HC Deb 29 January 2003 vol 398 cc912-3W
Dr. Tonge

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many central and eastern European Roma he expects to migrate to the UK following the accession to the EU of (a) the Czech Republic, (b) Slovakia, (c) Hungary and (d) Poland. [93439]

Beverley Hughes

[holding answer 27 January 2003]: Research conducted by University College London for the Home Office, which will be published soon, suggests that the numbers of people who will migrate to the UK from the new member states will not be significant. This research corroborates a number of other independent studies which have looked at the scale of migration flows after enlargement. These have been summarised in reports by the European Commission in 2000 and the former Department for Education and Employment in 1999. None of this research has been able to predict exact numbers expected from specific countries or ethnic groups to the UK.