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Roma community, Vuka Vrecevica, Belgrade
Roma living in Vuka Vrecevica |
Roma and Travellers Project
Although many individual abuses of the rights of Roma and Traveller people to adequate housing have been documented in recent years, the systemic violation of Roma and other ethnic minority rights has not received extensive attention. Roma communities throughout Europe face daily discrimination and serious violations of their rights to land, housing, and property.
The problem of housing discrimination against the Roma is closely linked with the issues of inadequate housing and forced evictions. Roma communities throughout Europe live in conditions that are glaringly inadequate: poor or dilapidated housing, lack of sanitation and sewage facilities, cramped living quarters and lack of clean water, electricity and emergency services. In addition the Roma are often segregated from the larger society and effectively ghettoised. Because Roma people often live in conditions that are not legally sanctioned, they also face an increased risk of forced eviction and displacement.
Roma women and girls are particularly harmed by discrimination and inequality - they are the victims both of oppression within and discrimination outside their communities. This discrimination, coupled with the burdens of household care, child rearing, care of extended family and income generation, makes women and girls particularly vulnerable to conditions of inadequate and unsafe housing.
The Roma are also targets of discriminatory legal reforms, which serve to strip away the already superficial existing legal protections. The lack of a settled legal status exacerbates the problem of forced eviction and diminishes the ability of the Roma to participate in broader society, including in education and employment.
In the shared hope of alleviating the current situation in which the land, housing and property rights of the Roma are so often violated, COHRE is combining forces with the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). Established in 1996, the ERRC is an international public interest law organisation which monitors the situation of Roma and provides legal defence in cases of human rights abuse. COHRE and the ERRC combine their expertise and experience in the areas of Roma rights and housing rights to work towards the promotion and protection of the land, housing and property rights of the Roma and to find clear, concrete and practical solutions.
In order to accomplish this objective, the project focuses on specific areas in which the Roma’s right to housing is most often violated – namely inadequate housing, housing discrimination and forced eviction. The project employs an integrated approach aimed at combating housing discrimination against the Roma and includes fact-finding, training, litigation, and media outreach. |
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| Media Release and Protest Letter March 2007 |
23 March 2007 Romania
"Romanian Draft Law on Housing Expected to Worsen Situation of Roma and other Marginalised Groups"
COHRE and ERRC Joint Release
 download doc [en]
Joint letter from COHRE and ERRC to Mr. Radu Mircea Berceanu, Minister of Transport, Constructions and Tourism, Romania.
download doc [en]
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European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)
The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is an international public interest law organisation engaging in a range of activities aimed at combating anti-Romani racism and human rights abuse of Roma.
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Related Links |
The European Roma Rights Centre Website ( Link )
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Watch a COHRE documentary
You can watch a short documentary on the COHRE website about the Roma community of Vuka Vrecvica
"Vuka Vrcevica – A Violation of Housing Rights"
Documentary, 7 mins (2002), Belgrade
The right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right protected by international law, and applying equally to all people, everywhere. But for the Roma community of Vuka Vrecica in Belgrade, grossly inadequate living conditions amount to a violation of their human rights.
WATCH "VUKA VRCEVICA" HERE >>
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