Poland: Threats of forced eviction to Roma continue

An estimated 20 Roma residents including children who have been living  in an informal settlement on Paprotna Street, Wroclaw for the past three years, were served with a 14-day eviction notice by the municipality on 7 May 2013.  The eviction notice was served without consulting the residents about the planned eviction.

The resident inhabited the informal settlement on Paprotna Street, Wroclaw, following a previous eviction programme which forced them to leave their previous place of abode.  This case, along with that of 60 Roma people from Kamienskiego Street in Wroclaw, have occurred within a two month time frame and clearly highlight the failure of the municipality of Wroclaw to follow due processes leading up to planned evictions.

Following an initial campaign against the forced evictions on 4 April 2013, by Amnesty International, the Wroclaw municipality met with representatives of Amnesty International Poland.  During the meeting which took place on 12 April 2013, representatives of the municipality expressed their willingness to act in compliance with human rights standards including those related to the right to adequate housing and forced evictions. However, the municipality’s action in planning evictions which target the residents of another informal settlement on Paprotna Street, run contrary to their pronouncements in the meeting.

TAKE ACTION

Please write immediately in English, Polish or your own language:

* Calling on the Wroclaw city authorities to immediately halt the evictions in two settlements at Kamienskiego and Paprotna Street and ensure that evictions are only carried out once all international legal and procedural safeguards including genuine consultation, adequate notice and access to legal remedies are in place;

* Call for them to ensure that any evictions of the communities currently living in both settlements are carried out only as a last resort and according to international human rights standards, following identification and serious consideration of all feasible alternatives based on genuine consultation with all those affected;

* Call for them to ensure that no one is left homeless and vulnerable to other violations of their human rights as a result of actions undertaken by the authorities;

* Remind the authorities that unless these conditions are met, an eviction will violate the human rights of affected individuals and amount to a breach of Poland’s international human rights commitments.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 28 JUNE 2013 TO:  (Time difference = GMT + 1 hrs / BST as UK)

Mayor of Wroclaw
Rafal Dutkiewicz
ul. Sukiennice 9
50-107 Wroclaw
Poland
Fax: 0048 71 777 72 77
Email: bpr@um.wroc.pl  
Salutation: Dear Mayor

Minister of Labour and Social Policy
Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz  
Ministerstwo Pracy i Polityki Społecznej
ul. Nowogrodzka 1/3/5
00-513 Warszawa, Poland
Fax: 0048 22 6611336
Email: info@mpips.gov.pl   
Salutation: Dear Minister

Wroclaw Municipality
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wroclaw.wroclove?fref=ts  
Twitter: .@wroclaw_info (Suggested message: "It doesn’t bother me that Roma live nearby” - .@wroclaw_info “Stop the Kamienskiego and Prapotna Street eviction!” #RomaRights in #Wroclaw")
 

PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR APPEAL TO

His Excellency Mr Witold Sobków, Embassy of the Republic of Poland, 47 Portland Place, London W1B 1JH.

Fax: 0207 2913 575    Email:  london@msz.gov.pl    Website: www.london.polemb.net