Gypsy, Roma and Traveller is a recognised ethnic group and so, under the Equality Act, 2010, they are entitled to protection against discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the ground of race. Many gypsies and Travellers live in housing, or on a permanent site, however even these people need to travel at intervals for cultural and social reasons. Travelling to Fairs goes back centuries and maintaining this tradition is a way of preserving identity and passing on knowledge and skills to younger generations. Much of the skill set of travellers means it is necessary to travel for work.
Family life is central to Gypsy-Travellers and attending a family event, such as a wedding or a funeral, is a vital part of this. It is an important part of the culture to pay respects to relatives who have died and marking graves and being able to visit these regularly is a way of doing this. The history of travelling means folk are buried throughout the country.
Under certain housing legislation, people who wish to be considered as needing site provision by a Local Authority must meet a criterion of having a ‘nomadic habit of lifestyle’ (undefined).
Travelling takes time, especially if travelling with children and animals, or if using non-motorised vehicles, and safe stop-over sites for rest and refreshment are needed.
There are insufficient pitches available. From the 2011 census there were 354 official transit pitches and a known population of 53,000 in England and Wales. The figures for total population will be larger than the known (self-declared).
Gypsies and Travellers experience many difficulties when travelling such as verbal and physical abuse, damage to vehicles, lack of access to drinking water, toilets or washing facilities, and difficulties with waste management.
It is not uncommon for holiday caravan sites to specifically exclude Gypsy-Travellers, and over years the use of land where gypsy-travellers would traditionally stop has changed, making such stopping unavailable. Farming has become more mechanised; within living memory Gypsies and Travellers would travel to farms to help with agricultural work and stay in their vehicles on the farms. National Parks have been created; housing and industrial development, and road building; loss of common land, complex planning laws have all reduced the availability of stopping sites. In 2022 the Police, Crime, Courts, and Sentencing Act was passed, part 4 of this, although not directly targeted at Gypsy-Travellers, is causing the communities significant anxiety and distress.
Part 4: Increased powers for police to respond to ‘unauthorised encampments’, which would create a new offence of residing or intending to reside on land with a vehicle where it causes, or is likely to cause “significant disruption, damage, or distress”. It also increases the existing period of time in which trespassers directed from land would be unable to return from three to 12 months and grants private landowners’ significant powers to trigger a criminal offence with respect to what is ordinarily a civil dispute. The organisation, Justice, believes these measures would likely indirectly discriminate against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people, breach their rights to privacy and the home and be in breach of the public sector equality duty.
(Source: https://justice.org.uk/police-crime-sentencing-and-courts-bill/)
Why Should Churches be Involved?
General Synod passed a resolution in February 2019, which included asking all dioceses to appoint chaplains for GRT people. This was because Synod acknowledged serious racial prejudice, occurring frequently; episodes of hate crime, and significant poor outcomes in health, education, and other measures of social well-being for GRT communities.
In January 2022 Birmingham University published findings of an online survey of 1667 adult people, conducted between 20-21st July 2021 in conjunction with YouGov. (‘Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain’). The authors observed Gypsy and Irish Travellers were viewed negatively by 44.6% of respondents; Muslims by 25.9%; Jewish people 8.5%; white people 8.4%; black people 6.4%.
Many GRT people have an active Christian faith. The origins of belief for Gypsy/Roma reach back into early periods of migration from an area near present day Bangladesh. Travelling across Europe people gradually encountered, and adopted, Christian teaching and traditions, reaching England in the 1600’s.
Irish travellers have a different, and ancient, history, many have Christian faith.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission published a spotlight report on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) people in March 2016, as part of a review of England’s most disadvantaged groups. The report considers education, work and standards of living, health, prisons, and stigmatising treatment. The outcomes for GRT communities were the lowest across all parameters, and by a significant margin.
These communities were also reported to score lowest across all measures of health and well-being in a later review (Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller… Women and Equalities Committee, https://publications.parliament.uk 5 April 2019).
A meeting of UK Parliament’s Education Select Committee held on the 22nd February 2022 focused on the poor outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children in educational attainment, attendance, bullying, transition to secondary level and long term outcomes.
