Dale Farm, located in Essex, England is home to the largest Irish Traveller community in the UK. It is now also the site where 300 evictions are pending an August 31 deadline. The farm occupies the site of a former scrap yard and was set up as a “halting site,” (common throughout Ireland) as a place outside town where Travellers can park their caravans, vehicles, and graze horses. Typically, these sites lack services, are breeding grounds of crime, and insulate an itinerant group from mainstream society who encounter local resentment and hostility. At Dale Farm, 1,000 Irish Travellers, mostly from Limerick, Ireland, own the land. They have their own culture, traditions, and language. The British consider them a distinct ethnic group. Ironically, Ireland classifies them as a separate social group. “Traveller” literally, “walking people,” are a nomadic group, ethnically Irish, often mistakenly confused with “Gypsies.” They make their living horse trading, dog breeding, and tinkering. The 65 families who will be evicted on August 31 failed to obtain permission from local authorities who are exerting a “Green Belt” policy. The Commission for Racial Equality has termed it racially motivated. UN News Center Source From 5 August 2011 – Two United Nations independent human rights experts today urged the United Kingdom Government to find an appropriate solution to the problem of 86 Irish Traveller families faced with forced eviction from their homes due to an alleged violation of planning regulations. “Evictions constitute a grave breach of human rights if not carried out with full respect for international standards,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, in a statement. “We urge the UK authorities to halt the evictions process and to pursue negotiations with the residents until an acceptable agreement for relocation is reached in full conformity with international human rights obligations,” she said. More than 300 people, a third of the Dale Farm Traveller community in Essex, are threatened with forced eviction. This includes some 110 children. “It is now of utmost importance that the rights of the residents to fair compensation for their lost homes and property and the provision of adequate alternative housing are fully respected,” said Ms. Rolnik. The newly appointed UN Independent Expert on minority issues, Rita Izsák, noted that “eviction inevitably renders all affected families extremely vulnerable, including with regard to their access to essential services. This is doubly so for Travellers who may have traditionally rooted specific housing needs, and who face considerable discrimination and hostility in wider society.” The Basildon District Council in Essex has been trying to evict Irish Traveller families since the late 1990s on the grounds of a lack of planning permits for their homes. Although some Romani and Irish Traveller members of the Dale Farm community own the land, some families have been repeatedly denied permits for their caravans due to the restrictive “Green Belt” policy applied in the region. The cost of the forced evictions is estimated at £18 million (about $30 million), including £10 million in policing costs. “The irony of this case is that these costs do not appear to include the provision of adequate alternative accommodation for the evicted families, which are soon to be rendered homeless,” she added. Adding irony to irony, many believe that Irish Travellers, who were landowners and labourers, were originally made homeless during the Irish potato famine of the 1840’s and Oliver Cromwell’s genocidal military campaign. On August 31, 2011, I wonder if Prime Minister David Cameron will weigh in on the Dale Farm’s Irish Travellers and offer some “green” support. By, Susan Sacirbey Become a Facebook Fan: “ Susan Sacirbey” & “Diplomatically Incorrect” Follow on TWITTER@: DiplomaticallyX Related Film & Blog Reports: “Argentina’s Housing Shortage & “Violent Evictions” Grabs Attention of UN Human Rights Experts,” By Ambassador Mo diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/argentinas-housing-shortage-violent-evictions-grabs-attention-of-un-human-rights-experts-by-ambassador-mo/27446 “Looting on British Streets & Wall Street” diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/looting-on-british-streets-wall-street-by-ambassador-mo/34006 Humanitarian Channels: diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/humanitarian Diplomatically Incorrect Channels: diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/diplomatically-incorrect