Romani family reportedly expelled in the Netherlands

07 November 2001

On October 15, 2001, the Amsterdam-based Metro Nieuws reported the repeated eviction of the Romani Petalo family from various cities in the Netherlands. The Petalo family had been long-time residents of Amstelveen, just outside of Amsterdam, living in caravans. When the head of the family, Mr Koko Petalo, died in 1996, the rest of the family went abroad for some time. When they returned to the place they had previously lived in Amstelveen, the twenty remaining family members were reportedly summarily evicted. Since then, they have allegedly been forced to move from municipality to municipality. Municipalities have reportedly cited the shortage of standing places for caravans as a motive for the expulsions, and recognise the need to create more standing places, but due to pressure from the non-Romani population, no results in this regard have been achieved. Despite the fact that the members of the Petalo family have Dutch passports, they are expelled from each municipality they enter due to their Romani heritage.

(Metro Nieuws)