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INTERNATIONAL STORY THE HIDDEN IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS ON TRAVELLER COMMUNITIES BY VANESSA HEASLIP AND JONATHAN PARKER It is now well known that the COVID-19 virus is affecting minority groups on a disproportionate level. It’s clear that this disease heightens existing inequalities. Some of the most marginalized people in the UK are Gypsy and Roma Travellers, yet they are often left out of research and outreach programs. Two experts in social welfare and health at Bournemouth University seek to redress the balance. WE KNOW WELL BY NOW that coronavirus does not affect everyone equally. In England and Wales, Black people are four times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people, while people from a Bangladeshi background are twice as likely. Coronavirus has also had a disproportionate effect on people experiencing poverty. It’s clear that this disease heightens existing inequalities. Some of the most marginalized people in the UK are Gypsy and Roma Travellers, yet they are often left out of research and outreach programs. We do not currently know the rates of death and severe illness among these communities. And without better data about their experiences of COVID-19, the true impacts of the pandemic on Traveller communities could remain dangerously hidden. HEALTH INEQUALITIES Gypsy and Roma Travellers are not a homogeneous group, but rather consist of different communities with diverse needs. Even within the same community group, there can be many varied experiences of living through the pandemic depending upon personal, social, and environmental factors. That said, research indicates that the continuing COVID-19 pandemic will be extremely challenging for many individuals within the disparate communities. The last census in 2011 noted that 76 percent of Travellers in England and Wales lived in houses or apartments. This offers the least challenging experience, as people have access to basic amenities such as electricity, gas, sanitation and water supplies. Those living in caravans, however, are likely to experience more difficulties. A 2019 Houses of Commons briefing paper noted there were 22,662 Traveller caravans in England, of which 57 percent were on private sites, 29 percent were on local authority sites and 14 percent were on caravan sites. There are increased challenges for those living on these sites during the pandemic, including accessibility of gas bottles, sewerage, and obtaining fresh water. Those living on unauthorized sites experience the most significant problems, especially in accessing suitable sanitation, and waste disposal. Discriminatory policies towards these communities have meant that sites, whether they are provided by a local authority or privately run, are more likely to be located close to motorways, major roads, railways, refuse tips, sewage works and industrial estates, all of which are damaging to the health of people who live there. It is perhaps not surprising therefore, that Travellers have a worse health status than the wider community average, dying between seven to 20 years earlier than the rest of the population. A review across five regions in England and Wales noted that 66 percent of Gypsy and Roma Travellers had bad, very bad, or poor health. Poor air quality, proximity to industrial sites, asthma, and repeated chest infections in children and older people were noted in around half of all interviews undertaken for the review. Health access is incredibly difficult for people in these communities, which means that such problems are often not picked up until much later in the illness trajectory, leading to poorly managed chronic conditions. As COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory disease, this places them in a precarious position – many will meet the criteria for high or moderate risk. THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL DISTANCING As well as physical health impacts, we also know that there are mental health consequences that come from the COVID-19 pandemic. These too are likely to disproportionately affect Traveller communities. These communities often have a very strong family culture, and many live in large, extended family groups. This culture is an important protective mechanism against the harsh stigma and discrimination they face in wider society. A desire to roam and travel is also deeply embedded as a core part of the identity of Travellers. The distancing measures enacted in response to coronavirus reduce social contact within communities as well as people’s ability to be nomadic and roam. Both of these factors have implications for the longterm mental health and well-being of people within these communities in which mental ill-health is on the increase. RAELENE JOHNSON. CREDIT: CORTNEY TABERNA AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE, you have to take responsibility for yourself! You can’t keep blaming others for how you act now. Yes, we all have pain from the past, but do you choose to stay stuck in it and pass it on to others? People in pain can only pass it onto others. Even if they don’t mean to. They just do. Things like being homeless for years can break a person down, leave them believing they are no good, worthless, or whatever negative thoughts someone might have about homeless people without caring to find out why or what happened to cause it. If you feel the world is against you, then you send that feeling of worthlessness out to the universe. On the other hand, if your self-worth is positive you get that back. I’m grateful today that I have peace. True peace. Too bad I didn’t find it until my late 50s. I’m grateful today for a home and for having true friends that trust me. I trust them not to ever hurt me. That is the best peace I know. When they know your past but see you how you’ve truly changed, and they say to you they didn’t know you then, and that the person they see before them is someone they’re proud to call their friend! I’m grateful for the Denver VOICE who saw me, a lost person worth helping, by giving me an opportunity to vend the paper. It changed my life. If you are reading this, thank you for supporting the VOICE. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know all our vendors also thank you. Your support around the world has changed our lives. Peace with self is the best happiness there is! So, if you don’t have true happiness, then please find it before it’s too late. Do not share pain. Instead, live a life of happiness, and share that! ■ A YOUNG ROMA PULLS A TROLLEY AS HE LEAVES WALKING PAST CARAVANS AFTER THE EVICTION OF ROMA FAMILIES FROM THEIR ILLEGAL CAMP IN LILLE SEPTEMBER 11, 2013. FRENCH POLICE EVACUATED SOME 30 CARAVANS AND THEIR OCCUPANTS WHO RESIDED IN AN ILLEGAL CAMP OF AROUND 500 TRAVELLING PEOPLE AND ROMA IN NORTHERN FRANCE. REUTERS/PASCAL ROSSIGNOL 12 DENVER VOICE September 2020 A LACK OF DATA As well as widespread stigma, a major difficulty in truly understanding the impact of coronavirus on these communities is a lack of systematic data collection. While Gypsy and Roma Travellers were recognized as a distinct ethnic minority category in the last census, the NHS does not currently incorporate this category into their ethnicity data. As such, individuals are not identified in health services as originating from these communities. Nor are they included as a specific ethnicity in Public Health England’s reports on COVID-19 health disparities. Instead, they are merged into the category of “any other white background”. Unless this is addressed at a national level, the health impact of coronavirus on these marginalized communities will remain hidden. ■ GRATEFUL FOR PEACE BY RAELENE JOHNSON, VOICE VENDOR

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