Czech Republic

Czech gathering commemorates 72 years since Roma prisoners transported from Hodonín to Auschwitz

29.8.2015 0:18 On Sunday, 23 August 2015, people gathered in Hodonín by Kunštát to commemorate 72 years since Romani inmates were transported from the concentration camp there to the death camp at Auschwitz. On that day 72 years ago the Nazis sent the largest transport of Romani prisoners from the so-called "Gypsy camp" to Auschwitz.  full story

Czech event brings atheists, Christians, Jews and Muslims to the same table

28.8.2015 6:06 On 18 August, 30 people of various minority and religious backgrounds gathered in Prague to eat breakfast together. Those participating in the event wanted to show that people from different backgrounds, cultures and religions are able to understand one another.  full story

Czech PM and Deputy PM warn against the "fascisization of society“

28.8.2015 0:20 Czech Finance Minister and Deputy PM Andrej Babiše (ANO) remarked on Tuesday that the external borders of the Schengen area must be immediately closed, prompting a reaction from his fellow cabinet members. Pavel Bělobrádek, Deputy PM for Science, Research and Innovation, who chairs the Christian Democratic Party, called the Finance Minister's remarks irrational and populist.  full story

Commentary: Correct language in the USA isn't sparing anyone's life

27.8.2015 19:48 Neither a correct nor a "hypercorrect" vocabulary, in and of itself, is enough to get rid of any problem. Petra Gelbart, who has commented on her shock that the Prague Transit Authority is telling its passengers "amusing" anecdotes about the history of the slang expressions used by drivers, certainly knows this.  full story

Petra Gelbart: "Black Mugs" in the Prague metro

27.8.2015 18:53 I was on my way home from a successful Romani event here recently at the Prague Pride festival, full of impressions, feeling happy and proud. My own children and some others whom I had taken there, including a girlfriend in a long colorful skirt, had participated in a program organized by the ARA ART association.  full story

Czech research finds teachers support educating all children together

26.8.2015 18:42 Research performed as part of a project called "Systemic Support for Inclusive Education in the Czech Republic" has found that teachers are inclined towards educating children with disabilities together with healthy children. However, they condition that agreement on receiving more support for their work.  full story

Two Romani families not allowed to board flight from Prague to Canada, no explanation given

24.8.2015 17:34 During the past two months approximately 20 Romani people from the Czech Republic have not been allowed to board flights to Canada. They were informed that they would not be let on board by airline private security staff at Václav Havel Airport in Prague.
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Czech media outlet publishes interview with detained migrant

23.8.2015 20:21 Online news server Aktuálně.cz published an interview on 18 August with a Pakistani citizen who spent half a year en route to Germany only to be intercepted by the Aliens Police in the Czech Republic and detained in the Bělá-Jezová camp there. "I don't understand why the Czech Republic is holding us here. I do not want to remain here. I have never committed a crime. During my six months fleeing Pakistan I traveled through many countries, but only in the Czech Republic was I imprisoned. After I am released I want to go to Germany... I am not seeking asylum in the Czech Republic. Moreover, I am afraid that I will not be treated well in this prison," the migrant says in the interview.  full story

Czech Council on Radio and TV rejects critique of public broadcaster's reality show about Romani schoolchildren

22.8.2015 23:30 Nonprofit organizations in the Czech Republic have received an answer from the Council on Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) to the open letter in which they criticized the television series "Class 8A" (Třída 8.A.). The nonprofits believe the series has not fulfilled its intended aim of pointing out the problem of segregation of Romani pupils in the Czech schools.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani situational tester of real estate discrimination appeals ruling for damages

21.8.2015 20:06 News server iDNES.cz reports that Lenka Balogová, the Roman situational tester who sued a real estate office for discrimination, plans to appeal a recent verdict from a court in Litoměřice which did not award her compensation or coverage of her court costs for the discrimination she suffered. "I am only 50 % satisfied [with the judgment] because, as the judge explained, he did not accede to my two requests, and in my opinion that was not reasonable. The costs of the entire court proceeding are supposed to be paid by the losing party," Balogová told the news server.  full story

Czech ministers support academic effort to de-escalate hatred of immigrants

20.8.2015 16:41 Czech Vice Prime Minister for Science Pavel Bělobrádek, Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier and Education Minister Kateřina Valachová expressed support today for a recent effort by academics to de-escalate hatred of immigrants in the country. Dienstbier had previously expressed support for the academics' petition at the beginning of the week.  full story

Czech Republic: Unidentified assailants break mosque windows

19.8.2015 17:20 Unidentified assailants have broken two windows at a mosque on Vídeňská Street in Brno. They are said to have used iron bars to smash them in.  full story

Czech President's spokesperson criticizes academics for expressing solidarity with refugees

18.8.2015 18:42 Jiří Ovčáček, press spokesperson for Czech President Zeman, has criticized hundreds of Czech scholars for expressing tolerance for refugees. Ovčáček said he believes the petition they released yesterday is "broadening the gulf between so-called elites and the rest of Czech society".  full story

Czech academics sign petition against xenophobia

17.8.2015 17:46 Scientists and other staffers of the Czech Republic's academic and research institutions have signed a petition against the growth of xenophobic sentiment in Czech society. They are also disturbed by extremist group activity which, in their view, is not being sufficiently counterbalanced.  full story

Karel Holomek: Roma should fundraise for removal of pig farm from concentration camp site

17.8.2015 1:06 Karel Holomek, a former dissident and current chair of the Society of Roma in Moravia (Společenství Romů na Moravě - SRNM), said during the Czech Government's official commemorative ceremony at the Lety by Písek memorial on 3 August that in addition to the Government taking an active approach toward the issue of the pig farm there, Romani people themselves should be active. Holomek believes Roma should take up a collection to raise funds for relocating the farm, part of which now covers the site of the former WWII-era concentration camp for Roma.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani Holocaust memorial to be created within two years in Hodonín

15.8.2015 20:17 The building of a memorial to the former labor and concentration camp at Hodonín by Kunštát is now continuing. "In July the construction site was handed over and digging work is currently underway at the site," Petra Holovková, director of the Hodonín Memorial department of the Jan Amos Comenius National Museum and Library, has told news server Romea.cz.  full story

Czech football fans hang up Islamophobic banner during match, team later apologizes

14.8.2015 21:07 During a football match on 2 August between the Bohemians 1905 and FK Jablonec teams, fans from Jablonec nad Nisou hung up a banner in the stands that insulted Muslims. The provocative caricature depicted a Nordic female carrying a shield inscribed with "Europe" and kicking a pig wearing a turban, who is dropping a copy of the Koran as a result.  full story

Romea.cz editor says Czech policy toward Roma full of chaos, poor concepts and populism

14.8.2015 2:10 Michal Komárek, the editor of news server Romea.cz, discussed the degree to which the Czech Republic is managing to solve its "Romani problem" during a radio program on the ČRo Plus station yesterday. The discussion was occasioned by the current session of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reviewing the situation in the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech President, legislative heads say EU should beef up border protection, Czech Army should be ready if that fails

14.8.2015 1:08 The European Union should beef up the protection of its external borders according to Czech President Miloš Zeman, Czech Senate leader Milan Štěch and Czech Chamber of Deputies leader Jan Hamáček (both Social Democrats). If EU measures do not aid the situation, then the Czech Republic should enhance its own border protection because of the ongoing migration crisis.  full story

Czech media reopen dispute over Agency for Social Inclusion's approach to aiding Roma

13.8.2015 21:07 Czech commentator Petr Holub has revived the discussion on the future of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion with an analysis published on news server Echo24.cz. Holub believes that Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier began a fundamental change in the Agency's approach to social inclusion with his dismissal of the previous head of the Agency in April.  full story