Abstract
The English documentary "Gypsies, tramps and thieves?" realised by Kate Blewett and Bryan Woods in 1999 notably shows a Roma young mother who lives in revolting conditions in a single room shared with twenty-three other Roma. We can see them piled up in a very small space. The toilettes don't function any more, and are regularly flooded. This striking scene is followed by the interview of a Czech woman in the street, who calmly assesses that Roma are not unhappy to live as they do, because it's part of their culture. As a democratic country, aiming at respecting Human Rights, Czech Republic is supposed to struggle vigorously against such prejudices and more globally against intolerable conditions of living of Roma community. But one could argue that the situation shown in the video is an extreme case, a marginal situation, stressed in order to shock the audience. Is the situation of housing for Roma really concerning? Hasn't it improved since 1999?
Actually, the situation of housing is even nowadays very often miserable and unacceptable, and the action of the local and national authorities is far from satisfying. It has to be admitted that the situation worsen after the collapse of the communism until the end of the XXth century (I). Though more and more pressure have been put on the state these last years in order to act concretely (II), the situation of housing for Roma is today still concerning (III).
