CCPR/C/121/D/2837/2016 socioeconomic condition, their social marginalization, extreme poverty, unemployment and the concomitant obstacles they face in their everyday lives. They are therefore the victims of indirect discrimination, stemming from their vulnerable social and financial position within the Albanian society and the failure of the Albanian Government to take adequate measures to address it. The authors therefore believe that they are being indirectly discriminated against because of their ethnic origin, in violation of articles 26 and 27. They additionally note that the Albanian legal system does not provide adequate and effective remedies capable of addressing their complaints. 3.9 Lastly, they claim that their return to Elbasan constitutes a violation of their right to freedom of movement under article 12 of the Covenant. State party’s observations on admissibility 4.1 By note verbale dated 21 December 2016, the State party firstly provided its clarification of the facts. The State party submits that the authors’ families lived in the eastern area of the artificial lake in Tirana for years and accepts that their living conditions were “totally inadequate, characterized by the lack of hygiene, which constituted a serious danger to the life and welfare of members of the community, particularly children, women and elderly”. On 3 October 2015, the municipal police informed the community that they would have to leave the area within 10 days due to the implementation of the “Greening the artificial lake park” project. On 5 and 7 October, representatives of the social services of the Municipality of Tirana visited the community and carried out assessments of the social and economic conditions, with a focus on housing. 16 During the second assessment, the family of H.Z. was not registered, which implied that they had already left the community. On 10 October, a team composed of Child Protection Unit officers, social workers, representatives of the Municipality of Tirana and civil society organizations (SHKEJ, Save the Children, ARSIS) interviewed each family with the aim of elaborating a plan for individual intervention. Information was provided regarding social housing programmes pursuant to the law on social housing, according to which the neediest families would benefit from a refund of up to 100 per cent of the rent. 17 Some families were to be accommodated temporarily in the Transitional National Emergency Centre, including the three Z. families, but they refused this accommodation because of the distance, the lack of access to transport and their delicate relationship with other residents at the centre. The heads of the households of the three Z. families informed the municipality representatives that they had agreed with a lessor to be sheltered on the first floor of a property suitable for their work with recycled material. In general, the families dismantled their residences themselves and no practice of forced house demolitions was registered. On 15 October, all the Roma families were removed from the artificial lake area. On 9 November, the municipal police were informed that Roma (the authors’ families) were on a private property without authorization. On 13 November, the Child Protection Unit of the Municipality of Tirana established lease contracts with the Z. families for the period from November 2015 to April 2016, which would give sufficient time to the families to apply to the municipality for access to social housing programmes. None of the three families has shown interest in completing the relevant documentation. 18 4.2 Further, the State party challenges the admissibility of the communication for nonexhaustion of domestic remedies. The Albanian legislation provides for the individual’s right to administrative appeal against the acts and actions of the Albanian State 16 17 18 Given the fact that some families had declared that they were in possession of land and housing in their cities of origin but which needed to be repaired, representatives of the Municipality of Tirana sought the cooperation of the municipalities where those families were registered to facilitate their transfer. As to the families not registered in Tirana, it was explained that they had to make a formal request for the transfer of their residence and that the documents required for the social housing programme had to be completed within one month. In May, September and December 2016, the Department of Defence and Social Inclusion verified at the Directorate of Social Housing that the authors’ families had not applied for any social housing programmes in the Municipality of Tirana. 5