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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Romas to leave emergency housing | Romas to leave emergency housing |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| A group of Romas who were taken to emergency accommodation after being evicted from their house in Belfast have been told they must move on again. | A group of Romas who were taken to emergency accommodation after being evicted from their house in Belfast have been told they must move on again. |
| The Housing Executive said it had no authority to provide permanent housing for people from Romania. | The Housing Executive said it had no authority to provide permanent housing for people from Romania. |
| Eight men amongst the group of 21 must move out by Saturday, while families with children have until Tuesday. | Eight men amongst the group of 21 must move out by Saturday, while families with children have until Tuesday. |
| The Romas were evicted from their house on Tuesday in a dispute over rent and their landlord's concerns about safety. | The Romas were evicted from their house on Tuesday in a dispute over rent and their landlord's concerns about safety. |
| Some of the residents in the house had only recently returned to Northern Ireland after being targeted in a series of racist attacks in June. | Some of the residents in the house had only recently returned to Northern Ireland after being targeted in a series of racist attacks in June. |
| They had initially refused to leave, saying that they had nowhere else to go, but social services organised for them to stay in hostels. | They had initially refused to leave, saying that they had nowhere else to go, but social services organised for them to stay in hostels. |
| Liam Campbell, from the Housing Executive, said they had carried out an assessment with the families. | Liam Campbell, from the Housing Executive, said they had carried out an assessment with the families. |
| He said they were fairly certain they were Romanian nationals and therefore their entitlement was fairly limited because the country had not been fully brought into the European Union. | He said they were fairly certain they were Romanian nationals and therefore their entitlement was fairly limited because the country had not been fully brought into the European Union. |
| Jolena Flett, from the NI Council for Ethnic Minorities, said a strategy needed to be put in place for people who had no recourse or access to social funding. | Jolena Flett, from the NI Council for Ethnic Minorities, said a strategy needed to be put in place for people who had no recourse or access to social funding. |
| However, she said the Romas must learn to abide by the law. | However, she said the Romas must learn to abide by the law. |
| "They have to understand that if they break the terms of their rental agreements, they will be evicted and that the state cannot and will not help them," she said. |