Polish politician says it is ‘easier’ to be homeless in England than abroad
Homeless Poles prefer to stay in the UK, MEP claims
A member of the European Parliament has alleged that homeless Polish people are staying in England rather than returning home because homelessness services are more user-friendly in the United Kingdom.
Jacek Protasiewicz, a Polish MEP, spoke out last week at the launch of a campaign that aims to set Europe-wide goals for ending homelessness held by the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless, or FEANTSA.
Mr Protasiewicz said a number of Polish people in England had become homeless as a result of the recession.
He added: ‘The situation [for homeless people] is friendlier in England so they prefer to stay there.’
Mr Protasiewicz suggested that some people in Polish towns think ‘that if they build shelters, invest more in street workers, more and more homeless people come to their area.’ He said there should be a Europe-wide strategy to standardise services and make sure nations share responsibility for homeless people.
Jeremy Swain, chief executive of homelessness charity Thames Reach, said that one Polish rough sleeper had told him anecdotally that sleeping rough was easier in the UK because there are day centres and soup runs and the police are more understanding.
He said that homeless people should be helped to get work or reconnected with their families and homelessness services in their home state.
Ewa Sadowska, director of the UK arm of Polish homelessness organisation Barka, added: ‘I would not say services are better here [than in Poland].
‘Polish people would have better access to services [in Poland] than in England.’
Between April and June 2009 10,650 households were accepted as homeless by English councils. Over the same period 365 people from the 10 new European states applied to them as homeless. Of these, councils agreed they had a duty to help 135.
Robert Aldridge, chief executive of the Scottish Council for Single Homeless and UK representative to FEANTSA, said he had not seen any evidence that cities with strong homelessness policies attract homeless people in the UK.
Homelessness in England - the demographic split
10,650
the number of households accepted as homeless in England between April and June 2009
365
the number of people from the 10 new European states who applied as homeless in England over the same period
135
The number of people from these states that English councils agreed to help
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Readers' comments (11)
B.S.Townroe | 23/04/2010 8:28 am
"Between April and June 2009 10,650 households were accepted as homeless by English councils. Over the same period 365 people from the 10 new European states applied to them as homeless. Of these, councils agreed they had a duty to help 135." Shouldn't that be the headline?!
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Joe Halewood | 23/04/2010 11:15 am
Dont you just love the principle here!!!
Get rid of soup kitchens and day centres and rough sleeping follows.
Why not get rid of homeless hostels and refuges and we eradicate homelessness and domestic violence!!! After all its the same principle!
The principle of not making provision available to eradicate a social problem for which the vulnerable person affected is not responsible (for if they were intentionally homeless they get no provision!) is deeply, deeply offensive.
135 from all 10 accession countries out of a total of 10,650 - so almost 99% are not from accession countries including Poland then!! Hmmm!
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Peter Francis | 23/04/2010 11:24 am
Lies are better headlines! Britain is under invasion, immigration is rampant because they all want come here for the handouts and British jobs!!!
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Michael Read | 23/04/2010 2:18 pm
Andrew Neather, a speech writer to Tony Blair, wrote a story in a national paper in the earlier part of this year pointing out that immigration had been allowed to take place on the scale it has so that "mulitculturism could be stuffed down Tory throats".
That is, according to near enough the horse's mouth, there has been an intention to gerrymander the political system on a scale undreamt of by even Lady Porter.
The Labour party has consistently run a line about economic necessity for this level of immigration when challenged in the early 2000-2005 period but that argument was comprehensively demolished by a parliamentary committee last year.
All parties are now toeing a formerly racist line, according to you, judging by answers to questions on last night's leaders' debate.
You might think it lies. There is a sizeable majority of Britain's population who disagree with you. This might be just hysteria over tulips but the Office of National Statistics is siding with the hysterics."
"When the facts change, I change my mind," John Maynard Keynes.
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Jack Davies | 23/04/2010 2:48 pm
I think Oscar Wilde is more apt as Michael Reid's form of Patriotism IS the last refuge of a scoundrel! Kill an Argie and win a Mini Metro anyone?
Then again perhaps a one in ten statistical share of just over 1% of homeless acceptances from Poland says it better - Damn those facts always get in the way.
Facts like Thatcher guillotined (not letting it go to a vote in Parliamentary speak) the Single European Act in 1986 that allowed the free movement of all Europeans to and from UK are so annoying when they get in the way of a good racist argument arent they?
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| 23/04/2010 4:40 pm
JD: "a good racist argument"? Oh please. Typical closing-down-the-argument knee jerk response from a tired old lefty. This is not about acceptances for homeless applications. It's about sheer numbers. Numbers that have created intolerable pressures on the private rental and home ownership markets that have created record private rental prices in London and impossible-to-afford-at-10-times-salary house prices. Supply and Demand, dummy. And it's got sweet FA to do with Thatch and the SEA. The only countries that allowed unlimited immigration from the Accession 8 were us, Ireland and Sweden. So France, Germany, Spain, Italy and all the other European countries who did NOT allow this were "racist" then? Grow up will you, and leave the cliched lefty crap at home...
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Jack Davies | 24/04/2010 12:21 pm
ILAG "This is not about acceptances for homeless applications. It's about sheer numbers"
This is about homeless acceptances not numbers and excuse me for assuming you can read you numpty.
Your typical deflection and wanting to change the argument onto numbers and the usual rant at anything to the left of Genghis Khan are noted.
The only number relevant to this argument and discussion are (for once) given in the article - that all the accession countries account for just over 1% of all homeless acceptances, or that almost 99% are not from them. This, to stay on topic, makes the claim from the Polish MEP a nonsense.
The real story here is the outrageous comments from Jeremy Swain when he states that take away provision such as soup kitchens and day centres and you rid the country of a social problem such as rough sleeping!! That comment is deeply deeply offensive and it is also false.
No doubt it is stated in his name due to the fact that he is wedded to the cleansing of East London of anything remotely undesirable ahead of the Olympics in his transformation from poacher to gamekeeper.
So a little (non)story from a Polish MEP with the political intent to create better services in Poland for homeless and rough sleepers serves to expose the scandal of the mentality of those influential in this area in England. Knee jerk comments such as do away with provision here to discourage Poles from applying here as homeless show just how far to the right such 'movers and shakers' have been influenced by the nearby BNP power bloc in Essex.
He then goes on to promote repatriation!! - Ethnic cleansing anyone?
No wonder ILAG wants to deflect the topic in hand as he shares the Little Englander mentality too... Perhaps we are getting some ideas of who the housing insiders are who allegedly have written the BNP manifesto!
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The ONLY One | 28/04/2010 2:48 pm
The lefties really are getting heated up about this now - STILL blaming Thatcher after all this time, when to be fair Labour have had 13 years in power to address such issues, but OH NO, can't be seen to be doing anything about immigration, which is not a racist comment, but a fact that there IS an issue. Can't see why it is reported as a specific Polish issue with 135 out of 10,650 or 0.01% as reported above.
Any other minority group wishing to jump on the sub-1% bandwagon????
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Melvin Bone | 30/04/2010 9:51 am
I thought being Polish was a nationality not a race.
This whole issue is not about race. Its about nationality...
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Jack Davies | 30/04/2010 12:40 pm
Its about a Polish MEP trying to sound good and being self-serving looking for self-publicity as the figures show that MEP is talking nonsense.
Its a rightist paradise who are trying to turn this non-story into yet another attack on immigration.
And to stay very specifically on this self-serving MEP, wouldnt we all hope and want that the UK homeless service IS friendly?
Oh by the way look up this MEP and the Party he represents one that is opposed to abortion, same-sex marriage, civil unions, fetal stem cell research and even IVF.
You think these social policy neo fascists want homeless people to return to Poland????
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