David Beňák: Recent statements by the Czech PM and Human Rights Commissioner disgust me

As a member of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission on Roma Community Affairs I am writing to make it clear that I am disgusted by the recent statements of Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Šimůnková and the Czech Prime Minister. Comparing the [2009] arson attack in Vítkov to a momentary derangement or an attack committed under the influence of alcohol is not only absurd, it incites intolerance and is seditious.

I would never defend a Romani perpetrator of violence, and I am more than convinced that tens of thousands of Romani people share that opinion. It is incomprehensible to me how the Human Rights Commissioner can undermine her own mission by doing her best to weaken the institutional guarantees for Roma integration while inciting anti-Roma sentiment.

For God’s sake, the vast minority of Romani people, just like other groups of residents of this republic, want to have a good life. Unfortunately, even though most Romani people are doing their best, they cannot succeed because they are automatically considered “inadaptable” citizens who commit crime.

Many experts have, now and in the past, told all of the past governments and the current one that it is necessary to pay attention to socially excluded Romani localities. These are places at risk of crime, pathological social phenomena, and social unrest. Why? Not because Romani people live there, but because people live there who have long been unemployed. Most of them once did their best to find work, but employers didn’t want them. Slogans like “Gypsies get to work!” may actually be echoes from a better tomorrow. Maybe employers will finally be found who want to hire Romani people.

Any expert book on the topic of unemployment will tell you it results in family crises and other phenomena. Why are people so surprised about the localities with high unemployment? The solution lies elsewhere. Every region has enough experts at its disposal who know how to solve these problems, but politicians are afraid to make the right decisions. The MPs and senators prefer to hide behind their immunity from prosecution when they make their forceful statements. The bureaucrats just hide behind those politicians.