Wednesday 14 September 2011

UN adviser: UK breaking law by evicting travelers - Taiwan News Online

UN adviser: UK breaking law by evicting travelers

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Associated Press
2011-09-14 09:57 PM
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A United Nations adviser is accusing Britain of breaking international law by evicting hundreds of people from an illegal travelers' camp.

Yves Cabannes of the U.N. Advisory Group on Forced Evictions said Wednesday that moving the Irish Travelers from their Dale Farm site, east of London, infringes the right to adequate housing and amounts to racial discrimination.

Local authorities want to remove 86 families who have been living illegally on the site of a former scrap yard since 2001.

After years of legal wrangling, last month Britain High Court rejected a bid to halt the evictions, which are due to begin next week.

Irish Travelers have similar lifestyles to, but are ethnically distinct from, Gypsies, also known as Roma.