Czech Republic: Update to Extended Response to Information Request CZE26377.EX on the Situation of the Roma
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1997 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | CZE26661.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Czech Republic: Update to Extended Response to Information Request CZE26377.EX on the Situation of the Roma, 1 April 1997, CZE26661.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac1130.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The attached document from the Washington-based Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) provides a detailed analysis of ex post facto issues relating to the 1992 Czech citizenship legislation.
The attachment from the Montréal Consulate General of the Czech Republic provides an overview of the legislation, initiatives and programmes adopted and sponsored by the Czech government in an attempt to address issues that affect the country's Roma minority. This document also describes the Czech government's response to international criticism of the 1992 Czech citizenship law.
An excerpt from the Prague-based Tolerance Foundation's November 1996 report entitled From Exclusion to Expulsion: The Czech Republic's "New Foreigners" Part I: Judicial Expulsion is also attached. The entire text of this report is available at Regional Documentation Centres. Since 1992 the Tolerance Foundation has carried out a series of projects to analyze "the effects of the Czech citizenship law on the country's Slovak minority, with special emphasis on the disproportionate impact of the law on the Roma community" (Article 8 Nov. 1996, 3). This report was prepared by The Article 8 Project, a section of the Tolerance Foundation created in February 1996 "with the intention of examining the relevant legal provisions in the field of expulsion, monitoring individual cases and providing legal assistance to those who allege a violation of their right to respect for private and family life" (ibid.).
The table of contents of the 2 April 1996 Council of Europe publication Report of the Experts of the Council of Europe on the Citizenship Laws of the Czech Republic and Slovakia and Their Implementation and the Replies of the Governments of the Czech Republic and Slovakia is also attached. The entire 142-page text of this document is available at Regional Documentation Centres. Other Council of Europe documents, including the 1996 report entitled Council of Europe Activities Concerning Roma/Gypsies and Travellers and the 5 May 1995 report entitled The Situation of Gypsies (Roma and Sinti) in Europe, are also available at Regional Documentation Centres.
Excerpts of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee's (UNHCR) September 1996 report European Series: Citizenship in the Context of the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia are attached to this Response. The full text of the UNHCR report is available at Regional Documentation Centres.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
Reference
The Article 8 Project. November 1996. From Exclusion to Expulsion: The Czech Republic's "New Foreigners" Part I: Judicial Expulsion. Prague: The Tolerance Foundation.
Attachments
The Article 8 Project. November 1996. From Exclusion to Expulsion: The Czech Republic's "New Foreigners" Part I: Judicial Expulsion. Prague: The Tolerance Foundation, pp. 1, 3-10.
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). September 1996. Ex Post Facto Problems of the Czech Citizenship Law. Washington, DC: CSCE, pp. 1-15.
Consulate General of the Czech Republic, Montréal. February 1997. "Information on the Situation of the Roma National Minority in the Czech Republic," pp. 1-16.
Council of Europe. 2 April 1996. Report of the Experts of the Council of Europe on the Citizenship Laws of the Czech Republic and Slovakia and their Implementation and the Replies of the Governments of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. (DIR/JUR (96) 4). Strasbourg: Council of Europe, pp. 1-3.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Regional Bureau for Europe. September 1996. Vol. 2, No. 4. European Series: Citizenship in the Context of the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Geneva: UNHCR, Regional Bureau for Europe, pp. i, 1-6.
