Romanians in the UK
The public debate on the consequences of lifting labor market restrictions for Romanians and Bulgarians continues in the UK.
Roxana Vasile, 17.12.2013, 13:38
Restricting the workers’ right to free movement in the UK would be detrimental to the country’s economy and social welfare services that benefit a great deal from the inflow of immigrants from other EU countries. At least this is Brussels’ opinion, according to which any restrictions would be illegal. The statements were made in the context of the European labor market’s full liberalization for Romanians and Bulgarians as of January 1st, 2014.
For fear that starting this date the UK might be ‘invaded’ by immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria, some British tabloids and politicians have started an offensive against it, by presenting alarming scenarios and invoking statistics according to which in London for instance, 49% of the people arrested for beggary and 34% of those arrested for theft come from Romania. In other words, as Romania’s ambassador to Britain, Ion Jinga said in an article for the Huffington Post, Romanians and Bulgarians are turned, by a part of the British media, into the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in that country. In an interview on Radio Romania, Ambassador Jinga gave assurances that lifting labor market restrictions would not generate a significant increase in the number of Romanian migrants to the UK, nor would it bring about important changes in the situation of those who already work there.
“I think there will be the same Romanians living in the UK. Those who already work there will not be affected much by this change. Romanians with an uncertain status or some of the self-employed will have the opportunity to find a job protected by a proper labor contract. After all, we are talking about the full liberalization of the British labor market for Romanians and Bulgarians.”
On the one hand, according to a radio show on the BBC, Romanians have so far taken more interest in working in other European countries than in Britain. On the other hand, most Romanians in the UK belong to the middle-class and work there legally. Labor market liberalization will only grant them a right that many British citizens already enjoy, given that about a half of the 4.7 million Britons abroad, work in EU countries. London’s concern about tourism for social benefits is not supported by data, Brussels warns.
On the contrary, various studies have shown that people who have chosen to work abroad usually pay more taxes and social security contributions than they gain under the form of social benefits. Unfortunately, one thing is certain: once the Britons are convinced that Romanians are stealing their jobs and get social benefits while begging or committing various offenses, it will be very difficult to convince them of the opposite and Romania’s image will be tarnished.
