Tensions against Roma on rise

By Wency Leung and Martina Čermáková

Staff Writers

Strains between local Roma and the rest of the population appear to be escalating, as police investigate a second firebomb attack on a Roma residence in two months.

Police have yet to identify suspects in the recent May 27 Molotov cocktail attack on a two-unit house in Zdiby, north of Prague. The perpetrator threw two flaming bottles into the home, where 10 Roma lived.

No one was injured and the fire was quickly extinguished, but the attack has fueled fear and frustration among the Roma community.

The Romany Resistance Movement issued a statement to the Czech News Agency (ČTK) May 28, saying the only way Roma people can protect themselves from attacks is by leaving the country. It also criticized the police for failing to guarantee their safety.

Meanwhile, some 35 Roma from the town of Vysoké Mýto, east Bohemia, left the region last week to seek asylum in Canada, according to the nongovernmental association Naděje (Hope).

Milan Nádvorník, regional manager of Naděje, said the exodus was likely due to the promise of better social and economic conditions. "It can also be said that actual and self-felt discrimination plays a role," he said. "To an extent, there's a degree of actual discrimination happening."

That discrimination was reflected in a poll released by the CVVM institute May 29, which revealed that relations between the Roma and the rest of the population are now believed to be at their worst in more than a decade. Eighty-five percent of the 1,056 respondents gave a poor assessment of co-existence with Roma, according to ČTK.

In Zdiby, police said they have yet to conclude whether the firebombing was racially motivated. "There are many versions [of the motive], but we can't be specific at this time," said Praha-venkov police spokeswoman Markéta Johnová.

Police in Vítkov, north Moravia, where an April 16 arson attack seriously injured a 2-year-old Roma girl and her parents, have yet to make significant progress in their investigation.

Police said they found the car that witnesses spotted at the scene of the attack, but cleared the driver and passengers of any wrongdoing.

Anna Siváková, the mother of 2-year-old Natálka who is recovering in hospital, said she was bewildered by the police's findings. "How can they find a car and not [the perpetrators]?" she said. "It's really strange."

The writers can be reached at news@praguepost.com