Roma in Slovakia

Open racism against Romani people is still alive and well in Slovakia, where Roma children are still being segregated, either by being placed in ethnically segregated classrooms or being sent to schools for mentally ill children. In fact, almost half of Roma children in Slovakia are in ethnically segregated classrooms. This type of discrimination has been going on for centuries in many areas of Europe, and now the world, yet it still continues. Discrimination against Roma is tolerated and supported in 'liberal' Europe in ways that discrimination against many other ethnic groups would not be, and there is little outrage amongst non-roma about it. Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, said in 2012, "the Roma problem... cannot be effectively solved without enforcing some limitations on human rights.". Statements like this by high-level politicians display a widespread apathy towards discrimination and persecution of the Romani people in Slovakia and the former Czech Republic, especially.