Study title

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.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...