Politicians have been accused of using racist rhetoric against Travellers to help push through sweeping bans against unauthorised encampments.

In a range of documents and speeches, Travellers have been branded illiterate, violent and lawless by MPs and councillors over the last two years, as a deepening housing crisis has led to an increase in roadside encampments.

At least 22 councils have sought temporary or permanent borough-wide injunctions that ban “persons unknown” from camping anywhere on public land in their area, a power that campaigners argue criminalises those who have nowhere else to live.

Other politicians have called on the government to go one step further and implement the “Irish option”, which would make unauthorised encampments, currently a civil matter, a criminal offence.

Debby Kennett, a spokeswoman for London Gypsies and Travellers (LGT), said: “We have experienced local councillors making highly discriminatory remarks about Gypsies and Travellers both at council meetings and on social media which are inflammatory and rooted in negative racist stereotypes.”

In one example, a Wandsworth councillor in favour of implementing an injunction said in a council meeting that Travellers could not read or speak English, and burned their dead in caravans, according to a complaint seen by the Guardian.

The Conservative councillor, Hugh Byrne, was also quoted as saying Travellers could not access websites or social media, it was very common for fights to take place when Travellers gathered for weddings and funerals, and Irish Travellers spoke their own language, “Pavee”, which is not a language but a term used by Irish Travellers to refer to themselves.

Byrne’s remarks were witnessed by several other councillors, three of whom confirmed the accuracy of the complaint to the Guardian. Byrne, who apologised to the group that sent the complaint, did not respond to requests for comment.

Kennett said a severe shortage of official sites at which Travellers could stay had led to an increase in the number of unauthorised caravan sites. Campaigners say it is particularly worrying that politicians have responded to this by seeking borough-wide bans that attempt to criminalise the community’s way of life and create an “us v them” mentality.

In Ealing, a Conservative councillor, Joanna Dąbrowska, launched a petition in December 2018 calling on the council to adopt a borough-wide injunction. Dąbrowska wrote in a blog that there was currently “one rule for Travellers, one rule for the rest of us,” and she urged residents “not to fuel the demand for Travellers to encamp in the borough by not paying them (even an advance) for any services such as waste clearance, roofing services, laying driveways.”

In response to a request for comment, Dąbrowska said: “I don’t have an issue with anyone other than those flouting the law, be it blue badge abuse, illegal flytipping, begging, stealing, assault, etc. Crime is not a characteristic feature of any particular community.

“I would like to ask everyone and anyone: why do some people feel encamping without authority, flytipping, antisocial behaviour etc on public land is acceptable?” She added that she was in favour of setting up more legal pitches in the borough.

In Sutton, the MP Paul Scully, who supports the criminalisation of unauthorised encampments, told local residents in a blog in 2018 that “Travellers have little regard for locks”. He advised residents to “keep their distance and keep themselves safe”. Scully did not respond to requests for comment.

Gavin Callaghan, the leader of Basildon Labour and a former Basildon council leader, in October 2018 called for a “zero-tolerance approach” to unauthorised encampments. Callaghan said the comments were in response to a particular issue in Hovefields, where there was “flagrant abuse of the planning system”. He said he was in favour of increasing the number of legal sites.

Sandwell Conservatives, who call for swift evictions from unauthorised encampments and robust implementation of criminal law, blogged in 2017: “Most of the residents of Sandwell don’t want Travellers in the borough … Whether through ignorance or political correctness, they [Labour] seem to regard Travellers as ‘old Meg she was a gypsy who lived upon the moor’ types when it would be more accurate to identify ‘Mick the white van man who collects “scrap” where he can’ as a more typical modern Traveller.”

Scott Chapman, the chairman of Sandwell Conservatives, said: “As stated in the blog, our answer is to discourage not encourage illegal Traveller encampments. This means, among other actions, speedy evictions from unauthorised sites and the robust enforcement of the criminal law.”

The charity LGT has brought forward a legal challenge against Bromley council’s injunction that bans unauthorised Traveller camps from its land. Marc Willers QC, from Garden Court Chambers, who is leading the challenge, said the combination of draconian legislation and the lack of legitimate sites for Gypsies and Travellers meant the community was stuck in a “cycle of despair”.

Abbie Kirkby, the advice and policy manager of the charity Friends, Families and Travellers, said elected officials were fanning the flames of racial hatred against these groups. “Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are ethnic groups and to use sweeping statements against them is totally unacceptable, just as it would be for any other ethnic group,” she said.

Ivy Manning, of Friends, Families and Travellers, said: “You feel unwanted, pushed to the side … My kids have learned not to share their identity in school. It’s very draining for them.”

The Labour MP Kate Green, chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, said: “Using stigmatising and discriminatory language against Gypsies and Travellers has been described as the last acceptable form of racism. It’s disgusting, divisive and wrong.

“Political leaders have a special responsibility to be careful in what they say and do. Instead of blaming whole communities, they should address the chronic shortage of legal stopping places and the poor access to public services that lead to unequal outcomes for Gypsy and Traveller families.”