27/04/2004

Housing warning for EU migrants

Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is due to announce that unemployed migrants from aspiring EU countries will not have access to council housing.

The announcement comes ahead of the EU enlargement on May 1, when 10 new member states will join the EU. The rules will also apply to ‘aspiring’ EU entrants, Romania and Bulgaria.

Mr Blair announced last February that residents of the eight ex-East European communist countries joining the EU would only be able to stay in Britain if they had jobs.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott will be publishing regulations which will prevent people from European Community Association Agreement countries from qualifying for social housing such as council houses.

The Prime Minister is also expected to say that people who argue that migration is out of control or that the UK is taking more people than other countries are “simply wrong”.

The Blair government has come in for criticism for initially being one of the few European countries not to impose migrant restrictions when enlargement takes place.

The Home Office has also been criticised for allegedly turning a blind eye to some immigration applications from wealthy Romanians and Bulgarians.

(KmcA)

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