Deputy PM's Roma plan raises eyebrows
Jiří Čunek, the country’s Deputy PM and Minister for Regional
Development has been in trouble several times for his actions and
statements regarding Czech Roma. This week, the Christian Democrat leader
announced a plan to solve the so-called Roma problem within 10 years. The
solution, to segregate Roma into various categories according to their
willingness to be “civilized” has raised some eyebrows.
In 2005 Mr.Čunek launched his career in high politics by getting tough on
Roma defaulters in the town of Vsetín where he served as mayor. There was
an outcry from human rights activists but public support for Mr. Čunek’s
actions won him a seat in the Senate. Now he claims to have a fast and
effective solution to the so-called “Roma problem”, promising to
abolish Roma ghettoes within a decade.
His proposals, a kind of caste system, would see Roma across the Czech
Republic divided into three categories. The top tier would be Roma who are
not dependant on any way on state social support. The second category would
be Roma who are viewed as misusing state social support, while the third
bottom category would be Roma who require permanent state monitoring. The
latter group would be urged to move into special zones in which a tough
regime of state supervision would keep them in check. A document published
by Mr Čunek also cites the need to weaken the ties between family clans:
Kumar Vishwanathan has spent years working with Roma communities in
Northern Moravia. I asked him for his assessment of this plan:
“I personally am not in favour of this kind of segregation. I think that
these categories are so vague that it is very difficult to see how such a
system could be put into practice. On the other hand, I sense that there is
an attempt by the government to say ‘these are Roma who do deserve
something, and these are the Roma who do not, so let’s start helping the
ones who need it.’”
Yet Mr Čunek is standing by his proposals. In an interview with the
newspaper Mladá Fronta Dnes, he argued that he was obliged to tackle the
problem of ghettoes and that the plans will allow those Roma who live
normally to set an example to others, while also weaning Roma off welfare.
When challenged over whether the system would simply allow more people to
slip into his “third class” on the scale, he noted that in every
society there were people who were unwilling to work, even if they were to
die of hunger.
I asked Kumar Vishwanathan why he believed Roma faced issues of
underachievement:
“I think that underachievement is quite normal among uneducated and
marginalised people all over the world. They have children who face a great
challenge just to catch up with the rest of society and it is our duty to
encourage those children.”
And what about the accusations of Roma misuse of welfare?
“Misuse of the system is a big problem and it is not just the Roma who
do it – they shouldn’t be used as a scapegoat to focus the public on a
grave problem of the general misuse of social funds. That is a big problem
in this country, the idea of a paternalistic state, which takes care of you
is still deeply rooted in many sections of the population, not just the
Roma.”
Mr Čunek’s proposals have met with a somewhat baffled response from
fellow government officials and have little to no chance of actually being
passed in this form. Ultimately, with local elections coming up, many
believe that these proposals are in fact a gimmick designed to appeal to a
group of white Christian Democrat voters, particularly in Moravia for whom
the Roma issue is a genuine concern.
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