Unemployed Eastern Europeans are back in the streets

July 2nd 2009  

By Signe Larsen, Member of 'NatNød' – the night shelter for foreign homeless people in Copenhagen, established by projekt UDENFOR, Missionen blandt hjemløse, Kirkens Korshær, Domkirken, SAND, Arbejde Adler/Oasen and Kofoeds Kælder.
(Translated and shortened from the original feature ‘Debat: Nu havner arbejdsløse fra østlande igen på gaden’ published in Politiken, April 1st 2009)

The consequences are tough for many of the Eastern Europeans, who seek happiness in Denmark and the Danish labour market. Some of these people have been promised a working contract before they even left their own country, which turned out to be fake when the arrived here. Others have been working for a period of time and then fired. There are several who have been lured into working without paying their taxes and under terrible conditions. And finally, there are those people who come to Denmark in search of a better life, than what they had back home.

What many of these people have in common is that they through out January, February and March have slept in a temporary night shelter in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, which have been established for foreign homeless people. The shelter was many intended to help the Eastern Europeans, but everybody who needed a place to sleep have been welcomed. People without a Danish registration do not have the possibility of sleeping in the state-funded shelters – even though they are just as homeless as the Danish homeless. This was a solid fact from December 2007, when former Minister of Welfare Karen Jespersen threatened to close down the state-funded shelters, which helped this group of non-Danish homeless people.

The need of a reaction

The Night Shelter, which is a co-operation between several of the NGOs within the homeless-area, has room for 30 people sleeping on the floor. Our statistical data shows that already by mid February the shelter had had 156 different overnight visitors. Most of them were from Romania and there were also many from Poland. This number of overnight visitors gives us a hint that the number of Eastern European homeless in Copenhagen is larger than the 200 estimated by the politicians.
The project was established last year as a spontaneous reaction to the fact that two polish men had died in the streets of Copenhagen because of the cold weather. It is possible to re-open the Night Shelter each winter because of private funding. It is not pure luxury you walk into when you enter the Night Shelter, but it is a possibility to have your basic necessities covered during the cold winter. A report published by projekt UDENFOR emphasise just how hard it is for the Eastern Europeans to enter the Danish labour market. The risk of being tricked and taken advantage of is huge and for many of these people the experiences of exploitation are the beginning of a social de-route, which eventually make them end up in the streets.   

There is a need for help from these homeless people, which is not going to be smaller as time goes by. The question is whether we should make use of a temporary solution such as the Night Shelter once again or if the time has come to take political responsibility.

The many good initiatives in Europe

Just look at many of the European organisations within the field of homelessness and how they cope with similar problems. In Gothenburg the problems with the undocumented homeless have been acknowledged and the health clinic ‘Rosengrenska’ has been opened and is run by volunteers. The clinic offers medical help, but many stop by because of the good social atmosphere or because they need legal advice. Another example is the information centre SPAZ in Switzerland, which has been established by unions among others. At SPAZ medical help and counselling are offered. There are many good initiatives around Europe to use as good examples, and the ting they all have in common is their acknowledgement of the necessity of a political responsibility.

Denmark is all about openness, flexibility and mobility also in a European context. The European labour markets need to acknowledge that especially openness, flexibility and mobility are preconditions for growth and wealth in Europe, and that the need of taking care of the unfortunate people – both as help when the damage is done and as a prevention of it happening again – is equally as important.