Romania angered at UK immigration restrictions

Romania’s Foreign Ministry has lashed out at the restrictions placed on Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants by the UK Home Office, claiming that the laws are unfair and depriving workers of free access to the UK job market.

The reaction came after British officials announced the continuation of restrictions to the new EU member nations for another two years at least.

Romanian authorities have called the move disappointing, arguing that as EU member states they should not be denied the opportunity for their workers to have full rights to work in the UK. They claim that preventing free movement of workers within the community hinders the capacity of the EU itself to overcome the current downturn in global economics.

The reaction is also supported by latest figures from within Romania which reveal the country’s economy is in worse shape than ever. Romanian officials are desperate for a surge in emigrating workers to Britain to help alleviate some of the pressure on the state which is being crippled by handouts.

Education and young people are also suffering. According to the Save the Children charity, around one third of Romanian children are living in poverty, with school numbers down and illegal child labour numbers as high as 70,000.

The Romanian government claimed bluntly that the country is broke and full of poor workers desperate to make it to the UK to find employment which would solve many of the country’s problems.