"Travellers in Scotland are not a "race", "
THey may have not been designated a race yet, but DMA tests in Britain have found them to be a genetically identifiable group going back at least a thousand years - the British establishment have yet to get their heads around that fact
Ironically, Travellers living around British cities have been residents in their territory for centuries longer than the newcomer commuters who spend time and energy trying to drive them out.
Ireland has an appalling record of treatment of Travelers, but a couple of months ago it took the first tottering steps to rectifying it by officially announcing in Parliament that Travellers were an ethnic minority
Their lifestyle is not "chosen" (another racist misnomer) - it is one Travellers have been born into for many centuries.
Up to relatively recently, Travellers have been an accepted and essential part of rural life - 'modernisation' has left them in limbo.
They no longer have a protection afforded to them by the Caravan and camping laws which were repealed in 1994 by John Major, they are constantly being moved off unused sites, attempts to make their own sites, like Dale Farm are met with prejudice and hostility, and many Travellers who attempt to settle have been driven out by people who don't want than as neighbours
The woerfully inadequate (in every way) Traveller homes all little more than walled ghettos
Basically, most travellers are deprived of electricity, clean water, sanitation and the right to educate themselves or their children.
Their life expectancy is considerably shorter than that of the settled community.
Nice to have you here Ake - all we need now is Bobad for a full house
Jim Carroll