Serbia: “Cleaning” of Roma settlement violates international law

The residents of the affected informal settlement in Čukarica did not receive any warning of the eviction: they were not consulted in advance nor were they provided with eviction notices, as required by law. When one man asked for the eviction notice, he was reportedly slapped and racially abused by a police officer; another man was reportedly arrested. More than 30 homes were demolished, and many people were unable to rescue their possessions before the bulldozers moved in. The affected families were not offered compensation for their damaged possessions andno adequate alternative housing was provided. An offer by the City Centre for Social Welfare to provide emergency accommodation for women and children only, in social welfare centres was only accepted by one woman. Families spent the night under plastic sheets and other materials they could recover from their homes.


Rušenje dela naselja sprovedeno je radi održavanja „komunalnog reda“ u ovom delu Beograda, a porodicama čije kuće su porušene nije obezbeđen nikakav alternativni smeštaj niti asistencija nadležnih socijalnih službi. Nije im ponuđena nikakva nadoknada za uništenu ili oštećenu imovinu a ukupno je porušeno između 30 i 40 objekata. Stanovnici naselja navode da nisu primili rešenja o rušenju objekata
u kojima su živeli. Mnogi od njih su protekle 2 noći spavali pod vedrim nebom, na mestu na kom su se do juče nalazili njihovi domovi. Većina stanovnika ovog neformalnog naselja doselila se nakon prethodnih iseljenja drugih naselja u kojima su živeli, kada su ostali bez ili dobili nedovoljnu pomoć nadležnih socijalnih i drugih službi.