Czech Town Dismantles Wall Built to Keep Gypsies Separate

A controversial wall separating 37 mostly Gypsy families from other residents in this northern Bohemian town was pulled down Wednesday by city authorities.

The 6-foot-high, 65-yard-long barricade was put up in Usti nad Labem after the residents of three small houses complained about the noise coming from their ethnic minority neighbors living in two apartment buildings across the road.

Authorities built the wall in October, prompting sharp criticism inside and outside the Czech Republic. Authorities Tuesday said they would spend $103,000 to subsidize houses elsewhere for the residents who complained of noise.

A few Gypsies who watched the demolition toasted it with shots of rum, but most residents stayed inside during the icy morning work.

President Vaclav Havel called the decision to pull down the wall “a great success.”

“But by pulling the wall down, the problem is not over, on the contrary,” Havel said. “Now it is necessary to concentrate on the solution of social problems that led to the construction of the wall.”

The U.S. ambassador to Prague, John Shattuck, also welcomed the decision.

“I am very happy that this tragic symbol of separation disappeared,” Shattuck told Czech radio.

But the city’s plan to subsidize new housing for the complaining residents upset Gypsy representatives, some of whom said it sent a message that “we are second-class citizens and inferior people.”

Czech Gypsies, also called Roma, number about 300,000 and often complain about racial discrimination at home and ask for asylum abroad.