Sociologists call gov't too passive about ghettos

Prague, Feb 15 (CTK) - The authors of an analysis of underpriviliged localities criticise the Czech government for its way of dealing with the issue and they said the responsible ministries are passive and that the political will to solve the situation is lacking.

The sociologists, Ivan Gabal and Petr Visek, said hundreds of millions of crowns are being spent to manage the problems arising from inactivity while money for constructive measures and for the villages and towns in which integration is successful is missing.

Gabal has its own firm, Visek is a member of Socioklub.

Gabal's team analysed the situation in deprived houses, streets and neighbourhoods in the Czech Republic in 2006 and it counted more than 300 of them.

These ghettos were mainly inhabited by Romanies of whom there can be up to 80,000.

The analysis as well as Gabal and Visek's other study became a basis for the strategy that the government approved last year.

The document contains several dozens of measures to be taken by 2015.

The document was drafted by the government agency for integration in Romany localities.

According to its head field findings show that the number of the ghettos rose to some 400 over the past five years.

Gabal and Visek say the debate on the ghettos is heading in an incorrect direction and that it is not conducted correctly.

This aggravates tension in society, which results in populism, they say.

The long-time inactivity frustrates people in the vicinity of the ghettos, "a background for recruiting new extremists" as well as a voter basis for their political groupings are being created in such areas, Gabal and Visek said.

They said extremists resort to violent and arson attacks, the whole thing is being politicised and the stirred-up atmosphere puts up a barrier to integration.

($1=19.052 crowns)