Local authorities in Hungary’s Miskolc should stop evictions, provide for durable housing solutions for Roma in line with international human rights standards, says ODIHR report

Local government authorities in the town of Miskolc, Hungary, should halt issuing eviction orders to Roma residents of social housing, and should promote adequate, sustainable, non-discriminatory solutions to housing segregation, says a field assessment visit report published by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 1 September 2016.

The report is based on a visit led by Michael Georg Link, ODIHR Director, and Mirjam Karoly, ODIHR Senior Adviser on Roma and Sinti Issues, to Budapest and Miskolc between 29 June and 1 July 2015.

The visit was triggered by allegations of discrimination in the provision of adequate social housing for Roma residents in the city of Miskolc. Local social housing legislation had been amended, leading to evictions of Roma tenants in the “Numbered Streets” area of the city.

The report notes Hungary’s promotion of Roma inclusion and the adoption of relevant policy documents. However, negative trends at the local level, especially in the area of housing, such as the Miskolc evictions, are noted. The report also raises concerns about joint control activities (i.e., unauthorized snap inspections) conducted by local government agencies in predominantly Roma neighbourhoods.

“ODIHR welcomes the judgments of the Hungarian Supreme Court, the report of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, and the decision of the Equal Treatment Authority on the unlawful measures undertaken by the Miskolc authorities regarding the housing provided to Roma residents of Miskolc,” said Mirjam Karoly. “We are concerned, though, that despite these decisions, evictions orders were issued and implemented, reportedly even in late November 2015, at which point the Roma population in Miskolc had significantly decreased, from the original 900 to less than 400 people.”

The report calls on the local and national authorities to address and fully implement these decisions, to stop evictions, and to end control visits, as well as promote adequate, sustainable and non-discriminatory solutions to housing segregation, in close co-operation with Roma representatives and civil society. ODIHR also urges the government to monitor the developments in Miskolc, and maintain efforts towards housing desegregation.

In the 2003 Action Plan in Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area, participating States committed to implement effective anti-discrimination legislation to combat racial and ethnic discrimination in all fields, including access to housing. Furthermore, participating States pledged to “involve Roma and Sinti people in the design of housing policies, as well as in the construction, rehabilitation and/or maintenance of public housing projects meant to benefit them” and “ensure that housing projects do not foster ethnic and/or racial segregation.”