European Commission to Czechia: end discrimination of Roma children!
The European Commission has initiated infringement proceedings against Czechia for discrimination of Roma children placed in special and substandard schools.
The legal struggle to improve educational opportunities for Roma children began in the 1990s. Kumar Vishwananthan, Director of Life Together, an organization supporting Roma communities in Ostrava, Northern Moravia, recalls how, in 1997, he and other activists took the government to court. At the time, more than two-thirds of Roma children were being diagnosed as mentally handicapped, automatically placing them in special—and often inferior—schools. When they failed to win their case in Czech courts, they turned to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in their favor in 2007:
“A Roma child had a 27 times greater chance of being diagnosed as mentally retarded compared to a child from the majority population. If we consider that roughly 3% of the global population is mentally retarded, then, incredibly, 71% of Roma children in Ostrava were classified as such. This is clearly not possible. The court, therefore, recognized the existence of massive-scale discrimination in Ostrava, which also reflected a broader problem in the Czech Republic.”
Despite the European Court's ruling, the discrimination persisted, prompting activists to bring the issue to the attention of the European Commission in Brussels. Viktor Daněk, Deputy Director of the Institute for European Policy EUROPEUM, explains:
“It’s true that this is not a new issue. Both international organizations, such as the EU and the Council of Europe, as well as domestic NGOs, have long criticized this problem. The Commission has previously pointed out that the Czech Republic is failing to comply with its obligations under EU anti-discrimination laws. It is a logical step, according to European law, that the case is now moving forward. If nothing changes soon, Czechia can expect the European Commission to file a lawsuit in the Court of Justice of the European Union.”
So, what happens next?
“Czechia must now inform the European Commission how it plans to address the issues identified. I’m not entirely sure if the law is entirely on the Commission's side, though. There might be room for Czechia to defend itself. However, regardless of the legal outcome, it’s undeniable that there is systematic discriminatory behavior in Czechia. Whether the infringement procedure leads to a court decision or not, the problem remains, and it must be solved.”
Interestingly, activists like Kumar Vishwananthan acknowledge that while the government and the Ministry of Education are aware of the problem, it is local authorities and school administrators who ultimately decide where children are placed:
“These issues should be dealt with at the local level, by the authorities and teachers. They need to convince both Roma and non-Roma parents that nothing harmful will come from desegregation. It’s normal for children to grow up, learn, and study together. This enlightened approach should be the standard for a healthy, functioning society.”
But in many regions of Czechia with high Roma populations, this approach is still far from common. As a result, it seems increasingly likely that Czechia will face legal action in the European Court of Justice over this issue.
