Roma

Czech Constitutional Court rejects complaint from neo-Nazi convicted of 2012 arson

9.8.2018 6:10 Czech Television reported on 7 August that the Czech Constitutional Court has rejected a complaint from neo-Nazi Tomáš Kopecký, who in 2012 committed arson against a residential hotel in the town of Aš where the tenants were Romani. At the time of his attack there were 18 people, eight of whom were children, in the building.  full story

Tomáš Ščuka: Romani people need competent representation first and foremost, not Romani representation at all costs

1.8.2018 10:04 I would like to discuss one of the big deficiencies in the Romani community, and that is the active participation of Romani people in political life. Thanks to the existence of online social networks, which make communications and the opportunity to share opinions so easy, we have recently been able to follow different calls to action, discussions, and similar inputs from the widest possible sample of Romani people across the Czech Republic who are frequently expressing their views of the necessity for higher participation by our community and sharing their perspectives.  full story

Romania: 900 protest recent violence against Roma in Italy and Ukraine, more demonstrations in other European countries to follow

29.7.2018 13:34 As many as 900 people assembled on Saturday, 28 July 2018 in Bucharest, Romani in front of the Italian and Ukrainian embassies to express their disagreement with many violent anti-Romani crimes and to protest antigypsyism in Europe. The assemblies were the first in a series of protests that are being realized in nine European countries.  full story

OSCE Mission to Serbia responds to Romani NGOs about alleged radicalization, references British Council report

21.7.2018 10:48 On 20 July 2018 the OSCE Mission to Serbia responded to the letter sent by the international Roma Nation Movement regarding allegations of radicalization among Romani community members in Serbia. The letter expressed concern that a recent consultancy post had been advertised in such a way as to stigmatize the Roma.

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Italy: Romani infant hospitalized after being shot with pellet gun

21.7.2018 8:55 On 19 July Italian media reported that a pellet fired by an air gun struck a Romani baby as she was being held in her mothers arms. The child is now in intensive care in a hospital in Rome.  full story

Romani NGOs around Europe ask why the OSCE is researching alleged radicalization of their communities in Serbia

18.7.2018 15:16 Representatives of Romani organizations from around Europe have contacted the head of the OSCE's mission to Serbia to express their alarm over the 10 July 2018 announcement of a search for a “Researcher on Radicalization among the Roma Community in Serbia”. The Romani representatives say they are deeply concerned about the growing insecurity of Roma in Europe as a result of extremist antigypsyism in a number of OSCE participating States.


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Edita Stejskalová: OSCE should send observer missions to Ukraine regarding pogroms against Roma and monitor the police investigation

11.7.2018 9:28 Speaking on Slovak Radio's "Romani Word" (Rómské slovo) program, political scientist Edita Stejskalová said she believes the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should take action regarding the recent fatal attacks against Romani people in Ukraine by creating an observer mission to monitor the investigation of the recent pogroms against Roma there. Stejskalová reminded listeners that from 2008-2009 such attacks against Roma were perpetrated in Hungary, that police in Slovakia have attacked Romani settlements in similar ways, and that a similar neo-Nazi arson attack in the Czech Republic led to the severe burning of a Romani child, Natálka.  full story

Italy's Lombardy Region first to conduct census of Roma and Sinti, plans to raze illegal camps, Romani organizations protesting

10.7.2018 10:23 In Italy the legislature of Lombardy in the north of the country has given the green light to a discriminatory, unconstitutional census of Romani and Sinti people living in that region. Italian media report that a regional commission has been entrusted with auditing legally-established Romani settlements and that illegal ones are to be closed.  full story

Italian Interior Minister threatens to cancel police protection for crimefighting author who criticizes his anti-Roma attitude

27.6.2018 9:07 Roberto Saviano, the Italian author and journalist whose work has been key to combating the mafia, is criticizing Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's harsh stance against refugees and Romani people. The author has faced death threats for years because of his book about the Camorra mafia in Italy - and last week the Interior Minister said he could lose his police protection.  full story

Italian Interior Minister insists on "census" of Roma despite criticism

20.6.2018 12:13 Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, despite harsh criticism of his announcement Monday that he is planning to conduct a census of Romani people and to deport those without documents, is insisting on his plans. Yesterday he tweeted his defiance of the criticism.  full story

Czech Labor and Social Affairs Minister says nobody has to live on the street after residential hotels close

19.6.2018 12:38 The City of Ústí nad Labem is doing its best to gradually arrange housing for the people from two residential hotels that are closing at the end of June. According to City Hall, they have managed to find replacement housing for more than half of the people affected.  full story

Families with children facing eviction sue Czech city for putting them at risk of homelessness

18.6.2018 19:20 Tenants of residential hotels that are closing are in a situation of acute danger of homelessness and have filed suit against the City of Ústí nad Labem with the Regional Court. One part of their lawsuit is a motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the application of the "measures of a general nature" which the city is using to limit where housing subsidies are disbursed on their territory, including in impoverished localities.  full story

videoKarel Karika: We will rehouse all 70 people from the residential hotel on Klíšská Street

18.6.2018 15:29 The Vice-Mayor of the central municipal department in the city of Ústí nad Labem, Karel Karika, told news server Romea.cz during the 14 June demonstration against the closure of the residential hotels there that he will arrange accommodation for all inhabitants of the Klíšská residential hotel by the end of this month. "We warned about this situation one year ago, we were the only movement in Ústí to disagree with announcing zones where housing benefits are not able to be disbursed," Karika told ROMEA TV.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani secondary school students can apply for scholarships, deadline is 15 July

18.6.2018 10:11 Romani secondary school students are now able to apply for scholarships for the 2018/2019 school year from the ROMEA organization. Online applications can be sent in until 18 July through the online application form at www.romskastipendia.cz.  full story

Jarmila Balážová now a member of the Barvalipe Academy of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture

15.6.2018 12:26 On 8 June, to mark the first anniversary of the establishment of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), the Berlin-based organization has announced the first seven Barvalipe Academy members nominated by ERIAC's “Pakiv” Board. These outstanding Romani personalities of the contemporary arts and culture scene are expected to guide ERIAC in defining its strategy and future activities.  full story

Italy: New Government demands closure of Romani encampments, redistribution of asylum-seekers by EU

11.6.2018 10:35 New Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has emphasized that his country is demanding the automatic, compulsory redistribution of asylum-seekers throughout the EU by the Member States. He made the remarks in a speech on 6 June to the Italian Senate which, after debate, gave the new "Government of change" a vote of confidence.  full story

Prague Forum for Romani Histories launches Czech website, panel on Holocaust research MONDAY

19.5.2018 8:45 Romani communities live around the world and historians worldwide take an interest in them, but their research efforts frequently remain isolated from each other. Connecting historical research to Romani communities is the ambition of the Prague Forum for Romani Histories, which was created in September 2016 in Prague during the first session of its governing committee.  full story

Czech commemoration of Holocaust at Terezín Memorial will again not feature the Romani flag

18.5.2018 17:58 The traditional commemorative ceremony held by the Terezín Memorial will be held on Sunday at the National Cemetery in front of the Small Fortress, and several Romani activists will again have a bitter taste in their mouths about it. On the basis of an initiative by the Konexe association two years ago, 14 pro-Roma and Roma nonprofit organizations including ARA ART, ROMEA and Slovo 21 pointed out that the Romani flag is not flown at the memorial during the annual commemoration ceremony alongside the flags of the other nations whose members fell victim to Nazi persecution.  full story

Hungary: Open Society Foundation closing in Budapest due to Government persecution

15.5.2018 13:34 The Open Society Foundation, established by the American financier of Hungarian origin George Soros, will be relocating to Berlin from Budapest due to the repressive pressure of the Government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. OSF announced the move on its website and assured the public that it will continue to support civic groups in Hungary working in the areas of culture, education, freedom of the press, health care and transparency.  full story

Emiliya Dancheva: Can we trust the European Parliament if its members are deaf and blind to anti-Gypsyism in Bulgaria?

9.5.2018 6:55 One year ago, the leader of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, Mr Boyko Borissov, became Prime Minister of Bulgaria for the third time since 2009, forming an unprecedented ruling coalition with nationalistic and xenophobic parties (VMRO, ATAKA and NFSB).  full story