The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović published her submission to the Committee of Ministers on the forced evictions, stigmatisation and marginalisation of Roma in Bulgaria in the context of the supervision of the execution of the judgment by the European Court of Human Rights in a 2012 case that concerns  the planned eviction of Roma people from an informal settlement in Sofia.

According to the court, this is a violation of the right to private and family life under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Commissioner stresses that in addition to seriously infringing the right to adequate housing, forced evictions may in fact lead to violations of a wide spectrum of human rights, meaning that it is essential to prevent them.

Dunja Mijatović reiterates her concerns about the numerous obstacles to Roma access to social housing, including public opposition at local level, which has led some municipalities to cancel construction projects.