The nationally infamous apartment block number 20 in the town of Yambol, Bulgaria, had been inhabited by Roma families for more than 15 years. They had been destroying it systematically by breaking the concrete panels, disassembling the elevators and extracting the electric wires from the walls in order to obtain and sell the structure steel and other metals, lighting fires inside, even breeding horses, pigs and chicken on the landings. In the beginning of 2010 the city mayor, referring to an expert committee’s reports, issued an order for the inhabitants to leave the dangerous building by September. On the 15th of September the last families were forced to leave the building by the police and gendarmery. Some individuals continued destroying the building till its final sealing later that day. About 20 families, who didn’t have legal ownership of their apartments and so didn’t get compensations or could not find a room for rent, were constrained to bring all their belongings on the near lawn and start building cabins where they lived through the winter.
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