MOSCOW, January 22 (Sputnik) – Britain's community secretary Eric Pickles has systematically discriminated against Romani Gypsies who settled on government-owned green belt land, the country's high court declared, according to the BBC.
Romani Gypsies and Irish Travellers will no longer be systematically banned from settling on green belt land, as the policy has been violating their human rights, as well as equality laws, according to the Guardian.
The decision could lead to a flood of new claims against the government, the Independent reported, as it now means that the government illegally discriminated against zoning applications made by Gypsies and Travellers.
The cases for land settlements, ordinarily considered by planning inspectors, were brought under the authority of the communities secretary since 2013, a practice which according to Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission, violated their rights, the BBC reported.
According to the Telegraph, the policy was introduced to prevent incidents such as the one at Dale Farm in Essex, in which police removed residents en masse from a camp site amid huge media controversy in 2011.
