Romanies feeling threat should seek help at home - Czech minister

The Romanies who seek asylum in Canada should not conceal their real, particularly financial reasons of their departure from the Czech republic, by alleged persecution, Human Rights and Minorities Minister Dzamila Stehlikova said today.

She said after a meeting of the Government Council for Romany Community Affairs that the Romanies who feel threatened in the Czech Republic should first look for help of state bodies, the council and NGOs.

Czech Romanies’ interest in acquiring asylum in Canada has markedly increased over the past months.

Stehlikova said 466 of them applied for asylum in Canada from last November until mid-July.

Canada might reintroduce visas for Czech citizens if the border of 500 applications were crossed, Stehlikova said, adding she is not afraid of this for the time being, however.

Canada re-introduced visas for Czech citizens in 1997 after it lifted them for a short period, in reaction to a high number of asylum seekers from the Czech Republic, primarily Romanies.

In the 1996-2000 period, 1677 people with Czech citizenship applied for asylum in Canada and 962 of them were granted it.

The government council wants to prevent further outflow of Romanies by supplying them with information on their rights and defence opportunities in case they feel threatened by the majority population or by clerks and the police.

Stehlikova will visit Canada in October where she wants to meet Romany asylum applicants as well as Canadian officials.

She said she also wants to invite the officials to the Czech Republic to see for themselves that Czech Romanies do not need to fear for their lives.

She supported her words by quoting from statistics according to which the share of racially- and extremist-motivated crimes has not crossed 0.1 percent of all crimes committed in the Czech Republic in the past years. Last year it was even a mere 0.05 percent, she said.

Stehlikova said the council members only reached agreement after a long and heated debate because their opinions on certain issues markedly differ.

Council deputy chairman Ivan Vesely, from the Dzeno Romany association, said the rallies of extremists threaten not only Czech Romanies, but all citizens, and that they potentially jeopardise democracy in the country.