Monday, October 17, 2011

Urgent from Amnesty International

Posted by request of Amnesty International.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
MEDIA ADVISORY

17 October 2011

Amnesty International petitions Serbian Deputy Prime Minister

On 19 October 2011, an Amnesty International delegation is handing over to the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, thousands of petitions against forced evictions of Roma communities in Serbia.

The petitions call on the Serbian government to adopt a law against forced evictions and to regulate the process of evictions.

“Forced evictions in Belgrade and elsewhere in Serbia make people move from one settlement to another depriving them of proper roof over their heads, the jobs they may be holding at the moment, the schools their children go to,” said Nicola Duckworth, Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.

Amnesty International members from Japan and Korea in the east to Netherlands and Spain in the west collected signatures and photos in streets of events such as the EXIT Festival in Novi Sad bringing into the spotlight the discrimination and other human rights violations the Roma community is facing in Serbia.

Amnesty International is extremely concerned at the rising number of forced evictions in the country, affecting the lives of thousands of people. Currently there ate around 100 informal settlements in Belgrade and 500 elsewhere in Serbia.

“Forced evictions are in breach of the right to adequate housing. They affect the most vulnerable in the society, mainly the Roma community – those who have been driven by poverty to live in informal settlements in Belgrade and who have no other housing options,” Nicola Duckworth said.

What: Nicola Duckworth informs journalists about meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Djelic in charge of European integration and Chair of the Council for Improvement of the Status of Roma Population.
            When: 19 October 2011, 1100 local time (0900 GMT)
            Where: Regional Centre for Minorities in Belgrade  Dobracina 17

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