The Communist Party Executive Committee agreed the following statement at its meeting in October 2023 prior to our 57th Congress. It was produced in consultation with people with lived experience in our Anti Racist Anti Fascist Commission (ARAF). The ARAF Commission was instructed by the Executive Committee to consider the means the policy could be taken into Labour Movement Organisations. People or organisations with a contribution to make should contact ARAF@communistparty.org.uk
Gypsy, Roma, Sinti, and Traveller communities who have always been subject to both social and organisational racism. Now with the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which came into effect on 8 June 2022, those who are over 18 and live on roadside camps may receive a custodial sentence, a £2500 fine and/or their home being taken from them.
This combined with a failure to provide legal and safe places for people of travelling communities – there are only 59 permanent legal pitches for travellers in all of England, with over 1500 families on waiting lists – means the separation of families including the real threat of children taken into care due to forced homelessness, a risk of adult homelessness, and a cultural eradication for people of Gypsy Roma, Sinti, and Traveller Communities.
We stand in solidarity with members of this marginalised community and seek to oppose any casual or explicit racism against their cultural and societal practices. We aim to support these communities by campaigning for desperately needed legal and safe places to live, opposing any laws or by-laws that eradicate their attempt to live safely and securely.
We believe that everyone has a right to a safe and secure home without persecution.