UK: Increasing amount of unemployed eastern Europeans end up on the streets in Britain

The streets of London and other English cities, have for the past two years, been a huge attraction to Eastern Europeans looking to increase their opportunities. Recent government figures have shown that up to 600,000 migrants from the European Union's recent accession countries have made their way to Britain to find work and increase their earning potential. But concerns have been raised that many are not finding the opportunities they are looking for, and there is a growing problem of homelessness of Eastern Europeans on British streets. Around 2,000 job-hungry eastern Europeans arrive at London's Victoria Coach station every day, and while most are soon able to settle into homes and work, that's not the story for all of them. Westminster city councillor Angela Harvey said the British job market may be beginning to see its limitations. She said that even though most of those who have arrived from what are described as the A8 countries (the 8 poorest countries to join the EU in 2004) have succeeded, some have not, and they have no access to the safety net Britons can enjoy. "People are not eligible for state benefits until they've worked here for a year and paid their national insurance for a year. And so what we've looked at is the plain human misery of those people who have failed," Harvey said. "You can't believe that your luck can be so bad and that therefore they often believe that they will find work tomorrow. The trouble is that it takes a very short time, it can be as little as a fortnight to go from being a non rough sleeper to becoming an entrenched rough sleeper. And really when you've got to that stage you do need help. You will not, very few people are able to find their way out of that without professional help from charities or other agencies," she added. Figures suggesting that up to 3,000 Poles are sleeping rough on British streets have so concerned the Polish based Barka Foundation, that they have travelled to London to see what can be done. They are spending a week working with the British charity, the Simon Community, in a bid to help solve the problem. President of the Barka Foundation, Tomasz Sadowski appealed to other Polish charities and the Polish government to contribute with working towards improving the situation for those who have ended up in the streets. He said many arrive unprepared, because of a lack of information. "The majority of people coming here don't know what to do with themselves. They don't know where to seek information and what to do next. By being so poorly informed they are getting very close to landing on the street," Sadowski said. The Polish consulate is warning would-be Polish migrants not to come to Britain unless they can support themselves. They have experienced an increasing number of people seeking their help over the last few years, but many have misunderstood the consul's role. "We help every Polish immigrant who decides to go back. We provide financial aid, assist in reserving seats to Poland. We also assist in procedures with issuing new documents, which will be helpful in finding a job or returning home. Unfortunately we can't provide financial aid for these people and assistance in finding residence in Great Britain. They still come here for a limited amount of time until they receive residency. The funds that we have are only for those with a residency permit, Polish citizens living permanently outside their country. The rules restrict our spending of funds for those who come here as work migrants," said Consul General Janusz Wach. Representatives from the Barka foundation and the Simon Community met with shadow immigration minister, Damian Green and representatives from Westminster city council and British charities on Monday (September 11) to discuss the issue. Sister Helen of the Catholic charity organisation, Passage, warns that violence and abuse is an increasing problem among those who do not succeed in finding a job when they come to England. "At one point during this summer, in March of this year, 30 percent of the clients we were seeing every day, were people from Eastern Europe who were falling through the net. Falling victims to scams, to violence, ill-equipped for the streets of Britain. Being sold packages before they left their own country of origin which, which were untrue. Falling victim to people trafficking, being recruited immediately into the sex industry, being beaten up," she said. The problem in Britain has been exacerbated by the refusal of other EU states to fully open up their labour markets to migrants from the 10 countries which joined the EU in 2004.

ITN Source | September 15, 2006

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