In the Hungarian town of Sajókaza a wall forces the Roma minority to live in segregation from the majority Hungarian population where they lack access to basic environmental and health services, such as drinking tap water, and suffer energy poverty. In the village of approximately 3,000 inhabitants located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County in North-Eastern Hungary, around 15 % belong to the Roma community. Most of them live in the segregated Roma neighboorhod located in the East periphery of the town, in former miners' houses in the Sólyom settlement where houses lack of any comfort such as running tap water, bathroom, proper insulation and safe heating systems.

Tensions between the Hungarian and Roma villagers are long-standing, in particular since the majority of the population lost their jobs in the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union and following factory closures. Discrimination and racist incidents are common. 

As a result of the tensions between the non-Roma and Roma communities, including complaints from the majority about waste and noise, the municipality installed the wall to segregate the Roma neighborhood in 2018. [2] The wall is not only a symbolic partition but is also the line of demarcation of where basic environmental services are provided - or not.

Roma people do not have access to water in their houses but only to public taps set up in the Sólyom settlement. Looking at the high number of houses inhabited and the number of public taps, it is estimated that Roma do not have water access within a 150 meter distance from their houses (which would be the maximum distance foreseen by the law). [1]

Another issues is the extremely poor insulation of houses and energy poverty: a high number of houses lacks windows and doors and do not have access to electricity. Residents almost always heat their houses with wood fires. The method being costly (equivalent of monthly income in the winter), people often use illegal solutions and risk imprisonment. Alternatively, they only heat one room of the entire apartment or they heat with materials which are harmful to health. In 2016, the local Roma government leader and the mayor came to the agreement to provide wood support for those in need, however this is not a long-term agreement and part of the local power relations.  [1]

Another issue is the lack of a proper canalization system.  The problem was partially addressed in 2019; however, due to the fact that some people are not in possession of the necessary legal documents regarding land tenure, certain streets were left out from the canalization project. Humidity in the walls and mold during winter poses a danger to health. [1]

The municipality provides basic solid waste management as long as the service fees are paid. Roma families who often cannot afford paying the service fee gather waste on their respective plot where it poses heath risk, especially during the summer. [1].

During winter time, due to lack of heating, the ambient air is suffocating. [1] There is a local solid management plant located in close distance to the Roma neighborhood. It needs to be further explored whether this affects the Sólyom neighborhood more than the non-Roma houses.

The conflict is not due to any project but is due to the segregation of a Roma settlement from the village of the Hungarian majority and the lack of proper provision of basic environmental services including access to water, proper sanitation and canalization, waste services and provision of adequate heating facilities.