News

Czech Republic: Romani social workers share their experiences ahead of Rapid Re-Housing project in Brno

24.2.2017 12:43 The City of Brno will be renting apartments to 50 families now living in residential hotels and shelters in the city as part of its Rapid Re-Housing project. The amount of the rent charged will depend on the amount of housing benefit the tenants receive.  full story

Demonstration in Barcelona calls on Spanish state to receive more refugees

24.2.2017 12:03 As many as 160 00 people demonstrated in Barcelona last Saturday in favor of more refugees being received by Spain as the authorities pledged to do in 2015. Left-wing Mayor Ada Colau called on the demonstrators to fill the streets in a march called "We Want to Welcome Them".  full story

Czech Govt Council on Roma Affairs insists Museum of Romani Culture manage Romani Holocaust memorial at Hodonín

24.2.2017 11:04 The Czech Government Council on Roma Minority Affairs is insisting that the memorial to Romani Holocaust victims at Hodonín u Kunštátu be transferred into the administration of the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno. The council also disagrees with removing the term "Romani" from the name of the memorial.  full story

Commentary: Czech tabloid continues its anti-inclusion campaign

24.2.2017 9:46 At a time when we are facing so-called "alternative facts" (or untruths) more and more frequently in the public discourse, correcting the record appears to become more and more of a Sisyphean task. Long before the term "alternative facts" was used by an adviser to the US President, we here in the Czech Republic have been facing a textbook example of how facts and information are handled this way by the media.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister and Czech President discuss changing the Constitution and other laws

24.2.2017 8:16 Czech Minister for Human Rights and Legislation Jan Chvojka (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) met on 18 February with Czech President Miloš Zeman and his advisers to discuss the position of the Government's Legislative Council, which Chvojka has chaired since December. The two men also held a lengthy debate about the law on social enterprises.  full story

Vice-chair of Czech party says new social housing law unnecessary, Romani activist disagrees

23.2.2017 11:01 Czech MP Markéta Pekarová Adamová, the vice-chair of the opposition TOP 09 party, was a guest of Czech Radio's "Interview Plus" program on 16 February. During her appearance she expressed her reservations about the social housing bill that the current Government promised, in its program declaration, to approve.  full story

Stano Daniel: We need to rescue dogs from Slovakia's settlements but not humans?

23.2.2017 9:48 A stereotypical image of a Romani settlement is that many dogs live there. There are known cases of doctors, postal workers or social workers being afraid to visit the settlements because of the dogs.  full story

Slovak Police investigate suspected racially-motivated assault against dark-skinned French student

23.2.2017 8:48 A 20-year-old dark-skinned French student was assaulted over the weekend of 11-12 February in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. A 31-year-old Slovak man has been charged with grievous bodily harm and faces up to three years in prison if convicted.  full story

Slovak Regional Governor spreads rumors about attempted rape on a train, police refute them

23.2.2017 8:09 News server dennikn.sk reports that Marian Kotleba, Regional Governor of the Banská Bystrica Region and chair of a fascist party in Slovakia called the "People's Party Our Slovakia" (Ľudové strany Naše Slovensko - LSNS) announced at a press conference on Tuesday, 14 February that an attempt had been made the previous day to rape a 16-year-old girl on a train traveling across Slovak territory. Police and the railways have stated that his version of events is incorrect.  full story

Slovak TV program focuses on Romani girl who studies despite living without electricity

23.2.2017 7:26 The most recent episode of the Slovak program "Seventh Heaven" (Sedmé nebe), which is broadcast by the JOJ television channel, focuses on a 13-year-old Romani girl
named Anna Mária who lives in a settlement in eastern Slovakia. Despite the difficulties of living her life in poverty, without electricity or gas, she is working hard on herself and learning four foreign languages.  full story

Researcher seeks US veterans and others with information about Romani WWII veteran from Czechoslovakia

22.2.2017 14:19 It all began with an interview filmed by Czech Radio during a panel discussion on Roma Genocide Remembrance Day last summer. One participant, a Romani woman, was there to speak about her family and their fate during the Second World War, and she recalled her uncle, Imrich Horváth, telling her how he fought for the freedom of his homeland, first in the ranks of the Soviet Army (for example, during the Battle of the Dukla Pass) and then how, as a scout, he made it across the front lines to the US Army.  full story

Former Miss Roma Mirka Pikolová one of 14 Miss Czech Republic finalists

22.2.2017 10:53 On Monday, 20 February at the Augustian House in Luhačovice, Czech Republic, almost 50 young women competed for the final round of the Miss Czech Republic beauty contest. The jury has chosen 14 finalists.  full story

Czech Republic: Govt Ethics Commission finds Hate Free project manager did not commit unethical behavior

22.2.2017 8:45 News server Romea.cz has been informed that the Ethics Commission of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic has decided that Nikola Křístek has not
committed any behavior that violates the Code of Ethics for employees of the Office of the Government. Křístek was once the head of the Government's Campaign against
Racism and Hate Violence, a component of which is the Hate Free Culture project.  full story

Jan Cina: Being Romani is a normal part of my identity, but more important is what I know how to do

22.2.2017 8:01 Journalists have an easy time with him. He is civil, talkative, thoughtful, and for now any affectations of being a "star" haven't touched him yet.  full story

videoPavel Berky: I draw inspiration from my origins and prefer to sew my designs myself

21.2.2017 14:59 Pavel Berky is one of the most talented fashion designers of the younger generation. He is a native of Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia, who is proud of his Romani origins.  full story

Czech Govt Roma Council discusses death case, Romani representatives express growing sense of danger

21.2.2017 8:40 At its session on Friday, 17 February, the Czech Government Council on Romani Minority Affairs discussed the outcome of the investigation into the death of Mr Miroslav Demeter, a young Romani man who died last year in October at a pizzeria in the Czech town of Žatec. The Romani civil society members of the council expressed their concerns about and objections to the investigation of the case and generally, in that context, their growing sense of danger with respect to their own security in the Czech Republic.  full story

German Police say no sexual attacks were committed en masse by refugees on New Year's Eve

20.2.2017 9:43 Online news server The Local reports that German Police have completed their investigation into accusations that a group of approximately 50 migrants allegedly committed rioting in a Frankfurt restaurant and sexually assaulted women there this New Year's Eve . Police say the supposed victims fabricated the entire incident.  full story

Czech Govt Agency for Social Inclusion director says both housing and social workers necessary to social housing

20.2.2017 9:10 A conference on social housing was held on Tuesday, 14 February in Prague's Lichtenstein Palace by the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion in collaboration with the Salvation Army of the Czech Republic. Its aim was to present examples of practical experiences with developing and launching social housing systems in the Czech Republic.  full story

Anniversary of the death of Helena Biháriová, one of the first victims of racial murder in post-1989 Czech Republic

20.2.2017 8:32 The date of 15 February is a tragic anniversary of one of the series of murders of Romani people that appeared in Czech and Slovak society during the 1990s as a new phenomenon. In 1998 Helena Biháriová, a mother of four, was drowned in the flooded Elbe River after encountering two drunken youths from Klatovy, Petr Klazar and Jiří Neff, sympathizers of the skinheads movement who used physical and verbal aggression to drive her into the water.  full story

Neo-Nazi parties say the EU is evil while drawing money from it - some MEPs want to change that

20.2.2017 7:19 Czech Radio reports that a group of MEPs is saying that neo-Nazi, ultra-right parties will probably lose millions in EU money soon. If the parties actually do not receive the funding, it will be the first time the European Parliament (EP) has ever rejected a grant for a party represented in the legislature.  full story