Travellers protest
Around 300 travellers (mostly Roma gypsies) marched through London's West End on 9 April in protest at the mounting number of evictions from traveller sites. The march followed a church service remembering the victims of the porrajmos (the Holocaust), and of more recent ethnic cleansings and pogroms across Europe.
Many gypsies and travellers are being turfed off land which they own. Councils do this because, they say, travellers are flouting planning regulations. Yet many councils have made it very difficult for travellers to comply with planning regulations. Overall councils are not providing enough sites. An estimated additional 3-5,000 are needed. Not such a great number, yet councils, who since the last Tory government have had no obligation to provide sites, are not prepared to do it. Satisfying the needs of the travelling community is not a great vote winner. New Labour has no intention of restoring the statutory obligation on councils.
Meanwhile families get raided by police in the middle of the night. Children, old people, are all thrown out on the road. Remember, in many cases, people are being evicted from land they own. So much for a property-owning democracy.
Travellers are resisting. A Travellers’ Action Group has been set up. They are standing two candidates in the general election — Sheila Dunn against Michael Howard in Folkestone, and Richard Sheridan against John Baron the Tory MP for Billericay.
For details of action and support contact Grattan Puxon on 01206 523528.
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racism in ukraine
dear friends
I am an international student in kiev ,
my face is somehow dark .yes! ,and its because of my Middle Eastern background ,,,
,,, well I am not black and not an Arab ,,, but anyway not completely white.I am here for around 4 years and I want to tell you something about reality .
1-Ukraine is not a civilized country.
yes I know, you may say I belive in what I am seeing , well yes ! but for a good look you need to be here as a foreigner for more than 6 months.
they have a street which is called Kpreshatik in
kiev and they did everything for it !(due to the fact thatthey want to join european union)
! so if you walk there you may think that you are walking in europe!
2-be prepare to show your Documets in around every 2 or 3 hours in the streets,and be sure without knowing Russian they will bring you with themselves to the police office in an impolite style but in this process they will ask you for money ,so in this case dont show them that you have money (if they see they will rob it from you )sorry but its the truth :( unlike Kiev this is more common in other cities specially in kharkov or its area).
3-if you are a non smoker or a guy who dosent like high drinks like Vodka or ... get ready to see drunk guys in the street drinking Vodka just like water !well Ukraine is the country of lard and Vodka ! and they are so pround of this ... if you lost your way home dont worry you can find it ,just look at the signs of sputum on the streets :D some of them do this next to you for showing that they hate blacks.(sputum)
4-in general people are not polite and are not respecting or esteeming you , ... even if you are a professor .
5-Ukrainain(specially Boys)are so jealous ,they can not tolerate that a dark or chinese guy is wearing good clothes or driving a good car ,,, be aware of yourcar !they may broke the windows or scratch it (it happend to my friends car).
6-well ,dont be afraid but be careful, some of them are Skinheads! they are ready for punching,
and when they are ,,, be sure that they are more than one .... so escape in this situations ,,,
Ukraine is not a lawful country, forget it if you need help from police .
God knows that what I am saying is 100% the truth and I am not kidding, so the truth:
if you are from
1-Asia(China-India-Persia-Arabic countries)
2-Africa and blacks
3-sometimes south American
4-and maybe dark Spanish or Portuguese
you will see racism in Ukraine .
http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2005/3/11/31447.html
Another reader alerted me to the fact that the State Department has issued warnings to those of African or Asian heritage traveling to Ukraine. Indeed, I found this on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site:
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
UKRAINE
May 27, 1998
The Department of State advises American citizens in Ukraine, particularly those of African and Asian heritage, that they may be subject to racially motivated attacks and harassment. The U.S. Embassy in Kiev has received reports of at least two assaults on African-Americans. While these attacks do not appear to be premeditated or related, the Embassy is aware that several parks in Kiev are used as gathering points for "skinhead" groups, who have targeted individuals of African or Asian heritage in the past. Unification Park was the site of one of the attacks.
Persons of African or Asian heritage, including American citizens, are also subject to frequent stops and searches by local law enforcement (the "Militia"). There are several credible reports that such incidents have led to harassment and physical abuse....
END EXCERPT
To read the full travel warning announcement, go to: http://travel.state.gov/ukraine_announce.html