28. 2. 2011
Jana Slavíková
Visual Representations of the Roma in the Czech Republic
2.2. Current situation of the Roma in the Czech Republic Currently, the estimated Romani population is around 300,000, i.e. approx. 3% of the entire population of the Czech Republic. [19] “Roma are often physically distinct from the majority of people of Slav origin – many being significantly darker-skinned – and so form an immediatelynoticeable sizeable minority.” There is a “widely-held negative view of Roma, often expressed in beliefs that they are ‘lazy’, ‘cannot adapt to our society’ and engaged in widespread criminality”; they “are not discriminated against because they are Roma, but because of their ‘bad reputation’ or ‘bad experiences’.” [16] They face discrimination in various areas [16]: • •
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employment: “[T]hey face widespread discrimination from employers ... [but] there are no laws to effectively punish them.” housing: “During resettlement form Slovakia in the 1950’s and 1960’s, Roma were often placed in poor accommodation without running water or electricity. ... [T]hey suffer racist prejudice and discrimination from local authorities and neighbours. ... Another trend is to move Romany families out of their existing homes and relocate them to remote poor quality housing.” education: “[T]he number of Romany children being educated in these [remedial] schools [is] at up to 80% of the Roma school-age population [in comparison with 4.5% of all Czech school-age children]. ... Education in these schools is very basic – and current Czech law restricts the further education opportunities (past primary school age) for any pupil attending ‘special schools’ to remedial technical schools offering low-level vocational training. Access to certain employment opportunities are also effectively blocked, since many jobs require a certificate from mainstream high schools.” the legal system: “Roma also face discrimination in the judicial process: ... discriminatory sentencing for petty crimes, entailing long periods in detention. ... [T]he judicial system is failing Roma in the effective prosecution of racially-motivated violence.”
“[I]t is estimated that about two-thirds of the circa 450,000 Roma/Gypsies dwelling in Slovakia reside in “Gypsy settlements” ... [, i.e.] permanent rural residential areas socio-spatially segregated from the dominant non-Roma population, often located several kilometres away from the nearest non-Roma village on which the settlement inhabitants are usually economically dependent. Gypsy settlements often suffer from infrastructural underdevelopment and are often found to be without paved roads and with no access to electricity, gas or sometimes even clean drinking water. ... It is important to note that almost all Gypsies living [in the urban industrialized areas] in the Czech Republic today moved from Slovak Gypsy settlements after World War II. ” [17]
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