Source: https://www.hhrjournal.org/2017/12/inconvenient-human-rights-water-and-sanitation-in-swedens-informal-roma-settlements/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 22:44:09+00:00

Document:
The Social Services Act has been updated since the 1995 judgment, so this restrictive interpretation may be susceptible to challenge.46 More importantly for the purposes of this study, water and sanitation fall outside of these domestic restrictions on social welfare assistance. Unlike social assistance, the administration of water and sanitation is squarely within the competence of Swedish municipalities, and municipalities can be guided by human rights norms in responding to these needs.
We found no municipal evictions prior to 2013. A possible explanation is that Romania and Bulgaria acceded to the EU in 2007, but Romanian and Bulgarian citizens were granted full freedom of movement to all EU countries only in 2014.47 However, during the period from January 1, 2013, through January 27, 2016, Swedish municipalities initiated at least 83 evictions of groups of vulnerable EU citizens holding a right of residence in Romania or Bulgaria. These evictions generally met the following criteria: (1) they concerned EU citizens identified as Romanian or Bulgarian who were not in the Swedish population register, (2) the land occupied belonged to a municipality, and (3) the municipality applied for assistance from the Swedish Enforcement Agency. It is important to note that our data is limited in that not all municipalities responded to our query. Additionally, evictions under the aegis of the Swedish police are not included.48 Thus, the 83 evictions documented here likely represent a fraction of the true number.
In some instances, municipalities did show a concern for the sanitary situation from the respondents’ perspective. For example, in Stockholm Skarpnäck in June and September 2014, the municipality’s eviction papers acknowledged concerns about the health of people and animals “when large amounts of litter and latrine are dumped in the woods without any further management.”53 But although the municipality recognized the risks to the informal residents, eviction was the response.
Some applications simply cited the assumption that the settlement would lead to sanitation hazards. Such was the case in an eviction in Tensta in 2016, where the municipality asserted that “it can be assumed that latrine . . . is being dumped.”54 A similar municipal claim was challenged in Sollentuna, where the city sought to evict 45 individuals on sanitation grounds. Respondents countered that the alleged environmental hazards were improbable, as volunteers had helped set up garbage disposals and portable toilets.55 But the appeal was dismissed by the court, and the city proceeded to evict based on the mere assumption of environmental impacts.
Water and sanitation access for recently arrived Roma in Sweden cannot be understood without reviewing the historic discrimination against Roma populations. The Swedish government’s white paper on rights abuses against Roma in the 20th century compiles this record in detail, providing an important context for examining Roma’s water and sanitation access in recent years.57 While the white paper does not explicitly focus on water and sanitation, it is clear that these have been central components of discrimination against Roma over the decades.
To date, Swedish municipal authorities have carried out scores of evictions on sanitation grounds without addressing their own obligations to ensure the human rights to water and sanitation of the residents of these informal settlements.65 Yet some Swedish municipalities have taken steps to progressively realize the human rights of the vulnerable EU citizens who have joined their communities. Several of these are described below.
Accessible and affordable public toilets are another incremental approach. A number of Swedish cities have experimented with providing public toilets in tourist-heavy areas. For example, Gothenburg installed 15 free public toilets in critical areas around the city in 2012.70 In 2013, Gothenburg was also the first Swedish city to install “pop-up” public urinals that emerge only at night in areas of high usage.71 Similar innovative approaches near informal settlements could help alleviate the sanitation issues in these settings.
Household water may also be provided in ways that target residents of informal settlements. In an urban area with an existing water infrastructure, repurposing existing connections to serve an informal settlement may be easily accomplished.72 Alternatively, portable water sources can be located near informal settlements on a temporary basis to ensure access to water until longer-term solutions can be devised.
Currently, most public toilets in Sweden require payment of 5 to 10 SEK. Taking into account that healthy individuals use the toilet up to 10 times each day, this fee can take a percentage of a vulnerable EU citizen’s daily earnings far above the 3% figure recommended by the United Nations Development Programme.73 These costs can represent a serious deterrent to using the facilities.
Access is also a critical issue. Public toilets and water sources in tourist areas are not likely to be accessible to Roma living in informal settlements in other parts of the city. Further, many public facilities do not have evening hours.75 Public facilities will not meet human rights standards unless they take these practical considerations into account. If, on the other hand, a municipality places accessible water and sanitation facilities in locations where informal settlements can be tolerated, it can further minimize the pressures that might lead to eviction.
The participation of affected individuals is critical to the success of any of these approaches.78 Given the personal and often intimate nature of water and sanitation usage, only through engagement with the affected individuals can municipalities develop approaches that will fulfill human rights and alleviate stresses on the environment and surrounding communities. Once a municipality ensures that realistic, human rights-based solutions to the dilemmas of water and sanitation access for informal settlements are in place, the locality could then be justified in proceeding against individual residents should they abuse the facilities provided. However, community participation in the development of these solutions is the best way to minimize failures of this kind.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 15, The Right to Water, UN Doc. E/C.12/2002/11 (2003); C. de Albuquerque, Report of the independent expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, UN Doc. A/HRC/12/24 (2009), para. 63. See generally I. Winkler, “The human right to sanitation,” University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 37 (2016), p. 4; M. Holst Jensen, M. Villumsen, and T. Petersen, The AAAQ framework and the right to water: International indicators for availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality (Copenhagen: Danish Institute for Human Rights, 2014).
See C. de Albuquerque, UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation, UN Doc. A/HRC/21/42 (2012), para. 35.
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2009), arts. 1, 2.
European Union Council on Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs, Council Recommendation on effective Roma integration (December 2013), para. 1.6. Available at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/139979.pdf.
European Citizens’ Initiative, Water and sanitation are a human right! Water is a public good, not a commodity! (October 2012). Available at http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/initiatives/successful/details/2012/000003.
Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative “Water and sanitation are a human right! Water is a public good, not a commodity!” COM (2014) 177 final (March 19, 2014), p. 3.
European Parliament Resolution of 8 September 2015 on the Follow-Up to the European Citizens’ Initiative Right2Water, European Parliament Document 2239 (INI) (2015), para. 27.
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms § II, June 1, 2010, C.E.T.S. No. 194, art. 2; European Social Charter, C.E.T.S. No. 035 (entered into force February 26, 1965), arts. 11, 13, 30, 31.
Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation (2001)14E of 17 October 2001, art. 5.
General Comment No. 15 (see note 2), para. 1.
UN General Assembly, Resolution 64/292, UN Doc. A/RES/64/292 (2010).
UN General Assembly, Resolution 70/169, UN Doc. A/RES/70/169 (2015), p. 4.
General Comment No. 15 (see note 2), paras. 20–29.
Winkler (see note 2), p. 40.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 3, The Nature of States Parties Obligations, UN Doc. E/1991/23 (1990), para. 9.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 20, Non-Discrimination in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, UN Doc. E/C.12/GC/20 (2009), para. 8.
Ibid., para. 8(b). See also General Comment No. 15 (see note 2), para. 15.
United Nations Human Settlements Programme, Habitat III issue papers 22: Informal settlements (May 2015), p. 1.
General Comment No. 20 (see note 18), para. 25.
General Comment No. 15 (see note 2), para. 16(c).
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Housing conditions of Roma and travellers in the European Union comparative report (Vienna: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2009), p. 66.
Z. Vuksanovic-Macura, “The mapping and enumeration of informal Roma settlements in Serbia,” Environment and Urbanization 24/2 (2012), p. 687.
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, European minorities and discrimination survey: Roma—Selected findings (Vienna: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2016).
B. Wigerfelt and A. Wigerfelt, “Anti-Gypsyism in Sweden: Roma’s and travellers’ experiences of bias motivated crime,” Internet Journal of Criminology (2015).
Application No. 46889/16, Erdjan BEKIR and Others against the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Statement of Facts, European Court of Human Rights (2016). Available at http://www.errc.org/article/bekir-and-others-v-macedonia-pending/4531.
Sweden Discrimination Act (2008:567); Council of Europe Directive 200/43/EC.
Swedish National Institute of Public Health, Sweden’s strategy for Roma inclusion: 2012–2032 (Stockholm: Swedish National Institute of Public health, 2013).
See H. Engblom and M. Troncota, “Romania and Sweden need to keep trying to find a solution for the Roma beggars,” FutureLab Europe (September 4, 2015). Available at https://futurelabeurope.eu/2015/09/04/romania-and-sweden-need-to-keep-trying-to-find-a-solution-for-the-roma-beggars.
For more evidence regarding water discrimination against Roma in Europe, see European Roma Rights Centre (see note 25).
C. Cahn and E. Guild, Recent migration of Roma in Europe (Vienna: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 2010).
Treaty of the European Union, art. 3.2; Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, arts. 20–21; Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.
Directive 2004/38/EC (see note 36), art. 7.1.
Statens Offentliga Utredningar 2016:6, Framtid sökes – slutredovisning från den nationella samordnaren för utsatta EU-medborgare (2016), p. 42.
Aliens Act (Utlänningslagen), ch. 8, sec. 9.
Statens Offentliga Utredningar 2016:6, Framtid sökes – slutredovisning från den nationella samordnaren för utsatta EU-medborgare (2016), p. 44.
See K. Ritter, “With Roma migrants, poverty returns to Sweden,” Associated Press (November 6, 2015). Available at https://federalnewsradio.com/world-news/2015/11/with-roma-migrants-poverty-returns-to-sweden.
A. Djuve, J. Friberg, G. Tyldum, and H. Zhang. When poverty meets affluence: Migrants from Romania on the streets of the Scandinavian capitals (Oslo: Fafo, 2015), p. 14.
National Board of Health and Welfare, Homelessness in Sweden 2011. Available at http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/publikationer2012/homelessnessinsweden2011/Documents/Homelessness-in-Sweden-2011.pdf.
Social Welfare Act (Socialtjänstlagen), ch. 2, sec. 1; Swedish Association of Local Authorities, Några juridiska frågor gällande utsatta medborgare, memo (December 9, 2014), p. 2.
RÅ 1995 ref 70, Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden.
Civil Rights Defenders, Utsatta Unionsmedborgare i Sverige: Statens skyldigheter enligt internationella människorättsnormer, EU-rätt och svensk rätt 37-38 (2015).
European Commission, “End of restrictions on free movement of workers from Bulgaria and Romania: Statement by László Andor, European commissioner for employment, social affairs and inclusion,” press release (January 1, 2014). Available at http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-1_en.htm.
Statens Offentliga Utredningar 2016:6, Framtid sökes – slutredovisning från den nationella samordnaren för utsatta EU-medborgare (2016), pp. 68–69, 73.
Swedish Enforcement Authority, Applicant Stockholm Stad Exploateringskontoret, Case number 21-75620-15.
Swedish Enforcement Authority, Applicant Stockholm Stad Exploateringskontoret, Case number 01-155744-13.
Swedish Enforcement Authority, Applicant Uppsala kommun, Case number 21-142309-14.
Swedish Enforcement Authority, Applicant Stockholm Skarpnäck Stadsdelsförvaltning, Case numbers 01-120154-14 and 01-185819-14.
Swedish Enforcement Authority, Applicant Stockholm Spånga-Tensta Stadsdelsförvaltning, Case number 01-14083-16.
Swedish Enforcement Authority, Applicant Sollentuna kommun, Case number 22-42474-14.
Swedish Enforcement Authority, Applicant Skara kommun, Case number 14-32010-15.
Statens Offentliga Utredningar 2014:8; Swedish Ministry of Culture, The dark unknown history: White paper on abuses and rights violations against Roma in the 20th century (Stockholm: Swedish Ministry of Culture, 2014).
Swedish Ministry of Culture (see note 57), p. 167.
Statens Offentliga Utredningar (see note 57), p. 193.
Göteborgs Stad Social Resursförvaltning, Illegala bosättningar i Göteborg: En samordnad bild av förvaltningar i Göteborgs stad som arbetar för att förhindra illegala bosättningar (2014).
N. Mesˇic and C. Woolfson, “Roma berry pickers in Sweden: Economic crisis and new contingents of the austeriat,” Transfer: European Review of labour and Research 21/1(2015), pp. 37, 44.
“Council of Europe sends letter to Bulgaria PM over forced evictions of Roma,” FOCUS News Agency (February 16, 2016). Available at http://www.focus-fen.net//news/2016/02/16/398302/council-of-europe-sends-letter-to-bulgaria-pm-over-forced-evictions-of-roma.html.
T. van Lindert and D. Lettinga, “Introduction,” in T. van Lindert and D. Lettinga (eds), The future of human rights in an urban world: Exploring opportunities, threats and challenges (Amsterdam: Amnesty International, 2014), pp. 7–8.
K. Zelano, G. Bucken-Knapp, J. Hinnfors, and A. Spehar, Urban implications of CEE migration to Gothenburg and Stockholm: Country report Sweden, Imagination Working Paper No. 8 (March 2015), p. 21.
Administrative Court of Linköping [Förvaltningsrätten i Linköping], case number 611-14, 9 June 2014.
Interview with P. Eriksson, Crossroads, Lund, Sweden, March 5, 2016.
P. Ferm, “EU migrants have left Helsingborg,” Helsingborgs Dagblad (March 29, 2016). Available at http://www.hd.se/lokalt/helsingborg/2016/03/29/eu-migranterna-har-lamnat-helsingborg.
B. Kendall, “Free public toilets to Gothenburg,” Goteborg Daily (June 27, 2012). Available at http://www.goteborgdaily.se/free-public-toilets-to-gothenburg.
“Toilets are popping up on city streets at night,” CityMetric (December 2, 2014). Available at http://www.citymetric.com/horizons/toilets-are-popping-city-streets-night-534.
See, for example, Leeds City Council guidance sheet 4: Temporary drinking supplies. Available at http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Temporary%20Water%20Supplies%20Guidance.pdf.
United Nations Development Programme, Human development report 2006: Beyond scarcity; Power, poverty and the global water crisis (New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2006), p. 97.
See, for example, Plan for offentliga toaletter i Varbergs kommun (2013). Available at http://www.varberg.se/download/18.4a2ced49142b85dd4d41c81/1387274619441/Plan+f%C3%B6r+offentliga+toaletter+i+Varbergs+kommun.pdf.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Access to water in refugee situations: Survival, health and dignity for refugees. Available at http://www.un.org/arabic/waterforlifedecade/unhcr_water_brochure.pdf; Emergency handbook from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, WASH in camps. Available at https://emergency.unhcr.org/entry/39930/wash-in-camps.
C. de Albuquerque and V. Roaf, On the right track: Good practices in realising the rights to water and sanitation (Lisbon: 2012), p. 136.
See C. de Albuquerque, Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, UN Doc. A/69/213 (2014).

References: art. 2
 art. 5

Application No. 46889
 art. 3
 art. 7
 V.