Stereotype n° 15: Housing

Many people seem to believe that Roma prefer to live in unhygienic housing conditions. While there are surely many Roma who live without running water, indoor toilets, electricity, and heating it would be hard to find a single Roma who would not like to exchange these conditions for a nice house or apartment. Many Roma live close to trash dumps, or in isolated settlements without utilities because these are the only places where they are allowed to stay.

Unlawful forced and collective evictions of Roma are a weekly phenomenon in Europe (often not reported by Media), clearly infringing the obligations undertaken by European countries through the signature of international treaties.

Improving the infrastructure of Roma settlements is one of the top goals of today’s Council of Europe policies. Unfortunately many governments are reluctant or slow to invest into better housing for Roma. (  See for example Council of Europe recommendation on improving the Housing conditions of Roma where it is stated: “Member states should establish a legal framework that conforms with international human rights standards, to ensure effective protection against unlawful forced and collective evictions and to control strictly the circumstances in which legal evictions may be carried out. In the case of lawful evictions, Roma must be provided with appropriate alternative accommodation, if needed, except in cases of force majeure”; more information: http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/documentation/recommendations/rechousing20054_en.asp)