Deportation of Roma from Belgium
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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 09:54:26 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: Deportation of Roma from Belgium
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <[email protected]>
Deportation of Roma from Belgium
On October 7, 1999, the ERRC sent a letter to Mr Guy Verhofstadt, the
Belgian Prime Minister, to condemn the Belgian government's legally
dubious deportation to Slovakia on October 5, 1999, of 74 Romani
asylum seekers - a number of whom still had pending asylum claims - as
well as the underhanded and deceitful manner in which the deportation
was apparently carried out. Copies of the letter were also sent to Mr
Johan Vande Lanotte, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for
the Budget, Social Integration and Social Economy, and Mr Antoine
Duquesne, Minister of the Interior. The text of the ERRC letter
follows:
Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), an international public
interest law organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and
provides legal defence in cases of abuse, writes to condemn the
Belgian government's legally dubious deportation to Slovakia on
October 5, 1999, of 74 Romani asylum seekers - a number of whom still
had pending asylum claims - as well as the underhanded and deceitful
manner in which the deportation was apparently carried out. We call on
your government to:
a) reverse this decision by offering to pay for all 74 Romani
deportees to return to Belgium and to ensure that their applications
for asylum be given due consideration in accordance with the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees; and
b) ensure that several hundred other Romani asylum seekers from
Slovakia presently remaining in Belgium are not expelled so long as
their asylum applications have not been given adequate consideration
by all appropriate judicial authorities, including but not limited to
the State Council (Conseil d'Etat).
The deportation of asylum applicants prior to exhaustion of their last
available judicial appeal is contrary to the spirit of the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and, in the context of
Roma from Slovakia, constitutes a breach of Article 3 of the European
Convention on Human Rights, insofar as improper deportation runs a
grave risk of subjecting Roma from Slovakia to inhuman and degrading
treatment. In addition, the fact that 74 persons of Romani ethnicity
were singled out for this invidious special treatment raises concerns
about Belgium's compliance with Article 3 of the 1951 Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees, which requires non-discrimination
in access to asylum. Finally, the legally questionable nature of the
Belgian government's action is underlined both by its precipitous
character and by the authorities' apparent determination to prevent
the European Court of Human Rights from considering the Romani
applicants' claims before they had been ferreted out of the country.
The 74 deported Roma were reportedly called in by local police
authorities in the towns of Gant and Tirlemont, on the orders of the
Interior Ministry, on September 30 and October 1, under the false
pretext that they must complete additional forms as part of their
asylum application procedure. Once the Roma entered the police
facilities, however, they were immediately rounded up and transferred
to a closed detention centre called "127 'bis'" at the outskirts of
Brussels, where they remained under heavy police surveillance until
their deportation on October 5.
The Belgian government's decision to proceed with deportation on
October 5 is all the more disturbing in light of reports that, earlier
the same day, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, in
response to a complaint filed on behalf of the Roma applicants by the
Belgian League for Human Rights, had expressly requested that the
Belgian government stay deportation for eight days to permit
consideration of whether such deportation would violate the European
Convention of Human Rights. In a communication reportedly faxed to the
Ministry of Justice at 4:00 p.m. on October 5, the European Court
requested the Belgian government to provide information by no later
than October 8 concerning: (i) whether it had given due consideration
to the applicants' claims that they would be subjected to inhuman and
degrading treatment in Slovakia, and; (ii) the basis on which it had
proceeded to expel asylum applicants whose cases had not yet reached a
final decision by the State Council (Conseil d'Etat). Almost two hours
after the receipt of the European Court's request for a stay, the Roma
were deported from Brussels national airport.
The Belgian government's apparent disregard for the European Court of
Human Rights was only affirmed by the statements of officials
subsequently asked to explain why the government had gone to such
effort to avoid independent consideration of the deportations'
legality. Thus, on October 6, a spokesperson of the Interior Ministry
told Radio Free Europe that the Strasbourg ruling is non-binding.
Moreover, this Interior Ministry official is reported to have said,
the government had acted lawfully since, in the government's view, the
European Court would certainly have agreed had it considered the
matter.
As a strictly legal matter, it may be true that the European Court's
request for a stay of deportation was not binding. Nonetheless, it
would seem inconsistent with the spirit of the European Convention for
a state first to go to great effort to prevent the Court from
considering a claim, then to brush off questions concerning the
legality of a challenged action with the confident assertion that, had
it considered the claim, the Court surely would have agreed with the
government. At a minimum, Belgium's haste to proceed and its apparent
determination to avoid a European Court ruling on the merits only
raise further questions as to the legality of the deportations.
Finally, Mr. Minister, these deportations are especially troubling,
given that, as we noted in a letter to you dated September 30, 1999,
Roma in Slovakia routinely suffer racial discrimination and
racially-motivated violence, and Slovak authorities have repeatedly
failed to guarantee the rights of Roma to physical security and
equality, and to provide remedy in cases in which their rights have
been violated. As in our September 30 letter, we again respectfully
refer you to the United Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees' 1998
Guidelines relating to the Eligibility of Slovak Roma Asylum Seekers.
These Guidelines found it "clear" that "Slovak Roma may well be able
to substantiate refugee claims based on severe discrimination on
ethnic grounds."
Mr. Minister, ERRC is deeply troubled by your government's apparent
failure to adhere to its obligations under international law. We urge
you to take all actions which may be necessary and proper, including
those detailed above, to remedy the harm already caused to the 74 Roma
deported on October 5, and to ensure that Romani asylum applicants do
not suffer discriminatory treatment in Belgium in the future.
Sincerely,
Dimitrina Petrova
Executive Director
Persons wishing to express similar concerns are urged to contact Prime
Minister Mr Guy Verhofstadt at the fax number: (32 2) 512 69 53.
*****************
The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest
law organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal
defence in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the
European Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at
http://errc.org.
European Roma Rights Center
H-1525 Budapest 114
PO Box 10/24
Hungary
Telephone: (36 1) 42 82 351
Fax: (36 1) 42 82 356
*****************
SUPPORT THE ERRC!
The European Roma Rights Center is dependent upon the generosity of
individual donors for its continued existence. If you believe the ERRC
performs a service valuable to the public, please join in enabling its
future with a contribution. Gifts of all sizes are welcome; bank
tranfers are preferred. Please send your contribution to:
European Roma Rights Center
Budapest Bank Rt.
99P00402686
1054 Budapest
Bathory utca 1
Hungary
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