Risk of rare genetic diseases higher for some Scottish Travellers, study says

Samantha said she thought further research could be beneficial as long as the community were part of it.

“Unfortunately Scottish travellers do have a shorter life expectancy compared to the settled population,” she said.

“Prejudice and discrimination is one part of it but health disparities are another, so I’m hoping the Scottish government sees this and thinks: ‘What can we do in terms of things like screening programmes’?”

After centuries of discrimination and exclusion, the Scottish Travelling community have been hesitant to engage with health services or participate in scientific studies.

A total of 3,343 people identified as Gypsy or Traveller in Scotland in the 2022 census. While some continue to travel seasonally, most live in permanent housing or sites across Scotland.

Last year, First Minister John Swinney apologised for “Tinker Experiments” which saw authorities forcibly try to settle people from the 1940s to 1980s and took children away from parents.

Samantha’s mum was one of those taken into care as a child and said she was called “horrible racist things”.

“They really drummed into her that her people were scum and she grew up very much assimilated,” she said.