Roma sent away from campsite in Norway

05 September 1999

An anonymous source on the RomNet on-line mailing list on Romani issues reported that on July 19, 1999, Mr P.S., the owner of the Lillehammer Motel and Camping in central Norway asked five Romani families to leave the site. The owner reportedly told the Roma they had to leave because he did not like their ethnicity, and when the Roma protested he threatened them and at one point grabbed one of the Romani men by his sweater. One of the families reportedly left immediately, while some of the remaining Roma contacted the press and local police. When the police called the owner, he confirmed that the Roma had to leave because they were "Tatere", a derogatory term for Roma. In an interview with the press, the owner added that he had asked the Roma to leave because they had "made noise". Norwegian and German tourists staying in the camp reportedly said that it was not true that the Roma had been noisy. A Romani activist from Norway told the ERRC that he had been sent away from two other camping sites this summer because he was Romani. The five Romani families in the Lillehammer case have contacted a lawyer, but as of August 26, no legal action had been taken. In other news from Norway, the Associated Press reported on August 27 that Norway's Supreme Court had declared the same day that it was legal to use such discriminatory statements as "foreigners unwanted" and "whites only" in real estate listings.

(Associated Press, ERRC, Norwegian Hospitality Association)