Slovakia: Study reveals institutional racism and segregation of Romani households in public rental housing
A new report from Amnesty International states that the right to affordable housing is being "grossly, systematically violated" in Slovakia. Called "The Unattainable Right to Housing", the report warns of serious cases of discrimination predominantly against Romani households. Such people are being subjected to institutional racism and segregation in public rental housing, which leads to their being assigned to localities which are substandard, where living conditions are poor.
Amnesty International’s research has revealed that towns such as Banská Bystrica, Nitra and Žilina systematically assign mostly Romani families to localities which are segregated where the housing conditions are worse than in the rest of the rental units owned by the municipality. They face many obstacles in such areas, including poor technical conditions, limited access to drinking water, and rental contracts which are disadvantageous to them in that they do not include the legal protections they need as tenants. Among the most problematic such places are a particular apartment building on Internátní Street in Banská Bystrica, the Orechov dvor neighborhood in Nitra, and Bratislavská Street in Žilině.
Romani households are frequently forced to live in substandard apartment units which are in a poor state of technical repair, and they also do not receive adequate social support. In Nitra, for example, access to drinking water is limited. Amnesty International is also pointing to local authorities offering apartments to Romani families almost exclusively in segregated localities, placing the families in a marginalized position.
One such Romani resident, Ingrid, spoke of her experience to Amnesty International as follows: “I was in debt and a social worker came to my aid, but when it comes to assigning municipally-owned apartments, the only ones they offer to Roma are in segregated localities. When I was at the local authority, they would only offer me a unit in a Romani tenement, which I refused.”
Another problem stressed by Amnesty International is the practice of concluding short-term leases with Romani families which do not provide them with sufficient legal protection. Many families live in fear of losing their housing. One such tenant named Peter described his situation as follows to Amnesty: “The owner of the prefab apartment building does not pay for repairs or reconstruction. When I moved in, there wasn’t even a hot water heater. I had to repair everything myself, but I have just a month-to-month lease, so it would be irrational to invest any more money into the place.”
The affordable housing crisis affects groups which are the most vulnerable
The report also warns that the unaffordability of housing does not just affect Romani families, but also impacts other vulnerable groups, such as low-income families, senior citizens, and single-parent families irrespective of their ethnicity. The lack of financing and strict criteria for awarding publicly-owned apartments means many people who need social housing will never access it at all.
“Instead of state and local bodies in Slovakia recognizing housing as a human right, they transfer the responsibility for arranging for housing onto the people facing housing precarity, thereby contributing directly to the fact that thousands of people in Slovakia cannot satisfy their entitlement to housing,” said Rado Sloboda, director of Amnesty International Slovakia.
“If all people in Slovakia had access to affordable public rental housing without discrimination, many households would not have to spend disproportionately high amounts of their incomes on their housing costs, which frequently exceed the average rents in the European Union. Households with low incomes would then not have to face living in substandard conditions or even homelessness,” Sloboda said.
Public rental housing in Slovakia is, therefore, frequently unaffordable for those who most need it, and welfare benefits such as the contribution toward housing are totally inadequate. “The contribution toward housing, which is the only financial support from the state to arrange for housing, is not an appropriate instrument for aiding these low-income households with housing themselves. The contribution is completely inadequate and is linked to the benefits for aid to those in material distress, which is also problematic,” the organization’s press release about the report states.
The research was undertaken by Amnesty International Slovakia between January 2023 and April 2024. The organization analyzed local ordinances about housing in the regional capitals as well as strategic documents. As part of its field research in selected regional towns – Banská Bystrice, Nitra and Žilina – Amnesty International performed 117 interviews with people who have experience with homelessness and who reside in social care facilities, with people living in publicly-owned rental units, and with representatives of local authorities, social services and town halls.
