Rights Groups: Serbia Must Halt Eviction of Romani Families

04 November 2011

Budapest, Belgrade, 4 November 2011: The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and partners sent a letter to Serbian authorities today to express grave concerns over plans to forcibly evict 111 Romani individuals in Belgrade, including Internally Displaced Persons from Kosovo.

The Municipality of Novi Beograd recently took the first steps towards evicting Romani families, through conducting inspections and issuing building code violation notices to residents. 

The threatened eviction will affect 27 Romani families from the informal Romani settlement in Block 61 in Novi Beograd. The Serbian authorities have a special responsibility to ensure adequate housing for these families under international law, as most are Internally Displaced Persons from Kosovo, including 58 children.

ERRC and partners are concerned that the municipal authorities have not consulted with the families, and are not planning to provide adequate alternative housing.

The organisations urge the Serbian authorities to respect, protect and fulfil the right to adequate housing. They call on the municipality to suspend the planned evictions and find sustainable housing solutions for these Romani families.

The letter was signed by Praxis, European Roma Rights Centre, Minority Rights Center, Regional Centre for Minorities, Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Women in Black, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and the Coalition Against Discrimination.

For more information contact:
Sinan Gökçen
ERRC Media and Communications Officer
sinan.gokcen@errc.org
+36.30.500.1324