HOUSING FOR UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS

HOUSING FOR UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS: THE PROBLEM

Research done by FEANTSA, the European umbrella organisations of organisations providing assistance to the homeless, recently revealed how a substantial and growing number of immigrants among the users of homeless services across Europe. In some countries, close to half of those who use these services are immigrants in situations of desperate need.

This stands in rather stark contrast to the notion, popularly bandied about, that immigrants are favoured in relation to social housing and social welfare and that their arrival heralds the beginning of a new life in relative ease and comfort.

Rough sleeping, exploitation or appalling living conditions make up the harsh reality that awaits many migrants.

Surely the time has come to ask why immigrants are so vulnerable to homelessness? Given that migrants represent some 20 million of Europe’s population of 380 million, it is a question that can hardly be ignored.

Some of the reasons found by FEANTSA :

Like all vulnerable groups, immigrants have been very much affected by the evolution of the housing market. As it becomes increasingly commodified and the availability of affordable social housing declines, housing exclusion becomes an ever greater threat. Immigrants are more likely to occupy the worst housing and to pay a disproportionate share of their income to acquire it. They are vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous landlords, particularly if they are undocumented. The same is true of many migrants with legal status, for whom there is simply no room in the inadequate reception facilities of many European countries. Thus immigrants in various rich EU countries have been the victims of scandalous practices, such as the renting of accommodation by the hour, and the renting of shared mattresses. There have been cases of three separate families occupying premises for just eight hours a day and sleeping in shifts.

The economic status of immigrants (i.e.: the financial means at their disposal on arrival) also has an effect on their vulnerability to homelessness. Their legal status will also be a contributory factor, though documented migrants are not uniformly protected from the risk of housing exclusion and of course legal status may change (this is the case for immigrants fleeing a violent spouse on whom their legal status may be dependent and for those whose asylum applications fail.) Ethnic origin also has an effect on vulnerability to homelessness. Certain ethnic groups encounter racism in the housing market or hostility in social housing communities, which makes it impossible for them to remain. The presence or absence of family or friends in the host country also has a role to play in helping immigrants to avoid homelessness.

(1) Taken from a press release from FEANTSA, issued in january 2005. More information on the research this press release refers to is available at http://www.feantsa.org. The title of the report is Immigration and Homelessness in Europe, it was published in 2004.

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HOUSING FOR UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS

Undocumented migrants are suffering from some specific problems when trying to access housing.

In general, undocumented migrants’ situation is characterized by their residential mobility.

Many are forced to live as nomads because of the uncertainty of their income and the illegality of their presence. Undocumented migrants indeed develop strategies to avoid controls on the housing market. They live in the homes of their legal relatives, share rooms with other migrants, pay provisions to legal residents who act as the formal tenant or they rent on the unofficial housing market.

Subsequently, housing can be very expensive and, quite frequently, apartments are overcrowded.

They are on top of that vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous landlords, because they do not feel as if they can file a complaint against bad housing conditions, and in many countries in the EU indeed they can't.

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