24 male slaves were found in a Bedfordshire Traveller encampment living in extremely cramped and filthy conditions. Travellers are an itinerant ethnic Irish caste, also known as “tinkers” and “pavies,” who have gained something of a protected status in recent years by virtue of being disliked by majority populations, including and especially ordinary Irish. The enslaved men, mainly of English and Eastern European origin, were down on their luck when they were lured to the caravan site (essentially a trailer park) from soup kitchens with the promise of food and fair pay. When they arrived, their heads were shaved and they were deprived of contact with the outside world, then put to work for a pittance if anything at all. The freed slaves had been on the site anywhere from a few weeks to 15 years.
Evidently, people had been complaining to the police for some time, as there had been some escapes, but nothing was done for at least three years. It is thought that a number of men may have died and been buried on the site, which would be unsurprising given the poor state of health of many of the slaves.
The Traveller gang bosses were living in expansive houses, and would send their slaves as far as Scandinavia to perform manual labor.
Although this is clearly a criminal case in which the majority of the blame falls on the Traveller bosses themselves, the fact that they could get away with enslaving men – including native Englishmen – for years speaks volumes. Most criminals are opportunists who prey on the weak, vulnerable and unprotected. It seems that today, there is no group in England so disempowered as Englishmen themselves, who can expect little succour when they fall on hard times.
As countless articles are devoted to the plight of alleged female slaves half a world away, these incidents serve to remind us that many of our men, right here in our own countries, have it just as bad. Hopefully, the men will recover from their experience, but it’s likely that many will end up right back on the street when they are released from the institutions currently caring for them.
