Manchester - ‘Never seen racism like this before’
Gypsy and Traveller community rocked to the core – but peaceful Traveller rights rally called for by Gypsy Traveller League in Manchester on December 6th
Romany Gypsies and Travellers have reacted in horror as Greater Manchester Police were accused of “brutal” and “racialised” policing against young people and children this weekend by three major charities.
Videos of police indiscriminately barring Traveller young people from shopping centres and "herding" them back onto trains at mainline Manchester stations spread rapidly on social media from Saturday afternoon onwards.
The Travellers’ Times has seen one video that showed a Traveller mum and her daughters “herded like animals” around Manchester Victoria train station, before being ordered back onto trains taking them away.
In another video, a young Traveller man remonstrates with police outside the Manchester Arndale Centre, demanding to know why they were not letting him go in when any “disturbances were nothing to do with him.” The young man was then brutally thrown to the ground by the police before being bundled into a police van.
“Have you seen the news feeds on Facebook and videos of the police meeting the trains at Manchester train station?” Jim Jones told the Travellers’ Times. “Escorting the Gypsy children off and putting them on other trains and sending them home. Never seen racism like this before and it needs to be sorted.”
One parent of a Traveller youngster told the Manchester Evening News how her daughter was left crying and 'hysterical' after police forced her and other young people from the Traveller community onto trains heading out of Manchester without knowing the destination.
The mother, who declined to be named, said her daughter was 'hysterical' when she called from the railway station as she was being escorted onto the train with others. The brother and sister had travelled from Doncaster earlier that day.
While her children were heading to Manchester, the mother said she was at the Trafford Centre so she could be close by in case her children needed help.
She told the Manchester Evening News: "I was in there literally five minutes when my little girl calls me hysterical saying she's being pushed onto the train. She didn't have a clue where it was going. She was crying and screaming. I could hear the police officers saying 'we don't care where you go, just get back on that train and get off now'. I was saying to put the police officers on the phone but I could hear them saying 'I don't want to speak to your mother - get on that train'."
The mother said it was only during the train journey that her children learned the train was heading to Grimsby - 100 miles from Manchester.
When it was suggested to her by the Manchester Evening News that police say they were acting to prevent trouble in the city centre, she said: "That's bulls**t! How can they say everybody coming into Manchester yesterday was going to cause trouble. If they have photographs and evidence of certain people coming into Manchester to cause trouble, fair enough. Get them back on the train. But not innocent kids. And they were only targeting the travelling community. And yet again they will get away with it. My kids have never been in trouble in their lives."
"We have been discriminated against once again. But this time it wasn't against adults. It was against pure innocent kids."
One gorja witness who was in Manchester during the incidents told the Manchester Evening News: "I saw them all. There were loads of them walking around in groups and the girls were all dressed up. They were doing absolutely nothing wrong, just shopping. It's really unfair that they were treated that way."
Another witness said: "The way they were pushed about and treated was absolutely disgusting. They were getting pushed like animals. You would think the Manchester police department would have better criminals to see to than abusing basically young children."
The Travellers’ Times would like to thank the Manchester Evening News for their reporting on the incidents.
The Traveller Movement charity released a statement saying Greater Manchester Police were guilty of heavy-handed and discriminatory action that has left children upset and distressed, with parents deeply concerned about the treatment that their children have faced.
"We have been contacted by numerous parents and received video footage of Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller children arriving into Manchester, and then being forced onto a different train and prevented from leaving the station by police. These children were simply trying to enjoy the festivities like everyone else, but instead have been unfairly targeted and marginalised,” they added.
The national charity Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) also released a statement condemning "vile" police actions.
"It’s vile that instead of being allowed to act like the children they are, Romany and Irish Traveller kids are criminalised, humiliated and abused daily," they said.
"This is a serious example of how structural racism sustains the ‘cradle to grave’ policing pipeline of Romany Gypsy and Irish Traveller communities. Incidents of racism have an ongoing and reverberating impact, and FFT will not let this go unanswered."
The Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester Kate Green has said she has asked Greater Manchester Police for a full report in a statement released on the Mayor of Manchester's website.
"I have watched the videos circulating on social media with concern and have asked GMP for a full report on the action taken," said Kate Green.
"While we will not tolerate lawlessness and anti-social behaviour in Greater Manchester, I want to reassure the community that I expect the police to treat everyone fairly and with respect, and I will be inviting community leaders to meet me to discuss what has happened," she added.
Kate Green – when she was a Member of Parliament – was once the co-Chair of the Parliamentary group for Gypsies, Roma and Travellers and has appeared in the Travellers’ Times Magazine as an advocate for Traveller rights.
Meanwhile, John Reilly, CEO of the Gypsy Traveller League, has called for a “peaceful rally” Traveller rights rally in Manchester on Friday 6th December.
“This is the day we stand as one against discrimination,” he said.
“It’s taken the events of the weekend to bring our community together and stand as one.”
“Don’t just talk about change. Be part of it.”
Local Traveller Tommy Joyce echoed John Reilly's call:
“Think about all your children and how you want them to be in 20-30 years,” he said in a video released on Facebook.
“Let our voices be heard.”
TV star Paddy Doherty has promised to be there as well, he told his hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook earlier today.
The Travellers’ Times understands that more details about the rally will follow.
This will not be the first time Manchester has seen a Gypsy/Traveller rally.
In 2022, Gypsy/Traveller campaign charity Drive 2 Survive led a contingent of Gypsies and Travellers protesting against new police powers at a massive rally on the day of the then Tory government party conference.
TT News
(Lead image from Facebook)