Barriers and issues facing migrant workers in rural South Yorkshire

Aims

The report was undertaken by Take Part for Yorkshire Rural Community Council to improve understanding of the issues facing migrant workers in rural South Yorkshire.

Methodology

The research included analysis of existing publications, telephone interviews with voluntary, community and public sector representatives, face-to-face interviews with key stakeholders, focus groups with migrant workers and interviews with people from EU states.

Key issues

The report provides an overview of the recent context of migration from new EU states and discusses issues of estimating numbers. An overview of migration is followed by findings on settlement areas in South Yorkshire, integration and social cohesion, education, health, housing, work and spiritual wellbeing. The report includes a list of some key national and local studies and local examples of engaging Slovak and Czech Roma families in nursery education and work by South Yorkshire police to engage with new migrants.

Recommendations

Barriers and issues are identified and recommendations to improve them aimed broadly at voluntary, community and public sector organisations, employers and others. These include the need for language provision to improve English, including in the workplace; resources for translation and interpretation; information and knowledge about rights and services; improving initial contact and introduction processes; and improving perceptions of migrants.