News

OSF: Czech Government has not ended discrimination of Romani children

Prague, 5.11.2012 17:09, (ROMEA) On 13 November 2007 the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in the case of "D.H. and Others versus the Czech Republic", in which 18 Romani children from Ostrava sued the Czech Republic over their having been assigned to attend "special school" on the basis of their origin. The judgment upheld their complaint and sanctioned the Czech Republic for discriminating against Romani children by disproportionately enrolling such children into the "special schools" (now called the "practical primary schools") which are designed for children who have been diagnosed as "lightly mentally disabled".  full story

Czech Agency says evicted tenants must be housed in the same town

Ústí nad Labem, 3.11.2012 22:37, (ROMEA) The Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion has issued the following press release on the situation in Ústí nad Labem - Předlice:  full story

Čeněk Růžička: Czech society has not squared up to what happened during Nazism

Prague, 3.11.2012 21:06, (Romano vod'i) We interviewed Mr Čeněk Růžička, chair of the Committee for the Redress of the Romani Victims of the Holocaust (Výbor pro odškodnění romských obětí holocaustu) about this sensitive topic and about today's relations between the majority part of Czech society and the Romani minority. We also asked him about Romani pride and what he believes that involves. The interview was conducted at the recent Roma Pride event in the Czech Republic, which involved a march through the streets of Prague and a discussion in the St. Salvator Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (Českobratrská církev evangelická).  full story

No record of agreement for second gypsy site in Llansamlet

Swansea, 3.11.2012 16:43, (ROMEA) AN "AGREEMENT" not to create a second gypsy traveller site in Llansamlet cannot be found, residents have been told.  full story

videoTensions running high over Swansea gypsy site plans

Swansea, 3.11.2012 11:51, (ROMEA) Tensions are running high in Swansea over plans to build a new gypsy traveller site in the city. One of the potential areas is Llansamlet which already has a gypsy site. Local people took their protest to the city council on Thursday evening.  full story

Czech NGO says tenants must leave condemned building

Ústí nad Labem, 2.11.2012 23:06, (ROMEA) People in Need (Člověk v tísni, o.p.s.) has released the following press release on the case of the building at Beneše Lounského street no. 5 in Ústí nad Labem-Předlice.  full story

Uproar over ambassador’s comments on Roma

Budapest, 2.11.2012 22:37, (ROMEA) University teachers, students and researchers on Tuesday protested against remarks by Geza Jeszenszky, Hungary’s ambassador to Norway, which they think “stigmatise” the Roma minority. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Jeszenszky cannot be blamed for prejudice for his lines.  full story

videoRomani Rose: Face of Germany's Sinti and Roma

Berlin, 2.11.2012 22:10, (ROMEA) For decades, Romany activist Romani Rose has been representing the interests of Germany's Roma and Sinti communities. He welcomes Berlin's new memorial for the murdered Roma and Sinti victims of the Nazis - they include many of his close relatives.  full story

Alleged assailant of 14-year-old Romani boy tells his side of the story

Ostrava, 2.11.2012 22:05, (ROMEA) As we reported earlier this week, 14-year-old Ladislav N., a Romani boy from Ostrava-Přívoz, is still hospitalized with bleeding of the brain. His mother, Jana Fišerová, says his injuries are the result of his having been assaulted and beaten, as do two eyewitnesses. Police officers have begun investigating the entire matter as a misdemeanor incident only. As promised, Romea.cz is now reporting on what the alleged assailant has to say about the incident.  full story

An Interview with Katalin Barsony, Romani Activist and Film Director

Budapest, 2.11.2012 21:59, (ROMEA) Katalin Barsony is a Romani activist from Hungary, an internationally-recognized film director, and head of the Romedia Foundation. She is also a PhD fellow in Media and Communications at the Corvinus University of Budapest. She spoke with Bernard Rorke about the Romedia Foundation’s work to “deliver an alternative narrative to mainstream media” about what it means to be Roma in the 21st Century.  full story

Swiss magazine censured over Roma boy cover

Geneve, 2.11.2012 0:38, (ROMEA) Switzerland's press watchdog has upheld a complaint against a magazine that used a picture of a Roma boy waving a gun to illustrate a story about alleged threats from Gypsy gangs.  full story

Magnum Foundation’s Human Rights Fellowship

New York, 1.11.2012 23:11, (ROMEA) Magnum Foundation has announced the availability of human rights fellowships for the 2013 NYU-MF Photography and Human Rights Program. The program will support 5 individuals to complete the 6-week summer program, Photography and Human Rights, at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU), housing, travel, and living expenses.  full story

8 April Movement: Roma Self-determination Now An Achievable Goal?

EU, 1.11.2012 23:08, (ROMEA) A loose coalition known as the”8 April Movement”, which has been building up over recent months, is attempting to address some of the core challenges besetting Roma in Europe and around the globe.  full story

Celebration of the World Day of Romani language

Zagreb, 1.11.2012 23:04, (ROMEA) Like every year, the Association for the Promotion of Education of Roma in the Republic of Croatia “Kali Sara” organizing the celebration of the World Day of Romani language 05.11. World Day of Romani language is a cultural event, which each year brings together doctors, professors, journalists and linguists romologiju that deal about Romani language.  full story

Czech town fears rumors of Romani "influx"

Znojmo, 1.11.2012 21:06, (ROMEA) News server Znojemský týden has reported that rumors are circulating in the Czech town of Znojmo alleging that Romani families will be moving in. The rumors first mentioned that Romani families would be moving into the building of a monastery on Louce street, then into muncipally-owned apartments on Sokolovská street, and finally that they would be moving into building no. 3 on that street, which belongs to the Znojmo-based Agropodnik company.  full story

Commentary: How to learn hatred for poor Romani people

Prague, 1.11.2012 18:04, (ROMEA) The title of this article might make some readers angry. Why not - for years we have been hearing all around us how Romani people drive their Mercedes to get their welfare money - which can be any amount they like, as much as they are able to shout down the authorities for - how their purchases in pharmacies are free of charge, how non-Romani people who commit the same crimes get stricter punishments than Romani people do, etc. Imagination knows no limits.  full story

Commentary: Czech domestic intelligence reports short on intelligence

Prague, 1.11.2012 0:50, (ROMEA) The activities of the Security Information Services (Bezpečnostní informační služby - BIS) here in the Czech Republic and their reports to the public are truly amazing. More than once, without exaggeration, I have compared their "reports" on extremism to ninth-grade composition exercises. The "information" their latest report provides us about developments on the extremist scene during the third quarter of 2012 unfortunately just confirms my previous descriptions (the report is available in Czech only at http://bis.cz/2012-3q-zprava-extremismus.html).  full story

Michaela Marksová-Tominová: The strange Czech practice of "inclusion"

Prague, 31.10.2012 3:05, (ROMEA) I am very involved in advocating for inclusive education in the Czech school system. For a year and a half I had the opportunity to work at the Education Ministry as the director of its Equal Opportunities in Education Department, which was involved in introducing inclusive education and collaborating on transforming the special - or rather, today the "practical" - schools. I will use the original name, "special schools", in this piece, even though that name is no longer used in practice, because that term corresponds best to what these schools still are in reality.  full story

Czech Police say attack on Romani minor, hospitalized with bleeding of the brain, was a "misdemeanor"

Ostrava, 31.10.2012 1:46, (ROMEA) Ladislav N., a 14-year old Romani boy from Ostrava-Přívoz, was hospitalized recently with bleeding of the brain. His mother, Jana Fišerová, says he was assaulted and beaten. Police officers initially said that was the case, but then began to investigate the matter as a misdemeanor only.  full story

Hundreds of videos inciting racial hatred available on YouTube

Prague, 31.10.2012 0:23, (ROMEA) Hundreds of videos inciting racial hatred are freely available on the YouTube website, including videos of songs with Czech-language lyrics, but police do not know how to intervene against their authors. Allegedly the perpetrators cannot be prosecuted because the website belongs to an American company and is not subject to Czech law.  full story