Millions of EUR for Roma community

“The funds are big, the projects come from donators that the Albanian government has already signed, which mount up to 8 million EUR; all funds given for supporting this community throughout Albania for a three year period. We have tried to integrate some of the 40 families that were in this camp, for employing them in the job market, and we have achieved results”, declared the Minister of Labor, Spiro Ksera.

Mr. Ksera declared that the premises of the Military Area in Kombinat are open for sheltering the eight Roma families, which three days ago were sheltered at the Ombudsman premises.

“We have made available the Military Area at Kombinat. Regardless the weakness of the local administration, which is legally bound to shelter these people in need, we will try and make functional a national center for supporting and integrating the people of this category”, Ksera declared.

The Roma issue came into attention after the Ombudsman decision to shelter the eight families in its premises.

But after these declarations, the Social Service Director, Mihal Naco, visited the Military Area where the Roma families will stay. They declared that they will need at least one month for arranging the shelter.

“Within one month, we will have shelters for 100 families”, Naco declared.

On the other hand, the landowners claim that the state must pay the expropriation damages to them, otherwise they will not allow the Roma in the area.

Tirana, Roma evicted from tents

The sufferings of the Roma family, who were evicted by violence from the area at the Trian Station, where they had raised their tents, doesn’t seem to come to an end.

Although the tent were given to them by the Ministry, and raised near Tufina, the landowner doesn’t allow them to stay there any longer and has asked them to move immediately.

The Roma families fear that the owner will not let them stay for even another day, so they asked the Ombudsman to intervene.

Totozani promised a solution by guaranteeing that if they will be evicted tomorrow, the Roma will be allowed to raise their tents at the Ombudsman premises.

“We will start our efforts tomorrow morning, will knock on the institutions’ doors, for this matter to take the right direction, since it cannot continue anymore. The winter is cold and there are a lot of problems. We will make all efforts for resolving this situation as soon as possible”, Totozani declared to the Roma family.

Roma sheltered at Ombudsman’s building

Being without a place where to stay, the eight Roma families have placed their tents in front of the Ombudsman’s building, as the Ombudsman had promised, if the respective instances would not find a shelter for them. Due to the low temperatures, the women and their children entered the inner premises.

After they were evicted from an area near the Tirana Train Station, the Roma were regulated in some tents that were secured by the Ministry of Labor, but the latter stopped the payment to the landowner, who evicted them again. The Ombudsman, Igli Totozani, asked the Ministry of Labor and Tirana’s Municipality to take urgent measures for sheltering them.

“I didn’t hesitate a minute to invite them here, until a final resolution will be found by the state authorities, the Municipality, the Ministry of Labor or other ministries that should be concerned for their lives. These people live in very bad conditions, while dozens of plans and strategies have been approved for them. This issue must end once and for all, as for any other citizen of the Albanian republic”, the Ombudsman declared.

Totozani said that they will contribute even with the personal revenues of the Ombudsman staff, so that these families will not be left out in the cold and without food. Regardless the donations that have been given for this community by the foreign embassies and international institutions, some of them have been obliged to find shelter in a state institution for these cold days.

The Roma will stay at the Ombudsman premises until their sheltering problem will be resolved.

This is what the Ombudsman, Igli Totozani, declared this Wednesday, when the temperature has registered its lowest values.

“This was an emergency solution, because these families had to leave the private land this Tuesday and not a single day later. We could not let them in the open. We have contacted with the Ministry of Labor and Social Matters for finding a solution. These people will not move from this institution without a solution. I have signed recommendations for the municipalities and communes, due to the cold weather throughout the country, to take emergency measures for temporary shelters for the homeless and Roma people”, declared Ombudsman Igli Totozani.

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