Basildon council, fulfilling its pledge to rid the
district of unauthorised caravans, smashed
up the homes of four families at Five Acre Farm.
It was a merciless operation conducted by
hired thugs.

I saw small children on bicycles weaving
past heavy machinery, dangerously close to a
giant JCB. Huts and caravans were crunched
flat like card-houses, as mothers stood by
helpless.

Within hours, huge earth mounds had
been piled around each yard. The stench from
splintered drains and broken cesspit tanks
was nauseous.

The earth banks, blocking people from
entering their own land, are illegal. The
contractors, Constant & Co., and subcontractors
H.E.Services and Terranova, are breaking the law
and ignoring safety regulations.

One of the H.E.Services machines, during a
previous eviction, smashed through the fencing
on a yard which is protection by a high court
injunction pending the outcome of a judicial
review.

Basildon council, led by Tory Malcolm Buckley,
who pushed through the decision to spend up to
five million euro ethnically-cleansing Gypsies, is
undoubtedly the arch villain in this case.

He has his evil eye on nearby Dale Farm
where nearly a hundred families know they
are in line for the same treatment.; unless Buckley
can be stopped. All human appeals and attempts
at reasoned persuasion have so far failed.

But the UK Government itself, in particular
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, must take
its share of responsibility. He has exposed
the shortfall of at least 4,000 yards or pitches
needed by Travelling families.

Yet have done nothing to curb the
relentless ethnic-cleansing. Local council, hiding
behind a smoke screen of planning regulations,
are brutally hounding Gypsies from one part
of the country to another.

Moreover, they are not only behaving
in an anti-social manner as Gypsy Affairs spokesman
Joe Jones points out, but are habitually breaking
the law. Millions have been spent erecting earth
banks around land owned by Travellers and
trenching possible stopping places.

"This is wanton destruction of people's
property," says Jones, who has reported increased
harassment in neighbouring Kent. "Just
who is being anti-social here?"

A delegation from the new UK Gypsy, Traveller
and Roma Forum will be urging the ODHM to step in
a stop some of these illegal practices - which clearly
contravene the Human Rights Act - when they meet
Government officials on 6 April in London.

WHAT HAPPENED AT FIVE ACRES FARM YESTERDAY
MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE REPEATED AROUND THE
UK - PLEASE ADD YOUR NAMES TO THIS PETITION:

My home is at Dale Farm, please add your name
to this Petition - Richard.

Save Dale Farm
WORLD APPEAL AGAINST UK ETHNIC CLEANSING

We, the undersigned, condemn all acts of ethnic-cleansing and forceful removal being perpetuated against
Roma and Travellers around the globe.

Aware of the mass forced exodus from Kosovo, pogroms in Romania, the raising of Romani homes in cities
from Athens to Kaliningrad, from Budapest and Belgrade to Novisibirsk, we wish through this appeal to
draw attention to the courageous stand being made by the residents of Dale Farm in England, among them
eight pregnant mothers.

They are the victims of constant move-on operations and evictions up and down Britain, where thousands of
Gypsies, Travellers and Roma have been "cleared" from their own land.

Despite a racially-tainted vote by Basildon District Council to spend up to £3 million on destroying their 86 homes,
they continue in the name of Travellers everywhere, a non-violent campaign to save their community from the
bulldozer.

We call for common sense, reason and tolerance. Stop UK ethnic-cleansing: leave Dale Farm alone.
Add your names by emailing  dale.farm@ntlworld.com