People of the Road: the Role of Ethnic Origin in Migration Decisions. A Study of Slovak Roma Asylum-Seekers in the Czech Republic in 1998-2006

This paper deals with the analyzing possible inter-dependence between ethnical origin and migration. Evidence suggests that ethnicity might impersonalize strong cultural and socio-demographical characteristics that should not be omitted when accessing migration or trying to explain migration flows (either on regional, national or international level). In the empirical part of the paper the case-study of Slovak Roma asylum migrations to the Czech Republic in the 1998-2006 is used in order to test an impact of ethnical factor on migrations. The paper attempts to find out whether Slovak Roma asylum-seekers were drawn just by economic incentives, or whether there are some other "immeasurable" factors (such as ethnical origin) that were behind their decision-making. The conclusions advocate that economic differences between regions and countries do not provide sufficient grounds for explanation of migration and that ethnic origin in itself might be regarded as one of the powerful determinants of migration.