-3-
7.
Médecins du Monde requests the Committee to find that there has been a
violation of several provisions of the Charter (read alone or in conjunction with Article E)
with regards to the following rights: right to housing (Articles 16, 30 and 31), right of
migrant workers and their families to protection and assistance (Article 19§8), rights of
the child (Article 17), right to social protection and health (Articles 11 and 13).
B – The Government
8.
The Government accepts that the migrant Roma live in difficult conditions.
According to it, the French authorities are taking major steps to ensure that the Roma
have proper access to their rights under the Charter and, in so doing, have shown a
constant desire for improvement, which the Committee must acknowledge. It points out
that the difficulties faced by the Roma are accounted for primarily by their extremely
vulnerable position and on no account by discrimination against them in the sphere of
public policy.
9.
The Government therefore asks the Committee to find that there has been no
violation of the Articles invoked.
RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW AND INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
A – Domestic law
10.
The main legal texts relevant for the present complaint relate to the following
issues:
-
The right to housing
Forced evictions
The right to entry and residence of foreign nationals / expulsion from the country
Schooling of children
Medical assistance
The right to housing
11.
Act 2007-290 of 5 March 2007 establishing an enforceable right to housing and
introducing various measures to promote social cohesion, known as “the DALO Act”:
“Section 1:
The state shall secure the right to decent and independent housing, as referred to in Section 1 of
the Right to Housing Act No. 90-449 of 31 May 1990, for all persons residing in French territory
lawfully and on a permanent basis, as defined in an order of the Conseil d'Etat, who have
insufficient resources to obtain or retain such housing themselves.
This right shall be exercised through a conciliation procedure followed, if necessary, by a judicial
appeal as specified in this Section and in Articles L. 441-2-3 and L. 441-2-3-1.”