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- Fear and Uncertainty as Dale Farm Travellers Face Eviction, August 30, 2011
- Dale Farm Eviction: Report Claims Council May Be Acting Unlawfully, June 13, 2011
- Dale Farm May Be Saved By New European Plans, May 30, 2011
- MPs Want Dale Farm Eviction Called Off, April 26, 2011
- Dale Farm: NO PASARAN!
- Dale Farm Legal Challenge to £13 Million Eviction Operation, March 15, 2011
- Council of Europe Visit Raises Dale Farm Spirit, February 16, 2011
- MP Seeks Dale Farm Talks as Eviction Plan Falters, December 28, 2010
- Dale Farm: Labour Party Oppose Forced Eviction, December 8, 2010
- Dale Farm May Be Winning Battle For Commonsense, November 11, 2010
- Dale Farm: Judgment Reserved on Homeless, October 24, 2010
- Dale Farm Prepares to Meet Constant Eviction, October 5, 2010
- Travellers Under Pressure to Abandon Community Living, September 20, 2010
- UK Gypsy Homes Bulldozed as UN Deadline Approaches, June 30, 2010
- The Dale Farm Eviction May be a Criminal Conspiracy, June 27, 2010
- Cameron Tested by Dale Farm Proposal, May 14, 2010
- UN Backs Call to Halt Big UK Gypsy Eviction, April 14, 2010
- Travellers' Genocide Protest Upsets Basildon Council Head, October 30, 2009
- UK: Then They Came For the Gypsies, October 25, 2009
- Dale Farm Eviction Contract Attracts Notorious Bailiffs, July 19, 2009
- Lords Won't Hear Dale Farm Appeal, May 14, 2009
- UN Backs the Dale Farm Travellers in Their Fight Against Eviction, April 29, 2009
- Dale Farm Travellers Face Eviction After UK Appeals Court Ruling, January 22, 2009
- Dale Farm Travellers Face Racism and Prejudice as Court Mulls Appeal, December 19, 2008
- Dale Farm Community Center Faces Demolition as Eviction Threat Resurfaces, September 26, 2008
- Britain's High Court Lifts the Threat of Eviction from the Dale Farm Travellers, May 13, 2008
- Defiant Travellers Open Community Center as Britain's High Court Prepares to Rule on Their Eviction, May 5, 2008
- Dale Farm Eviction Crisis Reaches the British High Court, February 14, 2008
- Dale Farm Travellers Win Key Concession as Eviction Deadline Approaches, December 11, 2007
- Success for Traveler Advocacy in UK As Eviction Threat Lifts at Dale Farm, July 9, 2007
- AP Peace Fellow Defends Traveler Rights, Arouses British Ire, June 12, 2007
- Urban Sprawl Trumps Minority Housing Rights in UK as Dale Farm Travelers Again Face Eviction, March 2, 2007
- Traveler Evictions in the UK Are ‘Hazardous to Environment and Children’s Health’ Claim Advocates, November 1, 2006
- Travelers Face Eviction Despite Intervention, July 29, 2005
- Showdown Looms as Advocates Seek to Avert Violent Eviction of 600 Travelers in the UK, July 13, 2005
- English Gypsy Women Warn of Possible “Deaths” from Forcible Evictions, and Appeal for International Mediation, April 8, 2005
- Roma Evictions Erupt Across Europe as New ‘Decade’ Seeks to End Discrimination January 31, 2005
- Dictionary.com Removes Offensive Gypsy Definition in Response to Grassroots Campaign, September 22, 2004
- New Funding Grants $8,000 to International Roma Women’s Network, June 1, 2004
- Roma: Roma Women Activists Challange European Governments Over Health Crisis, September 11, 2003
- The International Roma Women's Network is Launched, March 8, 2003
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UK Gypsy Homes Bulldozed as UN Deadline Approaches, June 30, 2010
by Grattan Puxon
Bulldozers are at work demolishing Gypsy homes even as a UN deadline approaches for Britain's reply to a demand that it call off the massive Dale Farm eviction operation aimed at clearing ninety families from their land.
Half a dozen vehicles carrying demolition workers entered Dale Farm yesterday morning apparently to scare residents there only then to be re-directed to nearby Hovefields. Here Travellers were given one hour to pack up before the destruction commenced.
"Small children were running around the digger, "reported Malcolm Tully, a member of the New Life Church. "Neither the bailiffs nor the police showed any concern for their safety. The law was clearly being broken."
Complaints were lodged immediately with the UK Health and Safety Executive which has begun an investigation. But demolition continued and by the end of the day several Gypsy-owned properties, most vacant, had been rendered uninhabitable.
However, lawyers prevailed upon Basildon District Council to stay the demolition of Five Acres Farm whose owner is in a London hospital receiving treatment for heart disease. His wife returned to the site soon after bailiffs arrived only to find water and electricity supplies broken.
The day before, Romani landowner Sylvia Taylor had contacted the BDC and received an assurance no action would be taken until a 28-day warning notice had been issued. In the event, while mayhem continued in the vicinity, her property was saved from immediate wrecking on the appeal of her advocate.
One lawyer, who participated in last week's top-level meeting with Essex police, expressed regret that the achievements of those talks appeared now be in doubt. He stated that any substantiated claims involving criminal activities by bailiffs, in particular breaches of safety law endangering children, must trigger a formal complaint.
There is no doubt that this cowboy-style eviction was the outcome of pre-planning in place for sometime. This adds to the suspicion voiced only a week ago that Basildon District Council, which has hired Constant to drive all so-called illegal Gypsies from the district at a cost of four million euro, is engaged in what amounts to a criminal conspiracy.
Under urgent action procedure, Anwar Kemal, chair of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, has called upon Britain to suspend the planned Dale Farm eviction and instead to engage in talks with the community leading to provision of suitable alternate accommodation.
He says according to information received Constant & Co has been responsible for rough evictions of other Romani and Traveller communities, during which private property has been destroyed and racial abuse aimed at the residents. The company has drawn criticism from the High Court.
"Might your Government decide to nevertheless proceed with the intended eviction," Kemal writes, "It should be carried out in accordance with international law and accompanied by relocation to a designated alternative site."
The British Government has been given until 31 July to reply to this request.
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