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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Romas to leave emergency housing | Romas to leave emergency housing |
| (about 1 hour 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. |
| Twelve single people in the group of 25 must move out by Friday, while families with children have until Tuesday. | Twelve single people in the group of 25 must move out by Friday, 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 Kinney, from the Housing Executive, said they had carried out interviews with the families. | Liam Kinney, from the Housing Executive, said they had carried out interviews with the families. |
| He said the families were not eligible for assistance with permanent social housing. | He said the families were not eligible for assistance with permanent social housing. |
| Jolena Flett, from the NI Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM), said a strategy needed to be put in place for people who had no recourse or access to social funding. | |
| She said the families had ended up in NICEM's offices because no-one else was able to help them. | |
| However, she said the Roma people should also be aware of their responsibilities and the limited help available. | |
| "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. | "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. |