Indicator history

According to Amnesty International there are numerous documented cases when Roma families tried to purchase or rent property in order to secure their housing rights, but their attempts were blocked either by local communities or by individuals leaving these communities.

In one case in 2001 a president of a local community was found guilty of incitement to hatreat, violence and intolerance because he hosted a meeting after he was notified that a person of a Roma origin bought property in the village. At the meeting the participants voted for a decision that the buyer was not welcome at the village. Afterwards the petition was being singned among the villagers supporting the decision accepted at the meeting. The defendants – the president who had prepared and signed the minutes of the meeting and another resident who had collected the signatures – were convicted with a sanction of suspended imprisonment.

In 2006 an eviction of the Roma family Strojan took place. The eviction was demanded by a mob and assisted by the state. The family was evicted even though they resided on land owned by them, in a house that was not legally built. The case was extensively reported in a Human Rights Ombudsman Report for the year 2008. See also case studies on Slovenia on this portal.  

Another problem is de facto forced housing for migrant workers. Large numbers of migrant workers in Slovenia have been accommodated in dormitories owned by the companies who employed them. Migrants had to pay these companies a rent for the apartment, and they were obliged to stay in these dormitories. The payments of rents were deducted from their salaries. If they wished they could find private accommodation, however, at the expense of an additional rent. The situation reached a peak in 2009 and 2010 when due to the economic crisis that affected the construction sector causing many migrants to lose their job making them unable to pay for housing. Since the number of migrant workers decreased significantly due to the crisis in the construction sector, these dormitories are now almost empty. 

Source:

Parallel lives. Roma denied rights to housing and Water in Slovenia, report, Amnesty International, 2011, available at http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR68/005/2011.

Judgment of a County Court Ilirska Bistrica, no. K 50/99 of 31. 12. 2001. 

Human Rights Ombudsman Report for the year 2008, available at http://www.varuh-rs.si/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/lp/Varuh_LP-2008.pdf.

MOZETIČ, Polona. Worker's dormitories : from private property to public forum and back again. In: KIRN, Gal (ur.), KRALJ, Gašper (ur.), PIŠKUR, Bojana (ur.). New public spaces : dissensual political and artistic practices in the post-Yugoslav context. Maastricht: Jan van Eyck Academie: Moderna galerija, 2009, str. 49-62.