The Traveller Movement is contemplating legal action following the alleged dispersal of gypsy and traveller children from Manchester city centre by police, who reportedly herded them onto trains.
A charity says it is considering legal action after gypsy and traveller youngsters were 'dispersed' out of Manchester city centre and herded onto trains by police. The Traveller Movement, a national charity working with Irish Traveller, Romani and Roma communities to challenge discrimination and promote inclusion, held preliminary talks with lawyers on Monday.
The Traveller Movement said it had 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.' It spoke of a 'shocking' and 'completely unacceptable' incident, adding: "We will not stand by while our communities are discriminated against and excluded in this way.
In one clip, a young man could be heard shouting 'I don't know where I am going' as he was pushed on board a train. Another youngster - a girl aged 13 and from Doncaster - ended up more than 100 miles away from Manchester in Grimsby after she was put on a train. Greater Manchester Police said a 'dispersal order' was issued 'due to intelligence of groups causing anti-social behaviour on trains on the way into Manchester and similar reports rising around the city centre'. Entrances to the Arndale Centre were also being monitored.
"Over-policing and targeting of minority ethnic communities is never acceptable - even more alarming when children are subject to this. There needs to be a full investigation - the families deserve answers and justice. We are currently reviewing the situation and assessing the best course of action."
"Every time I spoke to her she was crying, saying she didn't feel safe. She said 'I feel like the police don't like us'. I feel very upset. It's just not the way to make things better with communities."
Charity Legal Action Gypsy Traveller Children Police Manchester Dispersal
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