Minister for Romanians Abroad Intotero discusses with British officials on situation of Romanian community in UK

Minister for Romanians Abroad Natalia Intotero had meetings on Monday with British government officials and representatives of the local authorities on her visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland within the '100 for Centennial' Gala in London, informs a press release sent to AGERPRES.

Together with Romania's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Dan Mihalache, Minister Intotero made a trip to Brent, where the largest Romanian community in the United Kingdom is concentrated - some 80,000 people, the quoted source informs.

The dignitary had a meeting with Mayor Arshad Mahmood and the Council's leader Muhammed Butt, the main topics discussed being the situation of the Romanian community as well as social and integration issues.

Natalia Intotero "presented the ways in which the Ministry for Romanian Abroad (MRP) wants to give Romanians abroad as much support as possible, to help them develop projects for the benefit of the community, to preserve the traditions, culture, spirituality, identity and the Romanian language," reads the release. The minister also referred to the success of the Romanian language, culture and civilization courses in several European countries, and expressed her wish that this program should be extended to the benefit of as many Romanian children as possible.

The minister visited afterwards the Brent Civic Center's travel documents bureau.

"We appreciated the openness of the local authorities to the Romanian community. The proof of this openness is the very authorization of setting up this office, which is a very successful initiative, being so close to the Romanians who have settled in such a large number in Brent," the minister was quoted as saying by the release.

The delegation headed by the Romanian dignitary had a meeting with Lord Martin Callanan, state minister in the Department for Brexit. Romania will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at the beginning of 2019, and during the six-month mandate, Brexit and the UK's official exit from the EU are expected to be completed.

In this context, Natalia Intotero pointed out that MRP's priority is to protect the rights and interests of over 400,000 Romanian citizens living, studying or working in the UK. The minister stressed that the focus is on conducting consultation campaigns with the Romanian community in the UK, a community directly affected by Brexit, and which must be part of the decision-making process.

Lord Callanan has shown that the negotiations so far have largely resolved the rights of European citizens during the transitional period, and said he wanted the UK and Romania to have a very good and secure relationship in the future. He also referred to the recent Interior Ministry's initiative, which presented on June 21 a draft on the procedure for obtaining a permanent residence permit after Brexit (the Settlement Scheme), informs the quoted source.

Labour exploitation and modern slavery cases reported in the UK, with Romanian citizens often victims, were the main topics on the agenda of Minister Natalia Intotero's talks with Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes. The dignitary expressed her appreciation for the British government's interest in stopping the phenomenon of modern slavery, and also referred to the Ministry's efforts through the "Information at Home! Safety in the World" campaign, to make those who are leaving or want go to work abroad be aware of the dangers of working illegally, to find out how to avoid the traps of human traffickers.

At the same time, the Romanian minister and the British state minister have assessed the phase of the UK-Romania Joint Strategy on Modern Slavery and the 2014 International Protocol of the International Labour Organization on Forced Labour.

Natalia Intotero has expressed her concern about the future of Romanian students in the UK. "We have around 10,000 students in the UK and we are concerned about their status after Brexit, especially with regard to tuition," the minister said.

State Secretary Caroline Nokes welcomed the fact that Romania has a ministry for the Romanians living abroad and said that the existence of this institution facilitates the briefing of the Romanian community in the UK. In this context, the two officials have agreed to maintain an open dialogue in the future, including with regard to the future immigration policy that the UK Government will make public in the coming period, the MRP informed.