Romanian Mayor Announces Intention to Evict Romani Families

16 December 2004

According to the Romanian daily newspaper Monitorul de Piatra Neam of September 8, 2004, the office of the newly elected mayor of the northeastern town of Piatra Neam announced its intention to evict Romani families living in the Gara Veche and Darmanesi neighbourhoods to an area called Valeni, near a garbage pit and a shooting range. According to research undertaken by the ERRC and the Romanian Romani organisation Romani CRISS on September 11 and 12, some of the families from the Darmanesi neighbourhood are to be transferred to social housing, formerly a chicken farm owned by Avicola Company. In addition, local authorities had informed twelve Romani families currently living in the housing at the former site of Avicola Company tht they would be evicted due to unpaid rent and electricity.

On September 11, 2004, the Romanian national television station RTV quoted Deputy-Mayor Vasile Ouatu on its website as having stated that local authorities had discussed where to move the Romani families at length "so that the surrounding population would be less affected". According to Mr Ouatu, twenty-eight converted railway wagons are to be placed next to the Avicola Company warehouse for the families, "guarded by community police".

The announcements are reminiscent of actions of Mr Ion Rotaru in 2001, then-mayor of Piatra Neam, who attempted to build a Romani ghetto on the same site. On October 1, 2004, Romani CRISS filed a complaint against the Mayor's Office for its stated intention to evict the Roma from the town and restrict their freedom of movement with the National Council for Combating Discrimination. As of October 22, 2004, there had been no response to the complaint, nor had the eviction taken place.

(ERRC, Romani CRISS)