Czech Republic

Czech Culture Ministry's Subsidy Commission for National Minorities issues statement against growing intolerance

29.3.2017 10:11 Earlier this month the representatives of national minorities who advise the Czech Culture Ministry on its Subsidy Commission for the Department of Audiovisual and Media Products issued a statement against growing national, religious and racial intolerance in Czech society. The national minority representatives expressed their concern and unease over the hateful attacks that more and more people have recently faced just because their ethnic origin, gender orientation or religious convictions are different from the mainstream.  full story

Czech Republic: Parents of children who killed flamingo have apologized and will pay damages

29.3.2017 8:51 The parents of the children who killed a flamingo at the zoo in Jihlava are willing to pay damages or work them off. Zoo director Eliška Kubíková informed the public of the developments in an interview with news server Lidovky.cz.  full story

Anna Dunčeková: I do my best to humanize social services

28.3.2017 15:28 The staff of the Český západ organization considers the principles of community and social work to be their main guidelines. When they facilitate aid to the inhabitants of socially excluded localities, they place an emphasis on the assistance affecting the community as a whole, not just individuals.  full story

"TOGETHER WE CAN" - celebrations of International Romani Day in Prague focus on interethnic cooperation

28.3.2017 12:54 An exhibition, an interactive video projection in the center of Prague, panel discussions and theatrical performances. All this is being offered for this year's celebrations of International Romani Day (8 April) in Prague.  full story

Commentary: Czech Foreign Minister is all over the map when it comes to the issue of freedom of movement - why?

28.3.2017 11:04 My favorite demagogue, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, is once again shining like a supernova in the night sky. He has declared war on the free movement of persons on the labor market inside the European Union.
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Czech survey finds most people not opposed to inclusion, but children living with disabilities or Romani children raise concerns

27.3.2017 17:28 Most people in the Czech Republic (53 %) are not against including children living with disabilities into mainstream classes as long as certain conditions are fulfilled. The groups of people who have extreme opinions about inclusion - whether against it or for it - are smaller.  full story

Testimonies of survivors of the Nazi-era concentration camp for Roma at Lety in Czech Republic still not discussed

27.3.2017 7:53 On 15 March 1939, Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler proclaimed the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in those regions of occupied Czechoslovakia. His representatives
proceeded to violate the provisions of the Czechoslovak Constitution concerning human rights for the duration of the Protectorate and, in addition to imposing binding,
discriminatory regulations targeting Jews, the Protectorate Government, led by Rudolf Beran under the direction of Nazi Germany, also targeted persons living on the fringes of society.  full story

Czech nonprofit real estate agency helps people facing discrimination find housing

26.3.2017 9:46 Iveta Horváthová grew up in a children's home in Moravia. After she graduated from high school she moved to Prague in order to work.  full story

ROMEA reports 10+ criminal incidents involving racist commentaries and threats on Facebook to the Czech Police

23.3.2017 16:36 During the past two months, the ROMEA organization has reported more than 10 suspected crimes involving racist posts and threats made through the Internet in which some people discussing online have verbally assaulted minorities, Roma included. In four of these cases, however, the police have not responded within the timeframe established by law for informing those who report suspected crimes as to whether police have taken any measures at all in those matters.  full story

Czech Republic pays billions of crowns to nonprofits - who gets most of it?

23.3.2017 15:58 According to Czech President Miloš Zeman, nonprofit organizations are "leeches on the state budget", and other Czech politicians are now deciding to ride his wave of criticism of the nonprofit sector or of "political nonprofits". Investigative news server HlídacíPes.org has published a new overview of where the public financing for the nonprofit sector in the Czech Republic actually goes.  full story

VIDEO: Romani students spend the weekend in Brno's Cejl neighborhood

21.3.2017 9:33 A video has been produced of the Baruvas meeting of Romani college and high school students to show what the atmosphere and course of such a meeting is like. Romani college student Tereza Heková, who attended the meeting, contributed to filming the footage and to its postproduction processing.  full story

Czech artist's guide to Brno neighborhood nominated for award, Romani activists are not happy

20.3.2017 21:02 A guidebook to the neighborhood in Brno colloquially referred to as the "Bronx" that has been published by artist Kateřina Šedá, has been previously reviewed by news server Romea.cz. The book,"Brnox", has now been nominated for the Magnesia Litera award in the category of "Journalism".  full story

Czech Senator embarrassingly falls for satire claiming EU wants to change the Czech alphabet

20.3.2017 7:20 We have written several times here at Romea.cz about Czech Senator Jaroslav Doubrava. Mostly we have reported his anti-Romani, racist remarks, or his attacks against the European Union (EU).  full story

Czech protest march over flamingo killing cancelled, meeting with local officials to be held instead

19.3.2017 8:40 The march through the Czech town of Jihlava that was supposed to take place in response to young Romani children stoning a flamingo to death in the zoo there will not take place after all. Organizers ultimately canceled it out of concern that it would become a platform for racist and xenophobic speech.  full story

Interview with Romani activist Veronika Kmetzová of Předlice in the Czech Republic

18.3.2017 9:47 Veronika Kmetzová (age 29) is a Romani activist who, in collaboration with other partners, has established an association, Amare Předlice, which has tasked itself with aiding the improvement of the lives and social situations of the inhabitants of the Předlice neighborhood of Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic. In its manifesto, the group says one of its aims is to "focus on improving public spaces in Předlice and on work with the local community to involve them in finding solutions".  full story

Jana Šedivcová: Are all Czech children cat killers and all Romani children flamingo killers? Collective blame is unacceptable

17.3.2017 15:03 When I heard the news that children had killed one rare flamingo and seriously harmed another at the zoo in Jihlava, it made me dizzy. I felt the same when, the next day, a video appeared "on the net" of other children in another town who almost killed a cat by hanging it.  full story

Children stone flamingo to death in zoo, Czech Internet users blame all Roma, protest march scheduled

17.3.2017 11:47 Photographs of a flamingo that three Romani children stoned to death in the zoo in the Czech town of Jihlava are making the rounds of social networking sites. Emotions sparked by the incident have immediately spun the wheel of hatred and a march, ostensibly to draw attention to the security situation there, has now been scheduled for the end of the month.   full story

Patrik Banga: I'm for collecting ethnic data in all areas, but the majority can't tell who is Romani

17.3.2017 10:17 Ivan Langr (Greens), Vice-Mayor of Liberec in charge of social affairs, has rebelled against the methodology recommended for estimating the number of Romani people in the regions that he has received from the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. As has already happened here more than once, Langr has sparked a tempestuous
discussion about whether estimating the numbers of Romani people should even happen and if so, what the appropriate method is to use.  full story

Interview with Czech Vice-Mayor who believes the Govt method for identifying Romani people crosses the line

17.3.2017 8:57

Ivan Langr, the Vice-Mayor of Liberec who is opposed to the "Romani census" that the Czech Government requires for its annual report on the state of the Romani minority, has taken a sharp stand recently. He has even compared the method of estimating who is Romani according to people's appearance to the approaches taken by members of the SS during the Second World War. 

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Czech Vice-Mayor says Czech Govt's method for collecting data about Romani people is "inhumane"

16.3.2017 10:55 The Czech town of Liberec is refusing to send a report about the state of the Romani minority to the Regional Authority for delivery to the Office of the Czech Government. Such a report has, for years, served as background material for a nationwide report on that issue.  full story