More than 7,500 people were sleeping on the streets of London last year, up by 16% year-on-year, and almost a fifth of them were Romanians, according to an official report cited by British newspaper Daily Mail.

The number of Romanian rough sleepers reached 1,388 in 2015, almost double compared to the 730 Romanians reported the year before. Some 3,212 rough sleepers were Brits (43% of the total) whereas 36% were from Central and Eastern European countries such as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Latvia.

Almost 640 Poles were sleeping on the streets of London last year, as well as 227 Lithuanians.

According to the report, the sharp increase in rough sleepers, particularly in London, is due to migrant rough sleeping.

A referendum on whether Britain should remain in the European Union will be held on June 23. Those who support Britain’s exit from the EU (Brexit) are unhappy, among others, with the high number of people coming to work in the UK, especially from Eastern European member states.

British PM: Romanians contribute to UK’s development, but migrant inflow is not sustainable

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com