Category Archives: Czech Republic

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

August 2nd Commemorations: Czechia

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A few articles in the Czech press for the 80th anniversary of the destruction of the Roma camp in Auschwitz Birkenau.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Olga Fečová: The day was short for me

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The icon of Romani culture, almost 80-year-old Olga Fečová, a woman with indomitable energy, presents her life in a book that tells the story of the Roma in Czechoslovakia on the basis of an individual destiny. The selection from the book is complemented by excerpts from an interview with the author, filmed for the non-profit organization Romea as part of the Roma memory project.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Ukrainians and Roma

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The town of Pilsen, Czechia, deployed joint patrols of Ukrainians and local Roma for crime prevention.

Sixteen thousand Ukrainians live in this city of 170,000, and there are no exact figures on the number of Roma. According to Tereza Schliková from the press department of the Pilsen city police,”Each community defends its own, they don’t need to meet each other. But when it comes down to it, we use combined patrols of Roma and Ukrainian prevention officers who can eventually calm the situation.”

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

The Church and Roma

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The working group for Roma of the Ecumenical Council of Churches has published a letter in which it calls on the church community to be more open to Roma believers. “In practice, it is not the case that a Roma comes to a Christian community, where they throw him out ‘by the collar’, saying that he has no business there. But they will let him know that he is not desirable, often behind closed doors,” explains one of the initiators of the challenge, evangelical pastor Mikuláš Vymětal.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Interview

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An interview with Jana Horváthová, director of the Museum of Roma Culture in Brno. She says that “Negative things [about Roma] are heard a lot, although lately it has been decreasing. But recently, during the opening of the monument in Lety, there was again an abundance of hateful comments on social networks dishonouring the Roma and their culture. That’s a real shame.”

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

August 2nd

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The Museum of Roma Culture in Brno will present the play The Gypsy Boxer – as a reminder of the 80th anniversary of the murder of all Roma prisoners of the so-called family camp in the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Oda na kames …

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Oda na kames [what you don’t like] is a two-year project of the Ara Art organization, which aims to map hate speech and violence against the Roma minority on the Internet and in real life.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Pilsen, Roma, and Ukrainians

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Jiří Winkelhöfer, Pilsen city councilor for security and crime prevention, said that Roma crime prevention assistants have been working in the Pilsen Municipal Police since 2013. “Since last year, four more assistants with knowledge of the Ukrainian language, because tens of thousands of refugees have found refuge in Pilsen,” he added.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Roma Gang

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Two articles in the Czech press about a gang of young Roma in the town of Šternberk who beat up a young girl and broke her nose.

This is bad for all Roma.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia and Illegal Sterilisations

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A decision of the Supreme Administrative Court says that the Ministry of Health must now actively verify whether an applicant for compensation was subjected to illegal sterilization in the past.

The impetus for changing the system was the request of a woman whose request for compensation was rejected by the Ministry of Health in the spring of 2022. The decision was mainly justified by the fact that the applicant’s medical records had already been shredded and she herself had not proven the illegality of her sterilization.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia, Roma, and Ukrainians

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The Pilsen club Pixla mainly cares for underprivileged children from nearby hostels, having many Roma among its clients. Ukrainian refugees were added to this recently. For its work, the club won the second prize in a national competition for social services in May.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Republic and Social Housing

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The premiere of a short documentary film “Domov západ života” [Home, the basis of life], dedicated to the innovative practice of guaranteed housing, was held in Prague on June 28, 2024.

The guaranteed housing system, as presented in the document, plays a key role in providing affordable housing. A key role in this process is played by the guarantor, which can be a municipality or a non-profit organization. In the slide you can see how the system works, its benefits for all stakeholders and the real impacts.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Theatre and Sterilisation

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The theater group Ara Art decided to help women who were victims of involuntary illegal sterilizations in the past. Their new project combines a theatrical production, an information campaign and personal support for compensation claims.

The law on the provision of a one-time financial sum to persons sterilized in violation of the law entered into force at the beginning of 2022. Since then, over 500 women, mainly of Roma origin, have received compensation. “Hundreds more have submitted applications that have not yet been approved, and many other women do not know how to deal with the administrative process or do not trust it,” said the Ara Art organization in a press release sent to the Romea.cz news site.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Ara Fest

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The Roma culture festival Ara Fest has become a tradition in recent years. Since its inception in 2017, however, it has grown considerably – not only in terms of the program, but also in terms of the number of cities where it takes place.

This year, for the first time, Ara Fest will take place in four Czech cities. The festival “string” will begin in Pilsen, where the program is divided into three days from July 4 to 6. It will continue from 17 to 19 July in Brno, from 22 to 24 August it will delight the residents of Ostrava, and in Jablonec nad Nisou from 6 to 7 September.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia: Education Grants

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Lucie Fuková, government commissioner for Roma minority affairs, speaks about the new call for project entitled PRO-ROMA, launched by the Operational Program Jan Amos Komenský (OP JAK), which has earmarked 300 mio Czech Crowns towards education projects.

Applicants from Roma and pro-Roma organizations will be able to draw funds to support informal education, cooperation with parents or the public.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Karvina Festival

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The Roma festival was recently held in Karviná. Temperamental rhythmic music sounded in the summer cinema area all Saturday afternoon and evening. Various ensembles from the Czech Republic and Slovakia alternated on stage, creating a great atmosphere for all visitors.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Tomáš Kačo

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An interview with the Romano pianist and composer Tomáš Kačo. He is now well established in many countries of the world after his studies at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. After fulfilling his dream – concerts in the Rudolfinum and Carnegie Hall – he has other goals ahead of him and he wants to be a role model for Roma.

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