Rights defenders urge Volgograd Mayor to help Gypsies in solving land problem

The Antidiscrimination Centre (ADC) "Memorial" has drawn attention to the situation in the Roma community of the township of Verkhnyaya Elshanka of the city of Volgograd, where residents face a threat of eviction. Human rights activists have sent their appeal to the Mayoralty calling to settle the land problem of the Roma community.

"The ADC 'Memorial' is implementing projects aimed to protect the rights of the Roma ethnic minority, including an ongoing monitoring of the observance of Gypsies' rights in Russia," Olga Abramenko, director of the ADC, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to her story, "demolition of Roma houses and forced evictions of families with children" entail heavy social and economic consequences; therefore, any reports about threats of such evictions are causing extreme concern of rights defenders.

The members of the Roma community, worried about possible eviction (because the land was granted into lease to some individual), turned to human rights defenders on October 6, 2011.

"As we managed to find out, on March 15, 2011, a certain citizen named Tkachenko addressed the city administration; and the latter provided him with a land plot by its decision of March 31, 2011 (Decree No. 762); the parties signed a 10-year long lease contract. According to the Volgograd Committee of Land Resources, the then examination of these land plots allegedly revealed no houses and structures on them," said Olga Abramenko.

However, activists of the ADC "Memorial" found that there are seven houses on the leased land with concrete addresses: Nos. 32, 34, 36 and 38 in Tbilisskiy Lane, and Nos. 1a, 3a and 5a in A. Navoi Lane; the houses are inhabited by Gypsy families - 93 persons in total: adults, children, elderly persons and invalids.

"For the children living in these houses they are the only place of residence," explained Olga Abramenko. "That is why the demolition of the houses in early winter poses a real danger to their health and lives."

The leaders of the ADC put all these arguments into their application addressed to Igor Pikalov, Deputy Head of the Volgograd Administration of and Natalia Zhukova, Chair of the Committee of Land Resources of Volgograd.

The application recalls that the residents of the Roma settlements have repeatedly tried to initiate registration of their rights on the land plots and the buildings located thereon. In particular, the ADC "Memorial" tried to help them in addressing the state and municipal bodies; however, they faced unwillingness of the authorities to grant the land plots, on which Gypsies live, into their ownership.