Anti-Romani sentiment
Environmental struggles
Environmental struggles
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Environmental issues which were caused by [Cold War](/wiki/Cold_War "Cold War")\-era industrial development have disproportionately impacted the Roma, particularly those Roma who live in Eastern Europe. Most often, the traditional nomadic lifestyle of the Roma causes them to settle on the outskirts of towns and cities, where amenities, employment and educational opportunities are often inaccessible. As of 1993, Hungary has been identified as one country where this issue exists: "While the economic restructuring of a command economy into a western style market economy created hardships for most Hungarians, with the national unemployment rate heading toward 14 percent and per capita real income falling, the burdens which are imposed on Romanis are disproportionately great."Feher, Gyorgy. 1993\. *Struggling for Ethnic Identity: The Gypsies of Hungary*. Library of Congress Card Catalogue: USA.

Panel buildings ([panelák](/wiki/Panel%C3%A1k "Panelák")) in the Chanov ghetto near [Most](/wiki/Most_%28city%29 "Most (city)"), Czech Republic were built in the 1970s for a high\-income clientele, the authorities introduced a model plan, whereby Roma were relocated to these buildings, from poorer areas, to live among Czech neighbors. However, with the rising proportion of Roma moving in, the Czech clients gradually moved out in a kind of [white flight](/wiki/White_flight "White flight"), eventually leaving a district in which the vast majority of residents were Roma. A poll in 2007 marked the district as the worst place in the [Ústí nad Labem Region](/wiki/%C3%9Ast%C3%AD_nad_Labem_Region "Ústí nad Labem Region"). Buildings were eventually stripped of any valuable materials and torn down. The removal of materials was blamed on the Roma who had last inhabited the building. Despite a total rental debt in excess of €3\.5 million, all of the tenants in the remaining buildings continue to be provided with water and electricity, unlike the situation in many other European countries.
[thumb\|Roma slum [Luník IX](/wiki/Lun%C3%ADk_IX "Luník IX") near [Košice](/wiki/Ko%C5%A1ice "Košice"), Slovakia](/wiki/File:LunikIX.jpeg "LunikIX.jpeg")
When newly built in the 1980s, some flats in this settlement were assigned to Roma who had relocated from poverty\-stricken locations in a government effort to integrate the Roma population. Other flats were assigned to families of military and law\-enforcement personnel. However, the military and police families gradually moved out of the residences and the living conditions for the Roma population deteriorated. Ongoing failures to pay bills led to the disconnection of the water supply and an emergency plan was eventually created to provide running water for two hours per day to mitigate against the bill payment issue. Similarly to Chanov, some of these buildings were stripped of their materials and were eventually torn down; again, the Roma residents were identified as the culprits who were to blame for the theft of the materials.

The various legal hindrances to their traditional nomadic lifestyle have forced many travelling Roma to move into unsafe areas, such as ex\-industrial areas, former landfills or other waste areas where pollutants have affected rivers, streams or groundwater. Consequently, Roma are often unable to access clean water or sanitation facilities, rendering the Roma people more vulnerable to health problems, such as diseases. Based in Belgium, the Health \& Environment Alliance has included a statement with regard to the Roma on one of its pamphlets: "Denied environmental benefits such as water, sewage treatment facilities, sanitation and access to natural resources, and suffer from exposure to environmental hazards due to their proximity to hazardous waste sites, incinerators, factories, and other sources of pollution." Since the [fall of communism](/wiki/Revolutions_of_1989 "Revolutions of 1989") and the privatisation of the formerly state owned water\-supply companies in many areas of central and eastern Europe, the provision of decent running water to illegal buildings which are often occupied by Roma became a particularly sensitive issue, because the new international owners of the water\-supply companies are unwilling to make contracts with the Roma population and as a result, "water\-borne diseases, such as [diarrhoea](/wiki/Diarrhoea "Diarrhoea") and [dysentery](/wiki/Dysentery "Dysentery")" became "an almost constant feature of daily life, especially for children".


What are some solutions to provide access to clean water and sanitation facilities for all Roma people?