Moreover, as part of the resettlement processes related to both the Gazela and Sava projects, Roma people have been resettled in metal accommodation containers on the Belgrade periphery far from their income source of recycling activities. Here they have not been permitted to collect or store waste items that they can recycle or sell at the sites.

In the case of the Gazela Bridge, 61 families have been bussed to southern Serbia from the Gazela Bridge environs in spite of already having emigrated from there due to the lack of income opportunities. Around 114 families from Gazela Bridge were bussed to the outskirts of Belgrade and given accommodation in metal containers.

More widely, and most importantly, Serbia still lacks a national legal framework for resettlement, displaying a total lack of political will to solve the problems of Roma and other vulnerable groups in Serbia. Belgrade still does not have an action plan for the inclusion of Roma, and instead is adopting a piecemeal case-by-case approach, with standards depending on whether international financial institutions are involved or not. In cases where these bodies are not involved, resettlement simply consists of eviction, with no alternative accommodation provided.

According to the Serbian government, “there are some 600 Roma settlements in Serbia and over 100 in Belgrade alone”. In Belgrade there are around 30,000 Roma who continue to live in sub-standard, unhygienic settlements without adequate or – in many cases – any services.

EBRD clanger offset by pledges from new president

Against this troubling background, the recycling centre highlighted by the EBRD near the Orlovsko Naselje container settlement in the Zvezdara district started operations in 2011, with about 30 informal waste collectors – mainly Roma – organised in a co-operative, and able to make some earnings through the centre. In 2012 the number of collectors is predicted to rise to between 50 and 100. This is a good start and the initiative is praiseworthy.

However, inflating this small ray of light into the idea that Belgrade has in general become a role model for social inclusion of Roma is not only dishonest but may also make it much harder to promote Roma rights in the city. As might be expected to happen, the EBRD’s clumsy publicity resulted in an outburst of self-congratulatory articles in the Serbian media.

The plight of the Roma in Belgrade was raised at the beginning of September with Sir Suma Chakrabarti, the new president of the EBRD, during a meeting with Serbian civil society. Jovana Vuković, director of the Belgrade-based human rights NGO Regional Center for Minorities, expressed concern over the failure of the EBRD and the Belgrade and Serbia authorities to provide for people resettled in metal containers as a result of the Gazela project in 2009. Vuković called on the EBRD to take responsibility and provide support for a long term housing solution, as well as the need to produce a strategy to support the resettled population’s efforts to find employment and a decent standard of living.

Chakrabarti expressed surprise that the situation is so grave and pledged that he would personally request a revision of the process, the formulation of a plan to assist the economic activity of the resettled population and that a plan for long term housing would be provided for all the resettled families affected by the Gazela and Sava projects.