Canada has witnessed a significant growth in the number of Roma immigrants from the Czech Republic and in the course of attempting to uncover reasons for their flight from Europe, it has become clear Romas face persecution and violence in their native country. The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board sent investigators to Europe to […]

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There is a growing movement within the European Union to ban any form of speech which is offensive to ethnic, racial or gender groups. At a recent Writer’s Festival, Czech Republic writer David Cerney argued attempts to stifle speech which some regard as demeaning or incorrect is the wrong approach and violates basic concepts of […]

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Romas in the Czech Republic encounter daily prejudice, they lack equal opportunity to access good jobs, and their children invariably struggle to survive in schools. As is so often the issue with children whose families are poor, educational authorities face complex issues. Should Roma children be provided separate classes in which teachers know all children […]

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A democracy inevitably confronts the issue of handling extremists who employ the media to spread hatred and fear of minorities, those who they seek to demonize, and the unknown in all its manifestations. People in the Czech Republic have been subjected to propaganda from racist political parties which seek to use the presence of a […]

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The European Union is willing to spend millions of Euros in an effort to improve the lives of Roma children in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Educational opportunities undoubtedly are a key component of dealing with issues of prejudice and bigotry, but money in itself spent in school improvement is not sufficient for the tasks […]

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Alexandr Vondra, former Czech deputy PM for European Affairs, blasted French President Ncolas Sarkozy for his a bsence from the EU Eastern Partnership Summit. “He has not made our EU presidency easier,” he told the French newspaper, Le Monde. In particular, what upset the Czech diplomat was “his imperial style has complicated the team presidency. […]

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A crowd of fans from the soccer club, 1.FC Brno, marched through a square in Brno shouting vulgarities at Romas and blacks while imitating monkeys. In the town of Chomutov, they fired a rocket in the air while shouting, “Czech Land To Czechs.” Even as the ignorant displayed their ignorance, hundreds of Romas throughout the […]

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In the 1930s, Czechoslovakia was among the first nations seized by the Nazis and during the war its citizens were subject to brutal treatment including the destruction of an entire village after the assassination of a Nazi leader. The horrors of Nazism have disappeared from the minds of nationalists in the country and been […]

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Over ten years ago, a nondescript little white man from the state of Louisiana got his fifteen minutes of fame by going around talking in neo-Nazi language, boasted he was in the KKK, tried his hand at politics, and soon vanished from the scene into the dustbin of history. However, for some strange reason, […]

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Omas in the Czech Republic are concerned by recent attacks including fire bombing a home which resulted in injuries to children. Members of the Romany communities are considering development of plans for quick escape in case there are other such assaults. There is also a growing feeling that emigration might be the only solution in […]

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