Slovak PM on Romani settlements: Incentivize employment, no tolerance for disorder

News server WebNoviny.sk has reported that at last week's cabinet session in the town of Svidník, Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said he does not intend to tolerate disorder in the country's Romani-inhabited settlements. The PM is demanding proposals from cabinet ministers on how to ensure security and uphold order and what he called "decent behavior" in the settlements.
At the same time the PM said he is counting on positive measures to ensure Romani people enjoy improved access both to education and the labor market. "We are tolerating the people who live in those settlements in illegal dwellings built on privately-held land, but we cannot tolerate the disorder that is there. For that reason I am asking the members of this Government to propose how we can at least ensure waste disposal in those communities. We must maintain at least an elementary sense of order. It is not possible that tourists on their way to visiting Slovak Paradise have to come across these heaps of plastic bottles and other stuff. I believe the Government will find a way to pay for the technical means, the dumpsters or disposal, but they cannot expect us to clean up the mess they have made around their settlements," he said after the Government took note of a Monitoring Report on the fulfillment of the Strategy of the Slovak Republic for Integration of Roma up to 2020.
In addition to measures that will be intended to coerce Romani settlement residents to keep things in order locally, the PM said he wants to contribute to positive changes in the areas of education and employment. "However, this will always happen in combination with positive measures - creating enough places in the preschools, increasing the capacities of primary schools, or designing circumstances to motivate our firms to employ Romani people. The firms have already demonstrated their willingness and we will be looking for opportunities to reward those who employ Romani people for more than 12 months," the PM said.
Don't miss:
- Slovakia now has an MP from the Romani minority, Štefan Vavrek
- Slovakia: Girl from impoverished Romani family wins race running in flats
- Slovakia: Chair of neo-Nazi party indicted for using Nazi symbols on checks
- Slovak Govt Plenipotentiary for the Romani Community: Žilina is a textbook example of hate crime
- Slovakia: Romani youth in critical condition after brutal racist attack, police say they see no racist motive and make racist remarks themselves
- Slovak court finds Romani tenants were discriminated against during eviction and relocation
- Slovakia: Man shoots at Romani groundskeepers, then hangs Nazi flag from his window, is now in custody
- Slovak Parliament condemns growing displays of extremism
- Slovak court convicts Romani victims of police raid for making allegedly false accusations of brutality
- Slovakia: Romani girl from bad neighborhood did the best on entrance exams, now tutors others
- Slovak media have video footage of brutal attack that killed Filipino, suspect is in custody
- Slovakia: Filipino attempts to prevent harassment of women, harasser kicks him to death
- Public discussion reviews Czech and Slovak policies and practices of commemorating the Holocaust and its Romani victims
- Slovakia: Two Romani children shot in Poprad, perpetrator not yet identified
- Irena Biháriová: Comprehending the matrix of a Romani settlement in Slovakia is not easy
- Slovakia's national minority commissions to approve funding apparently rife with conflicts of interest
- Slovak appeals court says video of police abuse of Romani children must be admitted into evidence
- Slovakia: Romani barber builds salon in small town despite local prejudices
Related articles:
- MEP Peter Pollák on World Roma Day: Mere declarations of willingness to solve problems not enough, it's time for results
- Czech ecumenical service sends wishes of good fortune and good health to Romani people on their day
- Czech actors send greetings to Romani people for 8 April, World Roma Day
- Zeljko Jovanovic: The New Roma Politics of Self-Determination and Unity
- Czech and Slovak youth have different attitudes toward minorities - Czechs are more LGBT-tolerant, Slovaks more tolerant of immigrants or Muslims
- Czech actress accused by fellow Instagrammers of racism for her comments about Black people on an American beach
- Czech census official tells ROMEA TV all identifying information will be removed from census forms to guarantee anonymity
- Roma children electrocuted while playing in a Belgrade settlement
- Czech hospital refuses to examine young Romani man - by the time doctors agreed to see him, he died
- Romani youth including actor from "The Painted Bird" want to fundraise for Czech hospital treating serious COVID-19 cases
- This year marks the 76th anniversary of the Nazi murder of Romani people in a detention camp in Slovakia
- Romani organizations write to Czech Industry and Trade Minister: Roma must be part of the National Plan for Renewal
Tags:
Roma, Slovakia, social exclusion, social issuesHEADLINE NEWS
