Czech Republic

Marek Szilvási: Czech Government should stop gambling with the country's reputation - the fight for compensation for forced sterilization is not over

4.11.2015 19:15 I remember being with the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) just a couple of months when I was invited to Ostrava to an informal meeting with the Group of Women Harmed by Coercive Sterilization, an informal collective of harmed self-advocating Romani women. The meeting was organised by the local Life Together NGO in early April 2012 to celebrate the fact that after years of local activism, lawsuits and advocacy struggles, the Government’s Council for Human Rights had finally recommended the Government develop a compensation scheme for involuntarily sterilized women. A month earlier, the Group, Life Together and the ERRC had sent an official letter welcoming this government commitment. I took an early morning train and after a half-day journey from Budapest to Ostrava, I was warmly welcomed by the Life Together staff and the Romani women activists, whom until then I knew only through phone calls and email correspondence. After shedding my water-soaked coat I entered the second room and was introduced to Monika Šimúnková, the Czech Government’s Human Rights Commissioner, and Kateřina Valachová, now the current Minister of Education, who was at that time working for the Ombudsman. The atmosphere was relaxed, almost festive, and I soon succumbed to it and started expecting this controversy soon to be over.  full story

Karel Holomek: We should approach migrants through a sober examination of the facts

4.11.2015 0:09 The most recent opinion I have come across in the broad, endless debate about the refugees and what to do with them comes from Roman Joch (Lidové noviny, 15 October). In his opinion piece, he has presented the horrifying vision of author Jean Raspail's novel The Camp of the Saints, in which European civilization is destroyed by hordes of refugees who take what they do not have away from those who are incapable of holding onto what is theirs because of some sort of chimerical kindness and limitless tolerance.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister: Debt relief is a basic aspect of addressing social exclusion

3.11.2015 22:54 Combating social exclusion involves not just creating accessible social housing and schools that don't discriminate, but debt relief. Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier opened up this very sensitive topic during the "Partie" discussion program on the Prima television station yesterday.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani local councilor to remain in custody on drugs charges

3.11.2015 19:04 Marcel Cichý, a local councilor in the Czech town of Trmice (Ústecký Region), has been charged with drug distribution and will remain in custody pending trial. The Ústecký Regional Court announced that decision today.  full story

Czech Republic: Proportion of Roma in children's homes increasing

3.11.2015 1:37 The proportion of Romani boys and girls in children's homes for children under three years of age has risen in recent years. While in 2010 one-fifth of the population of such nursery institutions was comprised of Romani children, at the end of last year one-third of the children in such institutions were Romani.  full story

Czech Republic: Ultra-right anti-immigrant protests blockaded by 98 opponents who are detained

2.11.2015 16:01 News server iDNES.cz reports that several hundred opponents of immigration who are also supporters of the right-wing extremist Workers Social Justice Party (DSSS) gathered in Olomouc on Saturday afternoon to demonstrate against the reception of refugees and in favor of the Czech Republic leaving the European Union. A group of approximately 100 people protested against that assembly and expressed their support for receiving refugees.  full story

Czech Gov't prepares instruction manual for municipalities on how to address the problems of ghettos

2.11.2015 1:45 Cities and municipalities will be receiving instructions from the Czech Government on how to proceed with solving problems in so-called socially excluded localities and what instruments to use. The instructions concern crime prevention, education, employment and social services.  full story

Czech Interior Ministry says ultra-right is being pushed out of the public space by Islamophobes using same rhetoric

2.11.2015 0:27 The topic of the so-called migration wave has created fertile ground for various extremists in the Czech Republic since the beginning of this year. Various populist and xenophobic entities have frequently pushed ultra-right entities out of the public space by exploiting this specific issue.
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Czech documentary film about xenophobia, "Czechs versus Czechs", wins special honor at Jihlava film festival

1.11.2015 20:46 Tomáš Kratochvíl's documentary film "Czechs versus Czechs" (Češi proti Čechům) has won special recognition at the documentary film festival in Jihlava "for the impressive use of film as a personal journal to break down social prejudices and stereotypes". The director made the film in the Romani ghetto of Předlice, where he lived for eight months.  full story

Czech Republic: Building owner demolishing controversial properties on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava

31.10.2015 16:47 The buildings on Přednádraží Street in Ostrava from which about 25 Romani families had to move away two years ago have been under new ownership since mid-October. After several unsuccessful auctions, the buildings were bought for almost CZK 600 000 (EUR 22 000) by the Ostrava Engineering and Repair Plant (Ostravské opravny a strojírny), which also owns a production facility nearby.  full story

Czech Republic: Hidden camera captures reactions to a refugee family from Syria

31.10.2015 15:17 The organizers of the Czech Government project "HateFree Culture" decided to test the approach taken by people in the Czech Republic toward refugees when they meet them face to face. The project sent a Syrian family with a young child to Kolín and to several neighboring villages in Central Bohemia.
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Czech Republic: Romani councilor charged with marijuana sale faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted

30.10.2015 23:05 Czech State Prosecutor Hana Řeháková has filed an indictment with the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem against Marcel Cichý, a Romani member of the Trmice town council who is allegedly involved in a four-member group of drug dealers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The group worked in the Ústí Region and is said to have sold marijuana and methamphetamine there between October and December of last year.  full story

Germany: Unidentified perpetrator spray-paints "Gas them" on Romani Holocaust memorial in Berlin

30.10.2015 22:37 Yesterday in Berlin an unidentified perpetrator has damaged the memorial to Romani people murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War. Police and security services are investigating the case.  full story

Czech Education Minister's new press spokesperson to be Romani journalist Jarmila Balážová

30.10.2015 21:19 TÝDEN.cz reports that Jarmila Balážová, who until recently worked as press spokesperson for Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier, is changing positions and will become press spokesperson for Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sport Kateřina Valachová in November. TÝDEN reports that the Education Minister chose her as spokesperson especially because the two women are already friends.  full story

Commentary: Czech Interior Minister's praise of President echoes communism

30.10.2015 18:46 The main thing we need is peace and quiet for our work, and we won't let any of these "elements" disrupt it. That used to be a favorite phrase of communist functionaries during the previous regime.  full story

Three-fifths of Czechs against EU membership because of refugee reception quotas

29.10.2015 9:04 Dissatisfaction is growing among the Czech public with the country's membership in the European Union, which according to sociologists is connected to the complicated handling of the current refugee crisis. A survey published by the STEM agency last week documented that three-fifths of Czechs are now dissatisfied with the country's EU membership and would vote against entry if the referendum to join were held today  full story

Czech Republic: Hateful demonstrations against refugee reception in several cities

28.10.2015 23:12 In Brno, Prague, and several other cities in the Czech Republic, hundreds of people gathered today for demonstrations against migration, with police in Brno estimating that about 1 500 people turned out. Most of the events (the ones in Brno, Ostrava, Prague and Ústí nad Labem) were convened by the Bloc against Islam (Blok proti islámu) and Dawn-National Coalition (Úsvit-Národní koalice).  full story

Czech Republic: Romani preschool teacher knows change is possible

28.10.2015 8:34 Božena Horváthová teaches Romani preschoolers on Cejl Street in Brno, the Czech Republic's second-largest city. In a reportage broadcast by Czech Television last month, she described her greatest dream as follows: "You know what I envision? For us to not be 'sidelined', for us to be involved in society. For our children to study and have beautiful professions. I have managed this with my own children and I know it can be done. I know this can be changed."
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Czech Republic deporting Afghan family whose case came before the European Court of Human Rights

28.10.2015 7:13 The Czech Republic will be releasing an Afghan family from the Bělá-Jezová detention facility in the Mladá Boleslav district after the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg called on the Czech authorities to transfer them to a different facility. The Czech Interior Ministry, however, says its decision is not in reaction to the Court judgment.  full story

Czech Education Ministry responds on basic timeline for inclusion preparations

27.10.2015 10:48 News server Romea.cz has asked the Czech Education Ministry why it is has not yet communicated with experts and principals about how the transition to inclusive education will take place next school year. On 16 October the ministry sent the following response:  full story