Two Romanian companies in London got xenophobic messages: “Go home, with your gypsies, you are not welcome here”
Two Romanian companies based in northern London have received anonymous letters in English containing threatening messages saying they should return to Romania. “You should have returned to Romania with your gypsies/ You are not welcome here”, RFI reports.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry has reacted on Wednesday, saying that “Romania’s Embassy in London has notified the British MFA and London Metropolitan Police to clarify this situation and to take actions in order to prevent and sanction any form of xenophobic attitude against Romanians from UK”.
Three Romanian companies are based on Watling Avenue, a commercial street in Burnt Oak, northern London: an accounting office, a bagel shop and a grocery store.
The bagel shop Kroky is owned by Andrei Liviu Chiroșcă, who told RFI he had got an anonymous letter by mail last week. The photocopy of an article about three Romanian citizens sentenced to prison for human trafficking was also attached to the letter.
“You have not moved away enough. You should have gone back to Rumania, with your gypsies. You are not welcome here- And never will be. We hope the Brexit will stop any more from coming Here. We are sick of not hearing our own language in our own country. We never go to Watling Avenue shopping centre, 12 greengrocers, the rest are cheap clothes shops and tatty gift shops (none of these shops are English). So, there is no point in going to this shopping centre. You will only get Romanians in your shop and hopefully you will not last long and we can see the back of you”, reads the letter received by the bagel shop.
According to the latest official statistics in November 2019, there were 163,000 Romanian citizens living in London, the biggest community of foreigners in the UK capital.
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There are many people who feel this way in the UK. And in every country. There are also some in Romania who share the same view about me since I am slow at learning the language (I came the other way, from the UK to Ro) but its nothing serious. In the same way people grumble about train times etc. But these armchair warriors would very rarely say it to your face, and they are not your clients. The real measure is how busy you are & if you are making money. If there was a row of non romanian shops here in Ro, where most of the clients spoke an unfamiliar language, they would see the same reaction from locals Just ignore it, keep your head down, provide the best service you can & move on. Don’t let the small minority alter your freedom of movement or choices.
I too am slow at learning the Romanian language (Damian Galvin), but pick up a little more every day.
I am English and live in the UK. I work with Romanian people every day (and for the last five years). They are friendly and competent people as well as hard workers.
We found the same when we visited Bucharest – very friendly and wonderful work ethic, as well as a great culture. Mul?umesc foarte mult!