Made homeless, Roma families attract rare limelight

TIRANA, Aug. 14 – About 40 Roma families, who were kicked out of a Tirana squatter settlement by a construction company that owned the side, have organized a sit-in protest in front of Tirana City Hall, demanding the state provide them with housing and compensation.
The treatment of the Roma families has come under international scrutiny, with EU representatives saying Albania could be denied EU candidate status if their needs are not addressed.
Roma community organizations have come to the aid of protesters, saying they are also trying to avoid other squatter settlements from being destroyed.
Representatives of Roma civil society say the destruction last of week of the camp in the 21 Dhjetori neighborhood of Tirana is one of many such violent evictions and part of a trend aimed to kicks the Romani people out of Tirana and other major cities.
A year ago, several hundred Roma families were forcibly removed from their homes and their shacks set on fire in an area near the train station.
“We have been living in Tirana for the past 600 years, and we want problems for Roma families to end,” Xheladin Taco, a representative of the Roma community told reporters during the protest.
Brisilda Taco, another Roma activist, told the media authorities were not doing enough to provide housing alternatives for the displaced Roma.
“Urgent measures should be taken to assist these Roma families, which have been living on the street for the past few days,” she said.
Western diplomats have held a series of calls asking that the needs of the vulnerable community be addressed.
UN, EU, U.S. and OSCE representative have all asked that the human rights of the Roma be respected and called on Albanian authorities to provide shelter and care for homeless Roma after their removal from the area where they had squatted for several years.
EU Ambassador to Tirana Ettore Sequi said the situation of the Roma community will be noted in the progress report of the European Commission on October, urging Albanian authorities to be careful as this is one of the 12 priorities Albania must fulfill to receive EU candidate status.
Since 2008, the European Union has given 3 million euros to help Albania’s Roma community, he added, and is committed to “the social including and the respecting of the human rights of the Roma and Egyptian communities.”
Authorities say they are acting to solve the situation.
The Ministry of Labor, Social Issues and Equal Opportunities said in a statement that it had been cooperating with the Roma representative associations to deal with the matter and set asside 80,000 dollars to accommodate the Roma in two centers in Tirana’s outskirts neighborhoods of Shkoza and Sharra.
“We are ready to resolve this problem and support the National Rehabilitation Center,” the ministry said. “A budget of the ministry has been given with the respective agreements for the reconstruction of the seven buildings.”
Romas face discrimination across Europe, and Albania’s treatment of the community, which has been part of the country’s life for centuries, is similar to those of other Balkan nations. Roughly 150,000 Roma are thought to live in Albania, but the full numbers are unclear because authorities say the Roma often don’t register their kids with authorities, so they are excluded from food aid and social assistance provided to the country’s poorest families. They also often do not have a permanent address or jobs, and their children are often not enrolled in school to get an education.
In the case the flared up the protests, about 40 Roma families were kicked out of their shack by a development company that owns the lot and is constructing a building in the area.
The first to express concern internationally was human rights watchdog Amnesty International over the legal procedures followed for the eviction without providing alternative housing. Amnesty International says the landowner has not respected procedures set out in law, and the authorities have not taken measures to provide the Roma with any alternative housing. The Roma families, some of whom have lived for 10 years on the site of the former Center for the Realization of Works of Art in Tirana’s Kavaja street had been told their homes would be demolished on Aug. 7 by Park Construction Albania development company.
Acting OSCE Ambassador to Albania Robert Wilton and Albanian Ombudsman Igli Totozani also spoke about the need to help the community immediately after their eviction.
The Albanian Human Right Group also issued a statement about the eviction, calling on authorities and the media to deal with the matter properly.
“The media should not treat this issue lightly, as it always does, because it is a very important matter,” the group said in a statement.