The Impact of the End of Brexit Transition Period on Roma in the UK, as Perceived by Front Line Support Services, 2021

The research seeks to understand the impact of the end of the transitional period following the UK’s departure from the EU on Roma in the UK. It focuses on issues such as ability to access the EU Settlement Scheme, awareness of rights of EU citizens following Brexit, ability to access support services, and how has the Covid-19 pandemic affected front-line service provision and access. The study focuses on the perspectives of front line workers and we believe that it will bring new insights into key issues faced by marginalised EU citizens in the UK at this time. Interviews were conducted with 15 participants from practitioners and policy makers whose work involves working with Roma communities in the UK. Measures have been taken to ensure anonymity of participants. Participants have been assigned a reference number and data has been stored against this number rather than against the names of participants. All interview recordings and transcripts were anonymized, with all information that could directly or indirectly help identify interviewees removed to ensure that any risks are minimized. Interviews also underwent a further round of anonymization at the point of transcription.<p>The fellowship will be used to consolidate my PhD research and to disseminate the findings of this research
to academics, policy-makers, practitioners working with Roma and those who oversee service provision,
with the intention of improving engagement and create better outcomes for Roma.
This fellowship builds on previous ethnographic research among Czech and Slovak Roma who came to
Leeds after the expansion of the European Union in 2004. Roma came to Leeds to try to attain 'a better
life', both in material terms and in the sense of having respect and recognition from others. My doctoral
thesis is the most in-depth ethnographic study of Roma migrants in the UK to date and provides novel
insights into the strategies Roma use to navigate their lives in the UK. It describes the everyday lives of
Roma and traces their interactions with others, particularly with state and state-like actors, who came to
represent 'the UK' in these interactions. My research focuses on well-being and how understandings of
what it means to be well and to have a good life, and a person's ability to achieve it, are produced through
interactions between policy, practice and discourse. My research found that even though my research
participants felt 'invisible' as Roma in many of their mundane daily interactions with others, they still felt
negatively stereotyped as Roma in their interactions with public services and in some public spaces.
Additionally, due to they often precarious work conditions, low levels of English, and unfamiliarity of the
British welfare system, they often found accessing welfare and healthcare services difficult. My research
found that in the absence of state provided support, many Roma turned to the Life and Light Church, a
Roma Pentecostal church. My research argues that conversions to the Life and Light Church address
enable Roma to present their identity in a positive way, they create a sense of belonging to a moral Roma
community, and they provide converts with a support network which they can draw on in times of hardship.
Roma have historically been over-researched but despite this, there has been little improvement in the
quality of life of Roma communities across Europe. Moreover, Roma voices have largely been absent from
scholarship on Roma communities. My research has the potential to increase understanding of the way
Roma experience and perceive their position in society and of the diversity within Roma communities.
During the Fellowship I will work on a monograph based on my thesis and I will submit two articles to
international peer reviews high-impact journals in my field. The article will argue that those Roma, whose
first language is Romani and not Czech or Slovak, experience a form of linguistic marginalisation in
interactions with public sector services because they have to rely on Czech or Slovak speaking interpreters,
due to a lack of Romani speaking interpreters. The second article will be written jointly with Dr Roxana
Barbulescu and will consider the impacts of gaining a settled status for Roma in post-Brexit UK.
The fellowship will strongly focus on working closely with non-academic stakeholders, with whom I
established links before and during my PhD. To increase engagement and impact, I will organise a
stakeholder workshop and work with key stakeholders to co-produce a short policy briefing (4 pages) which
will summarise my PhD findings and provide recommendations for policy makers and those who oversee
service provision.
I will use the Fellowship to develop a new research project which will focus on the vulnerability and
resilience among Roma communities in times of crises, like the current Covid-19 pandemic, during which
Roma are particularly vulnerable due to overcrowded housing, with a number of generation often living
together, poverty, and high prevalence of long-term medical conditions.</p>