We put our head down , as the poor relatives and asked for forgiveness for being poor! Instead Romanians should have just stand up and remind the host countries that this is a legal right , whether it comes during economic crisis or not. Furthermore according to the Equality and Human Rights Acts in the UK they should have sued the British media for direct discrimination, slander and xenophobia. There was no vilification of the A8 states when they adhered to the EU in 2004 (if you re keen on statistics : Eurostat: 1.1 million workers from A8 states after 2004), there is no vilification today of masses of Spanish and Portuguese immigrants flocking the British shores as we speak.
Some intelligent speakers (e.g activist Angela Davis, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett,Seumas Milne, The Guardian; Malcom James and Naaz Rashid from Open Democracy- an independent forum champion of human rights only to name but few ) did point out that these is a political manoeuvre to scape goat the immigrants for the ill-functioning of the benefits system, the immigration control and the NHS in the UK. The UK government have not made any single essential reform to the welfare system in the last 7 years since Romania and Bulgaria had joined the EU . They are indeed burdened overstretched public systems nowhere near being foolproof against scroungers . It s something similar to the proverbial Romanian story on stupidity : a family waiting for the salt stone to fall off their cupboard and harm a baby in a cot , with the family wailing their imminent misfortune instead of logically removing the stone or the baby.
I do hear the truthful plight of the native Brit who sees the salaries plummeting as there is a big pool of active workers due to immigration. But these are the effects of the free market and the UK governments have again done little to protect the interests of the employees , small businesses, to protect jobs and impose sanctions, besides just recently in 2014 raising the minimum wage to £6.31an hour from £6.19.
The whole debate and thorny issue on the Romanian &Bulgarian immigration descended into circus on the 1st and 2d of January 2014 when British official came to Luton airport to tick off masses of Romanians/Bulgarians descending on British soil. There was just one poor Romanian with a promised job who was microscopically analysed , dirt dug and all , deemed damaged goods (somehow the British tabloids have been miraculously contacted by this guy’s Romanian acquaintances) and put on the stake as the profile of the Romanian immigrant. In the words of the Romanian ambassador in London : Waiting for Godot!, no better chosen word for this absurd farce.
Meanwhile there is an abundance of agencies and English employer advertising in Romania for lots of UK and German jobs , many of which related to high paid professions: dentists, doctors, nurses, IT.
#On behalf of the Bulgarian people I d like to bust another myth and bring a much needed of setting the record straight: I could understand the British fear of a big invasion coming from Romania, a large Barbarian hoard from a country of 20 millions. But hey why pick on Bulgarians? 2013 demographics show that there are only 6.9 million Bulgarians with population growth steadily on minus, out of which 1.3 million (19%)pensioners, 1.6(24%) million children or under-24 and with a total dependency (read people unable of not of working age) of 49% of population. Half of the working force is busy anyway in Sunny Beach catering for the drunken British hens and stags!
Conclusion: Romanians and Bulgarians have gained a legal right, paid their EU dues and should be free to roam around Europe, free from blame and name calling. The negative effects of such migration should not be blamed on them but on the governments of the host countries that failed to reform the systems and to protect their citizens and the country from the negative impact .There are many measures that other states took quite successfully to prevent criminality , benefit fraud and illegal work: deportation of criminals, registration requirements , proof of work or study (police checks on the streets e.g Spain), benefits gained only after an x number of months/years of work (all Eastern European countries such as Slovakia , Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary , Romania, Latvia,Lithuania, Hungary Slovenia all impose at least 1 year of active working and other countries such as Luxembourg, Holland, Denmark, Belgium, Greece, Portugal , Sweden -6 months qualifying period of active work ), more background checks on accessing public services etc. And all these were supposed to be done years ago.
The economic laws of migration will come into effect naturally: the immigration stops when there are no jobs. Best example Spain.
On a personal level I am already affected: all the time I have to hear around me derogatory comments regarding Romanians, get the rolling eyes when I might be accessing public services, even worse be refused opportunities because of my nationality (e.g loans, citizenship etc).And I will always painfully ask myself when I do not get a job or an interview for a job
if I have been refused because I m Romanian.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/10391238/Benefits-in-Europe-country-by-country.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-ion-jinga/romania-immigration_b_4451633.html
ttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/01/scapegoating-bulgarian-romanian-migrants-britain-crisis
http://www.indexmundi.com/bulgaria/demographics_profile.html
http://brightgreenscotland.org/index.php/2013/07/green-party-leader-slams-immigrant-scapegoating/
KMPastor 