Majority of Czechs have negative relation to Romanies - poll

Prague, 25. 5. 2005 (CTK)

Some 63 percent of Czech citizens have a negative relation to Romanies, while only about 5 percent have a positive relation to them, according to an April STEM opinion poll released today. One-third of people said they have a slightly negative relation to Romanies and one-fifth said their relation to them is definitely negative. One in ten respondents admitted he feels aversion to Romanies.

The poll showed that people under 29 and those more educated have a more positive attitude to Romanies. On the other hand, the most critical of them were inhabitants of small municipalities. The society's relation to Romanies has been improving in the long term, however. The number of people who reject Romanies has decreased by 10 percent as compared with a poll carried out 10 years ago. The number of those who have the same relation to them as to other citizens increased from 19 to 23 percent in the past 10 years.

About 23 percent said that the rights of the Romany minority should be observed more closely. People with a university degree pronounce this opinion most often.
According to official statistics, 12,000 people, or 0.1 percent of the population, declared they are of Romany nationality. But the government council for minorities estimates the number of Romanies in the country at 150,000 to 200,000.

CTK

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EDITORIAL COMMENT:
Surprise, surprise...NOT. And does anyone think that it is different in the West, even in those countries where it is illegal to be a racist? It is not. And I believe that that is one of the very reasons, amongst others, to rearrange the "ethnicity" status of Romani-Gypsies in the UK (and elsewhere) by, especially, including the Irish Travellers under the header "Gypsies".

Veshengro