Unemployed migrants moved from Sussex (From The Argus)
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Unemployed migrants moved from Sussex
4:50pm Thursday 14th June 2012 in News
Jobless and homeless Eastern Europeans are being forcibly removed from Sussex.
Polish, Latvian and Lithuanians are swelling the numbers of homeless people in the county as seasonal work that brought them to the county dries up.
Police in Bognor and Littlehampton have now begun passing lists of names to the UK Border Agency, which has the power to forcibly remove people from the country if they are not working or “self-sufficient”.
About 6,000 Eastern European migrants have moved to the area since 2004 and registered to work although records do not show how many have since left.
The work is being carried out under Operation Accent, a dedicated police operation to tackle problems among the Eastern European community in West Sussex.
Inspector Nick Bowman, of Sussex Police’s Arun district, said more than half a dozen people have been reported to the UK Border Agency, with lists being drawn up on a monthly basis.
He said: “They come here because they are following the work.
“We have seen an increase in homelessness with people from Eastern Europe.
“We say to them, go and be homeless in your own country, because it is a drain on resources. It is a lawful process.”
EU law
Arun District Council demolished a seafront shelter in Bognor recently because it had become a haunt for homeless Eastern Europeans.
Marine Gardens in Waterloo Square – where murder victim Marek Pudlowski was found dead in 2008 – is a known troublespot.
The UK Border Agency confirmed it is using powers to remove jobless people from the country.
A spokeswoman said: “People from within the European Economic Area who have been in the country for longer than three months have to be working, studying or self-sufficient in order to have a right to stay, as required by EU law.
“If they are not, or don’t have a genuine prospect of doing so, the UK Border Agency expects them to return home. If they do not we will take action to enforce their removal from the country.”
The scheme came in for criticism when it was piloted in London, Oxford, Reading and Peterborough in 2010, with the European Federation of National Organisations Working With the Homeless saying it was opposed to “arbitrary expulsions”.
But Councillor Paul Dendle, of Arun District Council – who is standing for the Conservative nomination for this year’s Sussex police and crime commissioner elections – said he welcomed the move.
He said: “A lot of Eastern Europeans work very hard and they are valued members of society.
“At the same time we don’t want to import problems of other communities into this country.”
Homelessness among Eastern European migrants is also an issue in other parts of Sussex, including in Brighton and Hove.
Senior officers in the Brighton and Hove and East Sussex divisions of Sussex Police said they were not aware of the scheme being used in their areas.
Comments(16)
george smith
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5:35pm Thu 14 Jun 12
kopite_rob
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5:54pm Thu 14 Jun 12
george smith wrote:You just have! And so have I. His non nonsense attitude when the police just stood around wringing their hands is so refreshing. I'd vote for him.
Why can we not comment on Mr Dave Dawson the farmer. Real action man.
Spx
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6:05pm Thu 14 Jun 12
john5001
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6:26pm Thu 14 Jun 12
AmboGuy
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6:57pm Thu 14 Jun 12
SicklySeagull
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7:03pm Thu 14 Jun 12
Can anyone explain the police comment that travellers that break down gates to occupy private land have rights,what are these rights?
Fight Back
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9:15pm Thu 14 Jun 12
bumbar
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9:29pm Thu 14 Jun 12
John Steed
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11:05pm Thu 14 Jun 12
george smith wrote:the only reason these people are employed is because they are reliable, work long hours and for above minimum wage, the jobs could have been done by brits but they dont want it or or are not up to it
whole thing is unsatisfactory, people willing to work for very low wages, pushes the wages down for uk citizens. It is unacceptable for migrant workers to live in very poor housing. The whole thing is medieval
John Steed
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11:06pm Thu 14 Jun 12
george smith wrote:the only reason these people are employed is because they are reliable, work long hours and for above minimum wage, the jobs could have been done by brits but they dont want it or or are not up to it
whole thing is unsatisfactory, people willing to work for very low wages, pushes the wages down for uk citizens. It is unacceptable for migrant workers to live in very poor housing. The whole thing is medieval
onedaytheleftwillburn
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7:58am Fri 15 Jun 12
end_homelessness
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10:05am Fri 15 Jun 12
onedaytheleftwillburJust how are you connecting "half a dozen" people to "most of the homeless in sussex"? Twoddle. You need to do some proper research into numbers of homeless people and ethnicity, you will find you are absolutely, unarguably, wrong. and clearly xenophobic.
n wrote:
Well Well Well Argus, do you remember when I said that most of the homeless in Sussex were from east Europe and you deleted my comment - well it seems that I was correct - maybe you wish to apologise?
mimseycal
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10:20am Fri 15 Jun 12
end_homelessness wrote:On the other hand, never let rhyme, reason, truth or justice dissuade you from making bigoted statements.
onedaytheleftwillburJust how are you connecting "half a dozen" people to "most of the homeless in sussex"? Twoddle. You need to do some proper research into numbers of homeless people and ethnicity, you will find you are absolutely, unarguably, wrong. and clearly xenophobic.
n wrote:
Well Well Well Argus, do you remember when I said that most of the homeless in Sussex were from east Europe and you deleted my comment - well it seems that I was correct - maybe you wish to apologise?
Where would we all be if it weren't for the extremists of whatever colour or creed?
Goldenwight
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10:30am Fri 15 Jun 12
mimseycal wrote:Well, speaking as a homeless person, in my (not inconsiderable) experience the overall majority of (rough sleeping) homeless people in Sussex are NOT from Eastern Europe. I am aware of perhaps half a dozen over the past year, out of over a hundred.
end_homelessness wrote:On the other hand, never let rhyme, reason, truth or justice dissuade you from making bigoted statements. Where would we all be if it weren't for the extremists of whatever colour or creed?onedaytheleftwillbur n wrote: Well Well Well Argus, do you remember when I said that most of the homeless in Sussex were from east Europe and you deleted my comment - well it seems that I was correct - maybe you wish to apologise?Just how are you connecting "half a dozen" people to "most of the homeless in sussex"? Twoddle. You need to do some proper research into numbers of homeless people and ethnicity, you will find you are absolutely, unarguably, wrong. and clearly xenophobic.
Two points, though. One, the vast majority of rough sleepers locally are not from Sussex (No, I'm not). Two, there is a serious problem with Eastern Europeans' anti-social behaviour, particularly in Chichester and Bognor.
I should point out that the overall majority of EEs are honest, decent, law abiding hard working members of our society. Unfortunately, this silent majority goes largely un-noticed because they are effectively invisible.
The cars for me
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12:09pm Fri 15 Jun 12
Goldenwight wrote:"Well, speaking as homeless person" Goldenwright.
mimseycal wrote:Well, speaking as a homeless person, in my (not inconsiderable) experience the overall majority of (rough sleeping) homeless people in Sussex are NOT from Eastern Europe. I am aware of perhaps half a dozen over the past year, out of over a hundred.
end_homelessness wrote:On the other hand, never let rhyme, reason, truth or justice dissuade you from making bigoted statements. Where would we all be if it weren't for the extremists of whatever colour or creed?onedaytheleftwillbur n wrote: Well Well Well Argus, do you remember when I said that most of the homeless in Sussex were from east Europe and you deleted my comment - well it seems that I was correct - maybe you wish to apologise?Just how are you connecting "half a dozen" people to "most of the homeless in sussex"? Twoddle. You need to do some proper research into numbers of homeless people and ethnicity, you will find you are absolutely, unarguably, wrong. and clearly xenophobic.
Two points, though. One, the vast majority of rough sleepers locally are not from Sussex (No, I'm not). Two, there is a serious problem with Eastern Europeans' anti-social behaviour, particularly in Chichester and Bognor.
I should point out that the overall majority of EEs are honest, decent, law abiding hard working members of our society. Unfortunately, this silent majority goes largely un-noticed because they are effectively invisible.
Where do you plug your computer, laptop in.
george smith says...
5:29pm Thu 14 Jun 12