"Traveler families face eviction on Monday despite UK High Court..."

[emcguffie]

http://www.advocacynet.org/pr_view/pr_49.html

TRAVELERS FACE EVICTION DESPITE INTERVENTION

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AdvocacyNet
News Bulletin - Number 43, July 29, 2005
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Washington D.C., July 29, 2005: Scores of Irish Travelers could be evicted from the Dale Farm settlement in southeast England on Monday, in spite of a last-minute intervention by the British High Court.

Earlier this week, Justice Bertram Richards halted the eviction of 36 Traveler families at Dale Farm. But according to reports, as many as 20 more families are not covered by his injunction order and could face eviction starting midnight on Sunday.

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120 individuals, including a Labor Party Member of Parliament and two Basildon councilors, have volunteered to serve as human rights monitors and form a human chain around the targeted homes.

....

Rachel Francis, from the UK Association of Gypsy Women, a partner of the Advocacy Project, pointed out the contradiction of tolerating evictions at Dale Farm, but criticizing evictions in Zimbabwe.

"Tony Blair is calling Robert Mugabe on the Harare evictions, while he is pursuing the same policy in Britain. It's totally hypocritical," she said.

more at

http://www.advocacynet.org/pr_view/pr_49.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. It sounds like a complicated situation

On one hand, the tactics being used by the council sound heavy handed (especially the quote that the judicial review can only force them to reconsider, not to actually allow the planning permission), but the fact that this council has giving a lot more planning permission than most councils seems to show that they haven't been unreasonable in the past.

However, the comparison with Mugabe isn't really valid. This is a matter of local planning decisions, in which it can be possible for a bit of local racism to have an effect, while they hide behind 'planning regulations'. But Blair himself isn't driving this - as the last paragraph points out, Labour have actually introduced 2 new laws which will help the travellers.