Removal of Czech Romanies leads to appearance of ghettos

A large part of more than 300 Romany ghettos in the Czech Republic appeared only recently and expediently, as a result of the removal of Romanies from their original places of residence, according to an analysis on excluded Romany localities that has been drafted for the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry.

Both Romany rent defaulters and Romanies whose flats their town halls or other house owners wanted to use for their own purposes were moved to these localities, the analysis says.

Liana Janackova, mayor of Ostrava’s Marianske Hory and Hulvaky neighbourhood and senator for the Independents, also allegedly commented on the choice of place for Romanies.

"Unfortunately, I am a racist, I disagree with the integration of Gypsies so that they would live across the area. Unfortunately, we have chosen the Bedriska (colony) and so they will stay there, with a high fence and with electricity."

The words appeared on the recording of a local housing committee meeting, whose authenticity Janackova has questioned. Later she said on the Aktuáalne.cz server that a woman with a similar voice pronounced the words.

According to the analysis, there are 10 large ghettos in Ostrava, mostly populated by Romanies. Up to 6600 people may live there. Although some Romany families have lived in the localities for years, a large majority of them were expediently moved there in the past years.

"Massive resettlement occurred after 1989 in connection with the collapse of heavy industry," the authors of the analysis said about one of the localities.

In another case, the town hall started to move exclusively Romany families to the locality 15 years ago, and in yet another locality community flats have been given exclusively to Romanies in the locality over the past 15 years. In addition, rent defaulters from other parts of Ostrava and nearby villages have been moved there.

In another case, Romanies were moved from their flats that the town hall intended to use in a different way.
Experts and non-profit organisations have long pointed out that in many cases local authorities were responsible for the emergence of ghettos. According to their opinion, local authorities have thus created a problem for themselves that they will have to deal with in the future.

Most adult Romanies in the ten Ostrava ghettos are jobless and in some ghettos all their residents are unemployed. Families there are dependent on social security payments. Most Romanies in these localities have only basic education. There is widespread usury and drug-trafficking in many Romany ghettos and in many cases the authors of the analysis regitered prostitution, drug addiction, alcoholism and gambling.

Some Romany families left for Britain and Canada in the past.

Ten years ago, Janackova came up with a proposal to pay allowances to Romanies for the departure abroad and the return of their flat licences to the town.

Last year, the authorities of the north Moravian town of Vsetin and its then mayor Jiri Cunek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL), currently deputy prime minister, moved many Romanies families outside the town for which they were widely criticised.

A large number of Romanies have been also removed from the town of Mlada Boleslav, central Bohemia, and Prostejov, south Moravia.

It is estimated that some 200,000 Romanies live in the ten million Czech Republic.