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TREATED LIKE WASTEROMA HOMES DESTROYED, AND HEALTHAT RISK, IN ROMANIA

HOUSING ISA HUMAN RIGHT

©Amnesty

International

Amnesty International January 2010 Index: EUR 39/001/2010HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT

DISCRIMINATION DICTATINGPOLICY

There are almost 2.2 million Roma inRomania – making up about 10 per centof the total population. Yet discrimination,both by public officials and society at large,remains widespread and entrenched,resulting in as many as 75 per cent ofRoma living in poverty, as opposed to24 per cent of Romanians in general and20 per cent of ethnic Hungarians, thelargest minority in Romania. Their levelsof physical health and their living conditionsare among the worst in the country. Whenthey try to raise their voice concerning thediscrimination affecting their own lives, theyare often simply ignored.

Across the country, a pattern of forcedevictions of Roma, and threatened forcedevictions, perpetuates racial segregation.On the occasions when alternativehousing is offered by the authorities, it isoften built in very precarious conditionsand lacks basic facilities such as water,heating or electricity. In recent years,Romani communities have been evictedand relocated next to garbage dumps,sewage treatment plants or industrial

areas on the outskirts of cities. When thishappens, they don’t just lose their homes,they lose also their possessions, theirsocial networks and their access to workand state services. Other communitiesliving near these areas rarely welcometheir new neighbours and numerousinstances of outright hostility andharassment towards the new arrivalshave been reported.

When authorities evict Romani communitiesagainst their will, without adequateconsultation, adequate notice or adequatealternative housing, they are violating theinternational and regional laws andstandards, that the government of Romaniahas signed up to, such as the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and CulturalRights and the European Convention onHuman Rights.

Although some Roma people live inpermanent structures with legal tenancy,many other long-standing Romanidwellings are considered by the governmentas ”temporary” and unofficial, andtheir inhabitants do not have any proofof tenancy, which exacerbates theirvulnerability to eviction.

This is also contrary to the internationaland regional legal standards that requireall people to have a minimum degree ofsecurity of tenure, guaranteeing themlegal protection against forced eviction,harassment and other threats.

THE CASE OF THE RESIDENTS OF27 PICTOR NAGY IMRE STREET

In 2004, more than 100 Roma were forciblyevicted by municipal authorities from abuilding located in the centre of MiercureaCiuc – the capital city of Harghita Countyin central Romania. Most were resettled bythe authorities on the outskirts of the townat the end of Primaverii Street, behind asewage treatment plant. Some movedthemselves to a garbage dump a coupleof kilometres away, rather than move tothe sewage plant.

Members of the community had been livingat 27 Pictor Nagy Imre Street since the1970s when one Romani family began torent an apartment. By 2004, 12 Romanifamilies had legal residence in the building,which was owned by the Miercurea Ciucmunicipality. Over the years, other people

TREATED LIKE WASTEROMA HOMES DESTROYED, AND HEALTH AT RISK, IN ROMANIA

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About 75 Roma people – including families with young children – have been living in metal cabinsand shacks next to a sewage treatment plant since 2004. They were moved to the area, deemedunfit for human habitation, from a crumbling building in the centre of Miercurea Ciuc in Romania.They were told the move was temporary, and for their own safety. After more than five years, andvarious court cases, the continued violation of their right to adequate housing – among a host ofother rights – is beginning to feel very permanent.

‘THEY WILL ONLY TAKE US AWAY FROM HERE WHEN WE ARE DEAD.’Regina, resident of Primaverii Street, on the outskirts of Miercurea Ciuc, talking to Amnesty International in May 2009.

Index: EUR 39/001/2010 Amnesty International January 2010HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT


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had moved into the building or built shacksin the yard without any form of legaltenancy. By 2004 more than 100 Romawere living either in the building or the yardwith varying degrees of legal status. Theauthorities and the members of thecommunity agree that the building was rundown and no repairs had been carried outon the property for many years. Sandor, aRomani man who lived there for 30 years,told Amnesty International:

“Along the years the municipality didnot make any maintenance work to the

house. We went to the municipality toask them to intervene with structuralrepairs, but it was useless. The conditionof the house started to deteriorate andmany times we went to the municipalityto inform them of the bad shape [of thehouse] but they said there was nothingthey could do about it.”

The authorities began discussing theevacuation of the building in 2001 withthe residents, saying they needed tomove them for their own safety. But theydid not carry out a full and informed

consultation process with the community.The authorities bought eight mobile metalcabins in 2001 to house the residentselsewhere, and placed them next to thesewage plant, in readiness for their newinhabitants. In 2003, the municipalcouncil approved the demolition of the

©Amnesty

International

Eight metal cabins and 14 shacks next to

the sewage treatment plant, still house

75 members of the Romani community in

Miercurea Ciuc, after they were forcibly evicted

from the centre of the city in July 2004.



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building. According to the families, theauthorities assured them the cabinswere a temporary solution and thatproper housing would be made availablein due course.

The eviction of people from Pictor NagyImre Street in June 2004 did not complywith international standards on safeguardsto be followed in all cases of evictions,enshrined in the General Comment 7 ofthe UN Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights. It was a forced eviction,which directly violates Romania’sinternational and regional human rightsobligations to prevent, refrain from andprohibit forced evictions.

In the intervening years between 2001and 2004, the residents of Pictor NagyImre Street were given no opportunity tochallenge the eviction decision. They weregiven no opportunity to engage with thedecision-making process and influencetheir own future. The authorities alsomade no attempt to explore possiblealternatives to the eviction. Even if afterconsultation the eviction was considerednecessary due to the state of the buildingand the need to protect the occupants’safety, the affected community shouldhave been given an opportunity to explorefeasible alternative relocation sites. Theauthorities should have given theminformation on the proposed resettlementplans and consulted with them on suchplans – in a meaningful manner, followingproper consultation methods and protocols,to allow for genuine participation.

Amnesty International spoke to many of theRoma who had lived in the building. Theysaid that they had not wanted to leave andthat they had made it clear to themunicipality representatives they met thatthey were not happy about the proposedtransfer to metal mobile cabins next to thesewage treatment station. Most of thosewho finally accepted the move, did so onthe understanding it was a temporaryrelocation until proper housing was built.

“The house at Pictor Nagy Imre was good.I had one room, a kitchen and a smallstorage room.“Gyongi, January 2009

“When they came to inform us that we hadto move they told us that we were going tobe moved to Primaverii Street. [This] wasthe only option they offered. They said thatif we didn’t want to go to… PrimaveriiStreet, then we would have to remainoutside on the streets… because theywouldn’t provide another house.”Sandor, January 2009

“It was just me and my family: sevenchildren, me and my husband. I didn’t like it,but it was better than staying in the streets.”Erzsébet, January 2009

According to the authorities, the informationabout the proposed relocation of the Romanext to the sewage treatment station hadbeen communicated to them orally notlong after the metal containers had beenbought in 2001. Although the law requireswritten, detailed notification, includingthe date of the eviction, to be given toall the involved evictees sufficiently inadvance, such measures have not beentaken by the authorities.

According to the residents of Pictor NagyImre Street, only 24 hours’ oral notice wasgiven to the community before the evictiontook place in June 2004. However,according to Romanian law, the evicteesshould receive an additional eight daysto comply voluntarily with the notification.At the end of the eight dzys, they can belegally evicted by force. Therefore, the

Miercurea Ciuc authorities did not complywith either the standards of internationalaw, or those of their own country.

“They came and said that we had tomove the next day. Everyone gatheredwhat they had and moved to the barracks.They gave us 24 hours to move. They saidthat if we don’t come out they will comewith the demolition machines and pull [thebuilding] down anyway.”Sandor, January 2009

On the day of the eviction, representativesof the municipal authorities arrived at PictorNagy Imre Street. According to theauthorities, most of the Roma at thebuilding complied with the order andmoved quietly to the location next to thesewage plant, assisted by the authorities.They reported that a few families did notwant to leave the building, but did so whenthe local gendarmerie arrived.

The community’s forced eviction not onlycaused them to move to an unfriendly andinadequate place but it also meant theireviction from the place they called home fornumerous years and broke them away fromtheir wider social networks.

“It was good. We had the possibility to buyon credit from a small store and we wouldpay when we had the money. The owner ofthe small shop gave me bread on credit formy children.”Erzsébet, January 2009

Sandor lives in one of the metal cabins next to

the sewage treatment plant with his partner

and three children.

WHAT IS A FORCED EVICTION

A forced eviction is the removal of peopleagainst their will from the homes or land theyoccupy, when that removal takes placewithout legal protection and othersafeguards. Not every eviction that is carriedout by force constitutes a forced eviction – ifappropriate safeguards are followed, a lawfuleviction that involves the use of force doesnot violate the prohibition on forced evictions.



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Ardó

‘THEY GAVE US 24 HOURS TOMOVE. THEY SAID THAT IF WEDON’T... THEY WILL... PULL ITDOWN ANYWAY.’


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FROM CITY DWELLERS TOSEWAGE PLANT OUTCASTS

Despite the fact that international andregional legal standards require that allpeople must have a minimum degree ofsecurity of tenure, guaranteeing themlegal protection against forced eviction,harassment and other threats, those whohad no legal residence rights in thebuilding in the centre of town were notawarded any more security once they hadbeen evicted.

Temporary contracts for the metal cabinswere only assigned to those families thathad been legally residing in the buildingon Pictor Nagy Imre Street. Others wereprovided no alternative accommodationbut some chose to build shacks withmaterial they collected themselves andlive next to the metal cabins. Without anysecurity of tenure, they are even morevulnerable to being moved on againwith no consultation or redress. Authoritiestold Amnesty International that theirstay there is tolerated despite a ban onconstruction next to the sewage plantbecause the shacks are “informal”.

Even for those with contracts, the relocationof the Romani families to Primaverii Streetnext to the sewage plant was supposed tobe temporary. However, more than fiveyears later, the evicted families continue

to live in extremely precarious conditionsthat do not fulfil the human right toadequate housing: legal security of tenure;availability of services, materials, facilitiesand infrastructure; location and habitability.They continue to be excluded, cast to thefringes of the city they call home.

The living conditions fuel discriminationagainst Roma and further exclude themfrom the rest of the society around them.It is hard enough for the Romani familiesto overcome racial discrimination againstthem in the country, but the situationfor those who live by the sewage plant isexacerbated by the lack of facilities. Themetal cabins are overcrowded and inmany cases the number of people living inone cabin exceeds its six-person capacity,and the sanitation facilities are woefullyinadequate, with only four toilet cubiclesfor the whole community, for example.

“It is tight: when the whole family goes tosleep we don’t fit in. We cannot take a bath;we cannot clean ourselves. It is too small.We don’t want the older girls to take a bathin front of their fathers.”Erzsébet,, January 2009

©Amnesty

International

above: The metal cabins provided by

the municipality for the evicted Roma are

overcrowded and do not protect from rain

or cold.



7©Amnesty

International

‘IT IS TIGHT: WHEN THE WHOLE FAMILYGOES TO SLEEP WE DON’T FIT IN.’

Erszébet lives in a metal cabin next to the sewage treatment plant, with her partner and nine children.

“We need a house, where we can get upand wash ourselves. They don’t let usanywhere, being this dirty; they say westink. We want to be allowed in to places.In the winter we have to wash ourselvesin cold water.”Tibor, May 2009

Members of the community say they havebeen complaining to the authoritiesrepeatedly but that no one listens. TheMayor’s office claims that efforts to relocatethe community to new housing have failedas the city council did not approve a projectto buy land and build new houses, followingcomplaints by the neighbours who did notwant to live next to the Roma.

THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHYENVIRONMENT

“The houses fill up with that smell. At nightalso... the children cover their faces withthe pillows. We don’t want to eat when we[sense] the smell... I used to have anotherchild, a boy, who died when he was four-months old... This is why I am frightened. Idon’t want to lose the rest of my children... Iwould like to move away from here; I don’tneed anything else. ”Ilana, May 2009.

One of the main concerns over the locationof the temporary metal cabins and shacksis how close they are to the sewage plantitself. They are within the 300-metreprotection zone established by national lawto separate human habitation from potentialtoxic hazards. A sign next to the cabinsreads “Toxic Danger”.

By national law, unless a study on thehealth impacts of the sewage plant iscarried out, human habitation must beprohibited within 300 metres. The studycan suggest expanding the protectionzone, reduce it, or deem the area safe.This has not happened. The authoritieshave, therefore, directly placed the Romanicommunity in an area that could behazardous to their health and done nothingto investigate the potential danger. In doingso, they are violating the country’s own law.In fact, in conversations with AmnestyInternational, the authorities claim it is theirgood will that allows Romani families to stayin an otherwise illegal area for habitation.

An unpleasant smell of human excreta –particularly unbearable in the summer –permeates the air around the metal cabinsand shacks. Many Roma living there toldAmnesty International about the direct



8©Zsuzsanna

Ardó

above: Washing, playing and tending to

animals all fight for space next to the sewage

treatment plant.

impact this smell had on their daily livesand their fears that it was hazardous to theirand their families’ health. They talked ofa terrible fear that the smell indicated thepresence of something extremelydangerous to their children.

“I would like to move away from here.People don’t have appetite to eat here,especially small children.”Zita, May 2009.

“The smell, sometimes you can smell it overthe city as well. That is why it says on thatsign ‘Infected area’, but they don’t care aboutit, they say, you are Roma, you die there.”Regina, May 2009

The cabins and shacks are connected tothe electricity grid and there is one tap fordrinking water. Garbage collection servicesare provided free by the municipality. Most

children from the community are bussedfree of charge, to a segregated Roma-onlyschool, where the authorities also providemeals. However, the conditions are stilldeeply inadequate for human habitation asneither the cabins nor the shacks provideenough space or protection from damp,heat, rain and wind. In winter, thetemperature in Miercurea Ciuc can bebelow 15 ºC. Although the municipalityprovides some wood for fire stoves,members of the community say it is notsufficient for an entire winter, so they resortto burning plastic bottles, and anything elsethey find, to generate heat. The metalcontainers suffer from lack of fresh air anddo not offer protection from the cold.

Some of the roofs are inadequate against therain and those that are more solid are still atrisk from flooding. The Roma peopleAmnesty International spoke to said that

during the rainy season, the level of thestream passing behind the metal cabins risesand the water floods the cabins and shacks.

“It is a very bad situation. There is a streamthere and when it rains, the level of thewater rises and it even enters the barracks...the water comes to our knees. Last year...the water in one of the barracks was as highas my three year old daughter.”Sandor, January 2009.

“The river flooded out and came into thesheds. We took the water out from thehouse and we had to dig a gutter around it”Csaba, May 2009.



9©Zsuzsanna

Ardó

above: Romani children play next to the sign

on the fence of the plant which says “Toxic

danger” in Romanian and Hungarian.



10©Zsuzsanna

Ardó

The cabins and shacks are connected to the electricity grid. However, the conditions are still deeply inadequate for human habitation as neither the

cabins nor the shacks provide enough space or protection from damp, heat, rain and wind.



11©Zsuzsanna

Ardó

GETTING ROMA VOICES HEARD

“I would like to live in better conditions,for me, for my family and for the wholecommunity. Every child should get betterconditions to live in. And people shouldunderstand us, [but] they treat us likeanimals, and they always close the doorswhen they see us.”Gabor, May 2009

Forced evictions are illegal and theresidents therefore should have had theright to seek redress. The UN Committee onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rightsemphasizes the obligation of stateauthorities to provide legal remedies, andwhere possible, legal assistance to peoplewho are in need of it to seek redress fromthe courts. To Amnesty International’sknowledge, no one in the evictedcommunity was provided with any statesupport to seek legal remedies against themunicipal authorities’ decision and actions.

On 23 August 2005, the National Councilfor Combating Discrimination, anindependent body set up to monitorthe implementation of the national anti-discrimination legislation, ruled thatmoving the Romani community next to thesewage plant was an act of discrimination,constituting a violation of both the right toprivate life and implicitly of the right to ahealthy environment. The NCCD also ruledthat the municipality of Miercurea Ciucshould be sanctioned with a fine, but fortechnical legal reasons this fine has notbeen applied. By the end of 2008,working with local NGOs, includingRomani CRISS, the community of PictorNagy Imre Street had exhausted allnational possibilities for redress.

So, in December 2008, the NGOs filed acomplaint with the European Court ofHuman Rights, alleging violations ofhuman rights enshrined in the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights.

A year later, the Romani community is stillwaiting for a decision on whether thecomplaint is admissible. Of the original100 evicted from 27 Pictor Nagy ImreStreet, none have been adequately re-housed. Those who took their chancewith the garbage site still wait for their rightsto be realized. Those 75 who took up themunicipality’s “temporary” metal cabins bythe sewage plant, or built their own shacks,still wait. Many other Roma in Romania arealso waiting for their legal rights to beenforced. Something needs to happen now.An example and a precedent must be set.

“We are gypsies and that is why they don’tlisten to us.”Monika, May 2009

above: Ilana lives in one of the shacks next to

the sewage treatment plant with her partner

and two children.

ACT NOWFOR THE ROMANI COMMUNITY INMIERCUREA CIUC:

Write to the Mayor of Miercurea Ciuc

(Hungarian name Csíkszereda) and to

the Vice-Mayor of Miercurea Ciuc, urging

them to:

� Engage in a genuine consultation with

members of the Romani community living

in Primaverii Street – and those who moved

next to the garbage dump – to identify a

relocation site and alternative housing

which comply with the requirements of

international and regional human rights law

and standards.

� Provide alternative and adequate

housing for all Roma living on Primaverii

Street, regardless of the nature of their

tenancy, in a safe and healthy location.

� Devise a plan to facilitate the

integration of the Roma within the broader

community of Miercurea Ciuc.

Ráduly Róbert Kálmán

Mayor of Miercurea Ciuc/ Csíkszereda

Miercurea Ciuc/ Csíkszereda City Hall

Vár tér 1, 530110,

Miercurea Ciuc/ Csíkszereda

Harghita County

Romania

Szöke Domokos

Vice-Mayor of Miercurea Ciuc/ Csíkszereda

Miercurea Ciuc/ Csíkszereda City Hall

Vár tér 1, 530110,

Miercurea Ciuc/ Csíkszereda

Harghita County

Romania

Amnesty International is a global movement of 2.2 million people in morethan 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses ofhuman rights.

Our vision is for everyone to enjoy all the rights enshrined in theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights and other international humanrights standards.

We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interestor religion – funded mainly by our membership and public donations.

January 2010Index: EUR 39/001/2010

Amnesty InternationalInternational SecretariatPeter Benenson House1 Easton StreetLondon WC1X 0DWUnited Kingdom

www.amnesty.org

WWW.DEMANDDIGNITY.AMNESTY.ORG

HOUSING IS AHUMAN RIGHT

©Zsuzsanna

Ardó

Above: Romani girls with their drawings on “where would I like to live” following a workshop by

Amnesty International in Miercurea Ciuc, Romania, May 2009.


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RECOMMENDATIONSTO THE ROMANIAN AUTHORITIES

Amnesty International calls on the

Government of Romania, in particular the

Minister of Housing to:

� Ensure that all those who were forcibly

evicted have access to effective remedies

and the right to reparations, including

restitution, rehabilitation, compensation,

satisfaction and guarantee of non-repetition;

� Ensure that evictions are only carried out

as a last resort after all other feasible

alternatives to eviction have been explored

and only when procedural protections

required under international human rights

law are in place;

� Put an end to all forced evictions;

� Revise the laws, policies and practices

related to evictions to ensure that evictions

that are carried out in conformity with

procedural protections set out in international

and regional law, and are not carried out in a

discriminatory manner and that no individual

or group, whether Roma or not Roma, suffers

disproportionately from them;

� Reformulate and implement the housing

legislation through the incorporation of

international human rights standards into

national laws, in particular General Comments

4 and 7 of the UN Committee on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights and the General

Recommendation 27 on discrimination against

Roma adopted by the UN Committee on the

Elimination of Racial Discrimination, with

particular attention to paragraphs 30 and 31

on housing.

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