Tuesday

26th Sep 2023

Opinion

EU Commission must deliver justice for Italy's Roma

  • Roma camp in Germagnano, Italy. Italian authorities forcibly bulldozed houses in recent months. (Photo: Amnesty International)

Fast-talking, energetic and keen to learn, Clelia, whose name was changed to protect her identity, has much in common with hundreds of thousands of other 15-year-old girls in Italy.

However, one staggering difference sets her apart: Clelia is currently too scared to go to school because she fears her home might be bulldozed by the time she returns.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

A resident of Germagnano, an informal settlement inhabited by Romani people in Turin, Italy, Clelia has witnessed the Italian authorities forcibly bulldoze the houses of many of her neighbours in recent months.

She has seen homes destroyed with heavy machinery while their inhabitants were out – in one case a nine-year-old boy was almost crushed inside his crumbling home. He was only saved when his mother screamed at the bulldozer operator to stop.

Clelia’s mother has a speech impediment and also doesn’t speak Italian well, so Clelia fears she would find it difficult to confront the authorities and protect their home if any eviction was attempted.

Discrimination against Roma is not new – they are the most disadvantaged minority in Europe.

Most disadvantaged

In the past three years, the European Commission has begun legal proceedings against the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary for their systematic segregation of and discrimination against Romani children in the education system.

Yet, in Italy, where Roma suffer equally shocking discrimination and segregation at the hands of the authorities, this time in relation to housing rights, the EU commission is yet to take any similar decisive action, despite having received comprehensive evidence from Amnesty International and other organisations.

During a recent visit to settlements inhabited by Romani people in Milan and Turin, I went from caravan to container, from segregated camp to emergency shelter, speaking with dozens of residents.

The stories were always the same. People settle in a place, spending time and scarce money building and making homes, only to be forcibly evicted and, in some cases, see their homes and belongings destroyed.

The cycle seems to repeat itself again, and again. Even people who had built their homes over 15 years ago, in camps purposefully created by authorities just for Roma, told us that the threat of forced eviction is ever present.

These forced evictions – carried out without adequate prior consultation, notice, compensation or any offer of adequate alternative accommodation – are illegal under international law. And so are discrimination and segregation, which are also prohibited by EU law. And yet Italy has gone unchallenged.

Some 250 forced evictions were carried out against Roma by Italian authorities in 2016 alone. The problem is systemic and ongoing and segregated camps continue to be built by authorities as the only housing option for Roma.

The local authorities in Turin claim that only abandoned homes were demolished. However, people told me that the reality is very different.

One 17-year-old boy told me that officials knocked on his door one morning, ordering him to quickly gather his belongings before bulldozing his home to the ground. At least seven families have been left homeless in recent months.

With none of the safeguards required by international law in place, evictees are left with few options. They can stay in cramped facilities with friends and relatives, move into improvised alternatives including tents, or simply leave and return to Romania.

Many of the Roma camps and settlements that evictees are pushed into in Italy are wholly inadequate, with minimal or in many cases, no access to water, sanitation or electricity.

One such camp in Milan, Via Bonfadini, gets completely cut off by floodwater when it rains heavily, leaving residents trapped and without access to health services and schools.

Germagnano, where Clelia lives, is next to a rubbish tip. However, for the people living there, having some sort of roof over their heads is preferable to being rendered homeless.

Container home

We met Carlotta in an emergency housing centre made up of a number of containers in Milan, each of them housing approximately five families.

Family spaces were separated by head height "walls", leaving them little privacy. She told us about being forcibly evicted from previous homes, being placed in Roma-only camps, and waiting for years, in vain, on the waiting list for social housing.

The EU commission has had overwhelming evidence to show that Italy has been discriminating against, forcibly evicting and segregating the Roma for years, yet the EU continues to remain silent on the issue.

In September 2012, the commission opened "pilot" proceedings against Italy for its treatment of Roma under the Race Equality Directive, yet nothing happened.

Evidence of ongoing human rights abuses continues to pile up, yet there is still no infringement in sight, nearly five years on.

In April this year, the Financial Times newspaper revealed that the EU commission had repeatedly blocked action against the country "to avoid a damaging public row."

Meanwhile, Clelia is too scared to go to school, and hundreds of children like her have been made homeless and forced into ever worsening and insecure housing.

As long as the EU commission refuses to challenge these human rights violations, they will not end. The commission appears complicit.

Like an ugly scar, discrimination against the Roma runs deep and wide in Europe, and it’s to the shame of all of us that the very institutions designed to uphold principles of equality and fairness look the other way while EU member states erode them.

Catrinel Motoc is a Regional Campaigner for Amnesty International.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.

EU failing on Roma rights

EU led efforts to integrate Roma communities in Europe are failing with poverty and social exclusion pervasive throughout the minority group, according to an EU-rights agency.

Respecting human rights is good business

Trade policy creates economic welfare, but it could also be an unmissable opportunity to protect the environment, human rights and ensure sustainable development across Europe and beyond.

EU's Roma policy struggles to produce results

Vera Jourova, the EU commissioner for justice, is seeking more "practical" solutions to address the issue of Roma integration as she begins to rework the policy and rethink its spending.

Roma statelessness in Europe is not an accident

Roma people deserve a stronger voice in EU politics, often denied the very basics of human rights in Europe. A social media campaign under the hashtag #RomaBelong and a cross-party parliament group is demanding steps to end statelessness.

Latest News

  1. EU trade chief in Beijing warns China of only 'two paths' forward
  2. Why should taxpayers pay for private fishing fleets in third countries?
  3. Women at risk from shoddy EU laws on domestic workers
  4. EU poised to agree on weakened emission rules
  5. China trade tension and migration deal This WEEK
  6. Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities
  7. Why Greek state workers are protesting new labour law
  8. Gloves off, as Polish ruling party fights for power

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us