British Expats

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadaJimmy (Post 8410455)

@BristolUK: Wow...
That is utterly bizarre. I suppose compared to Scandinavian countries the UK cost of living is probably slightly lower.

However considering they were coming in to the DWP/DSS and trying to claim welfare, that does suggest they simply came to the UK to take advantage of the soft-touchness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pincher (Post 8410503)

Getting a lot of that through the port at the moment. Asylum seekers who claimed in other European countries resettling to the UK due to the better benefits.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brizzle (Post 8411077)

I believe that a lot of the pull factor to the UK, is the english language, family/support communities and under the table work. I don't think our welfare is sufficiently generous (certainly compared to scandanavian countries) to be the only reason.

I know that in recent years, a lot of Somali's with dutch passports have moved to the UK (Leicester in particular I've heard). A lot have cited racial, integration and language problems in the Netherlands and a lot have extended family in the UK.

They do have a bit of a surprise when they turn up though. They fall foul of Habitual Residency requirements.

As a recent UK arrival, to qualify for Benefits you have to be Habitually Resident. Those rules do not apply to asylum seekers but "now" they have refugee status and have passports they are treated exactly the same as other European citizens.

With no connection to the UK (no housing, no work lined up, never lived there etc etc) while they still had everything where they just left, they didn't qualify for anything.