Current Legal Issues - Essay Example

?Law relating to Equality with respect to Accommodation of Gypsy and Traveler Community Introduction: Equality always has been a matter of great concern, for various civilizations right from the ancient days. Indeed over the centuries different communities have experienced various degrees of discrimination and exclusion from society, based on the races and the religions that they represent. The Gypsy and the Traveler Community around the world have been one such community, which has over the years faced the brunt from society as well as from their own countrymen. As a result the society has shown no mercy, when it comes to aspects relating to their healthcare, education, accommodation and many others. (www.gypsyadvice.com ) The society and government in today’s world have racially discriminated the Gypsy and the Traveler community because of which, these communities even today remain ostracized from the main stream public and society. Though there are several laws like the Race Equality Law and Race Relations Acts that have been passed by the government for providing justice to these communities, still it has been seen that in the majority of cases relating to equality, justice has not been provided to them because of which most of these communities remain in the dark. (www.jennettearnold.com) Issue of proper Accommodation: Indeed it has been centuries since such inequality has been meted to them, as well as to the people working in close contact with them. The Gypsy and Traveler communities have their own lifestyles as well have their own culture. Among them the Romani as well as the Irish Travelers are considered to be quite distinct due to the traditions that they follow. The rest of them are classified and identified based on how they move about within the country, which could be circus type of families or as travelers. (www.scribd.com ) Most of these Gypsies and Travelers maintain a nomadic kind of life, while the rest of them live in brick houses. Thus the lack of suitable and good housing sites is the biggest problem that is experienced by the Gypsy and Traveler communities today. Due to the inequality meted out to them by the rest of the society, this community presently are socially deprived and discriminated widely. The following is a brief study of inequality, which is being meted out to the Gypsy and Traveler community, in terms of the aspects regarding their accommodation. (www.scribd.com ) Lack of proper and permanent houses has been cited by most experts, as the primary reason for most of the problems, which these communities are facing across the world as well as in Great Britain. Most of the experts believe that non availability of suitable housing sites; have turned as a serious problem for allocation of housing sites to these communities by the government. As a result lack of proper housing facilities has been considered as one of the biggest and worst type of inequality, which has been shown to this community by the respective governments. The lack of good accommodation always causes a sense of insecurity among the Gypsy and Traveler Community alike and this has been stated as the root cause for all other problems, that the community experiences. (www.historyextra.com ) The main flaw that has been caused in this case has been directed towards the government, whose planning policy itself seems to falter, since they have moved away from the public sites to the system wherein, such communities themselves provide sites for construction of houses. It has been seen that whenever the Gypsies or the Traveler communities try to develop their own sites through private purchase, the local residents tend to oppose such a move. Because of this quarrel and disputes often occur between local residents as well as the members of these communities. This is a common scenario that has been noticed, whenever the members of the Gypsy and Traveler community try to submit applications regarding the plans for construction of house on lands, which they have privately purchased. Often such disputes and opposition of local residents are taken seriously by the government and the respective officials often come under huge pressure, to turn down applications of site development by the Gypsy and Traveler community or individuals. (www.equalityhumanrights.com) But though often these communities face stiff resistance from the local residents during the attempts of site development, still if the Gypsy and Traveler group remain adamant with their applications for building houses they can go in for an appeal. It has been found that, in most of the cases they win the appeal for developing their sites and houses in the property that they have bought. Thus it can be seen that though inequality often remains in the case of the Gypsy and Traveler communities with regards to accommodation and development of their own private sites, in recent years certain amendments in the law have helped them to set up their own houses on lands which they have acquired. But this is not always the case. (www.equalityhumanrights.com ) The various governments on its part also have been engaged in developing and allocation of suitable housing plots for such communities and the extent, to which such efforts have been taken from the government side, varies widely between the different regions. It has been seen that a considerable number of Gypsies and Travelers on their part have been unwilling to settle down in a particular place, which leads to other complexities. This is purely due to the reason that, these communities have not been used to in living in conventional type of housing settlements, since for years they have been leading a nomadic form of life, living in temporary tents or caravans. Thus it has been seen that only a very small percent of Gypsy and Traveler community, have been able to settle down in certain regions and lead a normal and peaceful life. A vast majority of them still live in temporary settlements and shelters put up on lands which belong to local residents or big companies because of which, they are always under threat of eviction. (www.equalityhumanrights.com ) For the rest of the community who have been offered housing sites, studies have shown that, most of them are housed near to sewages in poor quality houses, which have no aspect of safety included in them. Such houses and sites could very well endanger the Gypsy and the Traveler community living in them, since they could very well contract diseases due to consuming contaminated water and also due to close proximity to the sewages. Additional hazards could also be caused during natural calamities or due to fire that could devastate such settlements, which have compromising standards of safety aspects attached to them. Thus the life of Gypsy and Traveler groups who inhabit such settlements, are always under risk. It has been seen that, the government on its part does not take any positive steps to improve the standards of such sites, which could prevent these communities from risking their lives due to the health and safety aspects. (www.equalityhumanrights.com) For years it is found that the Equality of Law has always been found to be cruel and partial when it comes to the aspects of accommodation of Gypsy and Traveler groups, who have been discriminated against the rest of society. Indeed it is this racial discrimination that has caused the Gypsy and Traveler community, in not getting settled in a particular place and force them to a nomadic form of life at all times. It is quite certain that if these communities are given adequate help in getting permanent settlements through good housing sites, it could tremendously improve their lifestyle. Several recurring problems in terms of healthcare, social binding, education, employment and several others from which these communities suffer could very well be solved amicably. But for all this to turn out into reality, the law of equality has to play a very significant role, since it is a very key factor which decides the extent of racial and social discrimination, that is shown by the rest of the society towards this community. (www.jennettearnold.com) Conclusion: Thus if the society and general public of various regions show a shift from their present policy of discrimination that they have till now shown towards this community, it could indeed turn out to be a milestone for the development of Gypsy and the Traveler community. But for this to happen the first step has to be taken by the government of the respective regions and countries, by taking adequate measures to ensure that, the Gypsy and Traveler community get settled in a particular place by providing them with proper and safe accommodation, which could create a sense of security for people of this community. The commission that is responsible for the Equality and Human Rights has taken various steps and laid goals so as to force the respective governments to provide suitable accommodation for such communities but it has been seen that, a vast majority of the local authorities have not provided suitable settlements for them. As a result it is to be seen as to what the future will hold for such communities, who always remain discriminated by the mainstream society. Works Cited: Arnold Jennette “FIGHT FOR RIGHTS FOR GYPSIES & TRAVELLERS” www.jennettearnold.com March04. 2011. Web. May11. 2011 Barlow James “A rough guide to gypsies and travelers” www.scribd.com Web. May10. 2011 Bowlby Chris “Are Gypsies and Travellers Britain’s twilight citizens?” www.historyextra.com Web. May11. 2011 Brown Philip “Assessing local housing authorities’ progress in meeting the accommodation needs of Gypsy and Traveler communities in England” Research Report 13, Universities of Salford and Birmingham www.equalityhumanrights.com Web. May11. 2011 Gypsy Advice “Origins of The Gypsy/Roma/Rom History” http://www.gypsyadvice.com/gypsy_lore.htm Web. May11. 2011 Read More