Eight in ten Czechs say coexistence with Romanies bad - poll

Eight in ten Czechs assess the majority Czech population’s coexistence with Romanies as bad, according to the CVVM agency’s poll in April whose results were released today. One third of respondents said coexistence with Romanies is very bad. Only one in 100 Czechs believes that Czechs and Romanies get on very well together, the poll showed. People’s opinion in this respect has remained unchanged since last year. Three-quarters of respondents in the April poll said they personally know some Romanies and a half said Romanies live in their neighbourhood. Four in ten respondents assessed their cohabitation with Romany neighbours as good, while 58 percent said it is bad. “If compared with people’s overall assessment of coexistence with Romanies, mutual cohabitation in a concrete place of residence is assessed more positively,” the poll authors said.

 One in 20 Czechs assessed his/her cohabitation with Romany neighbours as very good. Two-thirds of those polled said Romanies face worse conditions in terms of employment than members of the majority population. According to a quarter of respondents, Romanies enjoy the same conditions as Czechs. Forty-five percent of those polled said Romanies have a lower chance to succeed in public life than the others. Almost two-thirds of people believe that the Romany minority has an equal access to education, the poll showed. One-third said Romanies have a better chance to defend their interests in civil disputes and to acquire housing.

Four in ten Czechs believe that Romanies have better chances in dealing with authorities. When asked about ways to improve coexistence, more than a fourth of Czechs said a bigger toleration is needed. One in ten said no differences should be made between people, and there should be no discrimination or preferential treatment. Some respondents said it is up to Romanies to start doing something as the others have done much already. One-fifth of Czechs believe Romanies should start working and respecting the standards the majority population sticks to. About one-tenth said Romanies should behave decently and observe laws, the poll showed. One in 25 respondents recommended that Romanies show more responsibility and that they better care about order and hygiene. Some of those polled said they would support the education of Romanies, while others said it is necessary to distinguish between individual Romanies.