Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that we often highlight the discrimination and outright persecution that our fellow workers in the Roma communities face. It is the blog's duty to protect those who have little voice of their own.
The government has “comprehensively failed” Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in Britain, according to a report two years in the making from the Commons women and equalities committee. Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities had the worst outcomes of any ethnic group across a huge range of areas, including education, health, employment, criminal justice and hate crime, but little was being done to tackle longstanding inequalities.
Gypsy, Roma or Traveller backgrounds had the lowest attainment of all ethnic groups throughout their school years.
Travellers are likely to die more than a decade earlier than non-Travellers, and one in five Gypsy Traveller mothers will experience the loss of a child, compared with one in 100 in the non-Traveller community.
Many Roma families were being exploited by “rogue landlords” and were being paid below the minimum wage, the report added.
Conservative MP Maria Miller, the committee’s chair, said: “Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people have been comprehensively failed by policymakers and public services for far too long. Access to education, health, employment, criminal justice, tackling hate crime and domestic violence – all these require services which differentiate between different groups who have different needs, and yet so many services are ill-equipped to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people.” The committee was particularly concerned with the government’s focus on encampments and planning, arguing it had eclipsed other pressing issues.
Debby Kennett, of London Gypsies and Travellers, said: “There have been many reports produced over the last few decades giving evidence of the huge inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in the UK but little action has been taken by governments to address this situation. This latest report gives yet more evidence to show the persistent failure by government to tackle these inequalities, or to recognise and challenge the shocking level of racism and discrimination that the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community face in their everyday lives, which perpetuates disadvantage and leads to the poorest outcomes in every aspect of life including education, health and employment.”
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