Wednesday 16 February 2022

New Thematic Factsheet on Roma and Travellers

The Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECHR has issued a new
 thematic factsheet on the execution of the Strasbourg Court judgments on 'Roma and Travellers'. The Council of Europe uses the terms 'Roma and Travellers' to encompass the wide diversity of certain disadvantaged groups, including Roma, Balkan Egyptians, Eastern groups (Dom, Lom and Abdal) and groups such as Travellers, Yenish, and the populations designated under the administrative term “Gens du voyage”, as well as persons who identify themselves as Gypsies.

Here is a brief summary of the factsheet:

"The European Court has underlined that as a result of their history, the Roma have become a specific type of disadvantaged and vulnerable minority, therefore requiring special protection. It has noted that their vulnerable position means that special consideration should be given to their needs and their different lifestyle, both in the relevant regulatory framework and in reaching decisions in particular cases.

The new factsheet provides examples of general and individual measures reported by States in the context of the execution of the European Court’s judgments, concerning notably: access to justice, right to respect for private and family life, including issues related to forced sterilisation of Roma women, protection from hate crime and housing rights, protection of property and right to education."