The British embassy in the Czech Republic has denied it is discriminating against Roma by refusing them permission to board UK-bound flights at Prague Airport.
A Czech television report alleged that since British consular officials began systematically checking the travel documents of passengers last month, the vast majority of the 100 passengers turned back have been Roma.
Human rights groups in Prague say the new policy is designed to prevent Roma asylum-seekers reaching the UK, a charge denied by the embassy.
"The screening process is an alternative to imposing visa requirements on Czechs, and a way to stop abuse of the asylum system," the embassy said in a statement.
But Romany groups believe the rights of Romanies have been sacrificed to maintain visa-free travel to Britain for Czechs.
"It is racism. It sets the standards of human rights in this country lower," Mr Ondrej Gina, a spokesman for the Assembly of Romany Regional Authorities, told the Prague Post.
A Czech television station secretly filmed two journalists, one Roma, as they attempted to board a flight to London, each with a valid ticket and the same amount of money. The Roma journalist was questioned at length before being turned away while the other journalist was allowed board the flight.
The Czech Helsinki Committee human rights group has requested permission to observe screening interviews. The Czech President, Mr Vaclav Havel, said he was disturbed by the report and concerned by the issues it raised about treatment of Roma in the Czech Republic.
