Czech Republic

Czech customs officials detain 15 Syrian refugees at Rozvadov

7.4.2015 0:11 Fifteen Syrian refugees were discovered by Czech customs officials from Plzeň on Friday at around 8 PM when they checked a Hungarian van at the Rozvadov border crossing. The refugees were heading to Germany on the D5 highway.  full story

Czech Republic: Overview of International Romani Day events

6.4.2015 20:48, (ROMEA) On Wednesday, 8 April, Romani people worldwide will celebrate International Romani Day. This commemorates the historical first congress of the International Romani Union in Great Britain in 1971, where participants adopted the Romani flag and international anthem.  full story

Czech survey shows welfare less acceptable than murder or stealing

5.4.2015 23:01 Czechs believe that living on welfare is worse than either murdering someone believed to be a thief or committing theft itself. Those are the results of an opinion poll conducted by the Center for Public Opinion Research (CVVM).  full story

Czech Interior Ministry gives award to crime prevention assistant

5.4.2015 2:52 He maintained his presence of mind, calmed a very exacerbated situation and called emergency medical technicians and police to the scene. Crime prevention assistant Ján Polyák, who has become an inherent component of the Brno Municipal Police team, has been given special recognition by the Czech Interior Ministry for handling the circumstances of a traffic accident on Cejl Street in Brno that he witnessed while off-duty.  full story

video"Romani Black Panthers" undertake "guerilla action" in a Prague supermarket

5.4.2015 2:02 On Tuesday, 24 March, the art group Romane Kale Panthera (Romani Black Panthers) presented an exhibition at the Hraničář Gallery in Ústí nad Labem about their "guerilla action" called "Happy Pork from Lety" ("Veselý vepřík z Letů"). Through this action, the group attempted to draw public attention to the fact that a pig farm still stands on a Romani Holocaust memorial site in Lety by Písek, that the Czech Government promised to get rid of the farm in the 1990s, and that the state has still not bought out the farm.  full story

Czech Republic: Negotiations to expand scope of ombud's remit continue in the legislature

Prague, 5.4.2015 1:19, (ROMEA) The Czech lower house did not succumb to efforts by right-wing legislators to reject the Government's bill to expand the remit of the ombud during a first reading. If the bill is adopted, the Public Defender of Rights (the ombud) would receive the right to propose that the Constitutional Court overturn legislation, as well as the right to file lawsuits in cases of discrimination; critics of the change say this would place the institution at the same level as that of the Czech President.  full story

videoNews server Romea.cz switching to Disqus for online discussions

Prague, 4.4.2015 23:48, (ROMEA) As of 31 March 2015, a new system is being used by news server Romea.cz for readers to comment on our articles. Before now we have been using Facebook.  full story

Discrimination proceedings launched against Czech property management company over Roma segregation

4.4.2015 22:41 News server Romea.cz has been exclusively informed by the Czech Trade Inspection Authority (Česká obchodní inspekce - ČOI) that it has launched an administrative proceedings against the CPI BYTY a.s. firm after investigating them on suspicions of discriminating against Romani clients. The Janov housing estate, where CPI BYTY manages some properties, recently drew the attention of media and politicians after some local residents there addressed a petition to the Czech Prime Minister complaining they are being "terrorized by the Gypsy minority".  full story

Analysis: Roma replace Muslims as main target for Czech hate online

4.4.2015 21:30 Hatred on the Czech-language Internet has returned to its traditional target, Romani people, as a result of the declining outrage over January's attacks in Paris, when Muslims became the main target of Czech-language online hate. Current data from the Yeseter company measuring the intensity of hatred and its trends for the HateFree Culture initiative reveal several interesting facts, including the fact that most "haters" don't focus on a single theme, but can flow freely from "hating" one group to another.  full story

Czech TV journalist Richard Samko on the "Romani star" scandal

4.4.2015 19:10 It took me a few days to be able to write a response to the article recently published by Mf DNES and iDNES.cz about Klaudia Dudová. I am disgusted.  full story

Commentary: Tabloids are based on stupidity, with racism as a side effect

4.4.2015 1:05 "I knew she was the actress from the film 'The Way Out'. That was a guarantee for me of a certain seriousness. I told myself that it's not possible that all Roma are the same," says a landlord whom Klaudia Dudová owes approximately CZK 25 000 in back rent.  full story

Klaudia Dudová responds to Czech article about back rent: "I wanted to help my family"

3.4.2015 0:42 In response to an article entitled "Award-winning star of the film 'The Way Out' owes back rent" ("Oceněná hvězda filmu Cesta ven dluží na nájemném") published by the Czech news server iDNES.cz and on the front page of the print edition of the daily Mladá fronta DNES under the headline "Star Romani actress never paid for apartment" ("Romská herecká hvězda neplatila za byt") on 1 April 2015, as well as in response to many related media stories, the production team of the film "The Way Out" has published the following response from Klaudia Dudová  full story

Czech journalists criticize paper for article about Romani actress's alleged debts

2.4.2015 23:23, (ROMEA) Yesterday, 1 April, the front page of the Czech daily Mladá fronta DNES and the main page of its online news server iDNES.cz featured an article by reporter Artur Janoušek with the headline "Star Romani actress never paid for apartment" ("Romská herecká hvězda neplatila za byt"). While the vast majority of those posting comments to news server iDNES.cz were enthusiastic about this news and posted racist comments about it, some journalists are horrified by the lengths to which this daily, previously considered "serious", has gone by publishing the piece - many still cannot believe this was not actually an April Fool's joke or that the paper can have been serious about publishing it.  full story

Czech Republic: Visiting season opens at Lety memorial

Lety u Písku, 1.4.2015 0:42, (ROMEA) The memorial at Lety by Písek will launch yet another season for visitors on Tuesday, 31 March 2015 with a program for youth called "Closer Together" ("Sobě blíž") which will feature performances by Mário Bihári and Bára Hrzánová, among others.  full story

Czech Republic: Street Battle Jam dance competition comes to Khamoro World Roma Festival for the first time

31.3.2015 23:58 This year the Street Battle Jam dance competition will take place for the first time as part of the Khamoro World Roma Festival. The competition will take place on 30 May 2015 from 9:30 to 19:00 at the Vltavská metro stop in Prague.  full story

City of Prague establishes National Minority Committee with seat for Roma

Prague, 31.3.2015 1:12, (ROMEA) More than 5 % of the residents of Prague are of a nationality other than Czech. The City Council has therefore fulfilled its legal obligations and established a National Minority Committee with representatives of 12 nationalities.  full story

Czech film series "Bastards" humiliates Romani people

30.3.2015 20:54 Is the "Bastards" film series a serious portrayal of the environment in the Czech "practical schools", or is it just a sampling of generalizations, prejudices and stereotypes about Romani people? Martina Šafářová, a student at the University of Pardubice, has analyzed Magnusek's series in her thesis.  full story

Promoter of status quo segregation believes the Czech state takes excellent care of Romani children

30.3.2015 2:55 Jiří Pilař, chair of the Association of Special Educators (Asociace speciálních pedagogů - ASP) is a longtime defender of the "special schools" who has been fighting with the advocates promoting what he calls "inclusion at any price". He recently published a commentary on the educational news server Česká škola (Czech School) about the current state of his fight on behalf of the "practical schools" (previously called "special schools") and the recent amendment of the Schools Act.  full story

Commentary: If I were Romani, I'd go crazy

29.3.2015 20:25 "To be Romani all too frequently means living in an excluded locality. To live in a ghetto means being close to the drug mafia, loan sharks, and speculators in social housing, to be in the sights of those who traffic in poverty. It means to experience despair, frustration , hopelessness and resignation. In such a situation, merely finding the will to escape it is a minor miracle," writes commentator Martin Vrba in an article for the Czech online magazine A2larm.cz.  full story

Karel Holomek: Segregation is a source of crime, frustration and hatred

28.3.2015 19:45 I do not want to a priori suspect Mr Čunek of endeavoring to harm Romani people, even though he is succeeding exceptionally well at exactly that. He is being applauded on an open stage and people undoubtedly ultimately sent him back as Mayor of Vsetín and even as Senator for exactly that reason.  full story