Czech Govt Human Rights Commissioner thanks Roma for their aid during COVID-19 and wishes them well on International Romani Day
Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Helena Válková is expressing her gratitude to all Romani men and women in the country on the occasion of International Romani Day for the aid they have been providing during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The coronavirus crisis has demonstrated that Romani people know how to assist others. Whether it be in Prague, Chanov, or Karlovy Vary, the Roma mobilized their forces and joined the statewide volunteer activity of sewing face masks. Thanks to them, hospitals, senior citizens and others have enough of them,” she said.
“I greatly appreciate each of you, especially those who have successfully made it in their professions or other realm of activity and who have thereby become an example and a role model for the rest of your fellow citizens in the Czech Republic,” she said. News server Romea.cz publishes her statement in full below.
Message from Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Helena Válková for International Romani Day 2020
We are marking International Romani Day this year during a difficult time, in a situation that we are all experiencing for the first time. For that reason, celebrations of this day cannot take place as they have in the past.
Despite this, the pandemic has revealed something to us. It has revealed how little we all know about the minority that belongs to one of the biggest in Europe, and it has revealed that these people are the same as any of us in the majority society, in good times and in bad.
The coronavirus crisis has demonstrated that Romani people know how to assist others. Whether it be in Prague, Chanov, or Karlovy Vary, the Roma mobilized their forces and joined the statewide volunteer activity of sewing face masks.
Thanks to them, hospitals, senior citizens and others have enough of them. Please, let us not all forget about this solidarity once the pandemic is over and life returns to the usual routine.
My dear, esteemed Romani fellow citizens, please allow me to wish you, on the occasion of International Romani Day, good health above all and satisfaction, both in your family lives and in your workplaces. Personally I hope you are able to fulfill your life aims and potential with pride and dignity despite the barriers you must frequently grapple with, which are well known to me.
I greatly appreciate each of you, especially those who have successfully made it in their professions or other realm of activity and who have thereby become an example and a role model for the rest of your fellow citizens in the Czech Republic. I know that for many of you this was not at all easy, that you had to expend a great deal of effort, to believe in your own abilities, demonstrate solidarity, and have the support of your families and friends.
I thank you all for that and for becoming an example for the younger generation of Romani people, who I believe have a good future ahead of them in our country. We will certainly be doing our best to achieve that together, irrespective of how difficult it proves to be.
