Mass Action :: Fight for Sites :: Oct 19
Fight for Sites :: Mass Action ::
1pm, 19 October 2012 :: Victoria Station, Central London ::
One Year Ago, at dawn on 19 October 2011, hundreds of riot police and bailiffs stormed the Dale Farm Traveller community in Essex to carry out one of the largest and most brutal evictions in the UK.
This October, we target the Department for Communities & Local Government to fight for an end to evictions and the right to a home.
Join us on the anniversary of the Dale Farm eviction to fight for sites! Check out our event on Facebook.
Help publicise the event- download the poster, the icon (we’ve been using it for stickers and for Facebook pics) and the Action Pack.
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One year on, Dale Farm has been transformed into a virtual bombsite, filled with stagnant water, raw sewage and toxic waste. 83 homeless families are living on the roadside with no electricity, running water or sanitation.
As one mother put it, ‘Why would we be living here if we had somewhere else to go?’
Dale Farm is just one example of a cycle of forced evictions that Travellers and Gypsies across the UK face every day. Underlying these evictions is a severe deficit of authorised transit and permanent sites for Gypsies and Travellers. The travelling way of life has been effectively criminalised by legislation making it illegal to travel and impossible to stay.
In 2011, an estimated 17% of Gypsy and Traveller families were forced to live on ‘unauthorised’ illegal sites, either because they have been denied planning permission for land they own or there are not enough council-run sites to house them. They face harassment, evictions and homelessness. An undocumented number of Gypsies and Travellers have been forced into ‘bricks and mortar’ against their will due to the shortage of sites.
Eric Pickles’ Department for Communities and Local Government funded the Dale Farm eviction to the tune of £1.2 million. They are also leading the wholesale attack on Gypsy and Traveller rights, abolishing local government targets for the provision of sites and strengthening powers to evict through the Localism Act.
It’s time to fight back.
Join us for a mass action on 19 October, in solidarity with the Dale Farm families and countless other travelling communities facing eviction, to fight for sites.
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Check out what others are saying...[...] # 6Info Tour Blog # 7InfoTour DatesPublic Meeting :: Fight for Sites :: Sep 20Mass Action :: Fight for Sites :: Oct 19Fight for Sites :: [...]
[...] # 6Info Tour Blog # 7InfoTour DatesPublic Meeting :: Fight for Sites :: Sep 20Mass Action :: Fight for Sites :: Oct 19Fight for Sites :: [...]
[...] Next, came The Traveller Solidarity Network and The Robin Hood Tax Campaign who held simultaneous meetings (obviously in different rooms). The Traveller Solidarity Network ‘s workshop covered a wide range of interesting things. It began with an introduction for people new to the Traveller Solidarity movement (including an explanation of the different kinds of Travellers and Sites on which they live, the problems and racism faced by travelling communities, recent evictions of travelling communities, and the effects of the new localism bill) and the sharing of ideas on how to support local Traveller Sites. Following this, there was a breakout into smaller groups and an invitation to all attendees to their upcoming action against the Homes and communities agency on the anniversary of the Dale Farm evictio…. [...]