Categories of Migrant Worker

These are some of the main categories:
European Economic Area Nationals do not need to ask for permission to move here to live and work. These include people from the European Union (EU), from the European Free Trade Area (including Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), and from Switzerland.
Nationals from the New EU Accession States are entitled to freedom of movement in the other EU states but must register with the Home Office when they take up employment. These include people from what are termed the A8 Countries, which joined the EU in May 2004: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. (Cyprus and Malta who also joined in 2004, are not subject to these restrictions and are treated like states that joined previously.) The latest accession countries, Bulgaria and Romania (A2) have been treated differently from the A8 countries. Nationals from these countries are free to be here but need work permits for most forms of employment.
Work Permit Holders are foreign nationals from countries, other than those listed above. Permits will only be issued when the employer has demonstrated that they have been unable to fill the post in any other way.
Students from abroad (there were around 1300 in around 2001–2) are entitled to work part time. They often help as language assistants in schools.
Working Holidaymakers who are not recorded by immigration officials.
Permit-Free Workers include several categories, such as people working here temporarily, for example, as diplomats, airport staff, representatives of foreign firms, members of the foreign press, or clergy!
Undocumented Workers are impossible to quantify, but a couple of years ago the Immigration Service gave a guesstimate of around 2000 people. Most of them have probably entered the country legally and overstayed their work permits or visitors’ visas.

Social and Justice Issues Relating to Migrant Workers

These are only emerging but several are beginning to stand out:
Racist abuse and attacks.
The lack of regulation of agencies who may charge large fees on the promise of high wages and good conditions, which do not always materialise. (Deception in this area can be legally defined as trafficking.)
Long-term debt may be established.
The power of employers. Work permits are held by employers, and someone losing a job cannot look for another one or seek benefit. If sacked, they face destitution and deportation.
Contract workers may be supplied with poor quality, living conditions. They often end up in multiple occupancy housing.
All these issues are made worse by a lack of access to interpreters making it hard for people to communicate their difficulties, or to establish their rights.
There is the possibility that local people may be disadvantaged by the exploitative use of ‘cheap labour’
Homelessness and destitution if people lose their jobs, or are between jobs. They often have no family or social networks to tide them over.
The information gap. Migrants need good information and access to services such as advice about the law and their rights, language classes, medical care, and safe affordable housing. People who move from one country to another need clear information. To open a bank account here, for example, or obtain a driving licence, can be a real hurdle for foreign nationals.

Concordia, a partnership group including business (CBI), voluntary groups (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action NICVA), trade unions (Irish Congress of Trade Unions), and farmers and growers (Ulster Farmers’ Union), has produced a policy document challenging government. Migrant Workers in Northern Ireland: Meeting the needs of Migrant Workers, their Families and their Employers [pdf] March 2006.

It calls for the following:

• A specific Government minister responsible for migrant workers
• Annual forecasts with realistic predictions relating to the immigrant population
• A local public enquiry office for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, and local advice and support centres for migrant workers
• The establishment of a skills advisory service
• Enforcement of regulations governing houses in multiple occupation
• A migrant worker emergency rehousing fund

The Equality Commission brought people together in 2004 to discuss the implications of migrant worker employment. The Summary Report [pdf] may be downloaded here. A further conference, Migrant Workers: Meeting the Challenges of a Diverse Workplace [pdf] was held in 2005. Business in the Community published a Voluntary Code of Practice for the Employment of Migrant Workers [pdf] The BITC website also has a helpful Web site: Employing Migrant/Overseas Workers Employer’s Guide

Some other interested groups:
ANIMATE
Ballymena Ethnic Minorities Project
Belfast Welcome Centre
Concordia
Council for the Homeless Northern Ireland
Equality Commission
Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities
Shelter
Simon Community
STEP (South Tyrone Empowerment Project)
See www.arthurrankcentre.org for information about the Churches Rural Group in England and positive suggestions about responses to rural migrant workers.

Useful sources include:
Issues Facing Migrant Workers and Their Families in Northern Ireland: A Research Compendium of Animate and Partner Research 2004-7 
New Migrants & Belfast [pdf] An Overview of the Demographic Context, Social Issues & Trends, Neil Jarman & Jonny Byrne, Institute for Conflict Research 2007
Migrant Workers in Northern Ireland: Meeting the Needs of Migrant Workers, their Families and their Employers [pdf] a policy paper, Concordia, March 2006.
Kathryn Bell, Neil Jarman and Thomas Lefebvre, Migrant Workers in Northern Ireland [pdf] Institute for Conflict Research, Belfast, 2004.
Neil Jarman, Migrant workers in Northern Ireland (review) [pdf] Institute for Conflict Research, 2004

Migrant Worker Destitution

There is increasing concern about the suffering of migrant workers who lose their jobs here and end up on the streets. There have been a very significant number of people coming to Northern Ireland from the new states who joined the EU on 1 May 2004, especially those from the A8: Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

• Compared to the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland has the highest % of migrant workers from these states, as a proportion of the local population.
• They pay a £70 registration when they register for employment.
• Many are paid low wages for the type of work they do and need to send money back to families at home. They are also often over-qualified for the work they do.
• They need one year of uninterrupted employment to be entitled to social welfare, other than emergency health care.
• Those who lose their jobs are not entitled to any statutory support.
• If living in tied accommodation, the loss of a job may lead to homelessness.
• Private hostels for the homeless have limited spaces, and have been informed that beds paid for by the NI Housing Executive cannot be used for destitute migrant workers. The providers must fund these beds themselves.
• Migrant workers here on visas are not entitled to official homelessness advice.
• The language barrier makes understanding forms and regulations an additional problem.
• Foreign rough sleepers are subject to harassment and intimidation.
• Homelessness makes it almost impossible to obtain and keep employment.
• Destitution can lead quickly from an ordered life to one with multiple social and medical problems. This can include resorting to crime and/or alcohol and drug abuse.
• The devolved parliament in Scotland has chosen to stand apart from the rest of UK and does not debar new EU entrants from benefits.

EMBRACE on the street
During the past year, in response to the emerging concerns about migrant worker destitution a pilot project, EMBRACE on the street was organised with churches and organisations working with homelessness in the community sector. In consultation with Homeplus, the Belfast Welcome Centre and the Simon Community a list of needs: clothing, blankets, toiletries and easily handled foodstuffs was drawn up. Inner-city Belfast churches provide goods and storage for Homeplus - a voluntary organisation seeking out ‘rough sleepers’ to offer support.
Homelessness charities have observed that with early support it is relatively easy to get foreign nationals who have become destitute, back into jobs before they slip into a cycle of severe social problems. So, in some cases money has provided a couple of nights in a hostel to make it easier for people to get back into work quickly.
The pilot project is now being analysed to assess future needs. For more information contact us.

Some interested groups:
ANIMATE
Concordia
Council for the Homeless Northern Ireland
Equality Commission
Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities
Shelter
STEP (South Tyrone Empowerment Project)
See http://www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk/ for information about the Churches Rural Group in England and positive suggestions about responses to rural migrant workers

Myths about Migrant Workers
People who help migrant workers to adjust to life here are concerned at the kind of language used about migrants. ANIMATE, a partnership group supporting migrant workers in Mid Ulster, has come up with a few commonly heard views, and some of their material is used here: for more, see their web site: http://www.animate-ccd.net. You can also view the Animate Information Paper [pdf] here.

“The migrants are taking our jobs.”
The facts: Migrants are attracted by job vacancies. They fill skills gaps and labour shortages and where there is nearly full employment, they often do jobs that local people are not prepared to do. Industries such as the food processing industry cannot survive without migrant labour.
“They are costing the country money.”
The facts: The Home Office calculates that after subtracting benefits and public services from Income Tax and National Insurance contributions, migrants provide an annual surplus of £2.6 billion to the UK Treasury. One local factory, O’Kane Poultry, in Ballymena calculates that their migrant workers contributed £624,998 in National Insurance and £1,562,496 in Income Tax in just 2 years, while spending £2.2million locally.
“Migrants are getting everything on social security.”
The facts: Most migrant workers are not eligible for any social security benefits in spite of paying tax and National Insurance. The only people entitled to benefits here, similar to those available to local people, are from member states of the European Union who joined before 2004.
“I don’t mind ‘them’ being here but ‘they’ need to behave.”
The facts: Everyone is subject to the law and should behave. If a person from a migrant community misbehaves, that should not reflect badly on others from their country or ethnic group. We have our fair share of local people who misbehave.
These myths are not the only ones heard. There can be general fears about the creation of a low-pay economy. Recent research, however, tends to show reduction in pay rates are temporary and that immigration simply allows the economy to expand, e.g. the headline ‘Increase in immigrants found to aid expansion’ (Financial Times, 13 May 2005)