An update on Dale Farm and how you can support us: With cuts in social housing, the homeless are getting a rough deal from the present Coalition Government, and none more so than Travellers. They were told a while back to buy their own land and settle themselves and now Eric Pickles is encouraging councils to evict them from the places they bought.
This is causing a crisis for many thousands of families and matters have come to a head at Dale Farm, in Essex. The largest Traveller community in the UK, Dale Farm is under threat of bulldozing. Some hundred families face the largest eviction of its kind in recent memory, a nightmare which will force its residents to camp again on roadsides and car-parks.
Most of Dale Farm lies on a former scrap-yard about 30 minutes by train from London. Ignoring pleas from UN bodies, and more recently Amnesty International, Basildon District Council has set aside 9.2 million pounds for the eviction operation (more than 1/3 of it's budget). Essex police have requested another 10 million pounds from the Home Office to cover what they expect to be a three week battle with resisting residents and supporters.
This is an act of ethnic cleansing comparable to what has been seen in France and Italy - and together we aim to stop it.
Dale Farm residents are expecting to receive 28 day notice of eviction in May. They are asking people of goodwill to come and spend a night in Dale Farm when the notice expires. Please join us, by signing up at https://smsalerts.tachanka.org/dalefarm/ (this website may give you a “certificate warning” but pay no mind). If you're on facebook, you can also invite your friends to https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170414852985935
We'll need people to act as human rights monitors and come to Dale Farm in the event of an eviction. See http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/hrm/ for details. Many of us will be resisting the eviction through civil disobedience, and there will be training workshops for this. Before the 28 days notice expires (now likely in June), a supporting camp within Dale Farm will be set up, and accommodation arranged in family homes. Camping space will also be available. Sign up to our email bulletins to get the latest news: http://lists.ucrony.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dalefarm-solidarity
Dale Farm Solidarity meets every Sunday in London or by skype. Email us at savedalefarm@gmail.com if you'd like to help organise with us, or if you're part of a group which can add it's name to our pledge to spend a night at Dale Farm. We also have leaflets, films and speaker lists if you'd like to put on an infonight in your community.
No Pasaran! They shall not pass!
http://dalefarm.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124229427082
Wednesday 27 April 2011
Indymedia London | Articles | Show | How to support Dale Farm
