Veľka Ida has about 3,000 inhabitants, of which one half is Roma, counting 1,300. Some 650 of them live in the Roma settlement. Vel'ka Ida is one of eight locations in Eastern Slovakia with a wall separating the Roma community. In a country where being Roma, already is a stigma, Roma from the Vel´ka Ida live on the other side of the wall or section of society and are extremely marginalised and impoverished in terms of environmental and social conditions [5]. 

The settlement is also located next to the US Steel Factory, one of the biggest steel producers in Central Europe [1]. Besides being attached to the steel factory, the Roma settlement is also separated by a segregation wall  which is divides Roma from the village by a 3-metre-high wall erected by the local government beginning of 2013 [5] [1]. Drinking water is provided from only one improvised well 2 hours per day for a total of 800 Roma, including children [1]. 

Behind the wall that separates the community from the rest of society; self-built houses almost collapse on themselves, on the edges of massive trash containers and smoke wafted in from the large US Steel industrial plant “landscape”. Close, there is also a steaming treatment pool from the US Steel plant [1]. Thus, the settlement is situated very close to an environmentally dangerous and hazardous place [7];  with the highest levels of environmental pollution due to the large industrial polluter US Steel [6]. 

“I know it’s racism, I know it’s segregation. But we’ve got bigger problems we’re dealing with at the moment, like the water” Carlo --- a Roma resident of the Vel'ka Ida settlement, stated. “If the mayor was right about the wall being built to protect children, why did he build it up so high?” Carlo asked. “It’s to make us invisible” [1]. 

Roma of the Vel’ka Ida settlement gather around the town’s water well to provide additional drinking water[6]. They are limited to roughly two hours of access to water daily, and the rest of the time the well is padlocked shut by the government [6] because of an "overuse" the mayor stated [1]. Moreover, families living in the marginalised settlement frequently use wood to heat their houses in winter, which increases health risks associated with improper burning in old heating units. Some environmental organisations have reported families burning PVC bottles for heating, that increases significantly exposure to health hazards and fire accidents [6].

The segregation wall on the other hand was built by the local government in 2013 that costed around 10 000 euros [8].