Taking a break between his shifts at the bar where he works, Dan – an Irish Traveller – speaks wearily, but angrily.
‘We feel like the world is against us right now,’ he says. ‘This is the final stab in the back.’
Born and raised in Wexford, Ireland, Dan moved to South London to live with his boyfriend Ben five years ago.
Despite years of building back his self-esteem after experiencing racism most of his life, he admits he still doesn’t feel a ‘whole person’.
‘I now feel about 80% myself,’ the 34-year-old explains. ‘The other 20% has been slowly chipped away.’
However, in the wake of the recent Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill, Dan says that he’s finally had enough. ‘We can no longer be silent and sit back to watch our culture and communities be culled any further.’
His frustration and anger has surfaced after the Bill was blocked in the House of Lords last month. Its defeat meant it was successful in throwing out what has been termed its most ‘draconian’ measures, such as noise conditions on demonstrations and the power to ban individuals from protesting – however, now under review again, the worry now is that none of the proposed amendments have been levelled at the infringements to the rights of Gyspy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) people.
In fact, according to the community, the re-worked PCSC Bill is likely to entrench these inequalities, criminalising the right to nomadism and subsequently, an entire way of life.
In one section (Part 4), it covers ‘Unauthorised encampments’ and gives police the power to ‘seize’ caravan homes and trailers parked on unauthorised land.
Once a civil matter, trespassing will become criminal to the degree of facing fines up to £2,500 as well as three month prison sentences – adding to the fear of overrepresentation of GRT people in the criminal justice system, which will in turn, break up families and kickstart a pipeline of institutional harms.
For most, this comes as no surprise, given the community’s long history of persecution.
With the vast majority of Travellers no longer being nomadic, the issue of trespassing is a red herring. The Bill is more reflective of societal prejudices.
Jenni Berlin from The Traveller Movement, a charity that promotes equality for GRT people, explains that they are the ‘perfect political football’, and measures are largely brought in as a performative charade of ‘looking tough on crime’.
‘Everyone likes to have a boogeyman, and GRT people are the perfect scapegoats,’ she tells Metro.co.uk. ‘Because they seemingly don’t work, and don’t live in homes like the supposedly perfect citizen. Except, this isn’t true.
‘Contrary to public belief, 75% of ethnic Gypsies and Travellers now live in bricks and mortar, and only about 5% are still nomadic. Others live in permanent caravan dwellings on legal sites, where they pay rent, council tax, energy and water bills just like anyone else.’
Jenni adds that although many Travellers have chosen to live in permanent houses for generations, for the most part assimilation has been forced.
As well as contending with laws that make it increasingly harder to travel, there is a lack of adequate caravan site provision.
Research conducted by the organisation Friends, Families and Travellers in 2019 identified that only eight out of 68 planning authorities in the South East of England had addressed the need and supply of Traveller pitches in their local plans, despite councils’ duty of care to do so.
Coupled with an enormous lack of authorised stopping places across the country, it is near-on impossible for the very few Travellers who do still live nomadically to pitch up without trespassing.
When GRT people are housed they also often get discriminated against by their neighbours and made out to be ‘taking’ social housing: ‘they just can’t win’, sighs Jenni.
Such stigma has a huge impact on the wellbeing and livelihoods of the community.
According to studies, they are more likely to suffer poor health, educational and employment outcomes, have the lowest life expectancy as well as to take their own life than any other group in the UK.
When Dan first moved to England, he worked in a hotel in Kent. At first, his colleagues were complimentary of his ‘lovely Irish accent’, but when he finally shared that he came from a Travelling family, everything changed.
‘Everyone started to be off with me,’ he recalls. ‘I was told to work in the back and had to return my fob to the hotel bedrooms. They said another employee had lost hers… which wasn’t true. I guess they assumed I was a thief.
‘I had to leave because you can’t live your life feeling uncomfortable like that – it’s too much.
‘Every Traveller has had a similar experience, and it starts to get your back up,’ Dan adds. ‘I’m always just a bit paranoid now about how people will perceive me. I can trust people, but I don’t really tell them much.’
Discrimination began for Dan when he was just a little boy.
‘Settled kids didn’t want to play with me, and other Gypsy kids would move on to other schools. So I didn’t have any friends,’ he explains. ‘They used to shout, “go wash yourself” and call me “knacker”, which means dead horse. Really awful stuff. And the teachers totally ignored me too.
‘I used to beg my mother to let me leave. So when I was 11, I did. I’m sorry for that now but it is what it is. Don’t get me wrong, I can read and write and use the computer and everything – but I didn’t get the education you really deserve or need to succeed in this life.’
This is a theme that crops up more frequently than not. Parents removing their children from school not as a form of neglect, but as an act of protection.
‘These kids are really suffering. So what would you do?’ he asks.
As Dan got older, he conformed to tradition, getting married and having kids. However, in 2017 he came out as gay. Something he’d been scared to do for fear of judgement from his community.
Although his family aren’t supportive of his lifestyle, they say they still accept him for who he is. Meanwhile, Dan has also found new ‘family’ in the Traveller Pride – the UK’s group for LGBT+ Travellers.
Like in any community, homophobia exists. Likened to the Hisidic Jewish community, it’s logical that historically persecuted groups might fortify themselves by buckling down on tradition.
Lolo, a lesbian Romani woman, recently explained in a BBC documentary: ‘You try being a community that has been historically lynched, enslaved, ethnically cleansed, assimilated, and had their kids ripped away… and then go and see how progressive you will be when you’re focused on survival’.
However Dan admits that living his life now as a gay man has left him feeling ‘free’.
‘Now that people know who I am, I’m just busy building a life for myself,’ he explains. ‘Funnily enough, I don’t receive any discrimination about my heritage from other gay people. I don’t define myself as anything, specifically. Being a Traveller and gay are just part of who I am.’
GRT activist, Millie, was recently involved in the #killthebill rallies protesting against the PCSC bill.
Her dad is Romani Gypsy and her mum is ‘gorga’ (non-Traveller person). She tells Metro.co.uk how she grew up in a caravan before her family built their own house to echo the surroundings of their middle class neighbourhood in Canterbury.
‘Living in a caravan was frustrating to me as a kid,’ admits the 25-year-old. ‘But now I’m older, it resonates with me more, and I’m super proud of my family’s heritage. I shout about it from the rooftops.’
‘Kids were horrible to me and I used to fight people when I was a teenager because I was just so angry,’ she remembers. ‘If you poke the bear long enough, you’re gonna get bit… But I don’t do that anymore!’
Millie – who works in visual effects for a movie studio – points out that councils are happy to build private caravan sites for holiday-makers and for the over 50s, but not for ‘us’.
‘So if this isn’t actually about caravans, what is it?’ she asks. ‘This is about our ethnicity’.
The ‘travelling’ myth is something the Traveller Movement is keen to debunk.
‘Like any ethnic group, what defines GRTs is their culture,’ says Jennie. ‘For instance, traditions around food – like cooking on open fires – their reverence of family and community, our music and arts.’
English Romany Gypsies originate from India, and have lived in the UK for 800 years or so. Irish Travellers are indigenous to Ireland, in the same way Aboriginals are to Australia.
‘The most prevailing myth is that GRT people “choose” these lifestyles,’ adds Jenni. ‘People don’t realise that you are born a Traveller – we’re talking about heritage here.’
Many of the community feel that attempts to stamp out heritage are de facto forms of ethnic cleansing, which is why for the last four years the Traveller Movement has worked hard to let GRT people know that just because they live in bricks and mortar, they are no less a Traveller.
‘The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with people expressing enormous relief, as they have been made to feel ashamed,’ Jenni adds.
Meanwhile Millie says that she uses her activism to address gender stereotypes associated with the community. For her undergraduate degree in Politics and Theatre at Goldsmiths University, she made a short film called ‘Conversations with Romany Women’.
‘Being Roma is a really important part of my identity as a woman,’ Millie explains. ‘I look at my granny and my aunts and I admire what powerful women they are. My culture has shaped the ways I navigate the world.’
‘Even if some women are stay at home mothers, that doesn’t mean they’re not super badass women,’ she says. ‘It’s hard work bringing up three kids and keeping a household. When people suggest that all Gypsy women are oppressed, I wonder, why – have you asked them?
‘People at uni were fascinated by me,’ Millie adds. ‘They would say, “Oh wow, so what are you doing here? I thought Gypsies leave school and have babies really young.”
‘There are so many wrong and harmful stereotypes out there.’
Millie laughs as she talks about the rise of the middle class trends in van life, wanderlust living and forest schools.
‘It’s like, yes, that’s all very nice and lovely. But I’ve known how to skin a rabbit since I was a little girl, and you’re now paying for your kids to do the same? So how is the way you’re choosing to educate your kids any different?’
Tina is a 54-year-old mum who currently lives in a trailer on a 12 month residential site with her husband and teenage daughter.
‘The site is run by Travellers – so it’s absolutely spotless, and kept beautifully,’ she explains. ‘I’ll stay here until my little girl goes to university. So far she’s a straight A student. I’m so proud of her.
My caravan is my own little piece of paradise, but it is a tin box at the end of the day
‘My dad is a settled Romani and my mum came from a really well off family who didn’t approve of her dating a Gypsy. So she had to turn her back on them. It’s prejudice that breaks families up.’
Like many of us, Tina found the last few years in on-off lockdown challenging.
‘My husband, who is an essential worker, was out from 9am to 9pm, so I felt really isolated. My caravan is my own little piece of paradise, but it is a tin box at the end of the day.’
To cope with such a drastic change in circumstances, Tina applied her love of cooking – something she proudly ascribes to her Romany culture – to a newfound online community called the ‘Traveller and Gypsy Recipes and Tips’ Facebook group.
‘GRT people have always known how to make delicious things on small budgets. This isn’t ‘rate my plate’ – this is about sharing practical knowledge, and being supportive to one another,’ she explains.
The group, she says, is an unequivocally inclusive and positive space.
‘Most of the comments are things like, “Wow this is really great! Well done for trying!” It’s like everyone is giving one another a big pat on the back, all of the time,’ says Tina.
She recalls meal times with her family as a child fondly.
‘When I was little, I used to watch my mum cooking while my dad was at work. We lived by the sea so he would always be putting night lines out. We would ask, “What’s for tea? Fish. What’s for tea? Fish. What’s for tea? Rabbit! Oh my God, exciting!”‘
Tina also knows how to live off the land. ‘Wild garlic season is starting now. I just add it to fresh salads – nothing tastes better. And I’ll be making lots of homemade pesto.
‘I remember picking blackberries with my mum. It was a magical time. I do it with my grandchildren now.’
However, despite Tina’s pride surrounding her heritage, her 13-year-old daughter has never disclosed to her school and friends about her identity, in fear of being treated differently.
With Jimmy Carr’s recent smears about Roma people, provoking calls for him to be ‘cancelled’, his act exposed an insidious and prevailing normalisation of the persecution often talked about when it comes to the GRT community.
Dan says, ‘It’s hate speech. There’s no way he would get away with saying that about any other ethnic group. It’s not right – it needs to be taken off Netflix.’
There’s also controvery surrounding the growing popularity of documentaries about the Traveller community. While some might argue that shows such as My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and the recent 60 Days with the Gypsies offer a rare insight, many GRT people deem them exploitative rather than educational.
In 2015, the Traveller Movement complained to OfCom that the former gave a negative portrayal and confirmed social prejudices in a way likely to cause harm to children in those communities, while another Channel 4 show, The Truth About Traveller Crime, that aired in April 2020, also received complaints of ‘dehumanising’ the community.
Tina is tearful when discussing the ways they have been referred to in recent years.
‘It reminds me of the ways Hitler talked about us,’ she says. ‘He said that we’re all worthless, that we don’t pay taxes, that we’re dirty and we’re no use to the economy. Sounds pretty familiar to today’s discussions, right?
‘I think everyone should go and visit Auschwitz, just to try some sense of what we have endured. About half a million of us were killed there, but no one knows that bit of history’.
Millie explains that her parents’ and grandparents’ generations have kept themselves to themselves, shying away from speaking out to avoid further brutalisation.
But, she adds, ‘that hasn’t got us anywhere. We’re still in the same situation as we were 100 years ago.
‘So there needs to be active change, people speaking out and explicitly saying, no, that’s wrong rather than just putting up and shutting up,’ she says.
‘When you have experienced over 500 years of persecution, you get sick of it. We’re tired. The community is tired of it.’
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