Our last Event .. 2008

Use the links below to navigate our last Event

| Exhibition | Photos | Programme | Speakers | Sponsors |

Housing Challenge for Migrants Dr Julia Verne, Polski Bristol

EU8 migrants experience significant challenges in terms of finding and maintaining safe, adequate and sanitary housing. As with all new migrant groups, they often live in severely over-crowded and unsafe conditions, often 'hot bedding'. Current regulations, whereby EU8 residents must register with the Home Office under the Workers Registration Scheme and work legally for a year before entitlement to benefits, mean that those who fall victim to exploitation (by, for example, unscrupulous employers making illegal or unjust deductions for housing and/or housing workers in appalling conditions) or who simply lose their job have no recourse to public funds to help with emergency housing; the situation is worse for families with small children and exacerbated by the baby boom. The Avon Fire Brigade has participated in a joint initiative with the Polish church in Bristol to enhance awareness of home fire safety issues and to offer free safety checks. As in any community, there are people who need to be housed safely (for example, victims of domestic violence and their children) but language-barriers and unawareness of the support systems available often hinder access. A proportion of homeless EU8 migrants also have significant alcohol-related problems. Assessing the extent of the challenge numerically is difficult as many of these problems are hidden and only come to the attention of the authorities in a crisis