Czech Republic

Czech Neo-Nazis say they want to "enforce the law" - even as they break it

27.7.2016 9:25 Street patrols by "national militias" have been taking place since the beginning of the summer in the Czech Republic. The groups are centered around the North Bohemian town of Most and model themselves after the "Soldiers of Odin" group in Finland.  full story

Czech NGO whose head spreads hatred against Muslims and refugees will continue to work with Govt Agency for Social Inclusion

27.7.2016 8:27 The "Romani" NGO called Lampa will remain a member of the Local Partnership in the town of Ralsko that has been established by the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion (ASZ). Members of that Local Partnership made that decision in response to reports by news server Romea.cz that the head of Lampa, Jiří Hanzl, supports the hate group Bloc against Islam and attacks the Government's Hate Free Culture initiative.  full story

Emílie Žigová: Czech ethnologist's rhetoric reminiscent of the Nazi era

23.7.2016 17:04 I recently read an article by ethnologist Mnislav Zelený-Atapany in the Lidové noviny daily called "Is a genocide against whites next for Europe?" (Je na řadě genocida bělochů v Evropě?). The peice opens by attempting to describe the feelings of an ordinary person who is both afraid and angry that politicians are not telling people the truth and that the danger posed by terrorist attacks is growing here.  full story

Jana Balážová: Romani people need role models, and those grow up in the schools

23.7.2016 15:17 The common education of all children together and the inclusion of children with disadvantages into normal schools is one of the main topics of political discussion today in the Czech Republic. Politicians and teachers are pointing out that the Czech schools are unprepared for this concept.  full story

Czech Republic: Assessment of coexistence with Romani people improves for third year in a row

23.7.2016 14:11 Coexistence between Romani people and other inhabitants of the Czech Republic is perceived by 78 % of the "majority society" in that country as "poor", but almost 20 % of respondents to a June survey conducted by the Center for Public Opinion Research (CVVM) assessed coexistence as "good". This is the third year in a row that positive assessments of coexistence have increased and negative perspectives have lost ground.  full story

videoCzech Republic: Documentary "Shadows of the Romani Holocaust" marks a sad anniversary

23.7.2016 12:37 On 10 July 1942 the commander of the plainclothes police of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia issued the so-called "Decree on Suppressing the Gypsy Nuisance". On that basis, following the model of the leader of the SS for the Nazi German Reich, the Czech authorities compiled a list of "Gypsies, Gypsy Half-Breeds and persons living in the Gypsy way" which radically changed the lives of the Romani people then living in the Czech lands.  full story

Czech Republic: Pope Francis gives his blessing to the sixth year of the Roma Spirit awards

22.7.2016 7:21 The Michael Kocáb Foundation, in collaboration with Otevřená společnost, o.p.s. and the Museum of Romani Culture, has launched the nomination process for the sixth year of the Roma Spirit awards in the Czech Republic. The mission of Roma Spirit is to appreciate and popularize the work of individuals and organizations who contribute toward improving the situation of Romani people in the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech Republic: Roma seek scholarships for secondary education, plan to become architects, computer experts, doctors and police

21.7.2016 11:04 Friday, 15 July was the last day for Romani pupils in the Czech Republic to apply to the ROMEA organization for a scholarship to attend either an academic or vocational high school. A total of 105 people applied and the 50 most-successful candidates will be awarded support.  full story

Commentary: After you visit the music festival in Ostrava, take a look at the ghetto

21.7.2016 9:57 It used to be called "Black Ostrava". That was in the days when the motto was "We're miners and we're the best."  full story

Czech Republic: Record numbers of parents seek after-school tutoring for their children from Museum of Romani Culture

20.7.2016 8:45 During the past school year the trend of Romani parents seeking tutoring for their children has reached an all-time high in Brno, Czech Republic. The observation that
the Romani community is becoming more and more aware of how necessary an education is to a successful future is being confirmed.  full story

Klaudia Vospálková: Investing into education pays off

19.7.2016 7:11 Klaudia Vospálková has always dreamed that one day she would become the most powerful woman on the planet. Those ambitions of hers just became a bit more achievable.  full story

Commentary: Integration of impoverished Roma must begin immediately in the Czech Republic

18.7.2016 8:17 Czech Culture Minister Daniel Herman has said good-faith, intensive negotiations are underway with stockholders to remove the pig farm from the site of the former concentration camp at Lety where Romani people died. Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier has said he believes a law on social housing can still be approved before the next elections.  full story

Czech Govt Agency for Social Inclusion begins work with mayor who keeps attacking Roma

17.7.2016 15:37 Representatives of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion and the leadership of the town of Vsetín signed a so-called Memorandum of Collaboration last Wednesday confirming their mutual obligations for the next three years. Local leaders will now collaborate with the Agency within the framework of its "Coordinated Approach" to addressing socially excluded localities.  full story

Czech PM asks MP to apologize for homophobic remarks, she refuses and will no longer run for office

16.7.2016 11:06 Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, head of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), has called on MP Pavlína Nytrová to apologize for her "inappropriate and offensive remarks about homosexuals". If she continues to make such statements then she will no longer be able to run on the party ticket.  full story

Czech town of Kroměříž plans to demolish Romani-occupied buildings in approach reminiscent of previous evictions

16.7.2016 9:27 The town hall of Kroměříž has been inspired by the approach taken by towns such as Holešov or Vsetín and reportedly plans to demolish buildings currently serving as social housing in the Račín settlement, where roughly 100 "socially vulnerable" residents live in the quarter called "Dolní zahrady" (Lower Gardens), most of whom are Romani. After the demolition, apartments for senior citizens are supposed to be built there, and the current residents, according to Vice-Mayor Pavel Motyčka, will be moved into other localities.  full story

Czech Social Democratic MP says "homosexuals" want to legalize sex with children, PM not yet calling for her resignation

15.7.2016 16:08 Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, the chair of the governing Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), says he wants to meet with Czech MP Pavlina Nytrová (also ČSSD)
to discuss her recent remarks about "homosexuals". The PM says he does not want her to continue making such comments.  full story

Czech Republic: Christian refugees from Iraq slowly find housing and jobs

15.7.2016 14:24 The 40 Iraqi Christians who were brought to the Czech Republic a couple of months ago by the Generation 21 Foundation have moved into rental housing and are learning Czech. Some of the adults are also beginning to work.  full story

Romani civil society member of advisory body to Czech Government resigns over failure to remove pig farm from genocide site

15.7.2016 9:21 Miroslav Zima, the director of Drom, a Romani Center, resigned last month from the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs. One of the
reasons for his resignation is the fact that the pig farm has not yet been removed from the site of the WWII era "Gypsy camp" at Lety by Písek.
 full story

Czech Police to get new powers to disperse assemblies, spontaneous demonstrations will not have legal protection

14.7.2016 9:23 The option of being able to hold a spontaneous public assembly without first announcing it to the authorities will not be enshrined in law as the Government previously
proposed. The parameters for those entitled to announce such a public gathering to local authorities will also not be expanded, but police officers will be given new powers to disperse an assembly directly.  full story

Commentary: Czech anti-immigrant MP has a math problem

12.7.2016 8:36 The Czech politician Tomio Okamura has reported through Facebook and Twitter, as well as through his video blog, that "Muslim migrants are primarily responsible for the number of rapes in Sweden growing by a multiple of more than 1 500". Since such a claim naturally attracts our attention, let's take a look at it.  full story