Budapest: demonstration against racist evictions
Organized by the Foundation of Romas' Civic Rights a demonstration has taken place in Budapest on Friday 9 December against evictions, segregation and racism. Together with roma families of the so called "dzsumbuj" of 9th district of Budapest, directly touched by the forced evictions also no roma hungarians have participated at the event.
The main cause of the demonstration was the antiracist attitude of the mayor of the 9th disctrict of Budapest, openly declaring "the necessity to clean his district of roma people". The council of the 9th district led by Ferenc Gegesy has signed an agreement with Bohus Ltd. charging the private owned company with the expulsion from their homes a monthly prefixed number of roma families illegitimely occupying disused dwellings and offices. In the sense of the illegitime and anticonstitutional contract, investing Bohus Ltd. with public powers, an amount of 288 million of hungarian forints more TVA has been granted to Bohus for its ethnical cleaning services. Ilona Sztojka, mother of four children has presented her expulsion case telling, that she has been put on the street pregnant in the 9th month. All their furnitures and furnishings have been destroyed, in a clear reprisal for their refusal to obey to the Bohus executors. Minister of welfare, Ms. Kinga Göncz has immediately suspended the cooperation agreement linking his departement with the council of the 9th district of Budapest, because of the antiroma policy of the mayor. Communique of Ms. Göncz has been published by the representative of his ministry during the demonstration. On behalf of the Hungarian Social Forum cwg I have assured the demonstration of our total solidarity and I have taken position in favour of the "Zero Eviction" strategy, demanding the banning of all evictions for any reasons during the period of social need of the families, adding, that in case of the court decision to evict people from their home, authorities must assure an alternative housing to them. Beeing the homeless problem and the evictions, together with the undernurihment, the most extreme symptoms of the poverty in Hungary, the HSF cwg has also sollicitated a european budget helping the moderation of the extreme poverty in Hungary as well as in other eastern european members of the EU, and the strenghtening of the social cohesion in our country in order to avoid to cause major damages to the democracy in Europe.
Endre Simo