Breaking the cycle of discrimination? Traveller/Roma housing exclusion and the European Convention on Human Rights

Abstract

Recent legal and policy developments concerning Europe’s Traveller/Roma have brought into sharp focus the structural inequalities facing traditionally nomadic minorities. Despite such interventions however, European human rights norms have struggled to address an equality challenge that exists at the interface of indirect discrimination, socio-economic rights and multiculturalism. To illustrate the policy and legislative dynamics underpinning Traveller/Roma exclusion, this article critically analyses the difficulties of accessing culturally appropriate housing for the Irish Travelling Community. It highlights how Irish litigation on behalf of Travellers has tested the boundaries of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly the extent to which a minimum core of accommodation provision may be secured. The article argues that the recent European Court on Human Rights case of Winterstein v. France provides fresh impetus for the protection of Traveller/Roma cultural identity in the housing sphere.