Last update:
2021-03-20

Roma evicted from their homes due to a Black Sea holiday resort, Romania

In 2013 local government forcibly evicted Roma communities to provisional shelters and industrial sites for the benefit of a tourist resort. A favourable court decision in 2016 ended multiple evictions of the Roma.



Description:

There is a pattern of forced evictions of Roma people in Romania  [3]. In this case, another reason for an eviction was a development of a tourist resort [2]. As argued by the ERRC, "Eforie, a Black Sea holiday resort known for its blue waters, gleaming beaches and mild summer climate". At the same time in 2013, local municipality took a decision against Roma community living in the area for forty years [1]. 

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Basic Data
Name of conflict:Roma evicted from their homes due to a Black Sea holiday resort, Romania
Country:Romania
State or province:Constanța
Location of conflict:Eforie (north of Mangalia)
Accuracy of locationHIGH (Local level)
Source of Conflict
Type of conflict. 1st level:Tourism Recreation
Type of conflict. 2nd level:Tourism facilities (ski resorts, hotels, marinas)
Specific commodities:Tourism services
Project Details and Actors
Project details

A tourist resort in Eforie lead to eviction of Roma families to provisional accommodation such as school buildings, and later on, to an industrial site.

Type of populationSemi-urban
Affected Population:100
Start of the conflict:01/10/2013
End of the conflict:01/01/2016
Relevant government actors:Municipality of Eforie
European Court of Human Rights
Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available:ERRC, European Roma Rights Centre.
Amnesty International.
Romani CRISS is a Romanian non-government organisation which seeks to protect the rights of the country's Romani minority and to prevent discrimination against the Roma.
Conflict & Mobilization
IntensityHIGH (widespread, mass mobilization, violence, arrests, etc...)
Reaction stageIn REACTION to the implementation (during construction or operation)
Groups mobilizing:Ethnically/racially discriminated groups
Roma
Forms of mobilization:Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism
Impacts
Environmental ImpactsVisible: Soil contamination
Potential: Air pollution, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality
Socio-economical ImpactsVisible: Displacement, Land dispossession, Loss of livelihood
Potential: Violations of human rights, Loss of landscape/sense of place
Outcome
Project StatusIn operation
Conflict outcome / response:Court decision (victory for environmental justice)
Migration/displacement
Repression
Under negotiation
Proposal and development of alternatives:In April 2015, the ERRC, Amnesty and Romani CRISS stopped the threatened eviction of the families living in the dormitory. They also called on the Romanian government to take action to halt all forced evictions of Roma. In March 2016, the European Court of Human Rights felt compelled to stop the local municipality from evicting the Roma from the container settlement on the industrial site. This third eviction would have occurred again without prior warning, making Roma once again homeless. April of 2016 saw another joint call from the ERRC, Amnesty and Romani CRISS for the Romanian Government to commit to legislative changes which would prevent forced evictions of Roma. In the wake of this recent victory for the Romani of forced eviction in Eforie, the ERRC calls for a proactive and mature state response to the long-overdue issue of forced evictions of Romanian Roma [1].
Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?:No
Briefly explain:Althought the court called for stopping further illegal evictions of Roma people; still the community has been displaced and placed in an industrial part of the coast. Tourists and other non-Roma citizens enjoy the services of the Black Coast where Roma people used to live.
Sources & Materials

[1] European Roma Rights Centre (2016). MUNICIPALITY ORDERED TO REHOUSE ROMA EVICTED FROM EFORIE IN 2013.
[click to view]

[2] Report on Sept. 2013 evictions
[click to view]

[4] Daily News (2013), Report on evictions
[click to view]

Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network

[3] Bucharest: 600 people protested for Roma rights, 29 July 2018. Denouncing forced evictions of the Roma without the authorities offering an alternative to housing in Cluj, Eforie Sud , Lugoj, Timişoara, Dej, Constanţa, Mangalia, Iaşi, Focsani and many others. Denouncing also six racist attacks in Ukraine in two months.
[click to view]

Meta information
Last update20/03/2021
Conflict ID:4287
Comments
Legal notice / Aviso legal
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