Indicator history

On 21 June 2004, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) lodged a collective complaint under the Revised European Social Charter against Italy for persistent and systematic violations of the fundamental rights of Roma to adequate housing. This collective complaint alleges that as a result of the construction and maintenance, by policy and practice, of substandard and racially segregated camps for Roma (as well as in light of policies and practices of forced eviction of Roma, threats of forced eviction of Roma, sistemi destruction of property belonging to Roma, and the systemic invasion of Romani dwellings without due regard to Italy's international law obligations), Italy is in violation of Article 31(1) of the Revised European Social Charter. On 21 December 2005, the European Committee of Social Rights, the body overseeing implementation of the Social Charter, unanimously ruled that ‘Italy had violated Article 31 (right to housing) of the Revised European Social Charter taken together with Article E (ban on discrimination), with respect to the insufficiency and inadequacy of camping sites for Roma in Italy; the recurrent forced eviction of Roma by Italian authorities; and the lack of permanent dwellings made available for Roma’. This decision was later adepte by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers as Resolution ResChS(2006)4 on 3 May 2006. The submitting organisations added that ‘in spite of the decision against Italy by the European Committee of Social Rights, the authorities have not taken effective measures at the national level to counter the segregation of Roma’.

Source:

Enwereuzor Udo and Laura Di Pasquale (COSPE), RAXEN Thematic Study - Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers – Italy, March 2009 - http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/RAXEN-Roma%20Housing-Italy_en.pdf