Notices have gone up along Oak Road, adjacent to Dale Farm, saying that the road will be closed to all but residents from Friday, Sept. 2nd. Both ends of Oak Road will be blocked (blocking access via both Hardings Elm Road and Gardiners Lane North). Additionally, the lay by on the southern end of Oak Lane (leading on to the A127; by the white ‘Basildon onion’ water tower) will be blocked.

As the launch of Camp Constant ( http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/activity/ ) on August 27th approaches, the authorities appear poised to blockade Dale Farm.

ROAD BLOCK WARNING

Notices have gone up along Oak Road, adjacent to Dale Farm, saying that the road will be closed to all but residents from Friday, Sept. 2nd. (See http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/contact for details). Both ends of Oak Road will be blocked (blocking access via both Hardings Elm Road and Gardiners Lane North). Additionally, the lay by on the southern end of Oak Lane (leading on to the A127; by the white ‘Basildon onion’ water tower) will be blocked. There will be a no stop zone on the footpaths on the A127 between A176 at Billericay and A132 at Wickford. Residents are feeling under siege, with children asking how many more nights they are going to be able to sleep in their beds. Dale Farm is a big site, so it should be possible to find routes in, but be advised that after Sept. 1, it will be harder to get in, and likely impossible to get vehicles in.

WATER AND ELECTRICITY TO BE CUT

The Council have released information that they intend to cut water and electricity supplies from Dale Farm after the eviction notice period expires on midnight 31st August. This will leave sick, elderly, young, and pregnant residents without access to water or electricity. Amnesty International ( http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR45/013/2011/en/0faf8cdd-f5a1-4024-af41-5a26f21d51a5/eur450132011en.html ) have condemned the removal of vital water and electricity in these circumstances, and asked their supporters to put pressure on the council to cease this action which represents a serious violation of human rights. An injunction has been sought in consideration of two residents who are dependent upon a constant electricity supply for nebulisers, without access to which their lives are placed in serious jeopardy. See Amnesty’s Kartick Raj speaking to BBC Essex this week ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-14635807 )
.
CAMP CONSTANT

On Saturday, 27th August, we will launch CAMP CONSTANT

( http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/activity/ ) a solidarity and resistance camp for supporters of the Dale Farm community. JOIN US. See http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/activity for more information, the long weekends schedule of workshops and a welcome pack.

INDEPENDENT MEDIA:

Any independent media people planning to come on to the site (with video, cameras, etc) please read this ( http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26043573/IND%20MEDIA%20CALL%20OUT.odt ) first and make contact…

DESPERATE PLEA TO UN

*Richard Sheridan as president of the Gypsy Council has been involved in eleventh-hour negotiations with the UN Commission on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva; the Special Raporteur has already entreated the UK Government to cease the evictions and to ensure the families at Dale Farm are offered viable culturally appropriate alternative sites. Lord Avebury will accompany Dale Farm residents to 10 Downing Street ( http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/dale-farm-petition-to-no-10-and-meeting-with-union ) Thursday, 25th August to present a petition to the PM calling for the eviction to be called off.

DONATE:

use this paypal link ( link )
to donate some money to the camp.

LONDON INFO-EVENT & MEETING

2pm, Thurs, 25th August, at the Haircut before the party <http://thehaircutbeforetheparty.net/>, Whitechapel…see here <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26043573/DALE%20FARM%20INFO%20SESSION.odt> for more info.

MAKING THE CONNECTIONS:

Workshop, Sunday Sept. 4th, 2pm, Camp Constant, Dale Farm. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Stay!* This is the rallying cry for Roma, Gypsies and Travellers and of migrants throughout the world. A common thread of persecution, of forbidden lands, eviction and deportation connect the struggles for migrant rights and the rights of Gypsies and Travellers. These realities have met dramatically in the crack-down and deportations of Roma people from France and Italy. Come to the Workshop organised by No One Is Illegal and London No Borders including speaker who is an activist in Amnesty International's campaign against the persecution of Roma in Europe.

TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THE DEMO

Sat, 10th Sept, 1pm, see here<http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/demo/>for more
information and email: savedalefarm@gmail.com to add your group’s support to the list…

RISE UP!

We cannot stand by and do nothing while the UKs largest Travellers site, home to hundreds of families, including many children, elderly and sick residents, is brutally evicted. Travellers should not have to live in constant fear of eviction with their lives and communities under constant threat. They should not have to be forced out of their homes and off their land by bulldozers and police. This constant hounding, marginalisation, and lack of provision is how rural England does ethnic
cleansing. It is time for a resurgence of support for Gypsy and Traveller communities. Time to stand against the extreme racial discrimination faced by Gypsies and Travellers. Time to defend the right of Gypsies and Travellers to land, life, respect, and dignity.

http://dalefarm.wordpress.com

The date for eviction looms heavy. Dale Farm family homes are liable to bulldozing from midnight on 31st August. Dale Farm residents are devastated. Meantime, Saturday activity days at Dale Farm are growing in strength each week. Supporters from across the UK are visiting Dale Farm each Saturday, spending time with residents, taking part in legal observer training sessions, helping with practical logistics for the site, meeting with experts from Essex University Human Rights Clinic, and joining a growing network of committed solidarity workers preparing for resistance through civil disobedience. There’s a huge amount of work to be done, but each week brings new faces, ingenuity, thoughtfulness, energy, and hope.

Actions for supporters:

1.   Attend the next solidarity activity day at Dale Farm on Saturday, 30th July

Come to Dale Farm this Saturday, 30th July, 11am.  Another briefing for later arrivals at 1pm.  See http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/activity for details.  We're only 30 mins from London Liverpool St. and can pick you up from the station  http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/contact

2.   Sign up to join ‘Camp Constant’, opening 27th August

To sign up to a txt alert in case of eviction, or to spend a night at Dale Farm so that we have a constant presence there, visit https://smsalerts.tachanka.org/dalefarm/ .  Please send this link to your friends and share it on social networking sites.

3.   Dale Farm Solidarity Demo – demo callout, Saturday, 10th Sept:

Dale Farm Solidarity together with numerous other groups (including No One is Illegal, London No Borders, Unite Against Fascism) has called a demonstration starting at 1pm on Saturday, Sept 10th or earlier if the eviction starts before then.  Join us at Wickford Train Station, just 30 minutes by train from London Liverpool Street Station. The march will then proceed to Dale Farm and Camp Constant, a base at Dale Farm for human rights monitors and those who will engage in civil disobedience to stop the bulldozing. Buses will also be available.  Please share the link http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/demo/ or use this callout to spread the word.  Please invite your friends to the facebook event here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=245406565483199

4.   Sign and send a letter to Kenneth Clarke, Secretary of State for Justice expressing your concern that the Legal Aid Bill as currently formulated which will disproportionately impact on Travellers and Gypsies. This Bill threatens to remove Gypsies and Travellers access to legal support, and as a consequence seriously undermines the protection under the law of their rights. Here’s a letter written by members of the Essex Human Rights Clinic, which can be printed out and signed; just add your name and address, and put it in the post, or you can email a copy to: office@rushcliffeconservatives.com  .  You can also sign the petition here: http://www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/no-mad-laws/3062

5.    Oppose the Localism Bill. See previous post here.

Resist ethnic cleansing in the UK, fight the eviction of Dale Farm!

First they came for...

From the clearances of Roma camps in Italy and France, to the neo-fascist murders of Roma in Hungary, Romania and the Czech republic, recent events in Europe are becoming increasingly disturbing. Now the UK Government is engaged in the ethnic cleansing of Dale Farm, the largest Traveller community in the country.

On 4th July the residents were told that have until Midnight on August 31st to abandon their homes or face having their community bulldozed. This despite the fact that the families own the land on which they are living and have been offered no viable alternative housing. In the event of an eviction some 90 families will be made homeless, including many elderly, sick, and very young residents.

An astonishing £18M has been allocated for the eviction, being led by Constant and Co, a company notorious for their involvement in brutal evictions of Traveller sites. This eviction is racially motivated. It amounts to ethnic cleansing. It must be resisted.

Camp Constant, a mass gathering of national and international supporters of the Dale Farm community will begin Saturday, August 27th. We want to send the invitation far and wide for people to come and help the community resist the eviction, many of whom are determined to fight to the end. Different people will take different types of action, but we will take the lead from the community in what forms of resistance we use. Remembering the centuries of persecution Travellers and Roma have faced from the settled community since the 1500s, it's crucial we all act with real sensitivity.

After the August 31st, an eviction could happen at any time, and we might not know when. We'll need people to be on standby to come up to Dale Farm in the event of an eviction. See: dalefarm.wordpress.com/hrm for details. We also need people to spend the night at Dale Farm to provide around the clock support. We are looking for groups and individuals to pledge to stay overnight at smsalerts.tachanka.org/dalefarm

Dale Farm is within easy reach from London Liverpool St. Station. See dalefarm.wordpress.com/contact for directions and contact details

Please spread this message to your contacts and networks. Resist ethnic cleansing, fight the racist eviction of Dale Farm!