Gypsies, Roma and Travellers constantly have to live with the threat of forced evictions on top of harassment, repression and constant systemic racism. As well as the day to day racism they also face the often openly racist councils and the systemic racism embedded in current housing law and land rights. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 means members of the travelling community are constantly being moved off land and forced to settle, preventing them leading the lifestyle they have lived for centuries. However if they do try to settle by purchasing land they are most often denied planning permission. This article was written for the Birmingham Mail last September.
In this case the land the Travellers were on was a wasteland, never used by anyone, yet despite this councillors and the media assumed that residents would be upset by their presence, evicted them immediately and maintained a constant police presence “to reassure residents”.
B.E.R.N. condemns this hateful racist discrimination and persecution of the travelling community and will help resist the oppression and eviction of Travellers, Roma and Gypsies
Links
The Traveller Solidarity Network is a Direct Action based network whose purpose is to fight ethnicity and class based discrimination and persecution against Travellers, Roma and Gypsies.
