Romani Families Get Gross Violations

What is affected

	Housing Social/public
	Land Social/public
	InfrastructureWater
	InfrastructureWater
	Energy
	Access to education, healthcare, and all basic amenities

Type of violation

Forced eviction
Dispossession/confiscation

Date

11 October 2006

Region

E [ Europe ]

Country

Romania

Location

Tulcea

Affected persons

	Total 110
	Men 0
	Women 0
	Children 0
	Roma

Proposed solution

Details

Action to Stop Forced Evictions in Romania.doc

Development

Forced eviction

Costs

Water

Duty holder(s) /responsible party(ies)

	State
	Local
	Tulcea Municipality

Brief narrative

Just before noon on 11 October,25 families, comprising approximately 110 individuals, were evicted from a building situated in Tulcea at 5 Alunisului Street, a building they had occupied for the previous seven years. The eviction took place after the Tulcea Tribunal handed down a judgment in August this year allowing the request of the building’s present owner to have the occupants evicted. \r\n\r\nEighteen of the families (approximately 80 people) evicted from Alunisului Street had no alternative but to accept the lease contracts offered by the Municipality for rooms in two derelict buildings situated four kilometers away from the town, in an enclave inside the Tulcea industrial port. These highly inadequate structures were the sole arrangements made for alternate shelter. A number of heavy industries are located in that area. Notably, right next to the buildings occupied by the Roma, ships carrying bauxite ore are unloaded and the ore is transported to a nearby storage facility with heavy open trucks. As a result everything in the area is covered with red dust that makes breathing difficult. Three people were already taken by ambulances to the hospital, complaining of skin problems, lung pain, and other ailments. Besides the imminent danger to health for any people forced to live there, the new location is far from all communal facilities such as schools, hospitals, churches, shops, etc. After their relocation, the children in the ‘colony’ stopped going to school because of the distance and because their parents feared for their safety. The two buildings are in an advanced state of disrepair, with no access to electricity, hot water, sanitation and only limited access to drinking water, from a tap located outside. \r\n\r\nThe rest of the people evicted from Alunisului Street, for whom there was not enough room in the buildings in the industrial port or who refused to move there, were left sleeping rough in the streets outside the building on Alunisului Street. Seven families, comprising approximately thirty people, including infants and old people have had to sleep outside for the last two weeks in temperatures that went as low as 0°C during nighttime. As a result of efforts by local activists and a representative of the ERRC, a tent was provided by the Red Cross for these people, as a temporary solution. \r\nSource: European Roma Rights Centre\r\nSee attached document for further detail.\r\n

Costs

€ 0

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