Gurmen Residents Protest in Sofia  Against Illegal Roma Buildings

Sofia, July 18 (BTA) - Around one hundred residents of Gurmen
Municipality (southern Bulgaria) staged a protest on Saturday in
 front of the Council of Ministers building against the State's
tolerance for illegal construction in Gurmen's Kremikovtsi Roma
neighbourhood.

The protestors had given the Executive until July 18, the
birthday of Bulgarian revolutionary and freedom fighter Vassil
Levski, to solve the problem. After the ghetto's demolition was
delayed, they came to Sofia to express their discontent.
According to them, the State has given up on demolishing the
illegal buildings, which have been erected on municipal
agricultural land.

The demolition of illegal homes - a total of 124 of them - in
this Roma neighbourhood was prompted by anti-Roma riots in
Gurmen. They started as a row between residents of Gurmen
Municipality and Roma people over a trivial issue on May 23 and
caused serious tension in the following few days and brought to
light a conflict which had simmered for many years.

Four houses in the Gurmen Roma neighbourhood have already been
bulldozed off by the construction supervision authorities and
over 20 more were slated for demolition by the end of July, but
a letter from the European Court of Human Rights put the
operation on hold until the Bulgarian authorities make sure
temporary housing is provided for the Roma left homeless by the
demolition.

The protestors demanded the resignations of Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Interior Roumyana Buchvarova, of
Regional Development Minister Liliyana Pavlova and of Prosecutor
 General Sotir Tsatsarov. In addition to that, they said that
they refuse to pay municipal taxes and waste disposal fees in
the future, as a sign of protest against the State's impotence
when it comes to addressing transgressors and petty crime.

A declaration was read during the protest, which will be
submitted to the Council of Ministers on Monday. It is addressed
 to President Rosen Plevneliev, Parliament Chair Tsetska
Tsacheva, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the Prosecutor General,
 the Interior Ministry, among other institutions. Residents of
the villages of Gurmen and Marchevo voice their disappointment
with the lack of tangible actions and the will to solve the
problems, stemming from the illegal squatting and construction
of buildings in the Podarkata area near the two villages.

The protestors warn in their petition that if no measures are
taken soon, tensions will escalate again and the consequences
will be unpredictable.

Regional Development Minister Liliyana Pavlova told bTV that the
 demolition of illegal buildings will continue. "We have
selected a contractor and another 20 buildings will be
demolished according to schedule. We are waiting for Gurmen
Municipality to inform us whether alternative accommodation has
been offered to the inhabitants of those 20 buildings and
whether they have agreed or refused to move, after which we will
 start demolishing," she explained.

Pavlova further noted that tendering resignations right now will
 not solve the problem. "It is the Municipality's fault, because
 it tolerates the establishment of a compact Roma population in
this neighbourhood," she said, adding that the fight against
illegal construction will continue. According to her around 800
illegal buildings are razed each year and 400 have been
demolished since the beginning of 2015.