today a young man knocked on our door, my husband answered, the young man gave him a card which read. I am from poland, i am an immigrant, i have no money & want to go to college, please, please give me some. MY husband shook his head & told him to go away. I am worried abot people living alone & the elderly, we live in derbyshire uk. My question is this. Is what he did legal? Has it happened to you? what would you have done? I thought the goverment helped immigrants with this sort of thing, unless of course there illegall's.
2007-10-05 11:06:46 · 18 answers · asked by magic man 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
I would just like to say i am Not a nazi, just a frightened honest living citizen, who lives in a dangerous world. That's how it seem's these day's
2007-10-05 11:59:38 · update #1
jimquk is probably right....this man was almost certainly not from Poland.... The Poles are a very proud nation, are here legally and under the Polish registration scheme have the right to work in the UK.
The Poles btw have to pay the government for the first year of their stay here and have to register within their first month, at present it costs each Pole over 100 pound to register. that's a lot of revenue for the British government, and it means that for the first year the government knows exactly where the Poles are and who they work for.
They have no need to beg, they are a hard working people.obviously there are good and bad in every nationality...but what you are describing is just so not what a Pole would do...my guess is that they are from elsewhere in eastern Europe and are hoping that you would be more likely to give to a Pole, and so pretend to be one....all is not always as it seems sometimes!
2007-10-05 19:51:53 · answer #1 · answered by nusha 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure if it's legal or not but over the last few months, we've had immigrants coming over asking for money. Luckily, my dad always answers the door and he's more assertive than I am (I'm the human equivalent to a doormat) and he says politely that he is skint at that time.
That's wierd. I thought the government helped with immigrants too.
2007-10-05 11:15:53 · answer #2 · answered by ecco1983 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The fact that he is polish is neither here or there. Poland is a member state of the ECC.
We get aggressive beggars everyday - some with cards, many more without. One reason they knock on your door is to check if someone is in - if they are not it makes their burglary a little easier. Many are violent and carry knives so be careful how you confront them - otherwise because of this country's stupid screwed up laws you will be arrested if you so much as lay a finger on them.
As for phoning the police - forget it. Total waste of a phone call.
2007-10-05 11:24:48 · answer #3 · answered by jeff hall 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Almost certainly the chap was a Gypsy from Romania. Begging in the street in illegal, not sure about door to door. Of course, they only do it because some people give them money. If nobody gave money to beggars they would stop.
At the moment, Romanians are allowed to live in the UK, but not allowed to work or claim benefits......... people come here hoping to find a way for themselves, perhaps through self-employment which is allowed for them, but end up working illegally or begging.
In my opinion anyone allowed to live here should be allowed to work.
Oh, and yes it has happened to me. I just be firm but friendly, they're human beings and get enough abuse from all sides. I say to them bakhtalo - good luck. I buy the Big Issue from one and we chat in Spanish as she lived there before. But I don't give money to professional beggars whether British or foreign.
2007-10-05 11:18:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
Happens all the time in Europe
Thank the free invite to all from Labour. Would you leave your front door open 24/7 and let everyone in? Thats what they have done with the UK
2007-10-05 12:35:01 · answer #5 · answered by Northern Spriggan 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Be polite and make it clear you have no money to give away.Otherwise their is a possibility that they may return and burgle your house or some other sinister act.Dont worry about the incident keep cool and above everything else be polite.
2007-10-05 16:08:52 · answer #6 · answered by realdolby 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
don't under estimate people who chap your door, to call them immigrants i think is Little nieve there are all sorts of wrong ones out there who would use other peoples woes do gain for themselves...call the police straight away when any stranger without proper i.d. turns up at your door.
2007-10-05 11:29:15 · answer #7 · answered by bigjamsie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what area you live in. In my area, there is no soliciting allowed, so I would have called the police on him. Chances are he was not an immigrant at all, but just wanting money.
2007-10-05 11:29:56 · answer #8 · answered by Sweetharttt 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is totally illegal and I would suspect that he probably wasn't Polish, they tend to be a proud, hard working people. If he wants to go to college here and is a EU national he has to apply to the college and go through the whole grant/student loan business that Brits have to put up with, if he is non EU, (which I would suspect due to the beging), he has to have a student visa and a sponsor, (to guarantee his fees and accomodation), before entering the UK.
2007-10-05 11:19:59 · answer #9 · answered by redrockindaddy 1 · 7⤊ 1⤋
It is illegal and a form of begging, which is illegal in the UK. You should definitely inform the police due to, as you point out, the more vulnerable people in the community.
2007-10-05 11:19:59 · answer #10 · answered by Cynical Girl 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋