Why all the negative propaganda about Romanian immigrants?

[lottieandmia]

Nasty propaganda from the daily mail. How predictable! And so the bigoted comments on Facebook begin...

and here pay particular attention to para. 3.1, although the whole thing is an interesting read.

This report states that the people most commonly found to be trafficking children for the purpose of fraudulently claiming benefits are are Romanian Roma, Nigerians, Somalis.

And this from Shelter explains in very veiled terms how you are not officially eligible for assistance, but in certain circumstances (ie being homeless and having dependents in your care) the rules are overridden.

Excerpt here:

Can people who are not eligible for assistance get any help at all?

If the council decides that you are not eligible for assistance, it has no further duty to help you. This is the case regardless of the rest of your circumstances. However, you may still be able to get help in other ways.

Social services can provide support (which may include housing) to:

Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding
Families with children
Young people aged 16 or 17
Care leavers
Other vulnerable groups - eg people who are ill, disabled, elderly, or have physical or mental health problems.
In addition to this, the UK Border Agency provides housing and other support to people who are seeking asylum.

The council's housing department and social services should co-operate to help you but you may need specialist advice. Use our directory to find an advice centre in your local area.

I think that racism (are they a race?) towards gypsies (travellers) is seen as more acceptable than racism against black or Asian people. (Racism isn't acceptable but realistically speaking it is alive)

If your knowledge about Romania is purely from the media then you might think that Romanians=Roma=Gypsy=poor, petty crime scammers.

Thank you to those who clarified how you can still get help from the state, I agree that it is so wrong. I also agree that the Roma issue is a serious one and can see why people are unhappy and angry about this. I myself would be the same, I really would, and it would be hypocritical of me to say that they should be welcomed with open arms. But niceguy and enderwoman put it very well, people should be judged for their actions, as individuals, and not for their background. It is just wrong to say that just because someone comes from X they must be Y.

I was lucky not to encounter this at work, as it is a very multicultural environment. Unfortunately I did encounter it with some people, who are putting you into a “nice” category after finding out where you come from. I think I have a little complex about it, although it’s not very justified. Despite this, I really like the UK, I feel settled here, I might not have the same background but part of the culture comes naturally to me. I learnt a lot and I hope that in turn I contributed, too. I am not a burden to the country.

This debate is part of a wider 'globalisation' debate not racism.

For may years the economic and political mantra was that globalisation would increase global economic growth and improve the living standards of everyone. Well it turns out that for people who are in the lowest paid jobs that globalisation just means more competition for your already low wage job. Only the middle and upper class benefit.

For people who are educated, highly skilled and generally in professional service based jobs the global economy has been a boon. The price of consumer goods has fallen dramatically as Asian workers in sweat shop conditions drive down the cost of labour and put people out of work as factories close in our own country. That causes social tension.

Likewise, when the poorest and least educated East European workers arrive and drive down the pay and living standards of the poorest and least educated in our own country that causes social tension.

Its just a fact. The least educated and least skilled workers in the western world do not benefit from globalisation and the least educated and least skilled workers in the Developing World are working at barely subsistence levels of pay in dangerous conditions.

Most middle class people however benefit from globalisation.

ConsUmer goods constantly fall in price, offsetting inflation in basic commodities (e.g fuel). The cost of the coffee that goes in our latte in our local coffee shop may have gone up but it is served by a hard working East European graduate glad of a minimum wage job in the UK and we benefit as that minimum wage job keeps our cost down.

Our children are schooled in private schools or state schools with catchment areas drawing from leafy suburbs with house prices out of the reach of immigrants. We will never suffer from overcrowded classrooms with half the class speaking English as a second language.

Its not really about racism - for someone who has been unemployed or on unstable zero hours minimum wage jobs for years its about a basic standard of living and that is constantly undermined by every low skill low wage immigrant influx that arrives on our shores.

Bravo MoreBeta

Well said, MoreBeta.

I just realise I totally randomly posted on the wrong thread. stupid multiple tabs.