After the closure of the well, local residents published a post on social media which was shared more than 1000 times urging the mayor of Gulács to restore the well. Researchers and other people standing up against anti-gypsyism*, also addressed letters to the municipality. [2]

Roma rights activist Jenő Setét was quoted in the press saying: “You don’t have to be a scientific researcher or a water expert to see that turning off public wells in any community or settlement during a heatwave and denying the people living there of drinking water anywhere in the world is an inhuman act.  And this is not the first occasion: four years ago the same thing took place in Ózd.  I suspect, by the way, that as parliamentary elections near, crazier and crazier political proposals will be made and gypsies will be used more and more as a means in the political campaign.” [2]

In the Roma area of Gulács, most residents have no tap water in their homes and therefore rely on the public well. The arm of the well had already been removed many years before, so that the Roma communities had to fix it and had to use it illegally ever since, however without any retaliation from authorities. [2] Other than the well closed in August 2017, another well is operational at a distance of 300 meters, which is more than the maximum 150 meters according to the law.[3]

The village of Gulács is located in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of Eastern Hungary close to the Ukrainian border. Around 21% of its 800 citizens are of Roma origin as of 1998. [4]

In a similar manner, the around 1500 inhabitants of Huszártelep, who are mostly Roma, have been shut off from water supply in the summer heatwave.

The neighborhood is located in Nyíregyháza, a city in North-Eastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg with a population of 119,000 (out of which around 2200 are estimated to be Roma). Huszártelep is one of the most marginalised and impoverished parts of the city located to the South of the centre. [5]

Despite the public outcry following the similar cases in Ózd and Gulács, the service provider, the Nyírségvíz Zrt. of  Nyíregyháza decided on 28 June 2019 during a heatwave to close down the water supply in the houses of 48 families due to debt accumulated for the service. Some households are now more than 150 meters away from the closest public well, a fact disputed by the service provider. [6]

The affected families were told the service provider would restrict their water supply, but were not informed that supply would be shut down completely. One complainant stated on the site of the Roma Press Center

that besides many children also a person with final stage cancer was affected by the closure of water supply. [6]

The Communications Officer of Nyírségvíz Zrt. argued that the affected families had been approached due to the debts for not having paid their water bills over a long period of time. He argued that the closure of the water supply was lawful. According to the service provider the accumulated debts were more than 13 million Forint plus interest (equivalent of 43,000USD). [6]

After complaints were made and newspaper contacted the services provider, the water supply was reopened in order to guarantee a subsistence minimum, as Nyírségvíz Zrt. argued. [6]

These case is part of a wider pattern and illustrates the lack of political will to solve distributional injustice and ensure access to basic necessities for Roma in Hungary.

The cases illustrate a common problem: Roma people in Hungary are regularly subjected to water closures by the service providers. Blaming Roma for wasting water and/or not paying bills is often used to justify the measure, even during heatwaves.

Public officials argue to have acted based on the law and do not consider the humanitarian need for water supply. When Roma activists raise their voice against  communities being cut off from water supplies, responses can be hostile.

*anti-gypsyism: Antigypsyism is the specific racism towards Roma, Sinti, Travellers and others who are stigmatized as ‘gypsies’ in the public imagination. Although the term is finding increasing institutional recognition, there is as yet no common understanding of its nature and implications. Antigypsyism is often used in a narrow sense to indicate anti-Roma attitudes or the expression of negative stereotypes in the public sphere or hate speech. However, antigypsyism gives rise to a much wider spectrum of discriminatory expressions and practices, including many implicit or hidden manifestations. Antigypsyism is not only about what is being said, but also about what is being done and what is not being done.[7]

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