Poor housing of the Roma community in five European cities

Discrimination and poor housing of Roma communities have, unfortunately, become commonplace in many European cities (Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Gyöngyös, Miskolc); these phenomena of misery require new public and human investments. Through his investigation, Piégés dans un taudis ? Discrimination et privation des Roms en matière de logement dans les villes européennes published in March 2022, Tommaso Vitale (a research professor at Sciences Po's Center for European Studies and Comparative Politics) traces the unique trajectories of individuals experiencing more than just housing difficulties.

A SOCIALLY ADMITTED POVERTY

By giving voice to more than a hundred Roma, the research directed by Tommaso Vitale makes it possible to understand that "housing conditions depend on many urban socio-geographic factors, including residential, ethnic and social segregation, lack of infrastructure and public services.

The 128 qualitative interviews conducted highlighted similarities in the housing conditions of interviewees across cities and countries. Some situations, such as living in one common room in the home, but also having limited access to running water and energy (electricity and gas) are very common.

Social assistance measures exist to combat this high level of insecurity. However, they are not well received by the people interviewed. Some solutions manage to meet immediate housing needs, but at what cost? They have many failings, and sometimes do not guarantee access to the rudimentary elements of decent housing.

Tommaso Vitale links the deteriorating housing and living conditions of Europe's largest ethnic minority to public policies based on the principle "that you must first integrate and then eventually get a house. The wills and behaviors of public decision-makers must thus be observed in order to understand the concrete implementation of housing policies for Roma in the cities analyzed.

INAPPROPRIATE URBAN POLICIES

The public wills and policies to fight against the poor housing of Roma populations exist and are regularly mobilized in the framework of urban policies. This report highlights the importance of the formation and development of the skills of staff and social workers. The approaches of the administrative and social services to the target groups appear to be decisive elements in the allocation of housing and the social future of its inhabitants. This is why the research also included 10 focus groups, two in each country, with activists, social workers, local administrators and representatives of government agencies.

"Too many demagogic attempts have not produced sustainable solutions: we need to change our perspective. Family housing can be a fundamental starting point for any integration journey: it provides the stability needed for schooling, training and work. Traditionally, however, it is considered the point of arrival, which is reached when other preconditions have been met. To put housing at the top of the priority list is to emphasize a right that is not protected for many categories of the population. In particular for the Roma". Luciano Gualzetti, (Director of Caritas Ambrosiana)

The lack of transparency regarding the rules for the allocation of housing, the ethnic and racial discrimination, the failure to listen to the real needs of the population do not allow the application of equitable measures and thus testify to public policies not thought out for a complete social inclusion of the Roma in Europe.

After reaffirming politically the primacy of the right to housing, the research insists on the reinforcement of social work towards Roma populations. This support must be provided over a long period of time and be oriented towards a preventive approach to the financial difficulties that families encounter.

Read the investigation Piégés dans un taudis ? Discrimination et privation des Roms en matière de logement dans les villes européennes

A PROJECT AND DEDICATED SEMINARS

The R-Home project led by the CEE intends to disrupt these mechanisms of exclusion by placing at the center individuals and families showing "a very strong commitment to go beyond their own condition". A research project on housing and Roma, it studies the housing conditions of Roma minorities in most EU member states. The mechanisms and processes of discrimination and exclusion are studied in a systematic and comprehensive way.