What rights do EU migrants ACTUALLY get?

 

There is a "Senior European Experts Group" which is an independent body consisting of former high-ranking British diplomats and civil servants, including several former UK ambassadors to the EU, and former officials of the institutions of the EU. It has published the following briefing note on rights of migrants.

 

"Around 13.6 million EU nationals live in another Member State of whom 6.5 million are known to be in employment (the latter does not include those who are self-employed). In addition, a substantial number of EU nationals work in another Member State but do not live there. Because of this crossborder movement of workers, the EU has social security rules that are designed to protect migrant workers from being disadvantaged by working away from home.

 

The basic principle is one of non-discrimination: migrant workers from another Member State should be treated broadly like other nationals for the purposes of employment, social security, health and other public services. In the absence of any single EU social security system, each country has its own social security and other rules reflecting its particular circumstances, which means in practice that the application of the EU’s principles varies from one Member State to another. EU anti-discrimination provisions benefit the (at least) one million Britons who live elsewhere in the EU and those who are working in another Member State temporarily. It is important to note that the rules refer to migrant workers and their dependants, they do not create unlimited rights to claim benefits or other public services for those not in employment or self-employment."

 

To read more, click here.

Migration to the UK

The first examinable chapter of "Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship" begins with a section called "Migration to Britain". It points out the long history of immigration - highlighting the safe haven given to refugees fleeing from persecution. The Huguenots (French Protestants who fled when massacres and  bans threatened their existence) and Jews (fleeing from Russia 1880-1910 and Germany under the Nazis) are mentioned - and Irish immigration resulting from famines is also discussed. (It would be ungallant of me to point out that Britain produced its own persecuted refugees - the Pilgrim Fathers didn't leave because Holland then New England had pleasanter climates! - or that the welcome received by some refugees was less than generous - see Anita Roddick's comments on the Daily Mail or the "No Irish Need Apply" notices which were rife in England. One may also wonder how much English mismanagement led to the economic problems that led to decades of exodus from Ireland).

Information is given about who has come in recent years, and where from - and unlike the popular image (thanks to the stereotyping of the likes of the Daily Mail and Daily Express) - major influxes of immigrants have come from countries like the USA and Australia.

The Book reminds those seeking to take the British Citizenship Test to

"Check that you understand:-

1 some of the historical reasons for immigration to the UK
2 some of the reasons for immigration to the UK since 1945
3 the main immigrant groups coming to the UK since 1945, the countries they came from and kind of work they did."