“so this is not a game” - Brexit as a ‘situation of uncommon precarity’ for migrants of Roma heritage in the UK

Authors

  • Philip B. Martin

https://doi.org/10.17583/ijrs.2021.6984

Keywords:


Downloads

Abstract

Following the 2016 Referendum on UK membership of the EU, the British government indicated that providing evidence of consistent, regular working histories would form the basis of applications by EU migrants seeking to remain in the country long-term. (Home Office, 2018, 2020). In doing so, it made evidence of legal, paid employment central to obtaining legitimate status in the country, but those struggling to produce such information face potentially precarious futures (e.g. Sumption & Kone, 2018). The vulnerability of migrants of Roma heritage to insecure, low status, (and sometimes exploitative), employment conditions in the UK has been highlighted by various studies (e.g. Poole & Adamson 2008; Brown et al., 2016). Such patterns of employment have frequently been described as ‘precarious labour’ in other parts of the European Union (e.g. Apostolova et al., 2014; Vincze, 2015). Studies have suggested that, given the specific disadvantages faced by Roma migrants in the UK, the aftermath of ‘Brexit’ posed enhanced risks an intensification of the precarity they already experience (e.g. Brown et al., 2018). Drawing on interviews conducted with EU migrants of Roma heritage in two different locations in 2019, this paper assesses the implications of Brexit for their continued residence. It argues that for Roma in the UK, Brexit represents a contemporary, but expanded example of precarity, encompassing not only work, but also family and future, hopes and aspirations. 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alberti, G., & Barbulescu, R. (2018). Production of immobility? What will settled status do well, what it will do badly and whom it will fail. London School of Economics blog posted December 27, 2018. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2018/12/27/deserving-status-what-will-settled-status-do-well-what-it-will-do-badly-and-whom-it-will-fail/

Google Scholar Crossref

Allison, A., & Piot, C. (2012). Editors’ Note On “Neoliberal Futures”. Cultural Anthropology, 29(1), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.14506/ca29.1.02

Google Scholar Crossref

Anderson, B. (2010). Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers, Work, employment and society, 24(2), 300–317.

Google Scholar Crossref

Anderson, B., & Rogaly, B. (2007). Forced Labour and Migration to the UK. Study prepared by COMPAS in collaboration with the Trades Union Congress.

Google Scholar Crossref

Anderson, B., Ruhs, M., Rogaly, B., & Spencer, S. (2006). Fair enough? Central and East European migrants in low-wage employment in the UK. Joseph Rowntree Foundation: UK.

Google Scholar Crossref

Apostolova, R., Deneva, N., & Hristova, T. (2014). Situating Migration in Transition: Temporal, Structural, and Conceptual Transformations of Migrations. Sketches from Bulgaria. Collective for Social Interventions, Sofia. https://novilevi.org/nlpenglish/english/migration-online-edition-eng

Google Scholar Crossref

Barany, Z.D. (1994). Living on the Edge: The East European Roma in Postcommunist Politics and Societies. Slavic Review, 53(2), 321-344. Cambridge University Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Botterill, K., McCollum, D., & Tyrrell, N. (2019). Negotiating Brexit: Migrant spatialities and identities in a changing Europe. Population, Space and Place, Special Issue Paper, 25(1), Introduction. Wiley: UK.https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2216

Google Scholar Crossref

Brown, P., Dwyer, P., Martin, P., Scullion, L., & Turley, H. (2015). Rights, responsibilities and redress? Research on policy and practices for Roma inclusion in ten Member States. Roma MATRIX Final research report. UK: University of Salford.

Google Scholar Crossref

Brown, P., Allen, D., Czureja, S., Dinu, L., Glowacki, S., Hesk, G., Ingmire, S., Martin, P., Orsos, O., Palmai, M., & Rostas, T. (2016). Supporting Roma Voice. UK: University of Salford.https://huddersfield.box.com/s/6plba5dh55q8h5jqvdmiyxuzc0n9tiu1

Google Scholar Crossref

Brown, P., Shallice, A., Brown, G., & Ivatts, A. (2018). Roma and Brexit: Report on a Joint All Party Parliamentary Group roundtable event. https://appgmigration.org.uk/brexit-the-impact-on-roma-communities-in-the-uk-report-available/

Google Scholar Crossref

Castles, S. (2011). Migration, Crisis, and the Global Labour Market. Globalizations, 8(3), 311-324. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2011.576847

Google Scholar Crossref

Cherkezova, S., & Tomova, I. (2013). ‘An option of last resort? Migration of Roma and Non-Roma from CEE Countries’. Bratislava: UNDP. http://www.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/Migration-of-Roma-and-Non-Roma-from-Central-and-Eastern-Europe.pdf

Google Scholar Crossref

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, [CIPD] (2020). Self-employed contractors: understanding the law, Guide January, 2020. www.cipd.co.uk

Google Scholar Crossref

Clarke, S. (Ed.). (2017). Work in Brexit Britain - Reshaping The Nation’s Labour Market. Resolution Foundation: UK. https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2017/07/RF-Brexit-ebook.pdf

Google Scholar Crossref

Cook, J., Dwyer, P., & Waite, L. (2011). The Experiences of Accession 8 Migrants in England: Motivations, Work and Agency. International Migration, 49(2), 54-79.

Google Scholar Crossref

Dagilytė, E., & Greenfields, M. (2015). United Kingdom welfare benefit reforms in 2013-2014: Roma between the pillory, the precipice and the slippery slope. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 37(4). 476-495. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2015.1121954

Google Scholar Crossref

Duda Mikulin, E. A. (2019). EU Migrant Workers, Brexit And Precarity - Polish women’s perspectives from inside the UK. Policy Press: University of Bristol. https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/eu-migrant-workers-brexit-and-precarity

Google Scholar Crossref

European Commission. (2020). Questions and Answers on the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020. QANDA/20/104. Brussels, 24 January 2020.

Google Scholar Crossref

European Dialogue. (2009). The movement of Roma from new EU Member States: A mapping survey of A2 and A8 Roma in England. Patterns of settlement and current situation of new Roma communities in England. A report prepared for DCSF.

Google Scholar Crossref

European Roma Rights Centre. (2007). The Glass Box: Exclusion of Roma from Employment. ERRC: Budapest.http://www.errc.org/reports-and-submissions/the-glass-box-exclusion-of-roma-from-employment

Google Scholar Crossref

Fernández-Reino, M., & Cieno, C. (2019). Migrants in the UK labour market: An overview. Migration Observatory briefing, COMPAS, University of Oxford: UK. https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-labour-market-an-overview/

Google Scholar Crossref

FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. (2009). The situation of Roma EU citizens moving to and settling in other EU Member States. https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2010/situation-roma-eu-citizens-moving-and-settling-other-eu-member-states

Google Scholar Crossref

Greenfields, M., & Dagilytė, E. (2018). ‘I Would Never Have Come If We’d Know It Might Be Like This’: On the (Un)Intended Consequences of Welfare Governance of EU Roma Migrants in Britain, Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics 4(3), 81-105. https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v4i3.447 http://intersections.tk.mta.hu

Google Scholar Crossref

Grill, J. (2018). ‘In England, they don’t call you black!’ Migrating racialisations and the production of Roma difference across Europe. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44(7), 1136-1155. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1329007

Google Scholar Crossref

Grutters, C., Guild, E., Minderhoud, P., van Oers, R., & Strik, T. (2018). Brexit and Migration, Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Study for The LIBE committee. Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs. European Parliament. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/supporting-analyses

Google Scholar Crossref

Guma, T., & Jones, RD. (2019). “Where are we going to go now?” European Union migrants' experiences of hostility, anxiety, and (non‐). belonging during Brexit. In Botterill, K., McCollum, D., Tyrrell, N. (2019). Negotiating Brexit: Migrant spatialities and identities in a changing Europe. Population, Space and Place, Special Issue Paper, 25(1). Wiley: UK. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2198

Google Scholar Crossref

Home Office. (2018). Policy paper - Annex A: documentary evidence of continuous residence in the UK. Published 21 June 2018. HM Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-statement-of-intent

Google Scholar Crossref

Home Office. (2020). EU Settlement Scheme applicant information (various). HM Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-applicant-information

Google Scholar Crossref

James, C., & Mohay, A. (2019). Mobility and residence rights after Brexit: the positions of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in Hungary and the EU: what can we say? in Kis Kelemen, B., & Mohay,A., Eu Justice And Home Affairs Research Papers in The Context of Migration And Asylum Law, 3-39. Hungary: University of Pécs, Faculty of Law, Centre for European Research and Education.

Google Scholar Crossref

Kóczé A. (2018). Race, migration and neoliberalism: distorted notions of Romani migration in European public discourses. Social Identities, 24(4), 459-473. DOI: 10.1080/13504630.2017.1335827

Google Scholar Crossref

Lewis, H., Dwyer P., Hodkinson, S., & Waite, L. (2015). Hyper-precarious lives: Migrants, work and forced labour in the Global North. Progress in Human Geography, 39(5), 580–600. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132514548303

Google Scholar Crossref

Martin, PB., Scullion, LC., & Brown, P. (2017). “We don’t rely on benefits”: Challenging mainstream narratives towards Roma migrants in the UK. Social Policy Review, 29, 199-217. https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/social-policy-review-29

Google Scholar Crossref

Martin, PB, Scullion, LC., & Brown, P (2018). Roma persons and EU Citizenship. In F. Pennings & M. Seeleib-Kaiser (Eds.), EU Citizenship and Social Rights - Entitlements and Impediments to Accessing Welfare. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on EU Citizenship series (pp. 173–198). Edward Elgar: UK. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788112710.00019

Google Scholar Crossref

McCormack, D., & Salmenniemi, S. (2016). The Biopolitics of Precarity and the Self. Introduction to a Special Issue. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 19(1). 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1367549415585559

Google Scholar Crossref

Migration Advisory Committee. (2014). Migrants in low-skilled work: The growth of EU and non-EU labour in low-skilled jobs and its impact on the UK, Summary Report July 2014.

Google Scholar Crossref

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migrants-in-low-skilled-work

Google Scholar Crossref

Migration Yorkshire. (2017). Roma in South Yorkshire: mapping services and local priorities & Roma experiences of living and working in South Yorkshire. https://www.migrationyorkshire.org.uk/?page=southyorks-roma-reports

Google Scholar Crossref

Migration Yorkshire. (2018). National Roma Network 2015-2017 - Developments, learning and action. https://www.migrationyorkshire.org.uk/userfiles/file/publications/MY-finalNRNreport-Oct2018.pdf

Google Scholar Crossref

Millar, K.M. (2017). Toward a critical politics of precarity. Sociology Compass, 11(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12483

Google Scholar Crossref

Morris, M. (2016). Roma communities & Brexit -Integrating & empowering Roma in the UK. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. http://www.ippr.org/publications/roma-communities-and-brexit

Google Scholar Crossref

Nagy, V. (2018). The Janus face of precarity – Securitisation of Roma mobility in the UK. Local Economy, 33(2), 127–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269094218764117

Google Scholar Crossref

Parker, O. (2012). Roma and the Politics of EU Citizenship in France: Everyday Security and Resistance. Journal of Common Market Studies, 50(3), 475–491. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.2011.02238.x

Google Scholar Crossref

Pemberton, S., & Scullion, LC. (2013). The Policies and Politics of Managed Migration: Exploring Mature Labour Migration from Central and Eastern Europe into the UK. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 39(3), 443-461. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2013.733863

Google Scholar Crossref

Piemontese, S. (Ed.), Plainer, Z., Bianconi, L., Stefanova, D., Förschner. M. (2013). ‘Roma migrants’ in five European Countries. Policy Contexts and National Integration Strategies, REdHNET Report 2.

Google Scholar Crossref

Poole, L., & Adamson, K. (2008). Report on the Situation of the Roma Community in Govanhill, Glasgow. Oxfam: UK. http://policypractice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/situation-of-the-roma-community-in-govanhillglasgow-112456

Google Scholar Crossref

Pradella, L., & Cillo, R. (2015). Labour, Exploitation and Migration in Western Europe: An International Political Economy Perspective, ch.3 in Craig, G., Waite, L., Lewis, H., Skrivankova, K. (Eds.), Vulnerability, Exploitation and Migrants: Insecure Work in a Globalised Economy (pp. 44-56). Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Google Scholar Crossref

Pulay, G. (2018). Crises, Securitizations and the Europeanization of Roma Representation. Intersections. EEJSP 4(3), 180-192. https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v4i3.489 http://intersections.tk.mta.hu

Google Scholar Crossref

Ryan, L., Sales, R., Tilki, M., & Siara, B. (2009). Family strategies and transnational migration: recent Polish migrants in London. Journal of ethnic and migration studies, 35(1), 61-77.

Google Scholar Crossref

Rolfe, H., & Hudson-Sharp, N. (2016). The impact of free movement on the labour market: case studies of hospitality, food processing and construction. National Institute of Economic and Social Research: UK. https://www.niesr.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publications/Free%20movement%20-%20Final%20report.pdf

Google Scholar Crossref

Roma Support Group. (2020a). Brexit, EU Settlement Scheme and the Roma communities in the UK. June 2020. RSG: UK. https://www.romasupportgroup.org.uk/uploads/9/3/6/8/93687016/roma_brexit_euss_report_16.06.2020_final.pdf

Google Scholar Crossref

Roma Support Group. (2020b). October 2020 Newsletter. London: UK. https://www.romasupportgroup.org.uk/newsletters.html

Google Scholar Crossref

Roma Support Group. (2020c). Statement on the impact of EU Settlement Scheme digital-only status on the Roma Community in the UK. https://www.romasupportgroup.org.uk/our-research.html

Google Scholar Crossref

Schierup, C-U., & Bak Jørgensen, M. (2016). From ‘Social Exclusion’ to ‘Precarity’ The Becoming-migrant of Labour: An Introduction. In Carl-Ulrik Schierup & Martin Bak Jørgensen (Eds.), Politics of Precarity: Migrant Conditions, Struggles and Experiences. Studies in Critical Social Sciences, Vol. 97. Brill: Leiden.

Google Scholar Crossref

Spreckelsen, T.F., & Seeleib-Kaiser, M. (2016). Dimensions of labour market integration among young EU migrant citizens in the UK, Barnett Papers in Social Research, Working Paper 16-01. University of Oxford: UK. https://www.spi.ox.ac.uk/barnett-papers-in-social-research#collapse405186

Google Scholar Crossref

Sumption, M., & Kone, Z. (2018). “Unsettled Status? Which EU Citizens are at Risk of Failing to Secure their Rights after Brexit?” Migration Observatory report, COMPAS. University of Oxford, UK.

Google Scholar Crossref

Tileaga, C., Aldridge, J., & Popoviciu, S. (2019a). Drivers of Roma Migration: Understanding Migration in Politically Uncertain Times. Loughborough University.

Google Scholar Crossref

Tileaga¬, C., Aldridge, J., Popoviciu, S., Daragiu, M., Daragiu, L., Lumsden, K. (2019b). Roma community perspectives on migration to the UK. Loughborough University and Ruhama Foundation. http://www.ruhama.ro/downs/Rapoarte/RomaCommunityPerspectivesonMigrationtotheUK.pdf

Google Scholar Crossref

Van Baar, H. (2016). Evictability and the biopolitical bordering of Europe. Antipode, 49, 212–230. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/anti.12260

Google Scholar Crossref

Van Baar, H. (2017). Contained mobility and the racialization of poverty in Europe: the Roma at the development–security nexus. Social Identities, 24(2), 1–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1335826

Google Scholar Crossref

Vickers, T., Clayton, J., Davison, H., Hudson, L., Cañadas, MA Biddle P., & Lilley, S. (2019). Dynamics of precarity among ‘new migrants’: exploring the worker–capital relation through mobilities and mobility power, Mobilities, 14(5), 696-714. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2019.1611028

Google Scholar Crossref

Vincze, E. (2015). Precarization of Working Class Roma through Spatial Deprivation, Labor Destitution and Racialization, Review of Sociology, 25(4), 58–85. http://www.szociologia.hu/dynamic/58_85_oldal.pdf

Google Scholar Crossref

Vlase I., & Preoteasa, A. (2012). Roma migrants from Bulgaria and Romania. Migration patterns and integration in Italy and Spain 2011. In Tarnovsky, D. (Ed.). Roma from Romania, Bulgaria, Italy and Spain between social inclusion and migration. Bucharest: Open Society Foundations, 65-87.

Google Scholar Crossref

Yıldız, C., & De Genova, N. (2017). Un/Free mobility: Roma migrants in the European Union, Special Issue of Social Identities. Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, 24(4), 425-441. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1335819

Google Scholar Crossref

Downloads

Published

2021-03-15
Logo Metrics

Almetric

Dimensions

How to Cite

Martin, P. B. (2021). “so this is not a game” - Brexit as a ‘situation of uncommon precarity’ for migrants of Roma heritage in the UK. International Journal of Roma Studies, 3(1), 46–72. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijrs.2021.6984

Issue

Section

Articles