Travellers launch petition for recognition as ethnic minority

TRAVELLERS HAVE launched a national petition to be granted ethnic minority status.

The petition has been initiated by the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) and has already received the support of the Equality Authority, Amnesty International and the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI).

To date, the Government has refused to consider giving ethnic status to Travellers.

The Government has outlined its views in two submissions to the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and in a number of court cases.

It has argued that Travellers are protected under anti-discrimination legislation, but are not significantly different enough to be considered an ethnic minority.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said that position remains unchanged.

“Travellers are a social group within Irish society, but they share the same ethnic background as the rest of the Irish people,” he said.

ITM director Damien Peelo said granting Travellers ethnic status would copper-fasten their right to travel and compel local authorities to provide proper halting sites.

“We still hear arguments at every local authority about whether Travellers should have the right to travel and be nomadic. The arguments are still about why they have to travel and why can’t they be better off living in houses,” he said.

“There are good policies out there but their implementation has been terribly weak and part of that problem is around the assimilation model that’s out there. That’s why we need ethnic status. Granting such status to the Traveller community is a key step in protecting their human rights.”

The petition was launched to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. ITM chairperson Catherine Joyce said becoming recognised as an ethnic minority group is one of the core aims of Travellers and it would bring many clear benefits to the community.

“Ethnic status would provide an important symbolic recognition of Traveller culture as both distinct and valued within Irish society. We asked members what they felt was the most important issue facing the community and overwhelmingly the answer was the need to secure ethnic status,” said Ms Joyce.

The petition was supported by the former chief executive of the Equality Authority Niall Crowley who resigned last week in a row over funding.

He said the definition of travellers needs to be more “widely articulated” in national policy if Travellers are to achieve full equality.

The petition will also be posted to Traveller and human rights organisations across the country and submitted to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, along with a position paper in the new year.