Poles given money by government to return home

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Homeless Eastern Europeans helped by Polish charity

Hammersmith and Fulham Council has been allocated £50,000 for the duration of the 2008/2008 financial year to help Polish workers who wish to return to their home countries.

 

The money given to Hammersmith and Fulham Council will be passed on to charities such as the Barka Foundation,a Polish charity based in Shepherd's Bush, which helps vulnerable migrants to leave London and go back to Poland.

 

The Department for Communities and Local Government pays the money to cover the travel costs of people who have been unable to find work and want to rebuild their lives in their home country.

 

As the value of pound falls and jobs become harder to find many are at risk of being pushed onto the breadline.

 

In June 2007 Barka identified 98 people sleeping rough in and around Hammersmith and Fulham and has since been 'reconnecting' many of them with Poland.

 

Latest figures from the electoral register show that the number of east Europeans living in Hammersmith and Fulham has jumped by 191 per cent since May 2004.

 

This date marked the beginning of EU accession, a ruling which allowed workers from Eastern European countries such as Poland, Bulgaria and Romania to look for jobs anywhere inside the European Union.

 

There were 1,790 new national insurance registrations from east European workers in Hammersmith and Fulham the year after the EU opened up its labour market, an increase of 600 per cent.

 

Hammersmith was particularly attractive to the Polish community due to its long Polish history. After the Second World War, Polish airmen and WWII refugees settled in the area.

 

There are now an estimated 91 Polish businesses employing more than 600 people in Hammersmith and Fulham.

 

However, the increase in Polish workers has occurred alongside an explosion in Polish rough sleepers who have in some cases struggled to find work, and became easy target for black market gang-masters.

  

Councillor Greg Smith, Cabinet Member for Crime & Street Scene, says: “This borough has a long and proud history of welcoming east European workers, particularly from Poland. The work and culture of Polish people as enriched the borough for more than half a century and we are delighted to see this continue.

 

“However, the reality of international migration will always create winners and losers and there are a visible minority who are losing out.”

 

“This minority may have fallen victim to badly thought out plans for their move, may not speak the language or have pre-existing problems, like alcohol abuse, often end up rough sleeping, street drinking and begging.”

January 29, 2009