News

Czech Republic: Romani parents learn how to get their children into mainstream schools

Czech Republic, 6.12.2013 17:35, (ROMEA) Roughly 150 Romani parents have attended seminars in 10 towns around the Czech Republic to learn how to prevent their children ending up in the "practical primary schools". Thanks to role-playing scenarios, the parents have rehearsed how to reject official offers that their offspring be assigned to such schools.  full story

Czech NGOs ask senators to distance themselves from their colleagues' racism

Prague, 6.12.2013 0:20, (ROMEA) At the instigation of the Czech Professional Society for Inclusive Education, (Česká odborná společnost pro inkluzivní vzdělávání -ČOSIV), an open letter has been written to the senators currently serving in the Czech Parliament. In the letter, the signatories refer to a recent plenary session in the Senate that featured racist and xenophobic remarks and ask the senators to publicly distance themselves from such statements in order to preserve the political culture and dignity of the institution they represent.  full story

Czech rapper disqualified from competition for promoting violence against women

Prague, 5.12.2013 21:47, (ROMEA) News server Musicserver.cz has reported that the conveners of the Czech Nightingale (Český slavík) music competition have disqualified the rapper Martin Pohl, who performs under the nickname "Řezník" (Butcher) from the category of Internet Star without any warning and instead declared the performer Johny Machette the victor in that category. The organizers reject charges of censorship and say they excluded the rapper because they found his lyrics to describe "wrongful acts".  full story

Czech Police arrest right-wing extremists who were arming themselves

Prague, 5.12.2013 17:26, (ROMEA) Detectives from the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu - ÚOOZ) arrested five men from the Bruntál and Olomouc areas at the end of November and charged them with possessing weapons without permits. During house searches the detectives found weapons, dozens of kilograms of gunpowder, explosives and ammunition, as well as ultra-right themed materials.  full story

Czech EdMin presents Council of Europe its measures for fewer Roma in special ed

Prague/Strasbourg, 4.12.2013 17:33, (ROMEA) As many as 28 % of the pupils attending the "practical schools" (formerly the "special schools") in the Czech Republic are of Romani origin. Those are the results of an investigation by the Czech School Inspectorate, which counted the number of Romani schoolchildren attending schools designed for children with light mental retardation this past September.  full story

Slovakia: Voter preference for backers of Kotleba doubles

Bratislava, Slovakia, 4.12.2013 16:46, (ROMEA) News server aktualne.sk reports that the ultra-right People's Party-Our Slovakia (Lidová strana - Naše Slovensko or LSNS), chaired by neo-Nazi Marián Kotleba, has won new support over the last several weeks, but not enough to get into Parliament. Those are the results of the first public opinion poll conducted after Kotleba was surprisingly elected to head the Banská Bystrice Region last month.  full story

Commentary: Senator Doubrava the Czech equivalent of Kotleba in Slovakia

Prague, 4.12.2013 16:16, (ROMEA) I am convinced that every social group, including senators, includes a few cunning hucksters. Czech Senator Doubrava (Severočeši.cz) definitely belongs to that category.  full story

Czech School Inspectorate: One-third of "practical school" pupils are Romani

Prague, 3.12.2013 17:39, (ROMEA) As many as 28 % of the pupils attending schools providing special education are of Romani origin. Those are the results of an investigation by the Czech School Inspectorate, which conducted a census of Romani schoolchildren at schools designed for children with light mental retardation this past September.  full story

Czech report on Roma: Socially excluded localities grow along with youth unemployment

Prague, 3.12.2013 16:19, (ROMEA) Last week the Czech Government reviewed its Report on the State of the Romani Minority for 2012. The document confirms that Romani people continue to occupy an adverse position in the areas of education, employment, housing and security.  full story

Czech Senate rejects EU efforts to improve Romani integration

Prague, 3.12.2013 1:00, (ROMEA) The Czech Senate has rejected a proposal from the European Commission for EU Member States to introduce social measures targeting Romani people, saying that the delivering of aid according to ethnic criteria is unconstitutional. The senators agreed that Romani integration, given the diversity of Romani communities, should be conducted nationally according to local conditions.  full story

Slovakia wants obligatory work for Roma on welfare

Slovakia, 1.12.2013 19:08, (ROMEA) Last Tuesday the ruling Směr (Direction) party in Slovakia was joined by opposition MPs to override a presidential veto of an amendment requiring work in exchange for aid to those in material distress. Unemployed persons will have to work at least 32 hours a month in order to receive the state benefit of EUR 61.60.  full story

Amnesty International Czech Republic strongly objects to senators' remarks about Roma

Prague, 1.12.2013 18:10, (ROMEA) As news server Romea.cz previously reported, a recent session of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic on recommendations from the Council of the EU about Romani integration measures included remarks by some senators which revealed their antigypsyism, crassness, ignorance of the issue, and sense of superiority combined with a need to ridicule others. News server Romea.cz reached out to several figures from the NGO sphere and politics and asked them their opinion of the Senate's performance.  full story

Slovak Police charge man with electoral fraud, Romani voters were bribed

Slovakia, 30.11.2013 18:38, (ROMEA) For the first time ever, the Slovak Police have brought charges in a case of electoral fraud. Detectives believe the Slovak man charged allegedly promised voters a discount coupon worth EUR 5 and tobacco if they would vote for certain candidates in the elections to the Banská Bystrice Regional Council.  full story

Analysis: Czech media uninterested in civil society critique of senators' antigypsyism

Prague, 29.11.2013 22:26, (ROMEA) The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is part of our democratic system and should therefore honor the Constitution of the Czech Republic, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms that is a part of that constitutional order. Senators who speak during sessions of the upper chamber are representing the Czech Republic as a democratic state governed by the rule of law to the nation and the rest of the world.  full story

Slovak PM: Growth in extremism can be confronted by better solving "the Romani question"

Prague, 29.11.2013 21:03, (ROMEA) Speaking in Prague yesterday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said government can confront the growth in extremism by "managing to solve the so-called Romani question." He was responding to a question about what would stop the growing popularity in the Central European region of people like Slovak right-wing extremist Marian Kotleba.  full story

Czech figures say Senate session on Roma integration full of collective blame, hatred, ignorance and racism

Prague, 29.11.2013 18:51, (ROMEA) As news server Romea.cz reported earlier this week, the recent session of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic on EU recommendations for Romani integration measures included statements by some senators that were a testament to their antigypsyism, their crassness, their ignorance of the issue, and their sense of superiority combined with a need to ridicule others. News server Romea.cz has reached out to several leading figures from the NGO sphere and politics and asked them for their opinions of the Senate's performance.  full story

Slovakia: Ultra-right also won Romani votes, intimidation alleged

Slovakia, 28.11.2013 21:30, (ROMEA) Members of the Romani Union Party in Slovakia (Strana romské unie na Slovensku - SRÚS) are calling on newly-elected governor of the Banská Bystrice region Marián Kotleba to meet with them before Christmas and show them his plans for their community. The party wants to offer its own proposals for improving the situation of Romani people to him.  full story

Czech Senate debate on Roma integration reveals antigypsyism, crassness, ignorance

Prague, 28.11.2013 2:11, (ROMEA) The recent Czech senate debate of recommendations from the Council of the EU for effective measures in the area of Romani integration in the EU Member States can only be characterized as dense. In addition to several truthful statements, the discourse included many zingers from infamous politicians such as Jaroslav Doubrava, Miroslav Krejči, Jaroslav Kubera and Pavel Lebeda.  full story

Czech Republic: Activists want incoming governing coalition to enact Human Rights Ministry

Prague, 27.11.2013 0:05, (ROMEA) A total of 40 nonprofit organizations and several eminent figures in the Czech Republic have issued an open letter calling on the heads of the ANO, Christian Democratic and Social Democratic parties to consider establishing a Ministry for Human Rights, Minorities and Equal Opportunities should they form a government. Proponents of the move believe it would mean such issues would receive greater weight and would not only help solve country's problems with ghettos, but would even benefit the economy as a whole.  full story

Slovakia: Roma Initiative chair says low Roma turnout part of Kotleba's win

Bratislava, Slovakia, 26.11.2013 23:27, (ROMEA) The TASR press agency reports that Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Community Affairs Peter Pollák believes the election of ultra-right politician Marián Kotleba (People's Party "Our Slovakia") to chair the Autonomous Region of Banská Bystrice (Banskobystrický samosprávny kraj - BBSK) is because that the Romani issue has gone unaddressed in Slovakia for the past 22 years. Václav Kappel, chair of the Romani Initiative of Slovakia, has criticized Romani voters for not turning out to vote against Kotleba.  full story