Europa Ocidental

Some 850 Roma refugees in Montenegro displaced after fire destroys their settlement

Published in Thursday July 26th, 2012 In In the media

It was the only home Selija Hisenaj knew since she was forced out of war-torn Kosovo 13 years ago, and now it’s gone too. The 30-year-old mother of seven is among hundreds of Roma, or Gypsies, from Kosovo who are living in tents after a fire burned down their settlement on the outskirts of the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica.

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Serbia’s Roma face uncertainty

Published in Monday July 23rd, 2012 In In the media

In Belgrade, large settlements of Roma are evicted with little or no warning. This presents an acute problem for internally displaced persons from Kosovo, who can become essentially invisible in the eyes of the law. Often uneducated and without documentation, many of these people live in the informal settlements of central Belgrade, where they’re able to scrape together an existence by scouring the city’s streets and rubbish bins for raw materials to be recycled or sold.

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In Serbia, evicted Roma families finally granted access to water

Published in Thursday July 19th, 2012 In Social movement news

July 19, 2012 Action by Amnesty International has prompted the authorities in the Serbian city of Nis to supply drinking water to Roma families who were forcibly evicted from their homes in the capital Belgrade nearly three months ago. Since their forced eviction from the informal Belvil settlement on 26 April, five families – 18 […]

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A Foregone Foreclosure

Published in Thursday July 19th, 2012 In In the media

July 18, 2012 by Jonathan Blitzer By 7:30 a.m., two hours before the authorities are due to arrive to enforce the foreclosure, some 15 people are already assembled to stop it. A family of five mingles with friends and local activists in front of No. 20 Calle de Dolores Armengot, in the working-class neighborhood of […]

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Charity launches housing campaign in Ireland

Published in Tuesday July 17th, 2012 In In the media

July 16, 2012 Housing charity Focus Ireland has mounted a concerted campaign to secure a legal right to housing for all citizens in need of a home, in line with the situation in other European countries. The Right To A Home campaign commenced today, as a survey for the charity suggested 80 per cent of […]

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The sustainable renewal of Roma settlements model in Serbia

Published in Thursday July 12th, 2012 In Social movement news

July 11, 2012 By Robert Bu, Deputy Director of the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization Roma people are among the most vulnerable social groups in Serbia. It is estimated that there are around 600 Roma settlements in Serbia today, with nearly 380,000 Roma living in them. Housing conditions in these settlements are below the public infrastructural and sanitary […]

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German investment to provide Roma with jobs and housing

Published in Thursday July 5th, 2012 In In the media

July 5, 2012 BELGRADE – The Roma National Minority Council and a consortium of German companies represented by Jugoagent KTS and Roma Investment Group signed an MoU on Thursday The memorandum of understanding should provide employment opportunities and solve the housing problems of part of the Roma population in the country. Under the document, the […]

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How can housing help migrants integrate into communities?

Published in Wednesday July 4th, 2012 In In the media

July 3rd, 2012 The vast majority of housing organisations fail to realise the role they can play in community integration Recent discussion about migration has focused almost entirely on the numbers of people coming into the country, but debates about numbers don’t respond to the issues that emerged in the areas where migrants had gone […]

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A refuge for the Roma in Berlin, Germany

Published in Monday July 2nd, 2012 In In the media

June 30, 2012   It seems unlikely but Berlin, the very city where the genocide of the Roma (Gypsy) peoples was planned 70 years ago, has become the city where they now find refuge. In the suburb of Neukoelln, a large complex of run-down apartments is being done up to become comfortable homes for more […]

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Spanish banks keep evicting

Published in Thursday June 14th, 2012 In In the media

June 14, 2012 Spaniards every day protest against eviction from homes – homes bought on credit – credit under terms their banks convinced them were within their means. Most of the hundreds of thousands of evictions in the past several years have been families with children. These people shout: “We’re not scared!” And, holding up their […]

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