Illusory Rights of EU Migrants in the UK

Two years have passed since the Brexit referendum. But have EU citizens their rights secured? Talk Real travels to London and this is what they saw.

For decades thousands of people from around the world have made themselves at home in the cosmopolitan and global city of London. It might seem prosperous, but for many people, and migrants in particular, this city, and this country, can be far from paradise. It is foreign workers who often find themselves at the bottom of the labour market, forced to work long hours for low pay without adequate protections. This also includes EU migrants, many of whom, and especially those from Eastern Europe, have found themselves on the frontlines of exploitation.

EU citizens face increasing insecurity in their rights, attacks against their persons and even threats of deportation. The nature and the consequences of this insecurity and the drivers of hostility can be different, in particular between Western and Eastern Europe. In the context of the Brexit negotiations, we traveled to London to meet the EU workers and activists who are organising themselves to defend their basic rights, including that one of freedom of movement.