The complaint was registered on 12 July 2019. It concerns Article E read in conjunction with 1§2 (the right to work), 11§1 (the right to protection of health), 12§1 (the right to social security), 13§1 (the right to social and medical assistance), 15§3 (the right of persons with disabilities to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community), 16 (the right of the family to social, legal and economic protection) and 17 (the right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection). ERRC argued that a massive and disproportionate police operation targeting 19 halting sites for Travellers was carried out in Belgium on 7 May 2019 with the aim of seizing caravans, cars, and other property from many Travellers under the assumption that all Travellers across the country were involved in a criminal activity. The CEDR alleges that the Belgian authorities failed to take into account individual circumstances or health consequences when seizing the property and freezing the bank accounts of those Traveller families concerned by this complaint in breach of the above-mentioned provisions of the Charter.
Following Observations by the Government on admissibility and request for immediate measures and a response from the ERRC to the Government's observations on admissibility and request for immediate measures,the European Committee of Social Rights issued a decision on admissibility and on immediate measures on May 14 2020.
The immediate measures that had been requested by the ERRC in accordance with rule 36 of the Rules of the Committee include:
- ceasing the sale of the caravans seized on or after 7 May 2019 in the context of the police operation and return them to their owners who have been left homeless, or where appropriate, provide adequate housing for families who have become homeless;
- unblocking bank accounts and return to their owners the funds belonging to, or held by them;
- stopping the seizure of belongings from Travellers in the context of the police operation;
- restoring and/or assist in re-registering the number plates of vehicles de-registered.
The Government objects to the admissibility of the complaint on the basis that the alleged violations are unsubstantiated and that the complaint contains many factual inaccuracies in its description of the police operation and the criminal investigations concerned. According to the Government, allegations of discrimination and unjustified deprivation of social rights of a particular community should be rejected, as the police and judicial actions have had a proportionate impact on Travellers as well as on public officials and other persons involved in the legal action. Moreover, the Government considers that the request for immediate measures should be rejected with a view to safeguarding the proper course of the criminal investigation and the fight against organised crime.
The Committee unanimously declared the complaint admissible, and and unanimously decided to indicate the following immediate measures to the Government:
- Adopt all possible measures with a view to avoiding serious, irreparable injury to the integrity of persons belonging to the Traveller community at immediate risk of being deprived of fundamental social rights, in particular:
- to guarantee that persons whose caravans have been seized are not rendered homeless or forced to live in unacceptable living conditions;
- to ensure that all affected persons have due access to water, sanitation, electricity, necessary medical and social assistance as well as to legal aid, in particular taking into account the needs of the vulnerable groups concerned (including children, persons with disabilities and elderly persons);
- Ensure that all the relevant public authorities are made aware of this decision and inform the Committee without delay of the measures taken to implement it.
You can read all documents and the decision in full here.
