Britain's our dream; 300,000 GIPSIES heading to the U.K.

THE SUN ^ | 01/19/04 | OLIVER HARVEY

[Pikamax]

SUN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

Britain's our dream

Out in the cold ... gipsies in Strane Pod Tatrami, Slovakia
Pictures: JON BOND

By OLIVER HARVEY in Kezmarok, Slovakia

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• Sun Says

GIPSIES determined to flee grinding poverty in Eastern Europe are preparing to flood into Britain in their thousands.

They are counting the days until May 1 when countries such as Poland and Slovakia join the EU, a Sun investigation has revealed.

Britain has pledged to welcome them with open arms — unlike EU partners such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain. And yesterday one grateful Polish dad-of-two told us: “We are all desperate to go to Britain. We want a better life.

“I will get the bus to London in May, definitely.”

Influx ... migrants from Eastern Europe to UK

A jobless neighbour — also a Roma gipsy — vowed: “I will sell everything I own and buy bus tickets for all the family.”

The gipsies we spoke to in Poland and Slovakia — among 1.5 million Roma who will suddenly become EU citizens — insisted they wanted to come to the UK to work.

Once here they will be entitled to the same health, education, pension and welfare benefits as the rest of us. Other EU countries like France and Germany have ruled out free access to jobs for up to seven years.

But Britain and Ireland will grant full rights from day one.

As many as five buses a day leave Warsaw on the 26-hour journey to London via Dover. A one-way ticket costs £40.

Father-of-two Daniel Dolinski told of his dream of a new life in Britain as he stood among 30 gipsies outside pitiful shacks in Mielec, Poland. The town’s 700 Roma are the poorest of the poor — discriminated against and unable to get jobs. Skinheads have daubed swastikas and racist slogans on walls.

Daniel, 27, said: “I can be a labourer in Britain. We’ll be treated better there. The housing is better.

Desperate ... Vladimir and family dream of UK

“We want to live like humans. We get £44 a month from the government. There are very few jobs and they all go to Polish people.

“The women make money by doing fortune telling. They make at most £1.50 a time. Roma are attacked by skinheads. The old people can’t walk the streets at night.”

A few doors away, two tiny rooms are home to the Bazalinski family — unemployed dad Ryszard, 28, mum Bozena, 35, and their six children.

They have been to Britain before — living in Liverpool until they were deported last year. Daughter Roksana, 11, was treated for a bowel condition on the NHS.

Ryszard, who sends his family to beg on the streets, said: “We will return to Britain as soon as we can.

“In Liverpool we were given a big house with nine rooms and the children went to school.” Gipsy leader Adam Andrasz, 48, said 50,000 Roma live in Poland — and ALL want to join the 6,000 already in the UK. He admitted: “Roma going to Britain may need some support from the Government. But once they have the education and skill they will work.”

Ready to move ... Daniel (second left) wants to support his family here

The British embassy in Warsaw has even produced a leaflet for the gipsies. Envoy Tim Simmons, 43, said: “We told the Roma they will be welcomed in Britain if they go there to work and pay taxes.

“But if they have no intention of working they will not be welcomed.”

The EU expansion will welcome 73 million former communist bloc citizens. Poland’s neighbour Slovakia is among the ten nations joining.

It has an estimated 650,000 gipsies — and Roma leaders predict 40 per cent will leave.

Near the town of Kezmarok we found dozens already getting ready.

Supply line ... villager collects water from communal pipe

The gipsy ghetto where 1,200 live in the village of Strane Pod Tatrami is like something out of the Dark Ages. The open sewers and filthy wooden hovels shame a nation about to become Britain’s EU partner. Drinking water is collected in buckets. Men scavenge daily for firewood.

Carpenter Milan Badzo, 28, a dad of two, said: “I am learning English and have saved for the fare.”

Woodcutter Gustav Baco, 37, shares a two-room hut with his wife, four children and their gran. He picks berries and mushrooms to feed his family. He said: “I dream of going to England to work.” Vladimir Badzo, 35, said through an interpreter: “I’ll take my family. I’ll do anything.”

Escape route ... daily buses
head to London for a £40 fare

Labour MP Paul Stinchcombe, 41, said last night: “I have written to ministers saying countries that do not improve their living conditions for their Roma people like Slovakia should not be admitted to the EU.”

But the exodus is not confined to gipsies. Other poverty-stricken Eastern Europeans plan to join it.

Warsaw cabbie Mariosz Wozniak, 28, said he wanted to come to Britain, explaining: “My wife Agata and I haven’t had children because we can’t afford to support them.”

What they get in Strane Pod Tatrami

HOUSING: Dilapidated wooden shacks. No central heating, no sewerage. No running water. Water is from a communal pipe.

The toilets for a village of 1,200 are a series of holes in the ground. Wood is chopped from the forest each day.

BENEFITS: Unemployment benefit is £83 a month. Unemployment among the Roma people in the village is 98 per cent.

EDUCATION: Schoolchildren walk a six-mile round trip in sub-zero temperatures.

They face discrimination in education and jobs.

CLIMATE: Winter temperatures down to -20° C.

What they get in Great Britain

HOUSING: Access to council housing. Housing benefit. Hot and cold running water, sewerage and public services.

BENEFITS: Income Support of £54.65 a week, Council Tax benefit, extra payments for children and a minimum of £105 a week for pensioners. Work prospects also much improved as UK unemployment is just 4.9 per cent

EDUCATION: Multi-ethnic.

HEALTH: Free health care. Free vouchers for glasses, free dentistry, free school meals, free milk and vitamins for pregnant women.

CLIMATE: Winter temperatures rarely much below -5° C.

Britain cannot handle migrant exodus

OLIVER Harvey’s despatches from the EU’s new front line reveal pitiable living conditions for millions of peasant families.

Understandably, they cannot wait to use their new freedom to live and work in western Europe where unemployment is far lower.

But they are barred from automatic working rights for up to seven years in every major country except Britain.

France, Germany, Italy and Spain decided they need time to adjust to ten new member states with

70 million citizens. Tony Blair decided to welcome allcomers from May 1.

After that, anyone who wants to work here is entitled after three months residency to all benefits available to British citizens.

Their spouses and children will have access to the full array of public services.

Once settled, new EU citizens can bring elderly parents who may claim minimum income benefits of more than £100 a week, just as UK citizens do.

It is impossible to predict how many will take advantage of this deal.

But Oliver Harvey’s interviews suggest many are itching to escape poverty.

By being so generous, Britain must be their No1 destination.

Yet the evidence is we are bursting at the seams — especially London and the South East where most newcomers tend to settle.

The government’s own research shows schools, housing and transport are failing to cope with the

20 million who already live within commuting distance of the capital.

Downing Street’s own website carries a bleak assessment by its “Strategic Unit”. Starkly, it depicts the changing face of London as 200,000 international migrants arrive each year along with many from UK regions — and 230,000 residents move out.

The report exposes the overcrowding on the road, rail and Tube networks, with commuter numbers increasing by up to 20 per cent in the next seven years. And the NHS is battling to cope.

Sir Andrew Green, of MigrationWatch UK, said: “Our decision, alone among major EU countries, to open our labour market from day one was ill-considered.”

[xrp]

Smart move by the UK to take in an influx of non-Islam immigrants.

[McGavin999]

Good grief, Britain is going to sink right into the ocean.

[expatpat]

IMO, the Brits are soon going to have had enough of the huge levels of immigration, and will rise up and kick Labor out of office. Hope it's not too late when it happens.

[dennisw]

The Brits are crazy on this one. What's Tony Blair thinking?

[prairiebreeze]

The comments about the intimidation from skinheads was interesting. I didn't realize this was such a problem in Poland.

[Consort]

[manic4organic]

Hide your wallets and purses, ladies and gents.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

She can stay.

[Tax Government]

The Roma are in a no-win situation that keeps them out of the main economy. (See article, "Schoolchildren walk a six-mile round trip in sub-zero temperatures.")

Countries that welcome legal immigrants, like the U.S. and apparently Britain, are ultimately better off for it.

[wimpycat]

After the Jews, Gipsies were among the most numerous victims of the Holocaust. Millions of them were killed by the Nazis.

[AdequateMan]

I guess the Brits have never dealt with Gypsies. Their way of life is based on "the game", just like Irish Travelers. They are nomadic thieves and con artists. Sure, some of them want hard work, but all over Europe, Gypsies live on the public dole. There is no reason to believe that Europe would welcome jews, arabs, asians and blacks and somehow keep the Gypsies at 98% unemployment without their consent.

Gypsy culture is anathema to western european culture.

Never forget that in the "pure gypsy" culture, it is better to make quick money easy and dishonestly and then move on, then to stay and make it slowly.

This is not an attack on their race, but merely the values that have guided their path through history. Most are quite intelligent, but they place emphasis on the grift, rather than hard work and sacrifice.

[FITZ]

Carpenter Milan Badzo, 28, a dad of two, said: “I am learning English and have saved for the fare.”

At least this guy sounds like a half-way worthwhile immigrant. He's bothering to learn English?? Kind of a rare type.

[TruthNtegrity]

Sheesh, if they thought they were overrun by Arabs, wait until this non-assimiliable bunch arrives.

The gippsies/gypsies in Spain and Russia that I ran into were a bunch of scamming, thieving jerks. They consistently use and abuse their children, for the sake of getting money. If they can't get it legally by pandering, then they think it's perfectly alright to steal it.

Britain is coming to an end with this one.

[FITZ]

Warsaw cabbie Mariosz Wozniak, 28, said he wanted to come to Britain, explaining: “My wife Agata and I haven’t had children because we can’t afford to support them.”

Another rare one --- it seems the others have no way to support kids but went and had 6 kids they are eager to have other people pay for.

[July 4th]

Yup, the old toss the baby and steal the wallet scheme, among others. They may not be Arabs, but they're a bunch of criminals.

[FITZ]

A few doors away, two tiny rooms are home to the Bazalinski family — unemployed dad Ryszard, 28, mum Bozena, 35, and their six children. Ryszard, who sends his family to beg on the streets, said: “We will return to Britain as soon as we can.

This will be the commonest type --- moochers to live off the work of others.

[KantianBurke]

bad move. these folks are overwhelmingly theives and crooks. watch the crime and welfare rates skyrocket after they arrive.

[Welsh Rabbit]

I guess the Brits have never dealt with Gypsies.

Sure they have. Ask Tony Martin.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP - Rom