Roma evicted from site in Wales; Traveller education dealt blow in Britain

07 December 1999

The BBC reported on September 17, 1999, that several Romani families had been evicted from an illegal stopping site in Wrexham, north Wales. The families had been living there for thirteen years. Reportedly more than 100 police officers, bailiffs and council officials took part in the eviction. According to the BBC, authorities told the families to "move voluntarily or be shifted forcefully". The same source reported on September 20, 1999, that there had been complaints from the settled community about the location to which the Roma had resettled and that local authorities were considering what would be done with regards to the new settlement. As of November 30, there were reportedly no developments in the case.

In other news from Britain, according to local activists, a new policy by the UK Department for Education and Employment has effectively ended the eleven-year-old initiative to improve Traveller education. The new policy will amalgamate the special grant for Traveller Education under section 488 of the 1988 Education Act with the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant. Total expenditures for minority education are to increase, but money allocated for Traveller children has been reduced. Although government officials are hailing the move as a step towards racial integration and improved minority education, Traveller activists and Traveller education workers are concerned that local authorities will merely put forth a vague plan covering ethnic minorities in general, to the detriment of specific measures for Traveller children. They have additionally raised concerns that money that under the previous system would have been allocated for Traveller education will be used on projects for other minority groups.

According to Thomas Acton, professor of Romani studies at the University of Greenwich, in a letter to the editor of the English daily The Guardian on September 28, 1999, the new policy will also have a negative impact on Traveller children because local authorities will be encouraged to provide expenditures directly to schools. In the letter, he argues that schools will be given the grant just because they have Gypsies in their area — not because they are doing anything useful for them. According to the non-governmental organisation Advisory Council on Education for Romani and other Travellers (ACERT) there was no consultation with the Gypsy education movement during the drafting of the new policy.

(ACERT, BBC, The Guardian, Irish Times)