Ignoring the most vulnerable groups of refugees (babies, children and their mothers of Roma origin) is a clear manifestation of the very different approach of the city of Brno towards these incoming refugees from Ukraine. Since the start of the crisis, the city’s management has been proud of the help and welcome it has provided to Ukrainian refugees.

However, this is not the case for the darker skinned people among them. For a third month in a row, the town hall of Brno took good care of Roma mothers and their refugee children living at the station.

False allegations are made about these refugees that they “refused” accommodation in the former barracks in the Židenice district. Yes, some of the Roma refugees were relocated from the station at the end of April (after heavy media coverage).

This effort only lasted two days, however! The group was housed in the former barracks in what was once its dining room, with no access to any bathroom, while non-Roma refugees from Ukraine live in rooms with hot running water next door.

Today we are witnessing the fact that about 30 families have been displaced by the city a few hundred meters from the station in military tents without floors. These people have neither food, nor medicine, nor the possibility of bathing, and even find themselves without drinking water (even with the current high temperatures, the cistern made available to them has not been filled since last week).

The portable toilets there are also already full and no one comes to empty them. However, our local politicians, led by Mayor Markéta Vaňková, are still not ashamed to defend this discriminatory approach.

Here are some examples of what city officials allege about these refugees: “These people want to live on the grass”, “We put a toilet there but we do not know if they will use it “, “They are nomads”, “They want to live like that”, “95% of them speak Hungarian”, “They are not Ukrainian”, etc. The Czech Republic will soon assume the EU Presidency, the country has been a member of the EU since 2004, but are we able to allow our elected public officials and civil servants to indulge in this shameful rhetoric?

None of these claims are factually substantiated, they paint the clichés and myths about Roma that we as a society still cannot extricate ourselves from. This despite the fact that for the fourth consecutive year we have a coalition of democratic movements and ruling parties here in Brno.

Is it really the case that nothing of them are ashamed of these practices towards these women (and children) fleeing the war? Although I am an active and regular voter, following these speeches by our elected municipal officials, I now wonder if it would not be better for me to boycott the elections this fall!