Roma sheltered at Ombudsman building

01/02/2012 00:00

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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