Petition against fencing Roma settlements in block 67 in Belgrade / Peticija protiv ograđivanja romskih naselja u bloku 67 u Beogradu

To:  The Authorities of the City of Belgrade, Government of the Republic of Serbia

Petition against fencing Roma settlements in block 67 in Belgrade / Peticija protiv ograđivanja romskih naselja u bloku 67 u Beogradu

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molimo da pogledate dole za verziju na srpskom / please scroll down for Serbian version
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Three months before the opening of the Universiade, Belgrade’s City Secretariat for Inspections decided to destroy the Roma slum settlement located right next to the athlete’s village “Belleville” (residential area for athletes). On April the 3rd 2009 all of a sudden a couple of bulldozers showed up at the settlement and demolished 40 houses. As the demolition was carried out without any prior notice to the residents, the people did not even have time to save their belongings from being buried under the ruins. A few of them were practically rescued from their houses in the very moment when the bulldozers were demolishing them.

As a consequence of this, a series of public protests opposing the humiliating policy was organized, and it made a public pressure on the City Secretariat’s decision-makers to an extent that they did not dare to terminate what they started: the total erasure of the settlement. The new strategy is to erase the settlement’s visibility and to ban its residents from the streets. On June 16th 2009, a metal fence was built around the settlement. The fence is guarded by police and security staff on both sides, inside and outside the settlement. A few days before the opening of the Universiade, a banner was installed on the fence in order to hide the settlement. The residents are randomly forbidden to leave the settlement, which does not only limit their freedom of movement but also prevents them from carrying out their regular daily work on the streets of Belgrade, their only source of income.

We will not accept the humiliation of our fellow citizens, nor the attempt to forge reality. The true image of Serbia is composed of images such as fancy “Belleville” area and Roma slum settlements being located right next to each other. It is composed of corruption on highest level and the cutback of laborer’s rights and mass dismissals. It is composed of the privatization of the Universities and the sad fact that high-publicity events such as the Universiade are more important than human lives and dignity. No fence will be able to change or hide that – no matter how big it may be.

We demand that the fence around the Roma settlement in Block 67 is removed IMMEDIATELY. We demand that the City of Belgrade finally assumes its responsibility to improve the unacceptable living conditions of tens of thousands Belgrade citizens who are forced to live in one of the approximately 150 slum settlements all over the city.

No to ghettoization of our neighborhood “for the benefit of the city”!
No to Universiade or any public event if it is at the expense of human dignity!
No to the authorities that value capital over human life and use racist strategies to manage their policies!


Other Scene (Druga scena) and international friends
Platform of Belgrade independent cultural and activist scene
www.drugascena.org

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verzija na srpskom / Serbian version
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Tri meseca pre otvaranja Univerzijade, Gradski sekretarijat za inspekcijske poslove je odlučio da sruši romsko naselje koje se nalazi pored Univerzitetskog sela „Belville“. Trećeg aprila 2009 iznenadnom akcijom, bagerima je srušeno četrdeset kuća. Kako se rušenje dogodilo bez prethodnog upozorenja stanovnika, ljudi nisu imali vremena ni da sačuvaju svoje stvari. Nekoliko ljudi je praktično spašeno iz ruševina u momentu kada je bager rušio njihove kuće.

Kao reakcija, organizovan je niz javnih protesta koji su se usportivili ovoj ponižavajućoj politici. To je stvorilo takav pritisak na zvaničnike Gradskog sekretarijata da se oni nisu usudili da završe ono što su počeli: da potpuno zbrišu naselje. Nova strategija koja se zatim pojavila je da se izbriše vidljivost naselja i da se zabrani njegovim stanovnicima da se kreću okolnim ulicama.

16. juna 2009. postavljeni su žičana ograda oko romskih naselja, obezbeđenje i policija sa spoljne strane ograde, a pred samo otvaranje Univerzijade su na ogradu postavljeni i baneri Univerzijade kako bi se sakrila romska naselja iza ograde. Pored toga, postavljena je i patrola policije koja dežura duž ograde unutar naselja. Stanovnicima je zabranjeno da izlaze iz naselja, zabranjeno im je da šetaju ulicama pored Belvila, zabranjeno im je da skupljaju sirovine iz okolnih kontejnera (što je skoro jedini izvor njihovog prihoda). Ovim merama, stanovnicima je ograničeno kretanje, a samim tim i uskraćena mogućnost da rade.

Nećemo dopustiti da se na ovaj način ponižavaju naši sugrađani i da se krivotvori realnost, jer se prava slika Srbije dobija tek kada se jedna pored druge stave slike Belvila i romskih naselja, korupcije na najvišem nivou i otpuštenih radnika, privatizacije univerziteta i Univerzijade koja je važnija od ljudskih života i dostojanstva. Nikakva ograda neće moći ovo da sakrije – ma koliko bila velika.

Zahtevamo da se ODMAH ukloni ograda oko romskih naselja u Bloku 67. Zahtevamo da grad Beograd konačno preuzme odgovoronost da unapredi neprihvatljive uslove života desetina hiljada građana Beograda koji su primorani da žive u oko 150 slamova širom grada.

Ne pristajemo da se za „dobrobit grada“ deo naših sugrađana zatvara u geto!
Ne želimo Univerzijadu koja gazi ljudsko dostojanstvo!
Ne želimo vlast za koju kapital ima prednost nad životom i za koju rasizam predstavlja jedan od glavnih postulata upravljanja.

Druga scena i prijatelji
platforma beogradske nezavisne kulturno-umetničke i aktivističke scene www.drugascena.org

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Petition against fencing Roma settlements in block 67 in Belgrade / Peticija protiv ograđivanja romskih naselja u bloku 67 u Beogradu Petition to The Authorities of the City of Belgrade, Government of the Republic of Serbia was created by and written by Ivana Marjanovic (kontekstgalerija@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.