May 18, 2009, Basildon, UK: The British House of Lords has refused to hear an appeal from the Travellers at Dale Farm, meaning a January ruling allowing them to be evicted will stand.

The Lords decided they would not hear the case “because the petition does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance which ought to be considered by this House at this time, bearing in mind that the cause has already been the subject of judicial decision and reviewed on appeal.”

The news came only hours after a UN committee called for a freeze on plans to bulldoze Dale Farm — Britain’s largest Traveller community.

Lawyers acting for Dale Farm say the case may now go to the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. But with a likely two-year wait before that court could rule on the matter, Dale Farm residents will need to
seek more immediate protection from eviction.

The Dale Farm crisis began in June 2005, when the Basildon District Council ordered the Travellers to leave because they were living on Green Belt land that is protected from development by environmental regulations. The Council issued a second eviction order in 2007.

About 90 families at Dale Farm stand to lose their homes following a January ruling by the British Court of Appeal that allows the eviction to proceed. The Court decision overturned an earlier May 2008 High Court ruling ordering the Council to find alternative land for the Travellers. The House of Lords refusal to hear the case effectively made the appeals court decision final.

The Advocacy Project (AP) has supported the Travellers since they were ordered out in June 2005 and sent two Peace Fellows to volunteer at Dale Farm.

At a May 14 meeting at the House of Lords, lawyer Leticia Osorio (pictured above, center) said UK local councils should stop evicting Gypsies and Travellers and refrain from criminalizing those living on their own land without planning permission. Ms Osorio asked that the House of Lords support the recommendations made by the UN Advisory Group on Forced Evictions, which visited Dale Farm April 23.

“All attempts to obtain retrospective permission have been rejected,” she told the Lords. “We hope now that the Lords will agree to hear their case.”

Basildon has promised to give the Travellers 28 days notice before any eviction. In the event of an eviction, human rights monitors have pledged to be on hand, and several hundred supporters have promised to join Dale Farm residents in forming a human shield to stop bulldozers.

The Council has yet to consider the homeless applications submitted by more than 90 Dale Farm households. They include a joint homeless application seeking to be re-accommodated together as a community.