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Roma Forum Boycotts Enforcement Task Force

Ustiben report

June 30, 2006: Leading Romani representatives are to boycott further talks with a new enforcement task force set up to push through UK government policy.

Angered by an increased emphasis on harassment of Britain's so-called "illegal" Travellers, chair of the UK Forum Cliff Codona said after an initial meeting this week members would not attend another session - at least for the time being.
 
"This task force will do nothing to protect us or our way of life," Codona said. "It's all about destroying what we have and what we stand for."

The ill-fated task force was in trouble from its inception by Housing Ministry Yvette Cooper earlier this month. A complaint has been made to the Commission for Racial Equality that inclusion of the word Gypsy in its title (whilst no Gypsy members were named) inferred an act of crude discrimination.

Furthermore, the Ministry has been challenged for combining in one unit the tasks of enforcement - in practice mostly involving bulldozing Gypsy-owned properties - and accommodation provision. Critics say these should be seperate areas of policy.
 
For now the task force has police officers on board but no Gypsies.

The deal on the table appears to involve government subsidized council-run caravan parks, which are likely to be substandard ghettoes, in return for yet harsher harassment where Travellers find themselves outside the law. This includes 4,000 caravans either parked illegally or sited on Gypsy-owned land without planning consent.

This approach, says the UK Forum is both outdated and one-sided. Reburbishment of existing local authority sites and the building a new generation of caravan parks are needed. But  a preference for private ownership and management by the community must be recognized.

The Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform Coalition, now replaced by a federation of front-line Gypsy organisations, lost credit over its failure to reflect the real aspirations of Britain's 350,000 Gypsies, Travellers and newly-arrived Roma.
 
"Many Travellers have bought land - on the advice of the government," says Codona. "We prefer to live on our own places not council sites."

The boycott, coupled with plans to bring a test case to the Court of Human Rights, has put the task force in a predicament. Sasha Barton, leader on Gypsy policy at CRE denies that government focus is on enforcement against Gypsies as an ethnic group, while conceding they will be more affected than others

However, CRE believes that in appointing a high level group Yvette Cooper should invite Gypsy and Traveller representatives to join the task force, and intends to follow up on this issue.

Meanwhile, a rump of non-Gypsy former GTLRC members are considering their options. Should they decide to ignore the boycott and accept seats on the government task force, they would undoubtably draw the ire of leading Gypsy spokesmen.
 
The break-up of the coalition took place amid bitter acrimony. The UK Forum, linked to the Strasbourg-based European Roma Forum, says it welcomes support of all kinds, from lawyers, planners and teachers. Only the era of the *gadjo *or* *non-Gypsy expert is past. It warns that such blatant usurpation now could lead to an ugly final split.

"We're the ones suffering eviction and have every right to speak for ourselves," Codona commented. "We don't need outsiders to represent us."

He said although critical of its approach, the UK Forum was not entirely breaking off contact with the new task force. Condona wants group members to visit some of the main trouble-spots and see what is happening to Gypsy families facing eviction and constant move-ons.

Residents at Dale Farm, the largest community of its kind in Britain, are appealing against plans by Basildon council to spent up to £3 million destroying some 86 homes. Seven police vehicles made an unannounced incursion into the settlement a few days ago in an apparant dry run. A judicial review supported by CRE is due to be heard in November.

Basildon has already spend £360,000 in legal fees and the hiring of Gypsy eviction specilists Constant & Co. Four yards have been demolished at Hoverfields Drive but another three on nearby Gipsy Hill were this month granted four years planning permission by the Ministry of Housing.

In contrast, an appeal by Codona to be allowed to move back onto his own land in Bedfordshire has again been opposed. His model Woodside caravan park once accommodated over 50 families.

"They smashed up our homes," said Codona. "Now  Mid-Bed council says I owe them thousands of pounds for the eviction and claim I don't have the money to put the site back in order - so they won't let me return."
 
Hundreds of other families across Britain have fallen victim in a similar way. Planning regulations are being used as a smoke screen for ethnic-cleaning. Until this unpalatable truth is recognised, Codona feels further dialogue is pointless. He has asked Yvette Cooper to provide a monthly report on the work of the task force.

If and when tangible progress is made, the UK Forum will bring its team back to the table.

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