The European Roma Rights Centre calls on Paris public authorities to halt unlawful evictions immediately
05 February 2016
Paris, Budapest, 5 February 2016: Major media outlets have reported that 350-400 Roma were forcibly evicted from the informal camp around a disused railway line in northern Paris. The police began the evictions in the early morning on Wednesday and only a limited number of people have been offered an emergency shelter. The majority of the evicted have not been offered any accommodation; many children and people suffering from illnesses have been left without shelter in mid-winter. The inhabitants were evicted regardless of their protest earlier this week.
Evictions should be accompanied by rehousing and social support for the affected people, as set out in French government guidance published in 2012. Earlier, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, as well as the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights have all been clear and forthright in their condemnation of France’s behaviour towards Roma.
Earlier this year the European Roma Rights Centre together with the Ligue des droits de l’Homme repeated their recommendations1 to suspend systematic expulsions, to secure and to provide sanitation of slums, and to implement solutions for the integration of families. The monitoring of these policies should be organised within a framework of permanent dialogue between local, regional and national authorities, public actors and local associations active on the ground.
Reports about the evictions:
- http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35482175
- http://www.bfmtv.com/societe/paris-evacuation-d-un-important-camp-de-roms-948496.html
For more information contact:
Radost Zaharieva (France)
radost.zaharieva@errc.org
+33 760 112 249
Szelim Simándi (Hungary)
simandi.szelim@xkk.hu
+36703979545
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