The Czech government has received a report criticising the living conditions of Slovak Romanies and comparing them to a humanitarian crisis, the public Czech Television said today.

According to the survey, the situation of Slovak Romanies has worsened after the introduction of social reforms. Forced prostitution, hunger and poverty reign among Slovak Romanies, the report says.

The study was drafted by the International Organisation for Migration on the orders of the Czech government, which is afraid of a mass influx of Romanies from Slovakia to the Czech Republic. It warns that Romanies in Slovakia face a humanitarian crisis like in developing countries, CT said.

The international organisation asserts in its report that some Romany children eat grass instead of bread, and that Romanies do not go to doctors as they do not have money to pay the mandatory 20-crown payment.

"We know about a death from an inflammation of the middle ear, which is a banal disease which is naturally treated by penicillin," Roman Kristof from the international organisation said.

The fact that the survey on the life of Slovak Romanies was ordered by the Czech government has provoked contradictory reactions, CT said.

Slovak government commissioner in charge of Romany issues Klara Orgovanova described the monitoring of the situation of Slovak Romanies by the Czech government, even if it was provoked by the fears of mass migration, as slightly disputable. She said that no migration had finally taken place. "We also expected more cooperation from their state bodies," Czech Deputy Interior Minister Miloslav Koudelny said.

vv/dr/thr (�TK)