Discrimination against Swedish Roma at Campsites

01 February 2006

The Local, an English language newspaper service, reported on August 1, 2005 that an investigation conducted by Ekot, a Swedish radio program, found that Roma possessing Swedish citizenship are often denied entrance to the country's campsites. The investigation tested the campsites both by asking campsite managers whether or not they allowed Roma and by calling ahead to confirm that there were available places and ten minutes later sending Roma families to request a site. The study found that 10 of the country's 20 campsites did not admit Romani guests. A law passed in Sweden in 2003 stipulates, "nobody shall be treated differently or unequally [on the ground of ethnic origin] when it comes to buying goods, services or housing".

One owner was quoted by The Local as having stated that campsite managers confer about the Roma issue and that they warn each other through email when Roma might be in the area. Sweden's Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination (DO) is currently investigating five discrimination cases reported by Swedish Roma concerning campsites.

One campsite manager was quoted by The Local as stating "We don't accept them." While another stated that he does not "completely ban them…But we're not glad that they come – we try to avoid letting them in."

(The Local)