The Linc Online

Since Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU on the 1st Jan 2007, Britons everywhere expressed concerns about the abundance of migrants expected. But is that really such a bad thing? Previous experience of the avalanche of Polish workers looking for jobs over here left the UK wondering about their personal future.

Without denying that each society has its own problems and `bad apples`, The Times, The Independent and The Daily Mail, have presented a very grim picture of migrant Romanian and Bulgarian workers.

Most of the articles which denigrate Romanian people feature the Roma (travellers) minority population currently living in Romania. As a result the image of Romanian people has been transformed from, committed warm and very educated, to thugs, beggars and criminals.

In the UK there are so many different ethnic groups under different names; white British, Black British, Asian British and so on. This differentiation was not made in Romania and unfortunately that is reason for the confusion at the moment within the British press.

EU-Accession of Bulgaria and Romania: Migration issues Briefing document, states that a majority of Romanian immigrants currently living in the UK have a high level of education and English communication skills. This document also states that the outrageous numbers depicted by the media, of Romanian workers are actually a lot more limited.

Having more reliant facts at our disposal now would be a good time to point out that the UK has built itself on the knowledge and expertise of other cultures and countries. Not to mention that we all really need each other and depend on one another.

Without the UK, Romania can`t export goods and services to help it progress. And yet at the same time without Romania or any other country in the same situation, UK would not have been able to purchase cheap labor or products to help it progress.

In support of that statement Sir Digby Jones, former Director General of the CBI, argues that it is increasingly difficult to find workers to do manual jobs. Without these Eastern European workers the UK economy would collapse and left without any fighting chance of survival.

As it stands at the moment, the question Britain needs to answer is “How do we go about integrating more cultures in our society?” not “How can we push everyone out?”

A good example of successful culture integration would be Holland. In 2003 the politician Pim Fortuyn worked as catalyst, for the shift of cultural mindset when considering immigrants.

“Multicultural” was no longer a soft issue, it transformed into an outlook that emphasized the integration and understanding of Dutch society by immigrants. This tested and proven solution can in effect be adopted by the UK.

By Dana Stancu