No Bulgarian, Romanian Migrant Influx Imminent for UK - Survey

Polls commissioned by the BBC in Bulgaria and Romania have shown that there is no great likelihood that Britain will be flooded with migrants from those countries once work restrictions fall off.

The coming January 1, 2014 dropping of all labor restrictions for Bulgarians and Romanians in the UK has provoked a self-styled 'migrant scare' among some parts of British society and political circles.

In March the BBC commissioned the Vitosha agency in Bulgaria and Gallup in Romania to conduct surveys relating to the attitudes for migration in the two countries.

The findings show that few people from Bulgaria and Romania would move to the UK, especially if they don't have a good job offer secured beforehand, says the BBC.

Among the main reasons for the 'migrant scare' was a perception that Eastern European migrants would simply drain Britain's welfare system.

According to the survery, when asked whether in the past 5 years they had considered moving to live and work in another EU member state, 33% of the 1,101 Romanians polled said "yes," 67% said "no."

Of the 1,014 people questioned in Bulgaria, 37% said "yes," 63% said "no."

When all of those polled were asked to pick their first choice of EU country to move to in either 2013 or 2014, 4.6% of Romanians and 9.3% of Bulgarians chose the UK.

These numbers rose to 8.2% for Romanians and 13.6% for Bulgarians when they were asked directly about whether they would consider the UK as a destination, writes the BBC.

Among those who said were ready to work abroad, the UK was not the undisputed top choice, ranking almost even or below countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain.

You can read a breakdown of the study's findings at the BBC's website HERE.

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