![]() A portrait of a Romani woman by English painter Octavius Oakley | |
Total population | |
---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Northern Ireland: 1,529 – 0.08% (2021) [4] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
North West England and Greater London | |
Languages | |
Angloromani, Scottish Cant, Kalá | |
Religion | |
Christianity |
Romani people have been recorded in the United Kingdom since at least the early 16th century. There are estimated to be around 225,000 Romani residing in the UK. This includes the Romanichal, Kale (Welsh Roma), Scottish Lowland Roma and a sizeable population of Roma from Continental Europe, who immigrated into the UK in the late 1990s/early 2000s and after EU expansion in 2004. [5] [6] They are considered part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community. [7]
Romanichal (commonly known as "English Gypsies") are a Roma subgroup in England. The first Roma arrived in England in the 16th century. Romanichal predominantly live in England, but also in South Wales, Northeast Wales and the Scottish Borders. [8] Most Romanichal speak English and Angloromani. There exists a north–south divide between Romanichal in Southern and Northern England, with the two groups' dialects differing in pronunciation and vocabulary. [9]
Kale are a Roma subgroup in Wales. The first Roma arrived in Wales in the 16th century. [10] [11] [12] Kale predominantly live in the Welsh-speaking parts of Northwestern Wales and speak Kalá (Welsh Romani). The Roma population in Wales is estimated to be around 3,000.
According to the Scottish Traveller Education Programme, an estimated 20,000 Scottish Roma and Travellers live in Scotland. [13] Amongst the Roma in Scotland are the Scottish Lowland Roma (commonly known as "Lowland Gypsies"), Romanichal and Roma who have recently migrated from other subgroups in Continental Europe.
The first recorded reference to "the Egyptians" appears to date from 1492, during the reign of James IV, when an entry in the Book of the Lord High Treasurer records a payment "to Peter Ker of four shillings, to go to the king at Hunthall, to get letters subscribed to the 'King of Rowmais'". Two days after, a payment of twenty pounds was made at the king's command to the messenger of the 'King of Rowmais'. [14]
Around 2,500 Romani lived in Northern Ireland in 2016. Although Irish Travellers were sometimes incorrectly referred to as “gypsies” in the past, they are not Roma. Roma in Northern Ireland include recent Roma migrants from Continental Europe (primarily Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic) and their descendants, and Irish Roma that have existed in Ireland for centuries due to historical migration. Although they mixed with Irish Travellers and settled Irish natives, these Irish Roma have preserved their Romani identity and culture across generations. [15] [16] [17]
Romani people in the UK are predominantly Christian, with 71.8% of Romani in England and Wales identifying as Christian in the 2021 census compared to 46.2% of the wider population. [19] [20] The second largest religion amongst Romani people in the UK is Islam. [19]
Religion | England and Wales | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 [19] | ||||
Number | % | |||
![]() | 72,485 | 71.8% | ||
No religion | 17,732 | 17.6% | ||
![]() | 2,028 | 2.0% | ||
![]() | 368 | 0.4% | ||
![]() | 187 | 0.2% | ||
![]() | 58 | 0.06% | ||
![]() | 43 | 0.04% | ||
Other religions | 674 | 0.7% | ||
Not Stated | 7,405 | 7.3% | ||
Total | 100,980 | 100% |
Romani people have faced widespread marginalisation, prejudice, and discrimination across the United Kingdom.
In 2005, Doncaster Borough Council discussed its review of Gypsy and Traveller needs [21] and concluded that "Gypsies" and Irish Travellers are among the most vulnerable and marginalised ethnic minority groups in Britain. [22] [23]
In 2007, a study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that widespread prejudice against "Gypsy Traveller" communities persists in Wales. [24]
In 2008, a report by the University of the West of Scotland found that both Scottish and UK governments had failed to safeguard the rights of the Roma as a recognised ethnic group and did not raise awareness of Roma rights within the UK. [25]
In 2012, an Amnesty International report stated that "Gypsy Traveller" groups in Scotland routinely suffer widespread discrimination in society, [26] as well as a disproportionate level of scrutiny in the media. [27] [28]
Since 2015, changes in policy have resulted in an ongoing widespread shortage of authorised encampment sites for nomadic communities, including traditionally nomadic Romani communities. [29] In its 2019 electoral manifesto, the Conservative Party made a promise to "tackle unauthorised Traveller camps" to "protect our communities" by empowering police to arrest Travellers and seize their homes and property without compensation, perpetuating long history of criminalisation of Travellers in the United Kingdom. [30] [31] After success in that election, plans to implement these policies are proceeding. [32]
The Egyptians Act 1530 banned Romani people from entering England, requiring those already living there to leave within sixteen days under the threat of confiscation of property, imprisonment, and deportation. The Egyptian Act of 1554 amended this law, removing the threat of punishment on the condition that Romani people abandon their "naughty, idle, and ungodly life and company" and adopt a settled, sedentary lifestyle. However, this same act also raised the penalty for noncompliance to death. Later, in 1562, new legislation was passed which permitted Romani people born in England and Wales to formally become English subjects but only if they assimilated into the local population, and the punishment of death remained for those who refused to assimilate. [33] [34]
The Enclosure Act of 1857 created the offence of injury or damage to village greens and interruption to its use or enjoyment as a place of exercise and recreation. The Commons Act of 1876 makes encroachment or enclosure of a village green, and interference with or occupation of the soil, unlawful unless it is with the aim of improving enjoyment of the green. [35] [36]
The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act of 1960 states that no occupier of land shall cause or permit the land to be used as a caravan site unless he is the holder of a site licence. It also enables a district council to make an order prohibiting the stationing of caravans on common land, or a town or village green. These acts had the overall effect of preventing travellers using the vast majority of their traditional stopping places. [37]
The Caravan Sites Act 1968 required local authorities to provide caravan sites for travellers if there was a demonstrated need. This was resisted by many councils, who would claim that there were no Romanichals living in their areas. [38] The result was that insufficient pitches were provided for travellers, leading to a situation whereby holders of a pitch could no longer travel, for fear of losing it.
The crisis of the 1960s, caused by the Caravan Sites Act of 1968 (stopping new private sites being built until 1972), led to the appearance of the "British Gypsy Council" to fight for the rights of the Romani people in Britain.
In the UK, the issue of "Travellers" (referring to Romanichal Travellers, Irish Travellers, Funfair Travellers (Showmen), as well as other groups) became a 2005 general election issue, with the leader of the Conservative Party promising to review the Human Rights Act of 1998. This law, which absorbs the European Convention on Human Rights into UK primary legislation, is seen by some to permit the granting of retrospective planning permission. Severe population pressures and the paucity of greenfield sites have led to "travellers" purchasing land and setting up residential settlements very quickly, thus subverting the planning restrictions. [39]
Romanichal Travellers and Irish Travellers argued in response that thousands of retrospective planning permissions are granted in Britain in cases involving non-Romani applicants each year and that statistics showed that 90% of planning applications by Travellers were initially refused by local councils, compared with a national average of 20% for other applicants, disproving claims of preferential treatment favouring Travellers. [40]
They also argued that the root of the problem was that many traditional stopping places had been barricaded off and that the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994, passed by the then Conservative government, had effectively criminalised their community, for example by removing local authorities' responsibility to provide sites, thus leaving the travellers with no option but to purchase unregistered new sites themselves. [41]
The Romani, also spelled Romany or Rromani and colloquially known as the Roma, are an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani originated in the Indian subcontinent, in particular the region of present-day state of Rajasthan. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed by historians to have occurred c. 1000 CE. Their name is from the Sanskrit word डोम which means a member of the Dom caste of travelling musicians and dancers. The Roma population moved west into the Ghaznavid Empire and later into the Byzantine Empire. The Roma are thought to have arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century. Although they are widely dispersed, their most concentrated populations are located in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Spain and Turkey.
Irish Travellers, also known as Pavees or Mincéirs, are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group originating in Ireland.
Pikey is an ethnic slur referring to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people. It is used mainly in the United Kingdom and in Ireland to refer to people who belong to groups which had a traditional travelling lifestyle. Groups referred to with this term include Irish Travellers, English Gypsies, Welsh Kale, Scottish Lowland Travellers, Scottish Highland Travellers, and Funfair Travellers. These groups consider the term to be highly offensive.
Angloromani or Anglo-Romani is a mixed language of Indo-European origin involving the presence of Romani vocabulary and syntax in the English used by descendants of Romanichal Travellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States, and South Africa.
The Romanichal are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. Most Romanichal speak Angloromani, a mixed language that blends Romani vocabulary with English syntax. Romanichal residing in England, Scotland, and Wales are part of the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller community.
The term English Travellers may refer to the following itinerant groups indigenous to England:
Anti-Romani sentiment is a form of bigotry which consists of hostility, prejudice, discrimination, racism and xenophobia which is specifically directed at Romani people. Non-Romani itinerant groups in Europe such as the Yenish, Irish and Highland Travellers are frequently given the name "gypsy" and as a result, they are frequently confused with the Romani people. As a result, sentiments which were originally directed at the Romani people are also directed at other traveler groups and they are frequently referred to as "antigypsy" sentiments.
Norwegian and Swedish Travellers, commonly known as Romanisael, are a group or branch of the Romani people who have been resident in Norway and Sweden for some 500 years. The estimated number of Romanisael in Sweden is 65,000, while in Norway, the number is probably about 10,000.
The Finnish Kale are a Romani subgroup who live primarily in Finland and Sweden. Their main languages are Finnish, Swedish and Finnish Romani. Kalo/Kale is the collective name for traveler people in Finland.
The Romani people have several distinct populations, the largest being the Roma and the Calé, who reached Anatolia and the Balkans in the early 12th century, from a migration out of the Indian subcontinent beginning about 1st century – 2nd century AD. They settled in the areas of present-day Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, by order of volume, and Spain. From the Balkans, they migrated throughout Europe and, in the nineteenth and later centuries, to the Americas. The Roma population in the United States is estimated at more than one million.
Scottish Romani are the Romani people of Scotland. This includes Romanichal and Lowland Roma.
The Kale are a Romani subgroup predominantly found in northwestern Wales, specifically in the Welsh-speaking areas. Many Kale claim to be descendants of Abram Wood, the first Rom to reside permanently and exclusively in Wales in the early 18th century, although Romanichal have appeared in Wales since the 16th century. Romanichal inhabit South Wales and North East Wales.
The Romani people are known by a variety of names, mostly as Gypsies, Roma, Tsinganoi, Bohémiens, and various linguistic variations of these names. There are also numerous subgroups and clans with their own self-designations, such as the Sinti, Kalderash, Boyash, Manouche, Lovari, Lăutari, Machvaya, Romanichal, Romanisael, Kale, Kaale, Xoraxai and Modyar.
Romani Americans are Americans who have full or partial Romani ancestry. It is estimated that there are one million Romani people in the United States. Though the Romani population in the United States has largely assimilated into American society, the largest concentrations are in Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, Southwestern United States, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and the Northeast as well as in cities such as Chicago, Cleveland, and St. Louis.
There are a number of traditionally itinerant or travelling groups in Europe who are known as Travellers or Gypsies.
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller is an ethnicity classification used in the 2011 United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller population was 63,193 or about 0.1 per cent of the total population of the country. The ethnicity category may encompass populace from the distinct ethnic groups of Romanichal Travellers or Irish Travellers, and their respective related subgroupings, who identify as, or are perceived to be, white people in the United Kingdom.
Leeds University Library's Gypsy, Traveller and Roma Collections are one of the five Designated collections held by the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The collections contain an extensive range of international books, manuscripts and archives relating to Gypsy, Traveller and Roma culture. The majority of the materials do not originate from within these communities, instead they encapsulate external representations.
Crystal's Vardo is an English theatre production written and directed by Suzanna King for children aged 7+, about the impact of being bullied at school on a young Gypsy girl's life. It uses dance, drama, humour and music, in a hybrid of theatre, storytelling, historical reconstruction and political education, to describe the culture and histories of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. The play "remains entertaining while also raising awareness about the racism and injustice faced by Gypsies and Travellers today."
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller is an umbrella term used in the United Kingdom to represent several diverse ethnic groups which have a shared history of nomadism. The Gypsy grouping encompasses Romani people who choose to identify themselves as Gypsies, including those from Romani subgroups that have resided in Britain since the 16th century, the Romanichal, Kale and Scottish Lowland Roma, and those from other Romani subgroups. The Roma grouping encompasses Romani people who choose to identify themselves as Roma, including those from the aforementioned subgroups in addition to Romani migrants from mainland Europe and their descendants. Travellers include Irish Travellers (Mincéirí) residing in Britain and Northern Ireland and the traditional travelling people indigenous to Britain such as Scottish Travellers and English Travellers. Although these groups' lifestyles traditionally involved travel, most GRT people now live in houses or permanent caravan berths.
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