In the Czech Republic
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Civil society monitoring report on implementation of the national Roma integration strategy in the Czech Republic Assessing the progress in four key policy areas of the strategy Prepared by: Slovo 21 Romodrom Otevřená společnost IQ Roma Servis Romano Jasnica Romea November 2018 Justice and Consumers EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers Directorate D — Equality and Union Citizenship Unit D1 Non Discrimination and Roma Coordination European Commission B-1049 Brussels EUROPEAN COMMISSION Civil society monitoring report on implementation of the national Roma integration strategy in the Czech Republic Assessing the progress in four key policy areas of the strategy Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers 2019 EUROPE DIRECT is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you) LEGAL NOTICE “The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.” More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018 Print ISBN 978-92-76-08343-6 doi:10.2838/614990 Catalogue number DS-02-19-439-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-76-08342-9 doi:10.2838/96377 Catalogue number DS-02-19-439-EN-N © European Union, 2018 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 4 This report has been prepared by a coalition of NGOs led by Slovo 21 and including also Romodrom, Otevřená společnost, IQ Roma Servis, Romano Jasnica and Romea: • the chapters on employment and housing were developed by Romodrom (Mr. Jan Husák), • the chapter on healthcare was developed by Otevřená společnost, • the chapter on education was developed by IQ Roma Servis, • case studies were developed by Romano Jasnica, • the sections on discrimination and antigypsyism in each chapter were developed by Romea, • Slovo 21 (Ms. Selma Muhic Dizdarevic) contributed to all the chapters on gender aspects. Mr. Jan Stejskal and Ms. Gwendolyn Albert edited the report. The process of the report’s development was coordinated by Slovo 21. The report has been prepared as part of the Roma Civil Monitor pilot project, ‘Capacity- building for Roma civil society and strengthening its involvement in the monitoring of National Roma Integration Strategies’. The pilot project is carried out for the European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers. It is coordinated by the Center for Policy Studies of the Central European University (CEU CPS), in partnership with the European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network (ERGO Network), the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), the Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) and the Roma Education Fund (REF) and implemented with around 90 NGOs and experts from up to 27 member states. Although the Roma Civil Monitor pilot project, as part of which the report was prepared, is coordinated by CEU, the report represents the findings of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of CEU. CEU cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 3 CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 7 EMPLOYMENT ........................................................................................................... 11 Improving access to the labour market and effectiveness of employment services ....... 13 Fight against discrimination in employment and antigypsyism in the workplace ........... 16 Employment alternatives in areas with limited primary labour market demand ............ 19 Addressing barriers and disincentives of employment ............................................... 20 HOUSING AND ESSENTIAL PUBLIC SERVICES .......................................................... 21 Improving access to secure and affordable housing .................................................. 21 Effectiveness of housing benefits and social assistance to access and maintain housing ..................................................................................................... 28 Fight against discrimination, residential segregation and other forms of antigypsyism in housing ................................................................................................. 29 IMPACT OF HEALTH CARE POLICIES ON ROMA ......................................................... 33 Ensuring equal access to public health care services ................................................. 34 Fight against discrimination and antigypsyism in health care ..................................... 41 Addressing needs of the most vulnerable groups among Roma .................................. 44 EDUCATION .............................................................................................................. 47 Improving access to quality preschool education and care ......................................... 49 Improving quality of education until the end of compulsory schooling ......................... 52 Support of secondary and higher education particularly for professions with high labour market demand ................................................................................ 54 Fight against discrimination, segregation and other forms of antigypsyism in education .................................................................................................. 57 COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL CASE STUDIES ................................................................... 64 Krupka ............................................................................................................... 65 Štětí 70 Conclusions and recommendations ......................................................................... 72 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................ 73 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 75 5 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS APZ Active Employment Policy ASZ Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion ČOI Czech Trade Inspection ČŠI Czech School Inspectorate ČTK Czech News Agency ERRC European Roma Rights Centre FRA European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights IROP Integrated Regional Operational Programme LMP mild mental disability MMR Regional Development Ministry MPSV Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs MŠMT Ministry of Education MV Ministry of Interior MZ Ministry of Health NMSDZ National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction NRIS National Roma Integration Strategy OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OP VVV Operational Programme Research, Development and Education OSPOD Child Welfare Protection Agency PiN People in Need REF Roma Education Fund SMO ČR Union of Towns and Municipalities SÚIP State Labour Inspectorate SÚPM Social Benefit Job SZÚ National Institute for Public Health ÚP ČR Labour Office of the Czech Republic ÚZIS ČR Institute for Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic VOP Public Defender of Rights VPP Publicly Sponsored Community Jobs 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Intersectional discrimination and segregation are the issues of greatest concern in all of the sectoral fields investigated here with respect to Roma in the Czech Republic, which is a wealthy European country ranked just ahead of Italy and just behind Spain on the Human Development Index. Age, ethnicity, financial solvency and gender are the parameters that intersect to render life dramatically difficult for the 3% of the population who are Roma. In the most extreme cases, Roma find themselves stuck in circumstances where they are not just disadvantaged, but exploited; the benefit for others to be had from their cheap labour or status as state-subsidised renters acts as a disincentive to their being able to extricate themselves from debt and poverty, as employers and landlords have incentives to exploit them and perpetuate the policy arrangements that render them exploitable. Employment While the National Roma Integration Strategy (NRIS) has identified ethnic discrimination as a problem, policy fails to address this, and very little demographic data disaggregated by ethnicity exist on which to base policy in any event. For example, the causal relationship between the perpetual under-education of Roma and their reduced employability has yet to be addressed in policy terms. This chapter of the report discusses how less employable Roma are rendered vulnerable to official labour market exploitation in tandem with their status as welfare recipients. Debtors whose creditors engage collections agents will have official reported incomes garnished and pay high fees to collections agents; this means the economically most viable strategy for them is to live on welfare and/or work informally, without contributing to the social security system. This is a situation to which disadvantaged Roma are disproportionately exposed. Housing and essential public services Spatial and structural segregation in housing, along the lines of both ethnicity and social status, are intensifying and there exist no policy measures