A/HRC/32/50/Add.1 63. In the past 10 years, there has been an increase in the number of persons working in the informal economy, which attracts migrant workers who are willing to work under grueling conditions without insurance and for lower wages. This regime excludes migrant workers from social services and insurance and renders them vulnerable to exploitation. Moreover, the informal economy also displaces local workers from certain sectors, such as construction, thus exacerbating sentiments of intolerance and racism against migrant workers. G. Roma 64. The Special Rapporteur witnessed first-hand, through his visit to the Spata settlement outside of Athens, continued discrimination against Roma and how they remain economically and socially vulnerable. In the past, several other United Nations special procedure mandate holders and European mechanisms have raised similar concerns regarding the Roma community of Greece. Their housing conditions, and access to health care and other social services, have nevertheless remained unchanged, even after the various recommendations from international and regional mechanisms. The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned that the children in the settlement are unable to attend school or to complete primary education, and that the settlement still does not have electricity, which has implications for both the education of the children and their health. 65. Roma continue to be victims of day-to-day insults by members of the general public, and are also subject to negative stereotyping in the political discourse. In addition, the continuing segregation and marginalization that Roma communities face in Greece often go unnoticed by the wider public, even though exclusion from services is ongoing. In May 2013, the European Court of Human Rights, in Lavida and Others v. Greece, ruled that the segregation of Roma children into a separate primary school in Sofades, a town in Thessaly, in central Greece, constituted discrimination and a breach of the right to education. It was the third European Court ruling on discrimination against Roma pupils in Greece. 66. Other endemic problems were also brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur, including lack of or limited access to justice, police brutality, discriminatory and racist attitudes and treatment by prosecutors, and excessive delays in dealing with cases brought before the courts by Roma. A number of cases have reached the European Court of Human Rights due to the failure of domestic remedies; in several such cases, the Court has found that ill-treatment and injury were committed by the police against Roma. VII. Conclusions and recommendations 67. Greece has undergone dramatic changes in recent decades, including significant positive developments in the area of human rights, reflected in the work of the well-respected National Commission for Human Rights and civil society, which play a fundamental role in safeguarding the progress made. Similarly, the Government has made important progress in addressing the issue of racism and xenophobia in the midst of a continued economic downturn and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and migrants due to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. In particular, the creation of the public prosecutor for racist crimes and special police units, along with the adoption of the human rights action plan for the period 2014-2016, are some of the important initiatives that have been undertaken. These developments have provoked an important debate on diversity, racism and xenophobia in the country, despite the many challenges facing vulnerable individuals and groups, as discussed above. 17