Czech city plans repressive measures against housing estate residents, local politician and Romani community member is appalled

According to the mayor, the activities of the local council have not been enough to impact the situation, and the aim is to fine problematic members of the population (which is already at risk of social exclusion), for their behavior. The municipal mass transit authority has also recorded problems there, with some public transit drivers saying they are afraid to drive into the Mojžíř housing estate.

Simona Mohacsi, director of the mass transit authority, informed ČTK of those developments. The chair of the Czechoslovak Romani Union, Karel Karika, who is also a local assembly member in another municipal department of the city, is appalled by the repressive measures planned, and activist Miroslav Brož of the local Konexe organization is also criticizing them.

According to the Mayor of Neštěmice, the local council has already exhausted all available options for addressing damage to municipal property, disruptions of public order, and littering. Extraordinary cleanup operations are reportedly costing the local council hundreds of thousands of Czech crowns annually.

Some community service workers are also refusing to work on the housing estate. The mayor said some local residents allegedly throw garbage at such workers from their windows.

The local council and the city leadership have called an extraordinary meeting with the city police over the tense situation. The first step will be a new system of work for local police patrols.

“We will be launching strictly-targeted foot patrols and monitoring by the city police in Mojžíř. Thanks to the local council in Neštěmice, which knows each building and each place in the locality, we are able to target exactly the locations of the biggest problems. Unfortunately, where prevention or social work are of no aid to the community, repression has to start,” said the Mayor of Ústí nad Labem, Petr Nedvědický (Association of Dissatisfied Citizens – ANO).

The local council will also address other measures with the state police. According to Tomková, patrol officers will also be more in connection with other authorities and institutions.

“We want to involve the child welfare authorities (Orgán sociálně-právní ochrany dětí – OSPOD), who will receive each report of children wandering about at night or behaving indecently. Even if it means that our local authority will be overwhelmed, we will pursue each misdemeanor the law makes it possible for us to punish, and we will punish the culprits,” the mayor of the municipal department said.

Thanks to a statewide amendment adopted in 2021 called “Three Strikes, You’re Out”, municipalities have the right to fine rent defaulters who commit misdemeanors by deducting the fines from their welfare. “We have to take this route because all the others have failed. A rather large group of people lives here with us who don’t do anything if they are charged with misdemeanors and fines, but the moment we attach their welfare benefits, they will finally feel the repercussions,” the Mayor of Ústí nad Labem said.

Karel Karika: I am appalled by the Neštěmice council’s repression

The chair of the Czechoslovak Romani Union, Karel Karika, who is also a local assembly member in another municipal department of the city, emphatically disagrees with the repressive measures. “I’m appalled by the new measures in Mojžíř. Instead of seeking a solution that would actually be a step toward integrating and developing these communities, unsystematic, harsh measures are being introduced here which will punish the very most vulnerable residents to the greatest extent – the children,” Karika told news server Romea.cz.

“Fines and repression are not the right way. Such measures merely intensify the social gap and injustice. Instead, we should invest in high-quality social services such as community centers. Such centers could provide the necessary support not just to children, but also to adults, and could thereby aid the entire community with living a better, more dignified life,” Karika proposed, adding that it is necessary to focus on preventive measures and longterm solutions that will yield actual change.

“We have to create an environment that will support the development of social skills, education and integration into society. Harsh measures and repression are just a short-term, superficial bandage that doesn’t solve problems, on the contrary, it intensifies them,” Karika told Romea.cz.

Brož: Neštěmice has long failed to deliver

According to Miroslav Brož of the Konexe organization, the local council in Neštěmice has long failed to solve the issues and the poverty in the municipal department. “None of the social programs which could have introduced a transformation have ever been implemented at the Mojžíř housing estate. Likewise, no dialogue has ever been established with the local community, which has never been included in seeking solutions to the situation or in planning. That’s why those attempts fail,” he told Romea.cz.

“Fining impoverished people and targeting them with repression will not improve the situation,” he added. “It will just intensify their poverty and exclusion.”

Transit authority seeking transportation assistants

Last month the municipal transit authority increased its monitoring of conditions on local buses and trolleys. Inspectors especially focused on maintaining order.

“After assessing that action, we started a selection procedure for transportation assistants who will begin riding in our vehicles during the summer holidays,” Mohacsi said. According to her, some drivers are refusing to serve the lines that drive into the Mojžíř housing estate.

“[Drivers] are experiencing psychological problems as a result of conflicts with Romani passengers on those lines, and on the days they are scheduled to serve that line, they ask for a transfer,” the transit authority director said. She alleged that mass transit drivers most frequently encounter racism being committed by Romani people toward their fellow non-Romani passengers.

According to the transit authority director, the drivers are subjected to aggression, threats and vulgarities, with problematic passengers spitting on the vehicles and on the drivers themselves. She alleged that passengers do not respect the restrictions with regard to the number of prams that can be allowed per vehicle, that they ride without valid transit passes, and that they refuse to show their passes or tickets to drivers or inspectors.

Drivers have been calling either local or state police in some cases. Veronika Hyšplerová, a spokesperson for the city police, told ČTK that officers are focusing on the locality as part of their patrolling and are cooperating with the local authority and the local mayor.

During the warm days of summer, problems escalate, allegedly because the housing estate population spends more time in the streets. Nevertheless, the patrols are in charge of maintaining public order, Hyšplerová said.

There are 2,700 people living at Mojžíř. Most of its apartment units are owned either by housing cooperatives or private landlords.

The housing estate is considered a socially excluded locality. Such areas can constitute either an entire neighborhood or just one street or apartment building where social problems are concentrated.

A group of inhabitants with limited access to education or employment usually lives in such a locality. Moreover, such persons are frequently burdened by collections procedures.