CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020
| Author | Memetovic, Sunita |
|---|---|
| Title | Between Freedom Of Expression And DiscrimiNatory Policies:Is There A Right To Beg? |
| Summary | Following the European Union enlargement in 2007, many Romanian and Bulgarian citizens of Roma origin used the right of free movement guaranteed by the EU Treaties to enter and reside in Nordic countries. These people, who live in poverty and misery, support themselves by begging in streets. In this thesis, I will focus on some juridical dilemmas of these street beggars, who are mostly Romanian Roma and whose numbers over time have increased. The situation prompted a public debate about the legislation of begging within the EU territory and especially in the Nordic countries. Through my analysis of Sweden, Austria and Italy’s legal procedures in addressing begging, I will argue that these EU states have chosen to ignore legal provisions concerning protection against poverty, while increasing the number of national or local anti-begging laws and policies. By examining court cases, I argue that even if the laws in those countries seem to be neutral, they are not. This paper contends that both the Council of Europe and the EU have a comprehensive set of rules that could be applied as protection for these people’s fundamental rights; moreover, lack of respect for those rights is tantamount to ethnic discrimination. This paper then concludes with some recommendations for policies communities should apply to solve the issue rather than criminalizing and penalizing begging. |
| Supervisor | Đuković Mirko |
| Department | Romani Studies Ps |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2020/memetovic_sunita.pdf |
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