Greece must improve situation of Roma, Committee of Ministers says

In his reply to the question by Latvia’s socialist MP Boris Cilevics regarding the illegal evictions of Roma from Patras, the chair of the Committee of Ministers, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of San Marino, Fiorenzo Stolfi expressed his conviction for Greece to take the comments and recommendations of different Council of Europe bodies serious.

“The Committee of Ministers is closely monitoring the situation of the Roma in Greece. As the Commissioner for Human Rights pointed out in a letter to the Greek Minister of the Interior, evictions must be carried out only in exceptional circumstances and in a reasonable manner. The persons concerned should be allowed to challenge the eviction measure before the relevant courts", the Chair of the Committee of Ministers said. He explained that the Committee of Ministers took note of the measures taken by the Greek authorities to redress the situation reported by the European Committee of Social Rights adding that he was convinced that the Greek will carefully consider the comments made by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Committee of Social Rights and continue to take all the necessary measures to improve the living conditions of the Roma.

The full report of the Parliamentary Assembly session is available at:
http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta07/ERES1547.htm