Roma, Sinti and travellers are the most disadvantaged and discriminated against population groups in Europe, according to the European Court of Human Rights. They have the right to live in a caravan, but there are not enough sites in the Netherlands due to years of active government policy. The waiting time for a pitch is sometimes more than 25 years and part of the community will probably never get a place. There is also insufficient diversity in the supply and they often face discrimination.
The Dutch government has co-signed several human rights treaties that require the government to ensure that the caravan culture is protected and that there are enough sites for them. This is necessary so that travellers can live according to their traditions and cultural identity.
The government neglected this obligation for many years and even actively opposed it. After the Woonwagenwet was abolished in 1999, municipalities became responsible for housing travellers. At that time, the central government did propose five policy options to municipalities. The first two variants constituted the so-called “extinction policy”: the zero option, where vacant sites were removed or where residents were offered other housing; and the phasing-out policy, where the number of caravan sites were reduced to a core stock. The phase-out policy greatly reduced the number of caravan sites in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands was taken to task internationally over the discriminatory phase-out policy (including in 2013 by ECRI and in 2015 by CERD). This also happened in the Netherlands, by the Human Rights Board (in 2014 about the municipality of Oss where PILP supported and in 2017 about the central government, where PILP also intervened). In 2017, the National Ombudsman concluded that the (local) government did not place human rights sufficiently at the center of woonwagenbeleid.
New travellers’ policy has insufficient effect
Representatives of Roma, Sinti and travellers together with PILP, supported by law firm Houthoff, wrote to the central government that the central government policy should be adjusted so that the rights of caravan dwellers would no longer be violated. This led, after consultations and multiple meetings with caravan dwellers, academics and the central government, to the new policy framework for caravan policy presented on July 13, 2018. The central government recognizes that caravan dwellers have the right to live in a caravan and that municipalities should make this possible.
Unfortunately, the new policy framework is not having sufficient effect. Most municipalities in the Netherlands are not addressing it quickly and decisively enough. Consequently, according to the National Ombudsman and the Human Rights Board, the rights of caravan dwellers have not been adequately protected for too long and the special position travellers is not sufficiently taken into account. This leads to discrimination.
What does PILP do?
The goal of PILP is to support Roma, Sinti and travellers in the Netherlands in the protection and realization of their rights. PILP focuses primarily on the issues surrounding the policy on caravaning, such as the shortage of (diverse) caravan sites and discriminatory policies at the municipal and national level.
To achieve this goal, PILP has been available to advise Roma, Sinti and travellers since its inception in 2014. PILP has also been involved in several legal proceedings and investigations since then.
PILP has also worked with representatives of Roma, Sinti and travellers to draw attention to discriminatory caravan policies in the media. For example at The Hague Talks with Sabina Achterberg.
