David Blunkett in riot warning over Roma migrants

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24909979

"He called on the Roma community in Page Hall to change aspects of their "behaviour", such as congregating on the streets on summer evenings and dumping litter, which he said was "aggravating" local people."

Hey, that's racist.

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Reply 1

techno-thriller

That's not racists if they do that. Personally, I've seen them do it.

Reply 2

Snagprophet

I think we as a society should castrate ourselves and allow people to do whatever they like with no consequences on the basis of their race card being used as protection.

Reply 3

meenu89

Original post by deehee

Hey, that's racist.

Are the Roma a race?

Reply 4

InnerTemple

Original post by meenu89

Are the Roma a race?

That's a topic of slight contention. The Roma group has a fairly complex and unclear history. The reason it is so unclear is because there is hardly any documentary evidence concerning their past. This is mainly down to the Roma people being adverse to keeping records.

However, Roma (along with Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers) have protection under the Race Relations Act and are recognised as a minority ethnic group.

The problems seen today with Romany Gypsies and the Roma are all down to the actions of past Governments. At the risk of going wildly off topic, I'll explain in brief...

In the past, the UK Government considered Gypsies to be vagrants - a problem which had to be cured. If you go way back to the 1500s, there were laws making it illegal to be a Gypsy - a crime punishable by death. Housing for Gypsies has been the largest problem. In 1960, a ban was put on Gypsies from being able to buy their own land and settle there, meaning that they were forced to live illegally. Then in 1968, Local Authorities were obligated to provide land for Gypsies to live on. However, the legislation requiring this was never fully enforced and Local Authorities were allowed to get away with offering sites to Gypsies which were not really fit for purpose.

In 1994, the Government removed the obligation for Local Authorities to provide land. This left many Gypsies homeless, and with 97% of planning applications submitted by Gypsies being refused, most of the homeless faced the prospect of not being able to find a legal settlement any time soon.

Essentially, the Roma and Romany Gypsy population has always been seen as outcasts. All the various Acts were an effort to force them to become a bit more 'normal.' But all they done was create an isolated community and problems further down the line.

They are one of the most persecuted groups in history and have suffered a lot in the past. The Commission for Racial Equality say that racism directed to Roma and Romany Gypsies is the last form of 'respectable racism' around. It isn't just the public which are at fault, but Local Authorities and Government.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 5

deehee

Original post by meenu89

Are the Roma a race?

That is irrelevant.

You either want 3 million Romanians/Bulgarians coming here next year or you don't.

Reply 6

meenu89

Original post by deehee

That is irrelevant.

You either want 3 million Romanians/Bulgarians coming here next year or you don't.

No I bloody well don't, Answer my question.

Reply 7

deehee

Original post by meenu89

No I bloody well don't, Answer my question.

Are the Roma a race ?

Why does that even matter ? But yes, they are.

Reply 8

InnerTemple

Original post by deehee

That is irrelevant.

You either want 3 million Romanians/Bulgarians coming here next year or you don't.

You got a source for the 3 million figure yet?

Reply 9

meenu89

Original post by InnerTemple

You got a source for the 3 million figure yet?

Just like the other stuff OP posts, rubbish.

Reply 10

ZÃ¼rich

Original post by deehee

Maybe it is racist but any honest person knows criminality is through the roof among gypsies. If you heard that a family of ten gypsies were moving in down the street you would be suspicious of them and deep down resent their presence and you know it.

Reply 11

sugar-n-spice

God forbid, these Roma? :eek:

Congregating?!? Whatever next

Original post by meenu89

Are the Roma a race?

er yes

(well ethnic group)

Parasites.

Original post by Zürich

You'll be hard pushed to find any evidence to back up that claim. That they increase criminality is one of the biggest claims made by antiziganists. There have been very few studies into this issue - finding the results is difficult and you'll usually only find reference made in some media outlets.

The conclusion is that there is no link between gypsies and higher crime rates.

However there is an issue of perception. People think they commit more crimes. If Gypsies move nearby and a phone box is vandalised - probably the Gypsies. Your neighbour's house is broken into - probably the Gypsies. Non travellers are incredibly sensitive to Gypsies and the effect they believe that Gypsies have.

None of this is helped by the fact that Gypsies are heavily policed.

I'm not saying that they are perfect. But no community is - so people ought to be careful before playing into stereotypes and saying things like "crime goes through the roof when Gypsies move nearby."

Reply 14

Yakob

Original post by InnerTemple

Crime doesn't go through the roof, the roof gets nicked.

Reply 15

ZÃ¼rich

Original post by InnerTemple

Live in the real world please. Roma pick-pockets for example are infamous and you can see it with your own eyes in central London any day of the week.

If you ever speak to someone from Eastern Europe they will say without even thinking that gypsies are criminals, past experiences have simply shown it to be true. They dont have the same warped mentality that we have developed in the West that it's wrong to say that because some gypsies arent criminals. If gypsies led a respectable life, educated their kids, got honest jobs and refrained from anti-social behaviour then people would have no issue with them.

I would put money on it that you prefer a non-Roma family living next door to a Roma family, as much as you'd like to believe that Roma criminality is all just some racist myth.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 16

InnerTemple

Original post by Zürich

Live in the real world please. Roma pick-pockets for example are infamous and you can see it with your own eyes in central London any day of the week.

Well you are talking to someone who lives close to Dale Farm and about a 5 minute drive from a legal gypsy site. I work in London. So I think I am in the real world, cheers.

The rest of your post is just tosh and prejudice. Remember what I said above: "a phone box is vandalised - probably the Gypsies. Your neighbour's house is broken into - probably the Gypsies."

Well you added another one - "see someone get pick pocketed - probably the Gypsies."

Reply 17

Studentus-anonymous

Vandalism and criminal activity does seem to follow them, where I live such crimes are fairly low until a band of travellers drops by and takes over a park and litters everywhere.

Could be warped perception, could be a very criminally active minority, but I can agree that neighbourhoods and such generally sigh when they hear/see travellers stopping nearby.