Equal Opportunities Committee, 26 Mar 2002
Meeting date: Tuesday, March 26, 2002
Official Report
131KB pdf
Gypsy Travellers
Item 4 on the agenda is a response from the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice to Michael McMahon's letter.
When I attended the Holocaust memorial service, I discovered that the Gypsy Traveller community felt that it had been excluded and was not allowed to participate in a way that adequately reflected the impact of the Holocaust on the community. Five hundred thousand Gypsy Travellers died in the Holocaust, which was a substantial proportion of that community. However, during the memorial service, representatives of the Gypsy Traveller community were allowed only to sit in the hall while—quite rightly—representatives of a range of organisations lit candles in a specific ceremony. Why were those organisations involved when the Gypsy Travellers were not?
In spite of the Executive's warm words in response to our report on Gypsy Travellers, it appears that the Gypsy Travellers have again been overlooked and were not given their proper place at an important event. Jim Wallace's response to my letter contains warm words, but it completely misses my point. The letter states that Gypsy Travellers sat in the hall and that that is a recognition of the Holocaust's impact on them, but the point of my letter was that sitting in the hall was not good enough—I sat in the hall. The way in which the Gypsy Traveller community was affected by the Holocaust was not reflected in their treatment at the event.
Jim Wallace's response is full of platitudes and warm words, but it does not address the significant question: when will Gypsy Travellers have their proper place in matters that affect their lives? That community was affected dramatically by the Holocaust, as were a range of other communities. The service was not only about the Holocaust; it was about Bosnia, Kosovo and other terrible tragedies of the past century. The Holocaust affected the Gypsy Traveller community as much as any other community, but that was not reflected in the community's position at the event.
I was looking for a commitment from the Scottish Executive that the position of Gypsy Travellers would be addressed. The Executive recognises that the Gypsy Traveller community might be disappointed, but it has not told us what it intends to do to address the situation—
To prevent them from being disappointed.
Absolutely. The letter says nothing about that, and I am bitterly disappointed. The letter simply indicates once again that the Scottish Executive is not taking seriously what we said in our report and that members of the Gypsy Traveller community are still being treated as second-class citizens.
What does Michael McMahon think we should do now? Should we write back to the Executive?
I ask the committee to write back to the Minister for Justice. I am bitterly disappointed with his response and, if the committee agrees with me, I would hope that we could write back to say that we are bitterly disappointed.
For two years in a row, the same service involving the lighting of candles has taken place and all sorts of agencies and organisations have been represented at it. We want a firm commitment about next year's service. Surely a place can be found for one representative from the Gypsy Traveller community to go up on to the stage and light a candle. Surely it is not beyond the Scottish Executive to organise that. That is all that is being sought; we are not seeking a dramatic change to the way in which the ceremony is conducted. That would make a big difference to how the Gypsy Traveller community feels that it is being treated by the Scottish Executive.
I suggest that I write to Jim Wallace on behalf of the committee to put forward that point of view and to ask him for a commitment that, in future, Gypsy Travellers will be involved in the way suggested by Michael McMahon.
I would be happy with that.
Is that agreed?
Members indicated agreement.
We now move into private session.
Meeting continued in private until 11:21.