Five Recommendations for the Fifth Anniversary of the Militarized Quarantines of Marginalized Roma Communities (MRCs) during the Pandemic in Slovakia
- Minority Issues Research Institute (MIRI)
- Mar 26
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 27
Written by Dr Svetluša Surová, Minority Issues Research Institute (MIRI)
On 9th April 2020, six Roma settlements were put in total lockdown with the assistance of the police and armed forces.
Executive statement and aim
During the 1st and 2nd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia, the members of Marginalized Roma Communities (MRCs) were targeted by authorities selectively and collectively with anti-corona measures. They have experienced discrimination and the most restrictive measures that the rest of the population did not face. Based on the scientific evidence and research findings, policymakers and authorities should reflect on the illegal militarized quarantines and remedy, compensate and apologize to the unlawfully quarantined persons.
Introduction and problem statement
The COVID-19 pandemic was not only a health crisis but also a human rights crisis. Studies suggest that members of racial and ethnic minorities were at a higher risk of contracting, outbreak, and dying from the coronavirus. The most vulnerable, socially excluded, and marginalized communities have faced disproportionate and negative effects of the pandemic.
Slovakia has deployed heavily securitized responses toward Roma during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the militarized quarantine of six Roma settlements. Throughout the second wave, Slovakia was one of the few EU states – if not the only – that again resorted to quarantining whole buildings, streets, or settlements where Roma lived with the assistance of police and armed forces.[1]
Militarized quarantines limited or seriously violated the fundamental rights and freedoms of the members of the Marginalized Roma Communities (MRCs) in Slovakia. Particularly endangered were their rights to life, health, freedom of movement, and freedom of residence, as well as their rights to equal treatment and non-discrimination in the areas of health, education, and work.
Research findings and conclusions
During the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia, 20 Regional Offices of Public Health (ROPH) issued measures that especially targeted members of Marginalized Roma Communities (MRCs). According to extensive research, 58 decrees affected approximately 46,000 to 49,000 members of MRCs.[2]
The research analysis shows that the act from the 1st wave, which quarantined over 6,000 persons living in six MRCs, lacked a legal basis. In the second wave, the ROPH didn’t have the legal competence to authorize cities or municipalities to supervise compliance with the measures ordered and did not provide concrete reasons to justify the need to implement restrictive measures in MRCs. All these acts did not include termination dates and were revoked by arbitrary decisions of regional health authorities.
The problem is that this selective and collective targeting of Roma with anti-coronavirus measures was carried out in the “formally” and “institutionally” inclusive national context of an EU member state. This demonstrates the state’s failure to implement de jure guaranteed rights for all, and especially for members of the Roma minority.[3]
Recommendations
Recommendation 1: to document and evaluate the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on minorities and, based on these findings, establish effective mechanisms for the protection of the human rights of Roma and other minorities during the health crisis.
Recommendation 2: to de-securitize Roma and minorities in general in the political and public discourses during the crisis, but also beyond.
Recommendation 3: to address the implications of the pandemic for Roma minorities, especially the impact on their equal access to rights.
Recommendation 4: to remedy all affected persons by militarized quarantines, illegal and discriminatory measures in MRCs, and provide appropriate compensation for wrongful acts inflicted on them.
Recommendation 5: to officially apologize to all members of Marginalized Roma Communities (MRCs) who were unlawfully quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic from the side of the Government of the Slovak Republic.
Read the full Policy Brief here:
Policy Brief in Slovak language here:
References
[1] Surová, Svetluša. 2022. "Securitization and militarized quarantine of Roma settlements during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia", Citizenship Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13621025.2022.2131070
[2] Surová, Svetluša. 2022. "Securitization and militarized quarantine of Roma settlements during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia", Citizenship Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13621025.2022.2131070
Surová, Svetluša. 2023. “Targeting Marginalised Roma Communities in Slovakia: An Analysis of Official Measures During the Covid-19 Pandemic.” In The D-Word: Perspectives on Democracy in Tumultuous Times, edited by C van der Westhuizen, S Dube and Z Jolobe, 57-84, Gqeberha: Mandela University Press
Surová, Svetluša, 2023, "Database of the official acts of Regional Offices of Public Health (ROPH) targeting Marginalized Roma Communities (MRCs) in the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IVNES9, Harvard Dataverse, V1
[3] Surová, Svetluša. 2023. “Targeting Marginalised Roma Communities in Slovakia: An Analysis of Official Measures During the Covid-19 Pandemic.” In The D-Word: Perspectives on Democracy in Tumultuous Times, edited by C van der Westhuizen, S Dube and Z Jolobe, 57-84, Gqeberha: Mandela University Press
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