One newspaper - yes, the Guardian - goes against the overwhelming public opinion in Britain and publishes a blog about the whole Duffy-the-Eastern-European you-know-what affair.
It's written by a Polish woman living in Britain and shows the other side of the coin - how an Eastern European feels about Duffy's remarks.
Most Eastern Europeans here work and pay taxes, without having the right to vote. Nationals from the 8 countries that joined the EU in 2004 do indeed have the right to work without work permits but they have to register, so there are exact figures at the Home Office available to anyone who wants to see how many of them there are.
The latest entrants, Bulgaria and Romania, are still under a restricted regime. Nationals from these countries must either be self-employed - and obtain a yellow card certifying that status - get a work permit for a specific job, or be highly-skilled, to fill Britain's needs in areas such as technology, engineering, IT, medicine.
Figures about how many Bulgarians and Romanians are working in the UK can be easily obtained from the Home Office as well.
I am sure it would be possible to obtain figures on how many Eastern Europeans are on benefits - although they do not qualify for a lot of them, such as housing benefit, for example. So it would be easy for any journalist to get these figures and write an article about how Eastern European migration really affects this country.
They don't do it and I think that this is because it's easier to stick to alarmist headlines that grab British readers attention - even though they aren't accurate - then present them with the truth: it's not immigration that is causing Britain's problems.
But that would open a can of worms both for politicians and for the media, because in the absence of the immigrant enemy they will have to take a look in the mirror. And they may not like what they see there.
For instance, none of the candidates honestly told the British people what spending cuts will be made to reduce the UK budget deficit. I think the British people should worry more about that than about the handful of Eastern Europeans paying taxes here.
Showing posts with label romanians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romanians. Show all posts
Sunday, 2 May 2010
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Give Herta Mueller a Second Nobel Prize
Why are so many Romanians going abroad? No, not everybody is after the money and the "easy" life. Some of them leave because they have no choice. And I'm not speaking here about the Roma who can't find work and hope that they will in the richer West.
I'm talking about the ones who are still, 20 years after the 1989 revolution, fleeing the loathed secret police, the Securitate.
Nobel prize winner Herta Mueller, an ethnic German writer born in Romania, who left the country in 1987, at the height of the communist dictatorship, explains:
"I know that in Romania, scores of people who used to work for the Securitate are now in high-level positions and this has virtually no consequences. It is not important for the society," she told EU Observer.
And listen to this:
"These people have gained so much influence that they have managed to almost re-create their old network of power, where they all know and serve each other. It is the second life of the dictatorship. Under different circumstances, organised in a different way. And without ideology. Without Socialism."
Please, give the woman a second Nobel prize! This one, for being able to explain what is wrong with that system, in a nutshell.
Those of you who are still wondering why things are still not working in these countries, why people are still looking for a better life abroad, why those who stay have to give in to corruption, read her words, over and over again.
What she says is that communism is not really dead. It just changed its name to "market economy" and has taken over the private sector as well.
Mueller goes on to suggest that Eastern European countries should not have been so readily accepted into the EU. This is the part where I don't agree with her.
Joining the EU was the best chance these countries actually had (and still have) to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Those sick of working like slaves in a corrupt system can travel freely and escape the Securitate agents populating companies – and at some point even corrupt managers will realise they need highly-skilled people to advance their businesses and will get rid of incompetents.
Eastern Europeans can now also go to the EU courts when the corrupt justice system in their countries defies logic and common sense by taking absurd decisions that infringe on their freedoms, property and integrity.
The EU's principles of freedom and justice are well known. Too bad Western European companies investing in the East don't always follow them.
It seems that the Romanian saying that "money has no scent" is an international principle. But even those who currently hire the former Securitate agents will realise, at some point, that they aren't getting their money's worth - unless they hire them for the only job they know to do well: backstabbing.
I'm talking about the ones who are still, 20 years after the 1989 revolution, fleeing the loathed secret police, the Securitate.
Nobel prize winner Herta Mueller, an ethnic German writer born in Romania, who left the country in 1987, at the height of the communist dictatorship, explains:
"I know that in Romania, scores of people who used to work for the Securitate are now in high-level positions and this has virtually no consequences. It is not important for the society," she told EU Observer.
And listen to this:
"These people have gained so much influence that they have managed to almost re-create their old network of power, where they all know and serve each other. It is the second life of the dictatorship. Under different circumstances, organised in a different way. And without ideology. Without Socialism."
Please, give the woman a second Nobel prize! This one, for being able to explain what is wrong with that system, in a nutshell.
Those of you who are still wondering why things are still not working in these countries, why people are still looking for a better life abroad, why those who stay have to give in to corruption, read her words, over and over again.
What she says is that communism is not really dead. It just changed its name to "market economy" and has taken over the private sector as well.
Mueller goes on to suggest that Eastern European countries should not have been so readily accepted into the EU. This is the part where I don't agree with her.
Joining the EU was the best chance these countries actually had (and still have) to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Those sick of working like slaves in a corrupt system can travel freely and escape the Securitate agents populating companies – and at some point even corrupt managers will realise they need highly-skilled people to advance their businesses and will get rid of incompetents.
Eastern Europeans can now also go to the EU courts when the corrupt justice system in their countries defies logic and common sense by taking absurd decisions that infringe on their freedoms, property and integrity.
The EU's principles of freedom and justice are well known. Too bad Western European companies investing in the East don't always follow them.
It seems that the Romanian saying that "money has no scent" is an international principle. But even those who currently hire the former Securitate agents will realise, at some point, that they aren't getting their money's worth - unless they hire them for the only job they know to do well: backstabbing.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Well, they're leaving. Happy now?
The Romanians who had the honour of having their windows smashed and were threatened with death by thugs in Northern Ireland are finally leaving, the BBC reports.
Not to the south of France, like Sir Fred Goodwin, but back to Romania – not a bad country to be in, during the summer. One resident in the Belfast area where these people were living told the BBC the Romanians brought the attacks on themselves. Asked how, he said "they shouldn't be here." Well, now they won't be.
Hopefully their departure will give a massive boost to employment in the region. For the moment I'd advise all Romanian passport holders (or indeed any other people from anywhere in the world) to refrain from visiting Belfast. One never knows.
Of course, the nice priest who offered overnight dwelling to the Romanians in the City Church, as well as the neighbours who organised anti-racism rallies, have remained in Belfast. But I'm sure they would be welcome in Romania, if the thugs haven't run out of bricks.
Not to the south of France, like Sir Fred Goodwin, but back to Romania – not a bad country to be in, during the summer. One resident in the Belfast area where these people were living told the BBC the Romanians brought the attacks on themselves. Asked how, he said "they shouldn't be here." Well, now they won't be.
Hopefully their departure will give a massive boost to employment in the region. For the moment I'd advise all Romanian passport holders (or indeed any other people from anywhere in the world) to refrain from visiting Belfast. One never knows.
Of course, the nice priest who offered overnight dwelling to the Romanians in the City Church, as well as the neighbours who organised anti-racism rallies, have remained in Belfast. But I'm sure they would be welcome in Romania, if the thugs haven't run out of bricks.
On a more serious – sombre, even – note, this is bad. It shows that thugs with bricks and death threats can drive people away. I hope other racist groups won't be inspired by this. Or that authorities will find the will and the guts to stop this kind of acts before it's too late.
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