Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
What the recent census numbers don't reflect, however, is the increasingly diverse
mix of people coming to the Czech Republic to work, either permanently or temporar-
ily. These include relatively large populations of Ukrainians and Russians, and, per-
haps most curiously, Vietnamese. Partly because of close ties forged between the
former communist government and the government of Vietnam, the Czech Republic
has emerged as the destination of choice for Vietnamese people moving to Europe.
WHERE TOLERANCE ENDS: CZECHS & ROMA
Generally speaking, Czechs are a remarkably tolerant people, with relatively
open attitudes when it comes to race, religion and sexual preference. That toler-
ance tends to fly out the window, however, when the subject of the country's
Roma minority comes up.
The Roma, descendants of a tribe that migrated to Europe from India in the
10th century, have never been made to feel particularly welcome. Despite mak-
ing up less than 3% of the population, they are a perpetual object of prejudice,
harassment and occasional incidents of violence - such as a wave of Molotov
cocktail attacks around the country in 2011 and 2012.
Part of the problem stems from communist-era housing policies that tended to
group Roma populations together in run-down ghettos in city centres. Some
Czechs living near Roma settlements feel that the areas tend to be unsightly,
loud and dangerous.
There are no easy answers. Under increased pressure in recent years from
international groups, Czech authorities have introduced more enlightened
policies to try to educate and mainstream the Roma population. To date, these
have had only mixed results.
The Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre is a watchdog organisa-
tion that has kept a close eye on Czech authorities grappling with a rise in anti-
Roma violence. The group maintains an informative website at
