{"id":1311,"date":"2014-08-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/01-08-2014-stara-zagora-bulgaria-rroma-settlement-evicted\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T13:57:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T12:57:26","slug":"01-08-2014-stara-zagora-bulgaria-rroma-settlement-evicted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/de\/01-08-2014-stara-zagora-bulgaria-rroma-settlement-evicted\/","title":{"rendered":"01.08.2014 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria: Rroma settlement evicted"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clashes between the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolice and resident of the Rroma district of Stara Zagora occurred following \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe decision of the mayor Zhivko Todorov to evict the residents of 55 homes. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe eviction began on the morning of July the 21st. The houses had been built \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twithout the necessary permits. Residents and sympathizers formed a human chain \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand a barricade to prevent the authorities from evacuating the homes. Three \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolicemen were injured in the clashes, as the residents threw bricks at the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpolice. Two demonstrators were subsequently arrested. The administration mobilised \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnearly 1,000 police officers to ensure the safety during the eviction. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tImmediately after the evacuation of the residents, the destruction of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thouses began. The owners of the houses wanted to claim their rights at the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEuropean court of human rights. Mayor Zhivko Todorov answered that there is no \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tway to legalise the buildings since they are located on private land of the Borova \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGora park. The residents called the administration to provide them with \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\talternative housing. They said that they are willing to pay for water and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\telectricity. The Sofia Globe (2014) reports that the city of Varna plans to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tevacuate 200 more homes built illegally (compare Daily Mail 2014, Der Standard \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2014, Novinite 2014 I\/II\/III\/IV, Sim 2014). In Bulgaria one has to state that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe uncompromising destruction of informal Rroma settlements hinders a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlong-term integration of the minority that suffers from high levels of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdiscrimination and marginalisation. In Bulgaria there are an estimated 700,000 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto 900,000 Rroma. Many of them are integrated and are not mentioned in the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpublic debate about the minority.<\/p>\n