News

Romani students from Czech Republic excelling at British school

Leicester, 10.5.2013 17:19, (ROMEA) News server Aktuálně.cz has run a photo-essay on Babington Community College in the English town of Leicester. At first glance it seems no different from other English schools, but it is actually a very specific facility. More than half of its pupils (54 %) are children whose mother tongue is not English. They are the children of the local immigrants who comprise a significant proportion of the town’s population.  full story

Victims of the breakup of Czechoslovakia have one year left to resolve their situations

Ústí nad Labem, 10.5.2013 2:38, (ROMEA) On Tuesday, 7 May 2013, a round table was convened in the Czech town of Ústí nad Labem by the Counseling Center for Citizenship/Civic and Human Rights (Poradna pro občanství/Občanská a lidská práva) on the issue of new draft legislation about citizenship. The round table was attended by 20 experts from local authorities, NGOs, and Czech Police.  full story

World Jewish Congress: Anti-Semitism in Europe may grow as a result of crisis

Budapest, Hungary, 9.5.2013 17:17, (ROMEA) The World Jewish Congress (WJC) has warned that anti-Semitism may grow in Europe as a result of the aggravated economic crisis. A report released at the end of the WJC’s three-day general assembly in Budapest warns that politicians have a tendency to devote less attention than is necessary to this issue during economic difficulties.  full story

Slovakia: Romani Union Party says it is organizing a month of street protests

Bratislava, Slovakia, 8.5.2013 16:28, (ROMEA) News server Redakcia1.blogspot.cz reported on 23 April that the Romani Union Party in Slovakia (Strana romské unie - SRU) intends to organize a month of protest marches on the streets of towns throughout the country. Below is a full translation of the party’s declaration and a call from its chair, František Tanko.  full story

Norwegian MP tars Bulgarian, French and Romani people with the same brush

Oslo, Norway, 8.5.2013 15:27, (ROMEA) Agence France-Presse reported on Friday, 3 May that an MP with the second-strongest party in the Norwegian Parliament, the populist “Progress Party”, has called for the monarchy to close its borders to “organized groups of Roma, Bulgarians and Frenchmen”, labeling them notorious criminals. MP Per Sandberg, whose party scores political points through its anti-immigrant rhetoric in particular, proposed taking “three immediate steps to stop the influx of beggars and criminals” into the country.  full story

videoSlovakia: Romani political party presents project to President Gašparovič

Bratislava, Slovakia, 7.5.2013 18:59, (ROMEA) Ivan Gašparovič, the president of the Slovak Republic, in response to a letter from the Romani Union Party of Slovakia (Strana romské unie Slovenska), has received a visit from party representatives to discuss Romani people and their life together with the non-Romani population in Slovakia. “Cooperation must consist of seeking compromises,” the president said of the visit.  full story

Commission: EU funds should support Romani social inclusion from 2014 on

Brussels, Belgium, 7.5.2013 17:17, (ROMEA) The European Commission has announced that the Member States should ensure that their plans for investment from the EU funds during the next seven-year period (2014-2020) also count on the social inclusion of the Romani population. Romani nonprofit organizations and experts on this issue should therefore participate in designing this next period of funding.  full story

videoCzech Republic: “Slave of Race” initiative holds “happenings” to launch petition

Ostrava/Prague, 7.5.2013 0:28, (ROMEA) A newly-created initiative called “Slave of Race” (Otrokem rasy) launched its activity today with two happenings, one in front of the Czech Interior Ministry in Prague and another in front of the Ostrava town hall, where people sought signatures on a petition in support of those remaining in the Přednádraží ghetto. Because the situation in Ostrava has drastically deteriorated, the initiative is focusing its activities on that topic.  full story

Germany: 500 police officers keep the peace at Munich trial of neo-Nazis

Munich, Germany, 6.5.2013 21:47, (ROMEA) Many demonstrations against racism and rallies for justice are taking place today under tight police supervision in front of the State Court in Munich where the much-publicized trial is scheduled to begin of Beate Zschäpe, a member of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), and four of her alleged assistants. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that many people waited in line all night to get into the courtroom today, but only the first 50 were allowed in. The streets near the courthouse are lined with news crews and their broadcasting vehicles.  full story

Hungary: Ultra-right protests World Jewish Congress in Budapest

Budapest, Hungary, 6.5.2013 21:00, (ROMEA) Experts say Jewish people in Hungary are facing a rising anti-Semitism spreading from right-wing extremist groups to the core of society. Representatives of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) gave that as the reason they decided to hold their quadrennial meeting, which began yesterday, in Budapest.  full story

Czech municipality closing residential hotels, hundreds face homelessness

Ostrava, 6.5.2013 19:32, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that the Ostrava-Jih municipality has joined Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz in its plans to close its residential hotels even though their residents have nowhere to go. Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz is the municipal department in Ostrava with the highest number of residential hotels. As news server Romea.cz previously reported, the quarter has been doing its best for some time to systematically push impoverished people, Romani and “white”, out of its territory.  full story

Czech municipality claims it offered evictees leases, they say otherwise

Ostrava, 6.5.2013 18:20, (ROMEA) Representatives of the remaining occupants of Ostrava’s Přednádraží ghetto met today with Vice-Mayor Petra Bernfeldová, who told them that the central municipal department of Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz will not be leasing vacant apartments to most of those recently evicted from the last occupied building there. Some of the evictees are allegedly indebted and therefore do not qualify for a municipally-owned apartment, while others either allegedly rejected previous offers of municipal leases or never applied for them in the first place.  full story

Czech landlord files criminal charges against tenants on Přednádraží street

Ostrava, 4.5.2013 16:18, (ROMEA) Oldřich Roztočil, the owner of the ghetto buildings on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava, has filed criminal charges against the people still living in the last property there. Roztočil now wants them to move out. He originally gave them a deadline of 17:00 on Friday, 3 May.  full story

Czech landlord leases property on Monday, evicts tenants on Friday

Ostrava, 3.5.2013 23:16, (ROMEA) Oldřich Roztočil, the owner of the buildings in the ghetto on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava, has called on those occupying the last remaining building there, number 8, to move out by 17:00 today. Roztočil said that if the people do not leave he is prepared to turn to the police and request their assistance in removing people from the premises.  full story

Commentary: Be proud you are Romani

Prague, 3.5.2013 20:13, (Romano vod'i) Some children were playing on the playground. They were probably being too loud because they were really into their game. Some might say they were whooping it up. A neighbor didn’t like it and started yelling at them out the window to be quiet. She threw in some remarks about “gypsies” because the children were Romani. One of the little girls looked up at the lady and said to her: “Lady, why are you shouting at us? When you were still swinging from the trees, we were building Mohenjo Daro!”  full story

Emil Ščuka: We lack a unified concept

Prague, 3.5.2013 19:13, (Romano vod'i) Emil Ščuka is one of the most famous Romani politicians in the Czech Republic. He graduated in law and worked as a public prosecutor, but his original dream of a career was something completely different. In 2001 the magazine Reflex quoted him as saying the following.  full story

Greece: Police break up neo-Nazi event “for Greeks only” in Athens

Athens, Greece, 2.5.2013 15:32, (ROMEA) BBC News reports that Greek police intervened against activists with the ultra-right Golden Dawn party in Athens today who were distributing free groceries. The party, which is resolutely anti-immigrant, had announced the giveaway was intended exclusively for Greeks.  full story

200 neo-Nazis march on Czech town, police confiscate pepper spray, truncheons

Přerov, 1.5.2013 22:49, (ROMEA) Organizers from the ultra-right Workers’ Youth (Dělnická mládež – DM) association, which is linked to the ultra-right Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS) experienced disappointment over their assembly today in the Czech town of Přerov. Instead of the anticipated 700 radicals, only about 200 DSSS promoters showed up, according to the Romea.cz correspondent at the scene.  full story

Human rights protection is under strain in Europe, says Commissioner Muižnieks in his first annual report

Strasbourg, 1.5.2013 12:56, (ROMEA) “The picture of the human rights situation which I have observed during country visits, meetings with authorities and discussions with NGO representatives in 2012 is worrying” said today Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, while presenting his first annual report. “Of particular concern are the persisting patterns of discrimination, racism and homophobia; the treatment of migrants; constraints to freedom of expression; as well as the inefficiency of national judicial systems.”  full story

Czech Republic: Poll shows only 4 % of citizens have good relations with Roma

Prague, 30.4.2013 19:57, (ROMEA) According to a survey conducted by the STEM agency, the results of which were made available to the Czech Press Agency, 69 % of the citizens in the Czech Republic have a negative relationship with Romani people and only 4 % have a “good” or “very good” relationship with them. Compared to last April, the number of people with negative views has slightly declined.  full story