Re: Reported Imminent Expulsion of Kosovo Roma

Honourable Minister Pisanu, Commissioner Caruso,

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), an international public interest law organization that acts to secure the human rights of Roma through strategic litigation, international advocacy, research and policy development and human rights education, is concerned about reported threats by Italian authorities to expel Kosovo Roma and/or Roma from other parts of Serbia and Montenegro from Italy to their country of origin.

According to information provided to the ERRC by Mr Fulvio Vassallo Paleologo of the Cosorzio Italiano di Solidarieta (ICS), at approximately 5:00 AM on 10 February 2005, Italian police officers entered the Favorita Romani camp in Palermo, stating they were undertaking a “child census”. During the ensuing action, police officers reportedly arrested several Romani families from Kosovo and/or Serbia and Montenegro. Detained persons included young children, the elderly and the infirm. There were taken into custody and many of them were held for approximately 24 hours. During their detention, they were reportedly not provided with food. After their release, a number of the detained Roma told Mr Paleologo that when they complained to the officers about the treatment they were receiving, they were threatened by officers and roughly pulled about. According to statements by eyewitnesses, during the raid on the camp, police officers also notified twenty persons, including several Kosovo Romani individuals, pregnant women, children, the elderly and the infirm, that the Italian government had ordered their expulsion unless they left Italy voluntarily within five days. As of February 16, two Romani women were reportedly in detention awaiting expulsion. Mr Paleologo reported that as of February 17, none of the affected Roma had left the country and they remained at risk of forcible expulsion. A number of other Romani persons from Kosovo or Serbia and Montenegro have been informed that they must soon leave Italy or face forcible expulsion. A number of the persons at issue reportedly do not have personal documents, including passports.

Honourable Minister Pisanu, Commissioner Caruso, the ERRC reminds you that acts of ethnic cleansing have taken place in the province of Kosovo as recently as March 2004, when Kosovo Albanians attacked minorities, including Roma, Ashkaelia, Egyptians, and other persons regarded as "Gypsies". According to first-hand ERRC field research, in the course of the violence, several hundred persons regarded as "Gypsies" were targeted and at least 75 houses belonging to Romani, Ashkaelia and Egyptian families were set on fire. Many such persons are still displaced within Kosovo and many tens of thousands are outside the borders of Kosovo, unable to return. Mr. Marek Antoni Nowicki, the Ombudsperson in Kosovo, has strongly advised against the return of Roma, Ashkaelia and Egyptian asylum seekers to Kosovo, stressing that Roma, Ashkaelia and Egyptians continue to face “considerable risks to their personal safety” in Kosovo. Ombudsperson Nowicki has noted that the return of Romani, Ashkaelia and Egyptian asylum seekers would violate international human rights standards.

Additionally, in August 2004, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued a “Position on the Continued International Protection Needs of Individuals from Kosovo”, in which it noted, “Kosovo Serbs and Roma are particularly vulnerable in terms of their security, but Ashkaelia and Egyptians also continue to face very serious security threats” and reiterated that members of all four ethnic groups should benefit from international protection in their countries of asylum. The UNHCR also stated, “It is paramount that the safe, dignified and sustainable return of members of the Serb, Roma, Ashkaelia, Egyptian and Kosovo Albanians in a minority situation as described in this paper takes place on a strictly voluntary basis and in a coordinated and very gradual manner, supported with re-integration assistance.”

In response to calls by Western European governments currently hosting Roma, Ashkaelia and Egyptian refugees and displaced persons to repatriate said persons to locations in Serbia and Montenegro outside Kosovo, in August 2004 the UNHCR issued a statement entitled “The Possibility of Applying the Internal Flight or Relocation Alternative within Serbia and Montenegro to Certain Persons Originating from Kosovo and Belonging to Ethnic Minorities There”, in which it stated,

“the implementation of the internal flight or relocation alternative to these minorities would not necessarily, depending on the individual circumstances, be either relevant or reasonable. One of the key considerations is the legal status of those displaced which serves as an obstacle to their accessing basic rights and services. Given this as well as the already over-stretched absorption capacity in a country already hosting over 220,000 IDPs, forced return is likely to lead to further internal displacement rather than a durable solution. Moreover, the application of internal flight or relocation alternative can appear to condone ethnic cleansing and thus contradict the spirit of Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999 which emphasises the safe and unimpeded return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes.”

The ERRC further notes that in Serbia and Montenegro, Roma are exposed to frequent violent attacks by state and non-state actors and face widespread racial discrimination. The ERRC is currently involved in domestic and international litigation concerning numerous serious violations of the fundamental human rights of Roma, including such cases as the serial sexual abuse of minors by police officers and impunity for these and similar crimes.

The expulsion of Roma or other persons regarded as "Gypsies" to Kosovo or other parts of Serbia and Montenegro would violate a number of provisions of international law. In particular, Article 33(1) of the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees ("1951 Geneva Convention") states, “No Contracting State shall expel or return ("refouler") a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” The European Court of Human Rights has on a number occasions interpreted the Article 3 ban on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as providing even broader protections than those set down in the 1951 Geneva Convention. In addition, Article 4 of Protocol 4 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) prohibits the collective expulsion of aliens. We would note that on previous occasions the Italian government has settled out-of-court after the ERRC brought cases concerning the collective expulsion by Italian authorities of Roma to Bosnia to the European Court of Human Rights.

Finally, the ERRC cannot see any legitimate grounds for threatening the persons concerned with forcible expulsion. We note that the Italian government's obligations under human rights law go well beyond simply observing the strict letter of the law and extend to promoting an environment in which the fundamental dignity of all persons on the territory of the state is secured equally and for all. Threatening persons targeted for persecution in their country of origin with expulsion surely has no place in the European human rights order.

Honourable Minister Pisanu, Commissioner Caruso, the ERRC urges that all action threatening the expulsion of Roma and/or other persons regarded as "Gypsies" to Kosovo or other parts of Serbia and Montenegro be ceased without delay. In light of the continued threats facing Roma, Ashkaelia, Egyptians and others regarded as "Gypsies" in Kosovo, we further urge you to provide the persons at issue with a durable legal status until such a time as the persons concerned may return to Kosovo with dignity, should they so choose. We kindly request to be informed of all actions taken by your respective offices in this matter and would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues with you further.

Sincerely,

Claude Cahn

Acting Executive Director

Cc:

Mr Ruud Lubbers, High Commissioner for Refugees

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Suisse

Fax: +41-22-739-7377

Mr Marek Nowicki, Ombudsperson
Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo
Str. Agim Ramadani n.n.
Pristina/Prishtinë, Kosovo
Fax: + 381-38-545-302

Ms Laurie Wiseberg, Minority Returns Advisor
UNMIK, Office of Returns and Communities
MHQ Room 214A
Pristina/Prishtinë, Kosovo
Fax: +381-38-504-604 Ext. 5592