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Discrimination and the Roma community, 2015
Cases in the area of housing
1.
Malaga.
Housing.
Direct discrimination.
A Roma woman came to the FSG office in Malaga to report that
she had been forcefully evicted from the home she had been living in for the last four years. The Department
verified the situation thanks to the documentation the woman showed us, including the court judgment calling
for her eviction. The young woman, mother of two small children, told us that she had been faithfully paying her
rent until she reached a point where she could not cover all of her expenses and had no place to go and no one
to stay with and so she stayed on in the flat as a squatter. She was very sorry about what had happened but
wanted to report what she felt was discriminatory treatment towards her and her children by the social services
workers. She felt offended and told us that she had applied for aid, especially for her children, but did not receive
any response and in the end had to go and live with a distant relative.
She felt that social services had discriminated against her and that the only thing she wanted was to overcome
this situation of helplessness.
2.
Zaragoza.
Housing.
Direct discrimination.
A Roma woman told us that she went to see a flat for rent that was
advertised on the website milanuncios.com She was looking at the flat when the owner realised that she was
Roma and told her directly that she was not going to rent it to her.
The women asked why not and the owner responded that she didn’t want Roma tenants in her flat because she
didn’t want problems with rental payments. The woman was not satisfied with that and she suggested that her
husband (who is not Roma) make an appointment with the owner to see if she would rent it to him as they were
very interested in that flat.
The woman came back a few days later to tell us that indeed the owner had rented the flat to her husband.
The woman reported this because she felt it was important to let people know the sort of treatment that Roma
were often subject to.
This was a clear example of the stereotype that “Gypsies don’t pay the rent”. This prejudice keeps Roma from
exercising their right to proper housing.
3.
Aviles.
Housing.
Direct discrimination.
The FSG worker responsible for intervention in the municipality of Corvera in Aviles informed the Department
that she was accompanying an FSG beneficiary to help her with an urgent need for housing. This Roma family
was going to be evicted in a few days time and the worker was helping them find a flat. When the FSG worker
went to the real estate agencies to ask about renting a flat for this family, they were treated in a discriminatory
manner.
This is what she told us:
As soon as she entered the office, the real estate agent (A) asked: