ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the interface of human rights and ‘urban law’, such as environmental nuisance and public order law. Over the last decades, following the collapse of Soviet communism and the ascendance of neo-liberalism in the post-socialist Central and Eastern European states, a pan-European Romani movement has emerged that relies strongly on a language of human and minority rights. The use of strategic litigation in Roma rights advocacy mirrors a broader trend. Critical legal scholars generally object to the Human Rights project on the basis of it being a political and ideological project that is only ostensibly neutral and universal. The years 2014–2016 saw a fervent public and political debate over the visible presence of street-homeless Roma ‘EU migrants’ in the Sweden as well as over the appearance of makeshift, unauthorised settlements. A first thing to note about the eviction of the Sorgenfri Camp is that it was not, technically, an eviction.
