Housing is the greatest problem Czech Romanies and other residents of
socially excluded localities face and local authorities are unable to solve the
problem as there is no law on social housing in the Czech Republic, a survey
conducted by Brno Masaryk University experts revealed.
The university researchers who conducted the survey at Romany settlements on the
government's order have found out that neighbourly relations help soften the
negative consequences of social exclusion, Irena Kasparova from Masaryk
University told journalists today.
The experts examined the situation of Romanies and other residents in selected
ghettos in Brno and other south and north Moravian towns.
They lived together with the people in excluded localities from April till
October and tried not only to describe their problems, but also to understand
the way of their thinking, Kasparova said.
According to Katerina Sidiropulu Janku, the experts revealed that the ghettos of
socially excluded people often appear in former industrial and workers'
localities.
When town authorities want to improve the life of their residents, build new
houses for them and move them there, which outwardly seems as a suitable
solution, the consequences are usually negative, she said.
"By this they sever their relations with their neighbours that usually took one
or even two generations to establish, as well as their relationship to their
environment," Janku said.
Romanies and other socially excluded people usually meet a far more hostile and
racial environment in the places of their new residence, she said.
The experts summed up the results of their research in a 400-page book
describing the life of Romanies in the monitored localities.
According to the authors, it is a unique material because the researchers lived
with the socially-excluded people for many months, established close contacts
with them which enabled them to describe their problems and their motivation.
Dzamila Stehlikova, minister in charge of human rights and ethnic minorities,
said all branches of the government's agency against social exclusion would work
with the document.
"We will use the findings for a more efficient strategy aimed to promote
employment, to improve the level of education and housing," she said.
The Czech government established the agency against social exclusion last
January. Its employees now work in 12 pilot localities across the country. Their
goal is to help improve the situation of people living in ghettos, mainly
Romanies.
The expert study conducted by the Masaryk University researchers cost 1.6
million crowns. It will be upgraded in the future.
