Recently, it has come to the attention of the United Nations Human Rights Committee that the United Kingdom has set out to evict a large group of Irish Travelers, also known as Gypsies, from their current homes. Does this seem right to you? Gypsies have historically been viewed as swindlers and thieves when truly they are just people who live a more nomadic life. Due to the numerous stereotypes and judgments passed upon them countries, like those within the United Kingdom, have continuously discriminated against and pushed the Irish Travelers into possibly jeopardizing their beliefs and culture.
The Irish Travelers are not taking this sitting down though. There have been protests demanding the UK to stop the evictions and allow the Gypsies to stay. The UN's Anti-Racism Committee has asked the government to stop the evictions as well. The stigma attached to the Gypsy community comes mostly out of racial and cultural differences, which is against the human rights that so many countries have signed on to uphold.
How is it fair to anyone to remove them from their homes, no matter how temporary, for their race? The United Kingdom is supposed to be a leader in the case of Human Rights and anti-racism and yet it is obvious that within in its borders it still very much exists. In the developed world it has been a long time since open racism has been accepted and yet here we see the United Kingdom doing just that and it is not the only violation of anti-racism they have had recently.
The United Kingdom's treatment of the Irish Travelers is not in any sense okay. Just as the British or Welsh or Irish, they are people too and they are deserving of the same respect that any other citizen is. It is appalling to see one of our close allies doing such things to their own people. Though it may not be senseless killing, it is in the sense of the most developed countries a very grave mistake in violation of human rights. Lack of judgement on the basis of one's race is possibly the most basic of those rights that appear on the list. Something that we were proposed to have learned decades ago. It only goes to show that even in the most advanced of places there is improvement that can be implicated.
How would you feel as if you were and Irish Traveler just told you were evicted from your home? Would you take it or would you say something? Should the United Nations get more involved? Or is this strictly and national matter?
Are Irish Travelers just a type of gypsy? Historically, gypsies are considered to be "The Roma", an ethnic group with origins in India and a diaspora all over the world. The official difficulty with the Roma is that they are often stateless. Do Irish Travelers suffer the same problem of statelessness? Regardless, being stateless does not make you unhuman, so these people should have recourse to rights. Unfortunately, they don't seem to. What is the relationship between statelessness and violation of rights?
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