Bulgaria: European Court of Human Rights says Gov't must stop house demolition in Garmen

The Equal Opportunities Inititative Association (EOIA) in Bulgaria reports that on 10 July the European Court of Human Rights issued "urgent interim measures" over the house demolitions planned for tomorrow in the town of Garmen. Under Rule 39 of the Rules of the Court, the measures urge the Bulgarian government to “stop the demolitions, until alternative housing is secured for the vulnerable claimants”.
The measures were requested by attorneys including representatives of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and EOIA after members of the "Intellect" National Coalition investigated the situation of the Romani families who would be affected in Gurmen. The appeal to Strasbourg represented a last-ditch option for the families after the local administration refused to reconsider its decision to demolish the buildings.
The EOIA press release claims that such actions by the Bulgarian administration solely target Romani-owned houses and ignore the "large number of unlawful constructions" throughout the country that do not have Romani owners or residents. "This selective, less-favorable treatment amounts to discrimination on an ethnic bas[is] and [a] serious violation of basic human rights," the press release reads.
According to the EOIA the families who would be rendered homeless by tomorrow's demolition include eight minors, two of whom have severe disabilities, and a woman who is eight months pregnant. The interim measure issued on Friday ostensibly will prevent their homelessness by staying the demolition.
Garmen was the scene of anti-Roma unrest in May which then spread to the capital, Sofia. The "Intellect" National Coalition issued a statement in response to those incidents calling for the state to revamp its process of consulting with Romani communities and other minorities, including the following critique: "The now-acting National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues is ineffective, worthless and even counter-productive at times. We maintain the position that it is utterly unacceptable for democratic forms of cooperation between institutions to be exchanged for methods by which different parties pick and choose, by their own 'rules' (especially during election time), those representatives of the Roma community who best suit their interests. Forgetting the fact that such unregulated 'cooperation' is being arranged by a multitude of channels, not solely with Roma people, and not solely during election time, we are most concerned with the atrocious results they yield in the context of ethnic tension."
Don't miss:
- Bulgarian NGO to sue over ongoing forced demolition of Romani homes in Garmen
- Bulgaria: Switzerland investing in Roma integration there
- Bulgaria: Roma at home and abroad respond to violence committed during anti-Romani protests
- Bulgaria: Roma respond to anti-Romani protests in the capital
- Bulgaria: Mayor plans referendum in which Roma cannot vote
- Bulgaria: Regional governor says situation in Garmen is calming down
- Bulgaria: Mayor of Garmen says anti-Romani protests are being exploited for political gain
Related articles:
- ROMEA TV produces reportage for Deutsche Welle about Romani refugees from Ukraine in the Czech Republic
- Czech academic publishes book on how to work with groups where non-Romani and Romani people come together
- Nikola Taragoš: Some Romani refugees from Ukraine will move into the Czech capital's "tent city" either this evening or tomorrow morning
- VIDEO: Tents for Romani refugees from Ukraine were erected in the Czech capital in the Troja neighborhood
- Mayor of Prague says if the Czech state does not systematize the distribution of refugees it will close its aid center, tent city supposedly being built
- Czech far-right MP gives distasteful xenophobic speech in lower house, attacks Romani refugees with the Nazi term "inadaptables" - ministers left to shut down the session
- Commentary: Arrogant behavior of Czech Railways staff toward Romani refugees from Ukraine and absurd police proposals
- Romani nonprofits and civil society members of the Czech Govt Council on Roma Minority Affairs call on PM to hold a crisis meeting with them about aid to Romani Ukrainian refugees
- Czech activist aiding Romani refugee Ukrainians on their way to Germany says Czech passengers targeted them with racist, vulgar abuse
- Czech civic initiative calls for aid and demands systemic solution after assistance to Romani refugees from Ukraine collapses altogether
- Czech region puts 40 Romani refugees from Ukraine in tents near Pardubice, abandons others in the city center, local Roma had to aid them
- Volunteer aiding refugees from Ukraine in Czech Republic: Institutionalized racism definitively condemns Romani people to a hopeless fate