CVVM poll: Four out of five Czech citizens say relations with Roma poor

Four out of five Czechs say relations with Roma people are poor and 28 % consider them very poor. Only one person in one hundred believes they are very good. The Czech Press Agency reports these are the results of research conducted by the Center for Public Opinion Research (Centrum pro výzkum veřejného mínění – CVVM) in April. The sample included 979 people aged 15 and over. Research into the issue by other agencies has found similar results.

“Co-existence between Roma people and the rest of the population is perceived by the vast majority of the public as problematic,” the authors of the research state. To be precise, the results of previous evaluations of relations between Roma people and the rest of the Czech population between 2006 and 2009 showed “rather significant deterioration”, and there has been mild improvement since then. People from smaller towns and villages are evaluating the situation as favorable a bit less frequently, but people who have Roma acquaintances and friends are seeing relations as good more frequently.

Respondents considered co-existence with Roma people in their particular place of residence to be better than overall coexistence between Roma and non-Roma in the Czech Republic. “However, even there negative evaluations outweighed positive ones,” the authors said. Every fourth respondent said co-existence in their particular place of residence was very good, while three-fifths of respondents said it was poor. These attitudes have not changed much over the last five years, but CVVM says they were “relatively better” before 2006.

According to 60 % of respondents, Roma people experience worse conditions than others when seeking employment. “As far as the other areas of life we researched, the number of those who consider the Roma population’s options worse did not outweigh the number of those who believe the Roma enjoy the same or even better conditions compared to others,” CVVM reports. According to 25 % of respondents, Roma people have worse housing conditions, while one-fifth of respondents said they have worse educational conditions. The number of people who consider the conditions for Roma worse were fewer compared to last year.

Last year half of all respondents believed the government was not satisfactorily resolving Roma minority issues, but this year 59 % of respondents were of that view. The authors said those results had returned to 2009 levels. Municipalities are proceeding unsatisfactorily according to 35 % of respondents compared to 27 % last year.