Inside a Romani Ghetto: Life in Czech Republic's Most Dangerous Neighborhood

I'm about to enter the most dangerous neighborhood in the Czech Republic. It's called Chánov, and it's a Gypsy ghetto known for violent crime, crippling poverty, and decades of government neglect. Everything I've read online says, "Do not go here." So I'm anxious to find out if I should have listened to the warnings. Holy! We literally have no security right now. How will the people here react to an outsider in their community? And what kind of shocking things will we uncover as we go deeper inside? In the corner, I see a kid about 8 years old that's smoking a cigarette.

Joining me is my good friend Peter, a fellow travel YouTuber who speaks fluent Czech. And our journey begins from our lovely home base in Prague, just 47 miles from the slums of Chánov. Well, if it isn't PPPeter! Hello! Ready for some adventure, Mr. Binsky? Yes, sir! Bye-bye! Ready, bro? Yes! Here we go! Off into the unknown! Our first sight of a building. Look at these. I want to - Oh, these are Roma people. They are Roma people. Yeah, they are Roma. Yeah, they are Roma people.

Yep! You can tell by their face. Ethnically, they're totally different. They have roots from northern India about a thousand years ago, they walked through Iran, through eastern through Turkey, through Eastern Europe, and they settled in various communities. The Romani people are traditionally nomads, and there's a huge population of them in the Czech Republic. In my experience, they have a beautiful culture and strong family values. But not everybody feels the same way. As you just heard, Romani people are often stereotyped as criminals. In the 1970s, during the communist period, they were pushed out of Prague and other regions and relocated to Chánov, a housing project on the edge of a city called Most. Since then,

it's been neglected and fenced off as a symbol of segregation in the Czech Republic. You could think what you want about the politics, but as soon as we arrive, there is tension in the air. Bro, there's literally like six policemen right here. What is going on?! What the hell is going on?! Yeah, what the hell is going on is right. This is the community, huh? Yes, this is it. This is crazy. Look at the entrance. I know. There's no door! Literally, anyone can enter the building and knock on your door!

Out of nowhere, a guy approaches us and asks what we're doing here. We tell him we want to learn about the Romani people living in this community. And without hesitation, he kindly offers to be our guide. He's saying that in the past there were like, workshops, like uhm. dancing workshops and pottery workshops that focused on Roma culture, but nowadays, it's different. It's just like offices here. And. the culture is kind of disappearing. Are you born and raised here? While he's giving us a tour, a few Romani kids start following us. And at first I worry they might try to scam us.

Zip up your pockets. Yeah. But within seconds, I realize they're just curious and wondering what we're doing in their hood. We got a posse of kids following us now. He's gonna jump! Okay. Whoa! Can you do that? Dang! Cheeky! Cheeky. Holy crap! Wow! Parkour. ___ How many people live in the community? Five hundred. The number was much higher, it was 2,500, but now it's only 500.

Oh, look at this, dude. Hundred! He's saying it's not safe to go. You can risk! Ah, uh. He's saying that he doesn't suggest it, but he. come, come, come! This is the last reminder of the old Chánov. Oh, it's being reconstructed. That's why the taller buildings were standing there in the past. but they were removed. Got it. So it's. it's getting reconstructed. Cool! Okay. It's crazy to be inside these buildings. Wow. I don't have any words.

Drew, this one smokes from five years old. Which one? Uh, this one has been smoking. He's smoking since he was five years old. They don't smoke. Then he's kind of bragging. And when he was younger, if someone was smoking and they threw away the last remain of the cigarette, he always picked it up and finished it. What kind of jobs do most of the adults have here? if the most. Cleaners and construction workers, most of them. What's your job? He's an electrician, but he's. also universal. He can do whatever is needed on a construction.

He's saying, like, the most demanding work, physically demanding work in the Czech Republic has always been done by Roma people. Are you connected to your. history, your roots? Like, are you aware of where your ancestors came from? They keep the traditions alive. They still feel that the traditions deeply. Mostly, dancing and singing, which has always been very. uh a strong cultural tradition in the Roma ethnicity.

Like weddings and stuff. Exactly, exactly! At the same time, he's saying that a lot of people nowadays have smartphones and are using smartphones, and it's kind of disappearing because of this. There was police in the front. Like, how often do problems happen here? Because they're obviously there for a reason. So in the past, there were a lot of conflicts, and the police was not even allowed here because they had their own authorities and police. So. Really?! They have their own? yes! The police was So the you know what he's trying to say, like, this whole neighborhood had they Mobsters. their own rules. Yes!

Right. I'm amazed how small it is, like, it's like two football fields long. The whole community, it's really small! This is the only shop here in town. And, it looks like this! In the corner, I see a kid about 8 years old that's smoking a cigarette. So off-putting. How does it make you feel that everyone in this country, especially in Prague, thinks that this place is super dangerous and they're really scared of coming here? Because so far, I feel that it's pretty fine. He's proud that he's from here and he gets that people still think that it's terrible because in the past it was really terrible!

It's different now. It has changed, it has improved. And he's proud that it's like that. And he's proudly saying everywhere he goes, he worked in the UK, he proudly says that he's from this neighborhood. He's very proud! Oh, you worked in the UK! You do speak English! He understood. There's another neighborhood in Most that's much worse. Well, we got to go there with him, later. He's. He's down. Drugs are fun, right?! This guy is homeless. He's taking drugs for 36 years.

Right as we're about to leave for the next town, a man comes up to me who speaks perfect English. And I want to hear his story before leaving. Do you like living here? Yeah, yeah. Because I'm born here. Nice. What was it like growing up here? And how is it different than now? Before here living, many people, not like this. Now it's looking empty! All people leaving. Half people from here living in UK. Why? Going there. Better money, better life.

What about the living conditions of the buildings? How is it different in the past? Some building is broken here, but you see now everything is renovation. Inside the house is looking every barrier nice! That's a good thing! Yeah, yeah. Do you ever have a plan to leave again, or are you going to stay here? No. I'm staying here. England, UK's good life, but this is my home. Meeting these locals showed us a warmer side of Chánov than we expected. But before we head onwards to the more dangerous side of town, the kids won't let us leave without asking for money.

They asked for more. Okay. He's mad! Like, only 60 crowns! See you later, man. Thank you so much. Bro, hold on, hold on! You're really nice, dude. Seriously! Like, I really appreciate you. Yeah, thanks, dude. I'll see you around. Thank you! Nice to meet you. Next time. See you later! Ciao! Okay, we got some gangsters, for sure. Closer. Are you sure we're gonna be okay with like, just walking in? Alright.

Let's see what we can find! From the street level, you wouldn't think that this is more of a sketchy neighborhood than the other one, right?! Like, just walking through it. Look at the facade of the building. It looks normal! Exactly! No graffiti! That's what I'm saying. Yeah! I really didn't expect this. It's right next to the main road, so it cannot be that bad. It doesn't seem like a closed community like in Chánov, This guy is talking to himself.

Jo. They both were dancers, a pretty good one. But then this guy went to the UK He. started to take drugs in the UK and he came back with schizophrenia. And. this is the condition Yeah. right now. Issue there. Sad. A lot of drug addicts here. A lot of drug addicts I could see immediately, right away, I've seen three or four. I could What normal drugs do they take here? Is it crack? Oh, uh. Toluene, which is a. Never heard of it. You can buy it in, like, drugstores and pharmacies.

It's a solvent for household chores. They breathe it. It funk you up? Completely. That thing leaves holes in your brain. What's interesting is that there's no diversity in these communities. It's all Roma people. You haven't seen any other ethnicities in the these neighborhoods here. While I'm feeling pretty tense already, I'm told that things are going to get a lot sketchier at night. So while it's still daytime, I take a minute to talk with a friendly woman and her two kids.

These guys keep saying this is the most dangerous street in the whole country. But so far, we don't see any of that. Is it true? She's saying a lot of drug addicts here, but it's not as bad as it used to be. But there are still a lot of drug addicts. And especially at night, it turns into. So would you walk here at night? Nah. No, it's not okay at night.

She's saying, like, we should be cautious because a lot of drug addicts already noticed us, that we don't belong here and they may try to rob us. Drug use is a serious issue, not only in Chánov, but in Romani communities across Eastern Europe. So not surprisingly, we meet a woman who's clearly on something. What are you up to today? Take drugs. Really? She's literally said, "Take drugs." She said, like, she knows your videos!

No way. She said she knows your videos on YouTube. What the hell is she doing?! Drugs are fun, right?! Well, I'm not sure about that! Should I ask her, like, what? What drugs are you taking? Yeah! Okay. Show She's open. Okay. She's saying legal drugs. What makes you happy in this world? I didn't catch it. Ah, drugs. Dude, she's on the move, bro! She's gone! Crystal Meth. Crystal.

Crystal meth? Crystal meth, right? That's what she's doing, yeah. Yeah, that's right, man. That's what she's doing? Crystal. Yeah. Everyone here. Another gangster showed up. Oh, wow! Tupac, Tupac! Tupac? Tupac. Hello, bro. Hey, Tupac! What's up? Hello. How are you? You speak English? Yeah, man, come on, bro. How you doing, man? Hello man. Hey! You lived in the UK?

Yeah, I was living in the UK before. Now I'm a deport, you know? Like. I can't go in back, you know? You cannot go back? No, man. Nah, man! You got banned? Why? I was banned. What happened? When you graft, yeah, bro. Graft? What? Oh, drugs. Selling. Oh, drugs. Yeah. Drug dealer. Yeah. How old are you, bro? You look young! You look like twenty-three? Yeah, I'm young like twenty-seven, bro. About twenty-seven.

Yeah, I have three kids, bro. You have three kids?! Yeah, bro, just I was living 22 years in England, yeah. Where's your partner or the mother of the kids? Where is she? Mother is here, bro. She's uh We separate, you get me? How old are your kids? Uh. Four, three, and nearly two. And they're here in Most? No. In England. That sucks that you can't go back and your kids are there. I know, bro. I have a difficult, like. My life is like bro, oh my God. In Most, how was your life like here?

My life, bro, like street life, you get me? like. Yeah. This is definitely getting more interesting. When we came here, the streets were very different. People are a little bit more aggressive and a lot more drug use. So what's interesting is, like, we're in the middle of Most, this town, city here in the Czech Republic. Like, there's a beautiful park here. You can see the tram is coming, but like, it's so beautiful on that side, and then it's like a division and then it's like, boom, you're here. Bro, let me ask you a question.

What's the most interesting thing happening. in these two blocks? Yeah, what's the most in your brain? What's the craziest thing I can find right now? In these two blocks, yeah? He's saying, like, he can help us, but he asked for money. I'm happy to support him and the community, so we strike a deal that he'll take me inside the crowded buildings. But on the way, I spot a group of guys on a bench who look like they've got some stories to share. Can you tell me a little bit about this community, like these buildings right here?

What happens on the streets here? He's saying it's the most beautiful neighborhood, and everyone is a master of their own vessel. He's kind of philosophical and also very positive. Yeah. Hitler. He said that Hitler really wanted this part of Europe because this is the nicest part of Europe. particular part, Most, the city of Most, is the most beautiful part of Europe.

All right, cool! Thank you for your time! You're very kind! You're very friendly! If you could say one message to everyone in the world, what would you tell them? Doesn't matter if you're white, black, yellow, whatever. Just be human and talk to me. Talk to me as if I was human. Don't look at the color of my skin. Appreciate that! I'm kind of shocked by what he just said, that Hitler allegedly loved the town of Most. In any regard, Tupac is taking us inside one of the apartments and I have no idea who we're about to meet. To the top!

Hello! She must have a lot of kids. Ja. How many kids? Five but only two of them live here with her. Guys, real quick, before we continue exploring this community, I want to take a second to thank the sponsor of this video, PackDraw. PackDraw is an online pack-opening platform where you can win thousands of real prizes! I'm talking Pokémon cards, watches, jewelry, and even cars! Whatever you pull, you can have it shipped straight to your house within one or two weeks. Today, I'm going to ask a few random strangers on the street to open a pack and whenever they win, I'm going to give them the cash value on the spot.

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6 years ago. You mean she cheated on her or she cheated on him? He cheated on her. Yeah. Got it. How do you spend your days in Most, like, hobbies? What do you like to do? Pretty heavy story here. She has five kids, but only two of them live here. You asked what is she doing in her free time, and she immediately said, like, "I'm not bored. I'm trying to get the other three children from foster care because they stopped going to school a few years ago and the social services took them." So, she doesn't have those three children here and they're in foster care. And she's.

What do you mean they took them? Here in the Czech Republic, if you're not taking enough care of your children, uhm. social services can take your children. So three of their of her children were taken and they're in foster care right now. And she's trying really hard to get them back. She's trying to That's heavy. get back on her. feet. She's trying to furnish the apartment right now. Okay. Because she broke her leg two years ago and I suppose she wasn't able to work and properly take care of her kids, so, the kids stopped going to school.

Somehow, someone found out and the social serv services took the kids. I'm really sorry to hear that's that's super deep. What can you do to get them back? She needs to get the apartment and have the apartment furnished so that I suppose the social services would see that- she can take care of the rest of her children. Sad, man. This is from jail. She there's supposed to be a hearing because they need to know that she's taking care of the rest of her children, these two. If jail finds out that she's not taking good care of

the rest of her children, they're going to be taken as well. But she's - Was she in jail? She was supposed to go to jail for 10 months, but there was a hearing. She didn't end up in jail. That's. like what she lives for right now. She's trying to get the three remaining children back. Like, that's her. whole motivation. That's what she's living for. But because she believes that what she was put on Earth for. And it it's killing her inside that her children are not here. How do you earn money?

This is bizarre because she pays 17,000 crowns per month for this apartment. But she. Per month?! Per month. 17,000 crowns. But she's getting only 7,000 from the government. This is the rent, 17, 300. So how did she afford it? House Benefit. Oh, so it's so she's gonna apply for a house benefit. Ah. She applied for a job on in Amazon. Amazon, Czech Republic. So she. Oh, she already worked for Amazon, Czech Republic! Even if they give her the housing benefit, she would have no money for food or anything!

Does she do you have family that looks after you? Her father. But he oh. Food for the children. Her former husband, uh he's in jail, he's in jail. That cheating on her, he's in jail right now. My heart is breaking listening to this woman's story. It's clear that life here isn't easy. The poverty is real and the discrimination that Romani families face only makes things harder. After we thank her and head back outside, we run into the same woman from earlier. But this time she's in the middle of a drug deal.

What are you up to? She's just waiting for a friend. Yeah! What are you going to buy with that? ___ I think everyone knows what's going on here, but they're trying to hide it. He's saying that he gave her the money because she's beautiful. Drugs. Of course. He's taking drugs for 36 years. Really?

He. is a drug addict, like, officially. He has papers for that, that he's a drug addict. What kind of drugs do you normally take? Methamphetamine. This guy is homeless. And he lives in a community of homeless drug addicts. Not far away from here but we would need to go with the car. And he's willing to take us there but it's quite a danger That's, that's different. That's very different from this. It's like outdoors, a lot of people who take methamphetamine. Where is it? Where?

Walking distance from here. We should go by car. I don't know. If we were there and someone just pulls a knife on us. I know, I know. We're screwed. Oh, We're funkin' screwed, man! Yeah. Are we gonna be safe? Yeah, yeah. We literally have no security right now. Oh, there's police! Oh, there's literally police. It's not every day that you witness an open-air drug deal. But that's nothing compared to what we're about to experience.

Every inch of my body is telling me not to visit the drugged-out encampment in the woods. But we feel that something new will be uncovered before we fully commit. Peter and I quickly dip into the car to regroup and make sure we aren't about to get mugged. The two guys that accompanied us throughout the entire day were are gone right now! Those were fine! Yeah, they're gone. And we're with high people! It's true. The worst that happens is they pull out a knife and say, "Give me everything you have." So we can leave stuff in the car, like money. I'll just bring cash with me.

Bring cash. I'm leaving my wallet here, and I'm what about my phone? I think we should leave our phones here. This is all the cash I have. 1,000. This is. Bring the thousand. I think 1,000 is enough and they can share. I have some smaller bills. Look, 200. Okay. ___ If I look at them. Look at them! They're all preparing for us! What? This is absurd, man! Okay, we're just getting money ready because everything here is money, money, money. So, I want to be prepared with money. Let's go, bro!

Fudge. Are we gonna be safe? Ask this dude. Yeah, bro! Come on! We literally have no security right now. That's our security. Which is alarming. Man, we do have, like, six people that are with us. I just told them that. They keep asking for, like, "How much are you going to." How much are we going to pay us for the interview for like. We should have set expectations, because I only have - I told them, like, we have no money on us. I That we have to pay them at the car, that we have to get back to the car. So they

think that we have nothing with us right now. Okay. Where are we going?! Are we going through there? Probably there. That way. Is he coming with us? Ahoj Drew. Jesus Christ! Was that an Ahoj bark ah uh. perk? A what?! Was that like an "Ahoj" horn or like a "Get the funk off my way" horn? Yeah, no, no. Ahoj horn. Yes, yes. They Those were gypsys. crazy! All right, bro. Dude, this is intense. But we are with, like, seven people, and they all are friendly. If someone pulls out a knife, we, have seven people that are friends with us.

Yes. The freak! We are under the freeway right now. Literally, the freeway is above us. Where are we going?! Why don't we just hang out here?! He's saying, like, "Don't be scared. It looks really scary, but don't be scared." That's what he's saying. Oh, there's police! Let's go. Oh! Oh, there's literally police. Police, bro. I don't want to like. But we have nothing, like. Yeah, we have nothing on us.

There is no problem. Yeah, no problem. There's no problem! If anything, we're I feel better that there's police here. What's he saying? Uh. Like, if the community accepts us, we're fine. I think they've accepted us. Yeah. What brings you guys here? They're looking for someone who's uhm. for, like, a jail trial. Are you guys that familiar with this community? And, are you trying to stop it from happening or you just let them be?

You can't stop it. No. So no matter what, you just let it happen. Yeah. No matter. Wow! Nothing you can do. Is Most the dangerous city in general? Like, is there a lot of crime? Yes? Compared to other cities. A lot of thefts and robberies. Robbers. Especially that. Let's see his house. For one year, they've been living here. They've? They're together? Yes. And she's pregnant. She is?

They're actively looking for housing, but the government doesn't provide them housing because they, like, they have no jobs, they're kind of problematic, you know. They could be. in the city, but people would look very weirdly at them, so they opted for. for this forest. How many people live in the forest here? Twelve. Are you friendly with all of them? Can you give me a tour of your living situation? This is the bed. He's got M&M's next to the bed! You got a box of M&M's next to his bed.

Look at the plate. Yeah. This is the plate. There's been crazy rain and floods here. Did it Yeah. He stayed here? They were here during the worst flooding in like 30 years in the Czech Republic. That happened, yesterday and like the last four days. Oh, is he here too? Thank you. Nice golf hat. I respect that, you speak English. You can use speak English so I'm sorry, You speak English?! Yes! Oh, nice to meet you! Julian. Where are you from? Ah, okay! That he That's his apartment. Like, he's saying like jokingly.

Can you show me your house? Yeah. It's like people are full-time camping out here, but they're just all taking drugs. So insane! They dispose all their trash over here. They just throw it in the side here. What's interesting is there's train tracks here and right there's a church. So we're not far away from society.

We're just kind of tucked away in the forest here. Super fascinating place! Dude, this guy's got like a restaurant hangout. Look at this. Dude's got like 20 pairs of shoes! This is inside of his little home. He's got a clock. He's got a Pilsner Urquell, pitcher for water or beer. There's a table here with chairs. Like a full-on house! Let me ask him a question. How did you end up living here?

Really strange answer. Very chaotic. Should I go straight to the drug question? Yeah. So you choose to live around druggies. Is it because you like the community here or you just like to be away in the nature? Are you guys, generally happy? Do you enjoy life or are you depressed? Are you sad? I appreciate you letting us into your community because I understand there's tension or there's sensitivity around here. So, thanks for letting us come and learn about your lives.

He's saying that we're the family, that we don't have. Our families now we're not talking to, but we're the family. Thank you. Ah, thank you. Bro, what do you think about this experience? It's probably the most interesting thing I've ever seen in the Czech Republic. Yeah! I do feel really bad for them. They are marginalized, meaning they have no opportunities! But. As someone who did several documentaries about Roma slums in Slovakia, the truth is a bit more complicated and different from what they're saying.

We would need uh. a deeper dive into the topic to fully understand the complexity of the Roma problems, because countries like Slovakia, especially Slovakia, it's so complex. I'm from here and I don't completely understand the hardships and the complexity of it. Sure. Oh. This is very important. They immediately left to buy the methamphetamine. Yeah, bye. The money that you gave them. How do you know? Yeah, bro, look.

It's obvious. Yeah. It's truly heartbreaking to see how drugs have plagued this community. But if you can look past that, real families live here who just want to keep a roof over their heads. The Romani people have faced generations of discrimination, but they deserve the same respect, safety and happiness as anyone else in the Czech Republic. If coming to Chánov taught me anything, it's that fear keeps us divided, and understanding, is the only way forward.