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Protest: Travellers on March for Their Civil Rights
November 2007
On Tuesday, November 20, children from Dale Farm will join a march to 10 Downing Street organized by UK Youth Parliament member Blue Jones. They will demand a speed-up in the designation of land to be set aside for the development of new private and council-owned mobile-home parks.
These are needed urgently by thousands of Gypsies and Travellers living illegally on roadsides and car-parks and those unable to obtain planning permission to reside on their own land.
The Government programme adopted last year has little chance of making any impact before 2011 and adequate provision is unlikely for another decade.
By holding the march on Children's Rights Day, Jones hopes to draw attention to the fact most Gypsy children are being denied education, and those who get to school face discrimination and bullying.
In addition, youth activist Johnny Goldsmith is petitioning Prime Minister Gordon Brown to make Roma National Day, celebrated worldwide by Roma and recognized by the EU, a national holiday in Britain.
Meanwhile, plans are in hand for a follow-up rally outside the British Embassy in Washington before Basildon votes on December 4. Despite Tory leader Malcolm Buckley's avowed intention to drive Gypsies from the district as soon as this is legally possible, there are signs fellow party members are questioning the wisdom of his ethnic-cleansing policy. Labour and Liberal councillors already oppose the Dale Farm eviction as a waste of public money.
At the same time, health and safety aspects of the eviction blue-print drawn up by Gypsy-eviction specialists Constant & Co., hired by Basildon to demolish Dale Farm, are being scrutinised. Constant bailiffs have in the past burned huts and caravans and are alleged to have looted private property during previous eviction operations.
Unite For Travellers' Rights!!
JOIN CHILDREN'S DAY MARCH
Tuesday, 20 November
Starts 1pm from Whitehall Court, London SW1
Ends opposite Prime Minister's residence
Downing Street 1.45 pm
contact: josephjonesct3@aol.com
International Gypsy & Traveller Affairs
Irish Travellers Movement 2006
Irish Travellers Movement chair Catherine Joyce led a protest to the British Embassy in Dublin on Friday (Nov 16) in what is shaping up to be a winter season of civil rights activity.
A delegation, which included playwright Michael Collins and Dublin councillor Mick Rafferty, handed in a petition calling on the British Government to prevent the destruction of Dale Farm, the UK's biggest Travellers village.
"We're here to call for commonsense and a stop to this eviction," said activist Patricia McCarthy. "It's inhuman to throw people out on the road."
Last week, Dale Farm spokesman Richard Sheridan spoke at the launch in Brussels of a forum supporting the European -wide IAI Zero Eviction campaign. He said Travellers were being socially excluded and even ethnically-cleansed by racially motivated local councils.
At the top of the name-and-shame list was Basildon District Council, which has voted to spend five million euro to bulldoze 86 homes at Dale Farm. Sheridan told the conference that council members have promised to reconsider this policy on December 4. They will take into account the rights of Travellers' under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.
The Travellers refused to provide further personal information to Basildon until this promise was made. They are already preparing to sue the council over previous breaches of the Data Protection Act and called in the Essex Racial Equality Council to undertake an independent survey of their needs.
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