Municipalities discriminate against Roma in line for public housing--at the demand of other Roma, reports Helsingin Sanomat.
A system of selective discrimination in municipal housing queues has been maintained on the wishes of Roma communities, tells Helsingin Sanomat. Municipalities have succumbed to facilitating the discriminatory practice in an effort to prevent blood feuds from erupting between rival Roma families.
In practice, Roma family elders tell city housing officials whether a Roma family is allowed to move, explains a housing official interviewed by the daily newspaper.
The official says the most difficult cases are those obliging one family to yield to another. Yielding is a Roma tradition, which dictates that feuding families cannot live in the same area.
The Interior Ministry is currently investigating Roma housing practices in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa.