Romania's Regional Development Minister expresses desire to tackle Roma housing problems

“Unacceptable” is how Romania's new Minister of Regional Development Liviu Dragnea described the conditions in which Roma people are living in the Pata Rat area on the outskirts of Cluj. His comments came during a meeting with representatives from Amnesty International (AI), The European Centre for Roma Rights (ERRC) and Fundatia Desire earlier this week. Dragnea said the talks with the NGOs sent a clear signal that there is the will within the Ministry to tackle what can only be described as a catastrophic failure to address housing issues facing Romania's Roma communities.

There are plenty examples of forced evictions, relocation to areas deemed unsafe and hazardous to health and a widespread lack of access to the most basic amenities, like running water, among Roma communities across Romania. The Ministry is “committed” to creating partnerships with local authorities to address the issues and is open to working with NGOs, which the ERRC described as a “positive step.” According to the ERRC the conditions in which Romani people are living in the country, “amount to breaches of Romania's domestic legislation, EU legislation and policies.” Beyond this, the ERRC says Romania is breaching international human rights agreements on access to adequate housing. During the meeting, the NGOs presented a briefing on housing for Roma in Romania. It has been more than two years since around 300 people were forced out of their homes in Coastei Street, Cluj, and sent to the Pata Rat location outside the city close to a landfill site and chemical waste dump. Most of those evicted were of Roma ethnicity and single room accommodation with shared facilities was provided by the municipality for only some of those whom police forced out of their homes in the middle of winter in 2010. Human rights groups have joined the residents of Pata Rat in protests since the evictions, repeatedly calling on the authorities to address the issue. Read the report: Romania: Briefing to the Romanian Government on the right to adequate housing with regard to the marginalized Romani communities Read more from Romania Insider on the Pata Rat issue: Protestors in Cluj call on the authorities to provide homes for forcibly evicted Roma families Visit the European Roma Rights Centre website. Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com photo source: errc.org