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European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights launches report on “Housing conditions of Roma and Travellers in the European Union"

20 October 2009

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights launched its report, “Housing conditions of Roma and Travellers in the European Union” on the 20th of October in Brussels . The study confirms the dismal overall housing situation of the Roma and Travellers in the EU.

The findings of the EU FRA study on “Housing conditions of Roma and Travellers in the European Union”, requested by the Commission and presented on the 20th of October in Brussels, confirm that government initiatives have barely improved the overall housing situation of the Roma and Travellers in the EU. It not only includes a comparative study as well as country by country reports.

The study has concluded that:

Additional and more rigorous data collection must be urgently undertaken. Despite policy initatives on the part of some governments, implementation results are immeasurable because of a lack of accurate statistics on the Roma population and their housing needs.
Initiatives by some governments to improve the housing conditions of Roma can sometimes be misguided and aggravate the segregation of the Roma. However, actions by other governments specifically aim at segregating the Roma and Travellers.
The recurrence of forced evictions violates human rights law and often results in de facto homelessness.

The report, however, also illustrates some examples of good practice involving the active participation of Roma in the development of housing policy, assessments of comprehensive needs, and innovative design of sites by local authorities. The report encourages EU member states to emulate these good practices.

The report is a welcome development and demonstrates the European Commission's determination to increase its competencies in the area of housing and non-discrimination in response to the widespread housing rights concerns among Roma and Traveller communities. The comparative report illustrates grave violations of housing rights throughout the EU, warranting an EU response through the European Framework Strategy on Roma Inclusion.

To read the report , please click here and for national reports follow this link