BackFor the past three weeks the People’s Advocate Institution of Albania has been dealing with the case of 70 Roma families who have been threatened to be evicted from their homes without due process. The owner of the land ordered construction workers to begin demolishing the barracks where the families live without abiding by the appropriate procedure laid out in Article 296 of the Albanian Civil Code.
The experts of the People’s Advocate Institution have been with the families throughout these past three weeks and took several steps to stop this unlawful occurrence. Public pronouncements were made by the People’s Advocate, Mr. Totozani, recommendations were submitted to the Police Commissariat no. 2 in Tirana to ascertain that the proper legal procedures would be followed and to the Municipality of Tirana and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities to intervene with their respective social care and housing programs and to give immediate relief to those inhabitants of the area whose homes had already been demolished. Furthermore the Ministry of Health has also been informed about the situation and about the danger to the health of the people now living on the streets.
In order to raise awareness among institutions and to find a proper solution to this urgent case, the People’s Advocate Institution organised a round table with different international organisations and diplomatic missions, including delegations from the EU, the OSCE, the US Embassy, UN Albania, the Council of Europe, representatives from the Ministry of Labour and from the Prosecutor’s Office.
It was proposed that the families should be moved to the National Reception Centre for Rehabilitation of Roma families in Sharra, a former military unit located 5 km from their current location. After inspecting the facility the experts of the People’s Advocate Institution concluded that their current condition renders them unfit for housing.
While the struggle continues for the Roma families the People’s Advocate Institution remains strongly committed to finding a solution to this urgent situation in order to ensure that the rights of all Albanian citizens are fully respected, in particular those of vulnerable individuals.
Source: People's Advocate Albania
