Clash as police fight to evict travelers
Source: Agencies |
October 20, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
UK police in riot gear used sledgehammers and crowbars yesterday to clear the way for the eviction of Irish travelers from a site they have occupied illegally for a decade.
The police and bailiffs faced resistance from several dozen protesters who threw bricks and struggled with officers at the Dale Farm site, set in fields 50 kilometers east of London.
One mobile home was set on fire as police moved in at dawn, and several protesters chained themselves to barricades with bicycle locks to slow down evictions. Others scaled a 12-meter scaffolding tower.
By late morning, police said they were in control of the whole site and bailiffs were preparing to begin removing the travelers' mobile homes.
The conflict over Dale Farm has simmered since 2001, when travelers bought and settled on a former scrap yard next to a legal travelers' site.
The legal battle dragged on for years until the travelers lost a final appeal last week.
The local authority says it is a simple planning issue - the 86 families lack permission to pitch homes on the land. The travelers, a nomadic group similar to gypsies, claim it amounts to ethnic cleansing, the latest chapter in a centuries-old story of mistrust between nomads and UK society.
Essex police said seven people were arrested yesterday after attacks on police officers. Travelers and their supporters, however, said police used excessive force.
Resident Kathleen Mc-Carthy said: "I have been through a lot of evictions, but I have never seen anything like this. They have come in and started a riot that we never wanted. We are being dragged out of the only homes we have in this world."
Ambulance workers said a woman was taken to a hospital with minor back injuries. Five other people were treated for smoke inhalation, breathing difficulties and a nosebleed.
Authorities said the violence was coming not from residents but from their supporters - a mix of anarchists, environmentalists and anticapitalists who traveled from across Europe to the site.
Tony Ball, leader of local authority Basildon Council, said: "The premeditated and organized scenes of violence we have already seen, with protesters throwing rocks and bricks, threatening police with iron bars and setting fire to a caravan, are shocking."
He said while "no one takes any satisfaction" in the police operation, he was confident that "after 10 years of negotiations to try and find a peaceful solution to this, what we are doing is the right thing."
There are estimated to be between 15,000 and 30,000 Irish travelers in the UK, where they are recognized as a distinct ethnic minority.
Traveler evictions are common across the country, but few have been as high-profile as Dale Farm.
Oscar-winning actress and political activist Vanessa Redgrave came to the community's support, and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged authorities to find "a peaceful and appropriate solution" to the crisis.
The police and bailiffs faced resistance from several dozen protesters who threw bricks and struggled with officers at the Dale Farm site, set in fields 50 kilometers east of London.
One mobile home was set on fire as police moved in at dawn, and several protesters chained themselves to barricades with bicycle locks to slow down evictions. Others scaled a 12-meter scaffolding tower.
By late morning, police said they were in control of the whole site and bailiffs were preparing to begin removing the travelers' mobile homes.
The conflict over Dale Farm has simmered since 2001, when travelers bought and settled on a former scrap yard next to a legal travelers' site.
The legal battle dragged on for years until the travelers lost a final appeal last week.
The local authority says it is a simple planning issue - the 86 families lack permission to pitch homes on the land. The travelers, a nomadic group similar to gypsies, claim it amounts to ethnic cleansing, the latest chapter in a centuries-old story of mistrust between nomads and UK society.
Essex police said seven people were arrested yesterday after attacks on police officers. Travelers and their supporters, however, said police used excessive force.
Resident Kathleen Mc-Carthy said: "I have been through a lot of evictions, but I have never seen anything like this. They have come in and started a riot that we never wanted. We are being dragged out of the only homes we have in this world."
Ambulance workers said a woman was taken to a hospital with minor back injuries. Five other people were treated for smoke inhalation, breathing difficulties and a nosebleed.
Authorities said the violence was coming not from residents but from their supporters - a mix of anarchists, environmentalists and anticapitalists who traveled from across Europe to the site.
Tony Ball, leader of local authority Basildon Council, said: "The premeditated and organized scenes of violence we have already seen, with protesters throwing rocks and bricks, threatening police with iron bars and setting fire to a caravan, are shocking."
He said while "no one takes any satisfaction" in the police operation, he was confident that "after 10 years of negotiations to try and find a peaceful solution to this, what we are doing is the right thing."
There are estimated to be between 15,000 and 30,000 Irish travelers in the UK, where they are recognized as a distinct ethnic minority.
Traveler evictions are common across the country, but few have been as high-profile as Dale Farm.
Oscar-winning actress and political activist Vanessa Redgrave came to the community's support, and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged authorities to find "a peaceful and appropriate solution" to the crisis.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
