October 11, 2016 TEXT
The European Court of Human Rights issued a decision on the 11th of October 2016, on a case concerning the eviction of six Roma families living in Russia: in 2006 the Russian authorities demolished approximately 43 family homes of the Roma community.
The Court found that there was enough evidence to conclude that the demolished properties qualified as ‘homes’ for the applicants and hence there had been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention, because the applicants did not benefit from examination of the proportionality of the interference, as part of legal proceedings concerning the demolition of their homes.
However, both the MRG (Minority Rights Group International) and the ERRC (European Roma Rights Center) who intervened in support of the applicants, expressed concern that the Court failed to find the actions of the Russian authorities discriminatory, or in violation of the Roma community’s right to property.
It’s worth noting that, while highlighting the experience of the Roma community in Russia, the forced eviction phenomena of Roma people, is a Europe-wide problem. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness on this issue, which reflects extreme tendencies of social exclusion of Romani in countries across Europe.
Reed more: the European Court of Human Rights judgment and the ERRC press release.
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