ERRC Urges Serbia to Ensure Secure, Adequate Housing for Evicted Roma

16 June 2011

Budapest, 16 June 2011: The ERRC sent a letter to Serbian authorities today related to the 7 June 2011 forced eviction and relocation of 12 Romani families from the settlement under Belgrade’s Pančevo Bridge and the subsequent attack of a Romani woman at the new settlement.

The ERRC expressed its concern that the eviction was carried out without respect for international protections: the affected families were not given any prior notice, did not receive an official eviction notice and were taken to a different municipality to live in empty containers which do not meet minimum standards of adequate housing. The displaced families are without furniture and have no connection to electric, water or sewage systems. Furthermore, during the night of 11-12 June, one of the Romani women forcibly relocated was attacked by an unknown man who entered her container, demonstrating that the residents are not secure in the new location.

For further information, contact:

Sinan Gökçen
Media and Communications Officer
sinan.gokcen@errc.org
+36.30.500.1324