Non-governmental organizations Praxis and the Regional Centre for Minorities inform the public that yesterday, on 22 April 2013, and today, on 23 April 2013, Belgrade City Administration, in cooperation with the City Municipality of Cukarica carried out the demolition of a part of informal Roma settlement located next to the OMV Petrol Station in Vidikovac.

The demolition of a part of the settlement was carried out for the purpose of maintaining “communal order” in this part of Belgrade, while the families whose homes have been knocked down have not been provided any alternative accommodation or assistance of competent social services. They have neither been offered any compensation for destroyed or damaged property, while between 30 and 40 housing objects were demolished.

Majority of residents of this informal settlement have moved here following earlier evictions of other settlements in which they lived, when they were deprived of or received insufficient assistance from the competent social and other services.

According to information we collected from the residents of the settlement, during the eviction two residents suffered police violence. The residents also claim that they have not received the decisions on demolition of housing objects they lived in. Many of them have spent the night in the open, on the place where their homes stood only yesterday.

The problems relating to exercise of the right to adequate housing cannot be resolved by forced evictions or sudden actions for maintaining “communal order.” Contrary to this already common practice, it is necessary to urgently undertake measures to stop forced evictions and find a way to regulate this issue legally.

See the video clip on TeVe-novine: Roma Settlement upon Demolition of the Part of the Settlement on 22 and 23 April
See the video clip on TeVe-novine: Ana Martinovic from Praxis about Demolition of the Part of the Settlement in Vidikovac on 22 and 23 April