Romania: A dividing wall

Even if you have never heard of the North Eastern Romanian city of Baia Mare, something is happening there that the whole of Europe should know about. The City Hall has not only authorised but finished building a wall to separate apartment buildings 45 A and B on Horea Street , inhabited by Roma people from the rest of the city.

A local human rights organisation, Romani CRISS, has been campaigning against the wall and in the first week of November filed two legal procedures against the City Hall, one of which to the National Council for Combating Discrimination (NCCD), on the grounds that the wall results in “discrimination, isolation, marginalisation, ghettoisation and humiliation of the Roma living there,” and “limits the inhabitants’ freedom, as it imposes movement restrictions and fences the space where they live”.

Romani CRISS has also complained to the NCCD that the Baia Mare city hall has attempted to intimidate and punish the organisation for contesting the wall. In particular it agreed to participate to a project being carried out by several French organisations on the condition that Romani CRISS, which had been invited as one of the partners, did not participate. The French organisations gave in to the City Hall’s pressure and withdrew the invitation to Romani CRISS.

The NCCD is being asked to investigate both acts of discrimination, to fine the City Hall and revoke Building Permit no.277/ 30.06.2011 issued by Baia Mare City Hall.

“We are sure that justice will enforce the law,effectively and impartially, and that justice will be served for the Roma. If not, the adoption of Roma inclusion policies by the Romanian authorities and European Union are merely a bureaucratic illusion, as long as acts similar to those of Baia Mare municipality that discriminate against, segregate and ghettoisate the Roma as they please remain unsanctioned,” said Marian Mandache, coordinator of the human rights department for Romani CRISS.  

Find out more: www.romanicriss.org