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Czech Roma asylum seekers who have been rejected political asylum abroad should not be entitled to social benefits after they return to the Czech Republic, the Government Council for Roma Affairs decided on Thursday. The council also agreed that a special police body should be established in order to deal with the widespread problem of illegal money-lending among the Czech Roma community. The number of Romanies seeking asylum in Great Britain has grown dramatically in the last few months. According to the government's human rights commissioner, Jan Jarab, excessive debt is among the reasons why Czech Roma are leaving the country.

The new Czech minister for the environment has said he wants the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant to be the country's last. Environment Minister Libor Ambrozek said in a newspaper interview published on Wednesday that he would ask the government to adopt an energy policy that includes the complete phasing-out of nuclear power. Mr Ambrozek said he wanted to focus on renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric and wind power. However the minister said Temelin would remain operational, despite protests from anti-nuclear groups in neighbouring Austria and Bavaria, who claim the plant is unsafe. The Czech Republic has two nuclear power stations, Temelin, launched last year, and Dukovany which has been operating since 1985.

The final wording of the government's programme for the next four years will not be ready until Monday, just one day before it is submitted to the lower house of parliament for approval. A member of the government's press department said the cabinet had not approved the programme at its meeting on Wednesday, explaining that the document still had to be completed. The new centre-left government enjoys a majority of just one seat in the lower house.

After 30 members of the Czech Roma minority on their way to Great Britain were turned back by German officials on Friday, another group has decided to try its luck. With the first group failing to have the necessary cash and insurance, some 20 Roma left the Moravian city of Ostrava on Monday, armed with money, return tickets and insurance. A large number of Roma in Ostrava have been leaving the Czech Republic, saying that they are being discriminated against, find it hard to get employed, and do not feel safe. Officials at the border areas have therefore been weary about Roma travellers, fearing that their main aim is to apply for asylum at the countries of destination. As far as those who have been turned back are concerned, social workers have expressed fear that many will have to borrow large amounts of money in order to make up for the lost travel expenses.