THE RECOGNITION of Travellers as an ethnic group and the establishment of a Traveller agency are among the proposals going to the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination later this month.
The special UN committee was established to monitor the implementation of the UN Convention on Racial Discrimination, the first convention drawn up by the world body. The committee discusses the progress of states in relation to discrimination at regular intervals, and Ireland reported last in 2006.
The State is due to report again on February 22nd, and its report will be accompanied by “shadow reports” from NGOs dealing with issues of discrimination. Yesterday Pavee Point, the Travellers’ centre, launched its shadow report to go to the UN committee.
It asks why, despite numerous recommendations from UN and Council of Europe bodies, including the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Ireland refuses to recognise Travellers as a ethnic group. This would, it says, help to tackle many of the issues they face.
The shadow report also points out that Traveller men are five times more likely to be imprisoned than settled men and Traveller women were 18 times more likely to be imprisoned than their settled counterparts. It calls for a study of their treatment by the criminal justice system.
Martin Collins, director of Pavee Point, said Travellers were disillusioned with the political process and with their lack of representation in it. He pointed out that the the UN committee and the Council of Europe recognised the need for political representation, which had never been acted upon.
Anastasia Crickley, the Irish member of the UN committee, stressed the importance of Pavee Point continuing to work with Roma in Ireland, who faced discrimination throughout Europe.