Gypsies and Travellers

René Cassin has recently launched a new campaign against discrimination facing Gypsy and Traveller communities. We have a number of educational programmes and initiatives being developed and will keep you informed as our campaign progresses. To read our Campaign Policy Paper, please click here.

The link between our Gypsy and Traveller Campaign and our Mission

The Gypsy and Traveller communities, together with Jews, were victims of the Holocaust. Both communities have experienced persecution, hostility and racism for centuries. It is reprehensible that Gypsy and Traveller communities continue to suffer such inequalities in the present day, despite recent legislation designed to promote equality and human rights and protect against discrimination. Our motivation is to correct the injustices currently being wrought against those communities whose history of human rights violations we sadly share.

Please refer to our Campaign Policy Paper and the paper ‘Applying the Lessons of the Holocaust: 1938-2008, Kristallnacht Seventy Years Later’ by Ian Hancock (18 November 2008), which provides a useful historical background to this point.

Inequalities Suffered by Gypsy and Traveller Communities in the UK

In late 2009, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published a research report entitled ‘Inequalities Experienced by Gypsy and Traveller Communities: A Review’.

The report concludes that racism and discrimination pervades and has a corrosive impact upon every aspect of life in Gypsy and Traveller communities. The authors of the report found evidence of high rates of anxiety, depression and self-destructive behaviour, which are responses to ‘cultural trauma produced by the failings of 21st century British society and public bodies' failure to engage in an equitable manner with members of the communities’.

The areas of inequality identified by the report are as follows:

Economic exclusion and discrimination in access to employment;

Low employment rates and high poverty
Increasing substance abuse among the unemployed.
Withdrawal of employment offers.
Harassment or dismissal from employment.

Poor healthcare, social care, education and other public services;

Gypsies and Travellers die earlier than the rest of the population.
These communities face higher suicide rates.
Poor health combined with less likelihood of receiving effective, continuous healthcare.
Fewer educational achievements for children, and documented ongoing decline in this area (contrary to the national trend).
Low participation in secondary education: discrimination and abusive behaviour on the part of school staff and other students are frequently cited as reasons for children and young people leaving education at an early age.
Lack of access to pre-school, out-of-school and leisure services for children and young people.
Lack of access to culturally appropriate support services for people in the most vulnerable situations, such as women experiencing domestic violence.

Disproportionality and prejudice throughout the legal and criminal justice systems;

Greater likelihood of criminalisation at a young age, and more rapid progress into custody.
Disproportionate levels of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.
High use of remand in custody, both because of judicial assumptions about perceived risk of absconding and lack of secure accommodation.
Prejudice within pre-sentence reports, the police service and the judiciary.
Perpetuation of discrimination, disadvantage and cultural dislocation within the prison system, leading to acute distress and frequently suicide.

Racism and discriminatory actions/omissions;

Racism towards Gypsies and Travellers is still common, frequently overt and seen as justified.
Abusive media coverage and overtly racist statements from local and national politicians.
Ignorance and prejudice of many members of the settled population is frequently not challenged by those in authority.
Service providers are not welcoming or refuse to provide the service.

Lack of access and discrimination in the housing sector;

Lack of suitable, secure accommodation underpins many of the inequalities that Gypsy and Traveller communities experience.
Opposition for planning permission from local residents frequently leads to local authorities turning down planning applications, though many are successful on appeal.
The extent to which local authorities and registered social landlords access Government funds varies considerably across areas and is often dependent upon political will and changing local circumstances.
Considerable shortfall in the quantity of residential and transit accommodation.
Location of sites can be poor (for instance, under motorways or next to sewage works). Other problems include health hazards (such as contamination by vermin), decayed sewage and water fittings, poor-quality utility rooms, and failings in fire safety.

Cycle of evictions

Caught between an insufficient supply of suitable accommodation on the one hand, and the insecurity of unauthorised encampments and developments on the other.
Roadside stopping places, with no facilities and continued instability and trauma, become part of the way of life.
Health deteriorates, while severe disruptions occur to access to education for children, healthcare services and employment opportunities.
Forced to accept the alternative of local authority housing.
Typically housed on the most deprived estates, sharing the wider environmental disadvantages of their neighbours and exposed to more direct and immediate hostility focused on their ethnicity or lifestyle.
Involves dislocation from their families, communities, culture and support systems, leading to further cycles of disadvantage.

Marginalisation or exclusion from political participation;

Excluded from policy initiatives designed to promote inclusion andequality.
Excluded from political structures and community development and community cohesion programmes.
Lack of recognition of cultural identity/religious organisations' work with members of the communities;
Gypsies' and Travellers' receive little or no recognition for their culture and identity, with consequent and considerable damage to their self-esteem.

Contemporary Legal Issue

Gypsies and Traveller communities living in caravans on local authority-run sites in the United Kingdom do not yet enjoy security of tenure, despite the fact that a substantial majority of them no longer travel for any material period of time.

In Connors v The United Kingdom Application No. 66746/01, 27 May 2004, the European Court of Human Rights held that the United Kingdom has a positive obligation by virtue of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to facilitate the gypsy way of life.

Although progress has been made in this area, it is disappointing that the United Kingdom has failed to take greater steps to comply with its Article 8 obligations.

Education

We believe that education is one of the most effective means of combating discrimination facing Gypsies and Travellers. To that end, we are working with Friends, Families and Travellers to put support a theatrical project, Crystal's Vardo, for school students. If you would like to know more, please click here. To book your school in for a showing of the production, please email: info@renecassin.org with the subject 'Gypsy and Traveller Theatre'.

Gypsies and Travellers

The link between our Gypsy and Traveller Campaign and our Mission

Inequalities Suffered by Gypsy and Traveller Communities in the UK

Contemporary Legal Issue

Education

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