Bulgarian Authorities Urged to Stop Planned Forced Eviction of Roma
02 July 2008
ERRC Advocates Sustainable and Adequate Housing Solutions for Bulgarian Roma
Budapest: Today, the ERRC urged Bulgarian authorities to undertake urgent action to stop the forced eviction of approximately 180 Roma from the Batalova Vodenitsa neighbourhood in the Vazrazhdane district of Sofia, planned for 11 July 2008. In its letter, addressed to Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov and Sofia's Mayor Boyko Borisov, the ERRC recalled that the Bulgarian state has a positive obligation to ensure that evictions, when carried out, satisfy respect for the dignity of the persons concerned, even when they are illegal occupants, and that alternative accommodation or other compensatory measures are available in order to ensure that the persons evicted are not made homeless.
The ERRC called on President Parvanov and Mayor Borisov to ensure the indefinite postponement of the forced eviction of Roma from Sofia's Batalova Vodenitsa neighbourhood until such time as a sustainable and adequate housing solution is available for the individuals concerned.
The full text of the letter is available on the ERRC website at: View it (Acrobat pdf format)!
For further information, please contact: Savelina Danova, Acting Executive Director, savelina.danova@errc.org
Persons wishing to express similar concerns are urged to contact:
Mr Georgi Parvanov
President of Republic Bulgaria
Sofia, 2 Dondukov Blvd.
Fax: +359-2-980 44 84
Mr Boyko Borisov, Mayor of Sofia
Moskovska str., No.33
1000 – Sofia, Bulgaria
Fax: +359-2-98-10-653
Ms Polonca Koncar
President of the European Committee of Social Rights
Secretariat of the European Social Charter, Directorate of Human Rights
Council of Europe, F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex, FRANCE
Fax: +33 3 88413700
Mr Thomas Hammarberg
Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner
Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights
Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex, FRANCE
Fax: +33 3 90215053
Ms Raquel Rolnik
UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 9179006
