Below we reproduce a call from Ladislav Balaz (Chair of Europe Roma International) for protests across Europe following attacks on the Roma in the Czech Republic.
We are calling for a protest next week outside the Czech Embassy in London in response to the spate of neo-Nazi pogroms organised recently against Roma through the Czech Republic.
Police detained a total of 101 people in four Czech towns during anti-Roma demonstrations and marches on 24 August alone. They were attended by a total of some 1,500 neo-Nazi supporters.
Demonstrators in Ostrava destroyed both civilian and police vehicles as well as surrounding residential buildings occupied by Romani families, throwing bottles, rocks, and other objects at onlookers and police officers. They injured twenty-one police officers, according to police sources. There were sixty-two arrests. Right-wing radicals are announcing on social networks that they will convene another assembly in Ostrava for Friday 27 September.
Anti-Roma demonstrations are against humanity and cause only more evil. Anti-Roma sentiment and incitement to hatred against us has reached threatening levels. This trend is not only dangerous for us Roma, but for all citizens everywhere.
Anti-Roma activities create fertile ground for extremists and their supporters. Who will be their target tomorrow? Jews, homosexuals, blacks, Arabs, Muslims, the disabled?
Related links
View the event listing
Read an IRR Briefing paper: From pillar to post: pan-European racism and the Roma
Read an IRR News story: ‘Clearing Roma off the streets‘
Read an IRR News story:’Remembering the Roma holocaust’