Police Act reinforces racism against Gypsy, Roma and Travellers - warning

Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 22 June, 2022

Elements of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act were condemned as "racism" in a session at BASW’s conference marking Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month.

Allison Hulmes, national director of BASW Cymru, herself of Roma origin, said: “Part 4 of the Police Act is racism. It's anti Gypsy-ism in action, and in 2022 how is that we have a piece of legislation that is set to eradicate a whole culture?”

Part 4 of the act gives police increased powers to respond to “unauthorised encampments”. The legislation states an offence has been committed if a person over 18 “is residing or is intending to reside on land without the consent of an occupier of the land and they have or intend to have at least one vehicle with them on the land” and “fail to comply” with requests to leave.

Authorities can impose fines of up to £2,500 or imprisonment of three months.

Police will also be able to act if a person has committed “or are likely to cause” an offence, a change previously described by BASW chief executive Ruth Allen as an "attempt to predict criminality" that "is not compatible with the rule of law".

Hulmes said: “We are in a position that this piece of legislation [the Police Act] will become enacted on June 28, and there are families living on unauthorised encampments.

“On June 28, through no fault of their own, through a complete lack of accountability by the Welsh Government on those local authorities, those families can be criminalised overnight.”

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month had the theme ‘What Makes a Home’ and in a separate blog, Allison Hulmes described it as “bittersweet to be thinking about what home means when we have a law that can ultimately remove the homes of nomadic Gypsies and Travellers and those who travel for employment, who have no other 'achin tan' or stopping place.”

Hulmes wrote: “The Police Act not only cuts right into the heart of Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1988 - which protects the right to private and family life, including your home - it is also in direct contradiction to our international code of ethics as social workers.

“Attempts to invoke the protections of the Human Rights Act are being fundamentally undermined by the UK government.

“As a profession, we must stand in solidarity with Gypsies and Travellers.”

Wales has the highest looked-after children rates in the UK. BASW Cymru has raised ‘real concerns’ that more Gypsy, Traveller and Roma children will be removed into state care if their home is taken as a penalty of stopping at an unauthorised encampment.

Gypsy Traveller children are already over-represented in referrals to child welfare services.

Conference delegates were invited to write down the first words that came to mind when thinking about Roma people.

Responses ranged from 'caravans' to 'travellers' to 'no fixed abode', 'traditional culture', 'strength of community, 'pride' and 'identity'.

The session heard how the origins of the Roma people were in Northern India, around 1,100 years ago. Romani people came to the UK in the 1500s and the first anti-Gypsy law was passed in 1530.

A conference delegate said Roma are part of the professional social work community, though rare. A Traveller social worker added: “We feel as a community, social work views us a risk, which is quite shocking, to specifically look at one community and think, ‘I don't know what to do with it’.”

Delegates also discussed the move of large numbers of the community into “bricks and mortar” considered culturally inappropriate.

“It ends up being a kind of forced assimilation,” Hulmes said.