Roma families allegedly causing problems on Družstevná Street in Malacky in Bratislava Region may be relocated to other parts of the town or to its surroundings, the TASR newswire wrote, based on documents drawn up by a working group of the Government Proxy for Roma and representatives of the local government in Malacky.

"One of the proposals of the working group is to establish the conditions for intense work with the Roma families via social work on the ground, and based on a request made by individual Roma families living on 5440/25 Družstevná Street, relocating them gradually and mediating their accommodation in various parts of the town and its vicinity in several phases," Iveta Duchoňová from the Government Proxy for Roma told TASR.

The Office of the Government Proxy and representatives of the local authority discussed options for providing substitute accommodation to the Roma if the responsible court decides to tear down the illegal buildings in which they are living.

Duchoňová said that her office does not view the dispute as an ethnic problem but as a personal conflict between neighbours. Nevertheless, she said her office views the behaviour of the Roma families as undesirable, contributing to deterioration of neighbourly co-existence. She claimed that both sides in the conflict have contributed to its escalation recently. White locals complain about daily verbal attacks and threats made against them by Roma families. They also claim that Roma have constructed illegal buildings, engaged in petty theft, entered their properties several times, destroyed a toilet and defecated outside.

The Roma allegedly received financial contributions from the local government in the village of Gajary which allowed them to buy housing in Malacky. It has been claimed that the village simply wanted to get rid of the large and troublesome family, TASR wrote. Currently as many as 35 people are living in a house with an area of 45 square metres. Three shacks adjacent to the house have been constructed on neighbours' property without a construction permit, TASR wrote.

Source: TASR

Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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