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Discrimination and the Roma community, 2015
6
We also received information from local town residents who warned us and confirmed that there had been a
number of complaints from people in the town about the arrival of Roma families and they didn’t want any more
families moving in.
That is why we went straight to the mayor along with some of the people affected to clarify this situation. The
mayor made no effort to sugar-coat the existing reality and told us that he had received complaints from some
of the local residents and one even threatened to take his children out of school.
We tried to reason with the mayor by telling him that these people had to be treated as individuals and not be
put in the same sack as every other Roma family. We also told him that rather than defending the racist motives
of the townspeople, he should be doing just the opposite.
6.
Sabadell.
Housing.
Direct discrimination.
The Department received information about an eviction in Sabadell
of homes occupied by several Roma families.
After checking the documentation we verified that the eviction was related to the fact that the occupants were
Roma.
Those evicted told us that their special circumstances (children and sickly elderly persons forming part of the
family unit) had not been taken into consideration.
They also said that the authorities employed violence to evict them.
The families did not want to take any action but simply wanted to report the discriminatory treatment they had
received at the hands of the police as their main concern now was finding a decent place to live.
7.
Mérida.
Housing.
Direct discrimination.
A young woman came by the FSG office in Merida to report on a
discriminatory situation she had suffered for being Roma. This is what she told us:
“The real estate agency where I enquired about renting a flat told the owner that her client, me in this
case, had all of the required paperwork (pay slip and work contract). She then asked what my name was
and where I was from and then immediately said that she had already ‘promised’ the flat to someone
else and therefore it was no longer available.”
In this case, the discrimination was confirmed by the real estate agent who confided that the owner had not
promised the flat to anyone but was simply using that as an excuse because she did not want to rent to Roma.
8.
A Coruña.
Housing.
Direct discrimination.
The housing director at a social organisation came by to report that
she received an urgent call from a Roma family living in a flat which had been assigned to them under the Roma
Community Social Intervention programme in A Coruña. The director went to the flat and found racist graffiti
and threats on the walls and door of the Roma family’s home and food scraps thrown on the floor in front of
the door. (see pictures)
The FSG worker went herself to get first-hand information of what had happened and to offer her support.
The family, at the advice of the FSG office in A Coruña, called the local police to report what had happened
(racist graffiti and threats). The family lodged a complaint at the local police station and as they feared for their
safety and also reported the incident to the Civil Guard in Arteixo.
The FSG worker later contacted the administrator of the homeowner’s association to try to organise a meeting
of all of the building’s homeowners to explain what had happened and try to resolve the situation.