Widespread residential segregation and forced evictions

05 May 2011

An October 2009 report of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, prepared by the ERRC, found that “segregation is still evident in many EU Member States, such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, France, Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia, sometimes as a result of deliberate government policy.” In Italy, the placement of Roma and Sinti in “nomad camps” constitutes an official policy to segregate Roma and Sinti from the Italian majority. Since 2008, evictions of Roma in violation of international law have continued in Albania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. Italy has been particularly active: in Milan alone since 2010, authorities report having conducted over 100 evictions affecting more than 3,600 people (a portion of this group are repeatedly evicted persons).