Roma put Candidate Status at risk

“The freedoms and human rights are putting at risk the candidate status for Albania this December”, says the message of the OSCE representative in Albania, Robert Wilton.

Wilton and representatives of the European Council met with the Ombudsman and discussed the freedoms and human rights of the Roma community. The OSCE main diplomat declared that the Roma sheltering issue puts the candidate status at risk.

“This issue must be resolved. It is concerning and a risk for the candidate status. The Roma must have access to health and education. Certainly that this needs time and cannot happen overnight”, Wilton declared.

On August 5th, Amnesty International asked urgent measures for 37 Roma families that risk eviction in Tirana.

The declaration was made two days before the deadline expired, as decided by the construction company “Park Construction Albania” to free the area at the former Center of Art Work Realization, where some of these families lived for more than 10 years.

Amnesty Internationl writes on the appeal that the land owner has not respected the procedures respected by law, and that the authorities have not taken the necessary emasures to guarantee an alternative shelter to the Roma families.

The human rights organization refers to the information taken by the Ombudsman, saying that the construction has started in some part of the area, for which they have guaranteed the permit and that the company has forbidden the Roma from moving there freely.

Regardless of the request made by the Ombudsman for the land owners to follow the necessary legal processes, the company says that they have no obligation for the Roma that have squatted in.

AI says that although Albania does not have a law that forbids forceful eviction, the land owner has to warn them 10 days before, according to the current law.

“None of the Roma families has been notified, on the contrary, they have been threatened by employees and some of them have filed lawsuits at the police”, AI says.

The organization appeals the Mayor of Tirana and the Minister of Labor, Social Matters and Equal Opportunities, Spiro Ksera, to help resolving the situation.

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