Environmental injustice is the exposure of poor and marginalised communities to a disproportionate share of environmental harms such as hazardous waste, when they do not receive benefits from the land uses that create these hazards.[1] Environmental racism is environmental injustice in a racialised context. These issues may lead to infringement of environmentally related human rights.[2]: 10 [3]: 252 Environmental justice is a social movement to address these issues.
In Europe, environmental racism has been postulated in particular toward Romani communities. According to Trehan and Kocze (2009), "EU accession for the post-socialist countries has resulted in a de facto centre and periphery within Europe itself, thus exacerbating the already marginal economic and political position of Roma in Europe whose communities continue to subsist as internal colonies within Europe."[3]: 264 This peripheral position, in which segregated Romani settlements and their inhabitants become viewed as de-territorialized zones "beyond the pale" of government responsibility and European Union citizenship,[3]: 264 has been identified by some scholars as an aggravating factor in the prevalence of environmental hazards (such as proximity to industrial facilities and illegal or toxic waste dumps).[2]: 19–20 [3]: 252, 263 [4]: 74–5 This practice has been identified in relation to the lack of basic services such as water, housing, sanitation[2]: 19–20 [3]: 263 and access to education[5]: 238–9 affecting marginalized Romani communities.
In Central and Eastern Europe, socialist governments have generally prioritized industrial development over environmental protection, in spite of growing public and governmental environmental awareness in the 1960s and 1970s.[3]: 255 Even though public concern over the environmental effects of industrial expansion such as mine and dam construction grew in the late 1980s and early 1990s, policy makers continued to focus on privatization and economic development.[3]: 255 Following the market transition, environmental issues have persisted, despite some improvements during the early stages of transition.[3]: 255 Throughout this time, significant social restructuring took place alongside environmental changes.[3]: 255
There are between 500,000 and 2.5 million Romani people in Turkey.[6]: 43 Most Romani, both itinerant and sedentary, live in Trakya (Thrace) and Marmara regions in the northwest of the country,[6]: 43 and generally inhabit settlements that are socio-geographically distinct and isolated from majority populations.[6]: 43 Romani in Turkey "suffer much higher levels of ill-health, have poorer housing, and higher incidences of discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity."[6]: 43 In at least two cases (the 2010 demolition of Sulukule and the 1970 Bayramiç forest products industry dispute), conflicts surrounding access to land and natural resources has led to the dislocation of entire Romani communities.
In February 2010,[7] the predominantly Romani community of Sulukule in Istanbul, an ancient neighbourhood included on the UNESCO World Heritage list and Istanbul City Wall Preservation Zone,[4]: 50 as well as the oldest Romani settlement in Europe[7] was demolished as part of an urban renewal scheme. Earlier demolitions had taken place in the mid-1960s and in 1982 when the old core of Sulukule was torn down.[8]: 45 As a central area of Istanbul, Sulukule was subject to land speculation,[8]: 45 while underlying ecological and environmental issues were potentially exploited as part of the arguments for demolition.[4]: 49–50 According to Aslı Kıyak İngin and Pelin Tan