

Karski reported the Holocaust as it was underway, no one believed him at the time

Łódź / Prague, 24.6.2014 22:36, (ROMEA) Disguised, he accessed the places where the Nazis were committing their greatest atrocities. He was the first to provide the American and British authorities with complete testimony regarding conditions in the Warsaw ghetto and the death camps.  full story

Interactive game "Czechoslovakia 1938 -1989" teaches students about the Romani Holocaust

Prague, 24.6.2014 20:40, (ROMANO VOĎI) The phrase "school through play" applies literally to the case of the instructional simulation game "Czechoslovakia 1938-1989" (Československo 38-89). Using a combination of a computer game and interactive comics, students are led through key moments in contemporary Czechoslovak and Czech history so they can "experience" the events of that time from the perspectives of various people.  full story

Who is Germany really afraid of?

Prague, 24.6.2014 18:21, (ROMANO VOĎI) The first double issue of the monthly journal Romano voďi featured a three-part series on the topic of foreigners and minorities in film and television. In the three segments from various countries - the Czech Republic, Germany, and the USA - our authors have discussed film and television productions and touched on the depiction of Romani people in literature as well.  full story

Czech Republic invested less into Romani students last year

Prague, 24.6.2014 16:07, (ROMEA) Last year the Czech state invested CZK 5.6 million [EUR 204 000] into supporting Romani students attending higher vocational and secondary schools. The money went to young people from poorer families to cover the costs of commuting, meals, and school supplies.  full story

Facebook erases Czech hate page against Islam, other racist pages still running

Prague, 23.6.2014 19:48, (ROMEA) A xenophobic Facebook page called "We Don't Want Islam in the Czech Republic" ("Islám v České republice nechceme") has been blocked by the company after acquiring 65 000 fans. Administrators of the social networking site seem to have responded to several years' worth of Facebook users warning them about its hateful content.  full story

Deaths of paratroopers who assassinated Nazi official in Czechoslovakia remembered

Prague, 21.6.2014 0:13, (ROMEA) People gathered today to mark the anniversary of the death of seven Czechoslovak paratroopers in the Cathedral of St. Cyril and Methodius on Resslova Street in Prague. The men met their deaths in the crypt of the Orthodox church 72 years ago.  full story

Global refugee numbers exceed 50 million, more than half of them children

Geneva, 20.6.2014 23:34, (ROMEA) The number of people fleeing hardship and violence has exceeded 50 million for the first time since the Second World War according to a report issued for 2013 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The report was released on the occasion of World Refugee Day.  full story

65th anniversary of Czechoslovak Communists' execution of general who knew too much

Prague, 20.6.2014 22:56, (ROMEA) Tomorrow will mark 65 years since the Communists executed General Heliodor Píka in the town of Plzeň. A memorial service for Píka was held today in front of the building of the General Staff and attended by Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnický and Chief of Staff Petr Pavel.  full story

Teenagers in Czech survey say Roma, "whites" both to blame for tensions

Frýdlantský foothills area, Czech Republic, 20.6.2014 21:23, (ROMEA) Both the majority population and the Romani minority are responsible for current tensions in the Czech Republic. That response was given by 66.1 % of the teenagers participating in a recent survey, part of a project called "Together against Prejudice" in the Frýdlantský foothills area that involved a series of discussions called "The Romani (?) Puzzle".  full story

Commentary: Active, emancipated Roma by 2020 is goal of Czech strategy

Prague, 20.6.2014 17:12, (ROMEA) Government strategies are not usually the most attractive or readable of texts. As far as the position of Romani people is concerned, readers can find many government documents have been produced already, including the Strategy for the Fight against Social Exclusion or the Strategy for Social Inclusion.  full story