Canada's governor general plans visit to Brno Romani museum during Europe trip
The Canadian Embassy in Prague is busy making plans for a possible visit by
the country’s governor general. Michaëlle Jean is due to visit the Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia in early November, although
officials stress the trip has yet to be confirmed. One stop on her proposed
Czech itinerary is the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno, incidentally at a
time when increasing numbers of Romanies are once again applying for asylum
in Canada. Radio Prague spoke to Canadian Ambassador Michael Calcott:
“The reason that she wants to come to Central Europe, and it’s a
four-country visit, is that she wants to strengthen links that we have with
those countries and also celebrate those links as well as the immigration
to Canada from all four. She’ll be promoting some of her own issues
around integration of minorities, cultural diversity and celebrating –
especially here - the transition to democracy in the late 80s and early
90s.”
There are reports the governor general will be visiting the Museum of
Romani Culture in Brno at a time when increasing numbers of Czech Roma are
applying for asylum in Canada. Is there any connection between the two?
“There isn’t really. She has stated that one of the themes of her trip
would be integration of minorities into the larger community, and that’s
certainly something that’s a very potent issue for Canadians, given our
immigrant make-up. The Romani cultural museum in Brno is one of the ideas
we have for a visit during her trip. It hasn’t been confirmed, but it
seems like a natural one given the Roma minority population here in the
Czech Republic, and it’s also a wonderful celebration of a renaissance in
Romani culture here in Central Europe.”
There has been some speculation in the Czech media that Canada may be
forced to reintroduce visas for Czechs because of this new wave of Roma
migration. Do you have any information on that, are there any such plans
afoot?
“Well, the minister of citizenship and immigration was here in July, and
she said at that point that we were not considering re-imposing the visa.
We certainly monitor immigration from all countries, and we work with the
Czech government and we keep one another informed. But at the current
moment the number of immigrants to Canada from the Czech Republic is an
issue that we both watch, but people have a right to come to Canada –
Czechs certainly do. The number of applications is only one factor in a
number that we would look at before we would consider re-imposing the visa,
especially on a country that we have such strong ties with.”
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