Ukrainian Roma are looking for housing in vain. The last resort is the detention facility. And as some have a Hungarian passport, they are not welcome.
The story of a Roma family from the Ukraine, who, in spite of facing discrimination in the Czech Republic managed to get jobs and are now trying to find a more permanent place to stay.
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Many Roma are fighting in the ranks of the Ukrainian army. They, however, fear that once the war is over, discriminations will return.
Roma refugees in Prague were housed in 4 large tents. Two of them have now been dismantled.
They say it: Putin is killing us.
The Czech interior minister agreed with Roma NGOs on how to better help Roma refugees from the Ukraine.
Good!
Ukrainian Roma activists are criticising the ongoing discrimination against Roma in the Ukraine and highlight that this is being used by Russian propaganda to brand Ukrainians as “Nazis”.
The picture of Roma bound to posts made it through social media, amplified by Russia, alleging this was outright discrimination. As usual, reality is more circumstantiated, as these Roma were caught stealing (see also below the article in Romea). Nevertheless, self-justice, and especially of this kind is not acceptable.
This Ukrainian article strongly condemn this act, and effectively says this plays in the hand of the Russians in their attempt to portray all Ukrainians as Nazis.
An interview of Ludlima Krikunova who fled the Ukraine and is now in Poland.
Simply they don’t want them.
The editor-in-chief of the Info.cz server, Michal Půr, went to the assistance centre for refugees, where Ukrainians are registered, and he was unpleasantly surprised by what he witnessed. He described on Twitter how he was shocked by the Roma camp and what would need to be improved within the organization without delay.
There is a bitter saying about the hospitality that the Polish government boasts in the world: everyone helps the Ukrainians, and the Roma help the Roma.
In brief, the Poles do not want them. At the end of March, when the war was already a month old, one of the volunteers said she called the voivode’s helpline to place a group of Ukrainian Roma in a refugee centre. She heard: “Gypsies have lice and we don’t take them.”
There is more and more talk about refugees from Ukraine who have Hungarian passports in addition to Ukrainian citizenship. Politicians talk about these refugees mainly in connection with the Roma fleeing the Russian aggression in Ukraine. The South Moravian Governor Jan Grolich from KDU-ČSL was the first to mention “Hungarian Ukrainians” without any knowledge and context and to to accuse them to abuse social benefits in the Czech Republic. The mayor of the capital city of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib, also justifies the Hungarian citizenship not to register them.
As said, the Orban government granted many residents of Transcarpathian Ukraine the Hungarian cisitzenship.
The authorities in the Czech Republic are effectively refusing to register Roma refugees from the Ukraine and send them further to Hungary and to Germany. Officially, the reason is that many of these refugees also have a Hungarian passport, something that Orban granted to many resident of the Transcarpathian Ukraine.
Misinformation on the covid vaccination among Roma in the Ukraine is widespread and many if most Roma refused to be vaccinated. Here, 100 of them got their vaccination.
Ukrainian Roma who also hold a Hungarian passport, of which there are quite a few as Orban gave the citizenship to anyone speaking Hungarian in the Ukraine, face difficulties in the Czech Republic: They are denied help and being told to go to Hungary.
Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Human Right commissioner stated “… my thoughts are with Ukrainian Roma who not only suffer from the consequences of the horrific war in Ukraine but also often face discrimination and prejudices in Europe when fleeing Ukraine.”
In an interview with Právo, the director of the non-profit organization Khamoro, which focuses on helping the Roma minority, explained why it is a problem for Roma refugees from Ukraine to find accommodation. It is called racism …
Well, for Roma, Hungary is not better, even for those who were granted a Hungarian passport by the Orban regime.
Well, they simply prefer to return to Ukraine rather than stay in Hungary …
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