- Update info:
- 1 Sep 2015 (Suspended)
- Latest info:
- 1 Sep 2015 (Updated)
- 28 Jul 2015
- Country:
- REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, INCLUDING KOSOVO
- Subject:
- fifty-three Roma families
Gender m/f: both
- Period:
- 1 Oct 2015
- Distribution date:
- 28 Jul 2015
- UA No:
- 161/2015
Fifty-three Roma families are facing imminent forced eviction in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. They arrived in the settlement, in the Zemun municipality, between 1999 and 2000, having been internally displaced from Kosovo. Between 7 and 10 July they were served with orders to demolish their homes. They have not been offered any alternative housing and are at risk of homelessness.
The Ratko Mitrović settlement, also known as Grmeč, is an informal settlement in Zemun municipality, in the north-west of Belgrade. The settlement is situated between two railway lines on a narrow strip of land owned by the Serbian railway company. On 26 June, the Zemun municipal construction inspectors issued written demolition orders on the grounds that the homes had been built without construction permits. The written orders, served to the Roma families between 7 and 10 July, ordered them to demolish their homes within one day of receiving the order. Prior to this there had been no consultation at all with the community or notice that the orders were to be issued.
No demolitions have been carried out so far by the residents but the families have been told that if they do not, then the authorities will. It is unclear when the authorities will proceed. To date people living in Grmeč have not been offered any alternative accommodation, and will be made homeless if the demolition orders are enforced.
International human rights law and standards, to which Serbia is bound, require the authorities to immediately suspend the demolition orders. Before any further action is taken, the affected families should be genuinely consulted on possible alternatives and offered effective legal and procedural safeguards against the demolition of their homes and forced eviction, including adequate notice of eviction and the provision of adequate alternative accommodation for those who require it.
Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Mayor of Belgrade, who oversees the work of the municipalities within the city, to ensure that no one is forcibly evicted. Forced evictions are illegal under international law.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Roma families have lived in the settlement since around 1999 to 2000, when they fled Kosovo after the end of the 1999 internal armed conflict between Serbs and Albanians. Following the end of the armed conflict, Roma in Kosovo were subjected to systematic and widespread abuses by Kosovo Albanians, including abduction, murder, rape and the destruction of property, on the basis that they had mainly lived in Serbian communities, and mostly spoke Serbian (see https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/EUR70/004/2012/en/).
Few of the thousands of Roma who fled Kosovo have found a durable solution. As internally displaced persons, they are extremely vulnerable, facing multiple forms of discrimination which restrict their ability to equal enjoyment of a range of fundamental rights, including the right to adequate housing. According to UNHCR, three quarters of the Roma IDP population in Serbia are “in need” today, with poverty and high unemployment levels affecting the community.
Forced evictions, illegal under international law, are evictions carried out without adequate notice and genuine consultation with those affected, without appropriate legal safeguards and without assurances of adequate alternative accommodation. Under international law binding on Serbia, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which guarantees the right to adequate housing, the authorities are prohibited from carrying out forced evictions, and must protect people from forced evictions.
Serbia is obliged to ensure that the affected families are provided with adequate alternative accommodation, and are not rendered homeless. Under international human rights law and standards, evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all other feasible alternatives have been explored in genuine consultation with the people affected. Evictions cannot be carried out until appropriate procedural and legal safeguards are in place. International standards make it clear that even in cases where the eviction is considered justified, it must be carried out in strict compliance with international human rights law.
Governments must also ensure that no one is made homeless or vulnerable to other human rights violations as a consequence of an eviction. Victims of violations must be provided with effective remedies including compensation for all losses and provision adequate alternative housing to those who cannot provide for themselves. These obligations extend to all tiers of government including city authorities.
The UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacement aim to provide a practical tool to assist states in developing policies, legislation, procedures and preventive measures to ensure that forced evictions do not take place, elaborate standards on how evictions should be carried out and provide effective remedies to those whose human rights have been violated, should prevention fail.
The Minister for Construction is also the Deputy Prime Minister in the current government, tasked with coordinating activities for the advancement of the situation of Roma in the country.
UA: 161/2015 Index: EUR 70/2132/2015 Issue Date: 21 July 2015
- Update info:
- 1 Sep 2015 (Suspended)
- Latest info:
- 1 Sep 2015 (Updated)
- 28 Jul 2015
- Country:
- REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, INCLUDING KOSOVO
- Subject:
- 53 Roma families
Gender : both
- Period:
- 1 Oct 2015
- Distribution date:
- 1 Sep 2015
- UA No:
- 161/2015
The demolition of the homes of 53 Roma families living in the Grmeč settlement, in Zemun municipality, Belgrade seems to have been suspended for now. However, the families remain in a situation of uncertainty and continue to be at risk of being made homeless as the demolition orders they were served with have not been withdrawn.
The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, who is responsible for the advancement of the situation of Roma in the country, published an open letter on 28 July informing all municipalities of the international standards that oblige Serbia to protect people from forced evictions. The letter also noted that these obligations extend to local authorities, whose duty is to carry out evictions in line with the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacement. The Deputy Prime Minister also set up a working group to draft regulations for evictions from informal settlements.
Information available from local sources suggests that the government has asked local authorities to refrain from carrying out any forced evictions and to suspend the enforcement of any demolition orders. This has not been communicated to the affected families and Amnesty International has not received a response from the Deputy Prime Minister’s office confirming this.
The 53 Roma families living in the Grmeč settlement have not been offered adequate alternative housing or other alternatives to the eviction by the municipality. The demolition orders, served between 7-10 July had a one day deadline to comply; these were issued by the construction inspectorate have not been withdrawn. The families continue to be at risk of forced eviction and will be made homeless if the demolition orders are enforced.
On 20 July, the Serbian NGO Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of 130 individuals living in the settlement, including 68 children in order to halt the enforcement of the demolition orders. The Court subsequently started the procedure to issue an interim measure to stop the forced eviction of the 53 families and asked the government to submit information related to the case. The Court’s decision is still pending.
more
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Roma families have lived in the settlement since around 1999 to 2000, when they fled Kosovo after the end of the 1999 internal armed conflict between Serbs and Albanians. Following the end of the armed conflict, Roma in Kosovo were subjected to systematic and widespread abuses by Kosovo Albanians, including abduction, murder, rape and the destruction of property, on the basis that they had mainly lived in Serbian communities, and mostly spoke Serbian (see https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/EUR70/004/2012/en/).
Few of the thousands of Roma who fled Kosovo have found a durable solution. As internally displaced persons, they are extremely vulnerable, facing multiple forms of discrimination which restrict their ability to equal enjoyment of a range of fundamental rights, including the right to adequate housing. According to UNHCR, three quarters of the Roma IDP population in Serbia are “in need” today, with poverty and high unemployment levels affecting the community.
Forced evictions, illegal under international law, are evictions carried out without adequate notice and genuine consultation with those affected, without appropriate legal safeguards and without assurances of adequate alternative accommodation. Under international law binding on Serbia, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which guarantees the right to adequate housing, the authorities are prohibited from carrying out forced evictions, and must protect people from forced evictions.
Serbia is obliged to ensure that the affected families are provided with adequate alternative accommodation, and are not rendered homeless. Under international human rights law and standards, evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all other feasible alternatives have been explored in genuine consultation with the people affected. Evictions cannot be carried out until appropriate procedural and legal safeguards are in place. International standards make it clear that even in cases where the eviction is considered justified, it must be carried out in strict compliance with international human rights law.
Governments must also ensure that no one is made homeless or vulnerable to other human rights violations as a consequence of an eviction. Victims of violations must be provided with effective remedies including compensation for all losses and provision adequate alternative housing to those who cannot provide for themselves. These obligations extend to all tiers of government including city authorities.
The UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacement aim to provide a practical tool to assist states in developing policies, legislation, procedures and preventive measures to ensure that forced evictions do not take place, elaborate standards on how evictions should be carried out and provide effective remedies to those whose human rights have been violated, should prevention fail.
The Minister for Construction is also the Deputy Prime Minister in the current government, tasked with coordinating activities for the advancement of the situation of Roma in the country.
Further information on UA: 161/15 Index: EUR 70/2270/2015 Issue Date: 14 August 2015
- Update info:
- 1 Sep 2015 (Suspended)
- Latest info:
- 1 Sep 2015 (Updated)
- 28 Jul 2015
- Country:
- REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, INCLUDING KOSOVO
- Subject:
- Period:
- 1 Oct 2015
- Distribution date:
- 1 Sep 2015
- UA No:
- 161/2015
The demolition of the homes of 53 Roma families living in the Grmeč informal settlement in Zemun municipality has been suspended on the order of the Serbian government. All families living in the settlement have been promised alternative accommodation before any eviction should take place.
The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, who is responsible for the advancement of the situation of Roma in the country, informed Amnesty International on 14 August that the government had ordered the Zemun municipality not to evict the Roma families from the Grmeč settlement and not to execute the demolition orders issued in July.
On 19 August, the Serbian NGO Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights, which had submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on behalf of 130 individuals living in the settlement, confirmed that the Court had received sufficient guarantees from the Serbian government that it will not proceed with the eviction until alternative accommodation has been provided to the families.
Further, the ECtHR was informed that the demolition orders had been quashed on appeal. For those who had not submitted a domestic appeal, the Zemun municipality ordered the postponement of the execution of the demolition orders until alternative adequate accommodation was secured. As a result, all families in the Grmeč settlement are now protected from forced eviction.
The Minister confirmed to Amnesty International that a working group was being set up to draft and introduce legislation ensuring that future evictions are carried out in line with international human rights standards.
Thank you to all those who sent appeals. No further action is required from the UA network.