The Romanian Ambassador in London has said that despite fears that the UK would experience mass immigration from Bulgaria and Romania after border restrictions on the countries were lifted on 1 January, only two dozen new migrants from Romania have arrived in January.
Ion Jinga also posted on The Telegraph’s website that 10 British companies had been in contact with the Romanian Embassy in London to enquire about hiring Romanian workers.
British bosses provoked a backlash last month by saying they would welcome more migrants to the UK because they were prepared to work long hours for relatively low pay and this would help boost the UK economy. Ocado CEO Sir Stuart Rose was one of the leading UK bosses who called for more migrant workers prepared to work for low pay.
Labour has pledged to crack down on migrants being exploited and trapped in wage poverty if they come to the UK to work.
The decline in wage levels has also meant British workers are struggling to live above the breadline.
Mr Jinga was basing his estimate of the number of Romanians who have arrived in the UK since 1 January on figures compiled by the Netherlands – Britain does not collect data on the number of Bulgarians and Romanians who come to the UK.
The EU says all migrants must register with their local council when they arrive in a new EU member state. The UK does not enforce this EU directive, however, although the Netherlands does.
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